CHIOS kī’ ŏs (Χίος, G5944). A large island, about thirty m. long N to S and varying in width from eight to eighteen m., in the Aegean Sea.

It is separated from the coast of Asia Minor by a narrow channel. At its narrowest the channel is five m. wide and contains a number of small islands. The island is generally rocky and unproductive, but its wines and gum mastic have been a source of trade in ancient and modern times.

Though nominally a part of the Rom. province of Asia, Chios, the chief city of the island on the E coast near the S end, was a free port until Vespasian suspended its rights. Thus it was generally administered in accordance with local law rather than Rom. law.

The ship on which Paul sailed from Troas to Patara passed through the channel between Chios and the mainland before turning SE toward Samos (Acts 20:15).

The island was the reputed home of the poet Homer and had a distinguished literary and artistic tradition. The Chians were called the richest of the Greeks in the 5th cent. b.c.