“There is in Lesbos a flourishing and beautiful city, named Mytilene. It is intersected by canals, formed by the waters of the sea, which flows in upon it, and adorned with several bridges of white polished stone: to look at it, you would say that it was not a single city, but a number of islands.”  This is how Longos describes Mytilini town of the late Roman times in his novel “Daphnis & Chloe”,  first written love-story in the history of literature.