Cassandreia was founded by Cassander in 316 B.C. on the site of the earlier city of Potidaea, at the isthmus of the Pallene peninsula. That Cassander named it after himself suggests he may have intended it to be his capital. If the canal which cuts the peninsula at this point was dug or at least planned in his time, he may have intended to develop his naval forces using it as a base with two harbors on the east and west sides. Cassandreia soon became a great and powerful city, surpassing the other Macedonian towns in wealth. Philip V of Macedon made it his main naval base. At the end of the Roman Republic, around 43 B.C., a Roman colony was settled by order of Brutus. In 30 B.C., Augustus installed additional settlers and renamed the city Colonia Iulia Augusta Cassandrensis. It was destroyed by the Huns and Slavs around 540 A.D.