Delos island was the most important Panhellenic sanctuary, and,
according to mythology, the birth-place of Apollo and Artemis.
The first signs of habitation on the island date from the 3rd
millenium B.C., and important remains of the Mycenaean period
have been uncovered in the area of the sanctuary. In the 7th
century B.C. Delos was already a known Ionic centre because of
its religious importance as the birth-place of Apollo. Athenian
influence was initiated on the sanctuary with the first
purification of Delos by Peisistratos in 540 B.C. but it
gradually developed into a proper domination lasting - with
short intervals - until the end of the 4th century B.C., when
Delos island was finally declared free and independent (314
B.C.). The independence of the Delos island lasted until 166
B.C. when the Romans gave it over to the Athenians. The second
Athenian domination started with the definite expulsion of the
Delians to Achaia, in the Peloponnese. The declaration of Delos
island as an "international" harbour by