Mytilene

Mytilene is the principal city of the Greek island of Lesbos, originally situated on a small offshore islet later joined to the main island, creating a strategic double harbour facing Asia Minor. Before 700 BCE it controlled Aeolian cities on the mainland and was home to poets Sappho and Alcaeus. Its ancient theatre, one of the oldest in Greece, reportedly inspired Pompey's theatre in Rome. After an unsuccessful revolt against Athens in 428 BCE during the Peloponnesian War, the city was severely punished with colonists imposed and fortifications dismantled.