ABSTRACT
This small rocky island was the natural stopping place for those who, like Paul (Acts 16, 11), were making the crossing from Troas to Neapolis. It was famous for its sanctuary of the mysterious (and perhaps non-Greek) gods, the Kabeiroi, which was in existence at least as early as the seventh century BC. The hellenistic kings were especially lavish in erecting buildings on the site, and most of the structures which can be seen there today are of the hellenistic or Roman periods. There were mysteries associated with the Kabeiroi into which visitors could be initiated, but we know only tantalising details of what they involved. For example, initiates were required to confess the worst thing they had ever done in their lives, which may make the cult of the Kabeiroi the only Greek mystery cult with a real moral content (Burkert 1985:281-5). Under Roman rule Samothrace was a ‘free city’. In 1893 one of the most striking surviving sculptures of the hellenistic period, the Nike of Samothrace, was discovered on the site of the sanctuary on the island. It represents winged Victory about to alight on the prow of a ship, and was probably set up to commemorate the naval victories of Rhodes over Antiochos III in 190 BC. It is on display in the Louvre in Paris.
