During the Greek, Roman and Byzantine (pre-Turkish) era, the island was called
Daphnusia (Δαφνουσία),
Apollonia (Ἀπολλωνία),
Thynias (Θυνιάς),
Thyni (Θυνή),
Thynis (Θυνίς) and
Thyniis (Θυνηίς). The last of these names is derived from ancient Greek Thynos (Θύνος)=Tuna fish, and perhaps from the Thynii, a tribe of Thracian origin that lived in coastal
Bithynia. It is mentioned by the geographer
Ptolemy (5.14.1) and
Pliny the Elder (5.32), and by
Strabo, The names Thynias and Daphnusia are both given by Ptolemy, Thynias by Pliny, Strabo Although the settlement on the island never attained the rank of "city", it became, at a relatively late stage, a
bishopric. This was at a relatively late stage, for there is no mention of it in the
Synecdemus. No longer a residential bishopric, Daphnusia is today listed by the
Catholic Church as a
titular see. In 1261 the Latin fleet was engaged in the siege of the island when the Greek
Emperor of Nicaea,
Michael VIII Palaeologus,
captured Constantinople and thus put an end to the
Latin Empire. In 1915, there was a
naval battle nearby between the Russians and Ottomans which ended in a Russian victory. == Present features ==