Kyme was the biggest and best of the Aeolian cities, according to Strabo. Said to have been founded by descendants of Agemnon, it was here that Xerxes’ fleet over-wintered in 480-479 after the Persians’ defeat at Salamis. John Freely, visiting the site for his book The Western Shores of the Mediterranean, explains that the ancient harbour mole is visible under water, but otherwise there is little of the ancient town left to be seen. The Kyme Treasure in the British Museum consists of around a hundred items of gold jewellery from the 5th–4th century BC, thought to have come from a common underground tomb at Kyme.