AIOLIS

Aeolis (Ancient Greek: Αἰολίς, Aiolís), was an area that comprised the west and northwestern region of Asia Minor, mostly along the coast and also several offshore islands, where the Aeolian Greek city-states were located. Aeolis incorporated the southern parts of Mysia, which bounded it to the north, Ionia to the south and Lydia to the east. It extended along the Aegean Sea from the entrance of the Hellespont, now the Dardanelles, south to the Hermus River, now the Gediz River. It was named for the Aeolians, some of whom migrated there from Greece before 1000 BC. By the 8th century BC the Aeolians’ twelve most important cities were independent. They formed a league of twelve cities (a Dodecapolis): Cyme, Larissa, Neonteichos, Temnus, Cilla, Notion, Aegiroessa, Pitane, Aegae, Myrina, Gryneion, and Smyrna. The most celebrated of the cities was Smyrna (modern Izmir), but in 699 BC, Smyrna became part of an Ionian confederacy.