THESSALONIKI (Salonika) Greece's second city is named after a daughter of , Thessaloniki, who was married to Kassandros. This shortlived monarch was without descendants, so he gave Thessaloniki's name to the capital (founded 315 B.C.) to remind posterity of his family's royal descent.
The Aegean sea washes Greece on two sides: first, the side that faces towards the east and stretches from Sunium, towards the north as far as the Thermaean Gulf and Thessaloniceia, a Macedonian city...; and secondly, the side that faces towards the south, I mean the Macedonian country, extending from Thessaloniceia as far as the Strymon.
When Paul came to Thessaloniki around AD 50, the town embraced him and Silas along with their message about Jesus Christ. However, the friendly welcome quickly wore out as some individuals began rising up against them.
Here we notice that in acts the term "Hellenes" (or "Greeks") is used with noteworthy propriety: the people of Thessalonica, of Berea, of Ephesus, of Iconium. and of Syrian Antioch are spoken of as Hellenes. Those were all cities which had no claim to be Roman, except in the general way of being parts of the Roman provinces Macedonia, Galatia, and Syria. They were counted Greek cities, and reckoned themselves as such.