AMPHIPOLIS (mod. Yeni Keui)  , an ancient city of Macedonia, on the east bank of the river Strymon, where it emerges from Lake Cercinitis, about 3 M. from the sea . Originally a Thracian town, known as 'Epi4a 'OboL (" Nine Roads "), it was colonized by Athenians with other Greeks under Hagnon in 437 B.C., previous attempts—in 497, 476 (Schol . Aesch . De fills. leg . 31) and 465—having been unsuccessful . In 424 B.C. it surrendered to the Spartan Brasidas without resistance, owing to the gross negligence of the historian Thucydides, who was with the fleet at Thasos . In 422 B.C . Cleon led an unsuccessful expedition to recover it, in which both he and Brasidas were slain . The importance of Amphipolis in ancient times was due to the fact that it commanded the bridge over the Strymon, and consequently the route from northern Greece to the Hellespont; it was important also as a depot for the gold and silver mines of the district, and for timber, which was largely used in shipbuilding . This importance is shown by the fact that, in the peace of Nicias (421 B.C.), its restoration to Athens is made the subject of a special provision, and that about 417, this provision not having been observed, at least one expedition was made by Nicias with a view to its recovery . Philip of Macedon made a special point of occupying it (357), and under the early empire it became the headquarters of the Roman propraetor, though it was recognized as independent . Many inscriptions, coins, &c., have been found here, and traces of the ancient fortifications and of a Roman aqueduct are visible .