Ancient historians consider Iasos a
colonial foundation of
Argos, but archaeology shows a much longer history. According to the ancient reports, the
Argive colonists had sustained severe losses in a war with the native
Carians, so they invited the son of
Neleus, who had previously founded
Miletus, to come to their assistance. The town appears on that occasion to have received additional settlers. The town, which appears to have occupied the whole of the little island, had only ten
stadia in circumference; but it nevertheless acquired great wealth, from its fisheries and trade in fish. Iasos was a member of the
Delian League and was involved in the
Peloponnesian War (431–404 BC). After the
Sicilian expedition of the
Athenians, Iasos was attacked by the
Spartans and their allies; it was governed at the time by Amorges, a
Persian chief, who had revolted from
Darius II. It was taken by the Spartans, who captured Amorges and delivered him up to
Tissaphernes. The town itself was plundered on that occasion. It became part of the
Hecatomnid satrapy in the 4th century and was conquered by
Alexander. We afterwards find it besieged by
Philip V, king of
Macedon, who, however, was compelled by the
Romans to restore it to
Ptolemy V of Egypt. The mountains in the neighbourhood of Iasus furnished a beautiful kind of
marble, of a blood-red and livid white colour, which was used by the ancients for ornamental purposes. Near the town was a sanctuary of
Hestia, with a statue of the goddess, which, though standing in the open air, was believed never to be touched by the rain. The same story is related, by Strabo, of a temple of
Artemis in the same neighbourhood. Iasus, as a celebrated fishing place, is alluded to by
Athenaeus. The place is still existing, under the name of Askem or Asýn Kalessi. Chandler (Travels in As. Min. p. 226) relates that the island on which the town was built is now united to the mainland by a small isthmus. Part of the city walls still exist, and are of a regular, solid, and handsome structure. In the side of the rock a theatre with many rows of seats still remains, and several inscriptions and coins have been found there. It seems to have been abandoned in about the 15th–16th century, in the
Ottoman period, when a small town was founded nearby named Asin Kale or Asin Kurin, in the
sanjak of
Menteşe within the
vilayet of İzmir. ==Archaeology==