The city was governed by a Council of 500 members and had its own army commanded by a strategos. Anthedon is first mentioned by Flavius Josephus in Jewish Antiquities, dealing with the period when it was conquered by the Jewish leader Alexander Jannaeus and destroyed. In 64 BC it was liberated by Pompey and subsequently rebuilt by his successor Gabinius.
Flavius Josephus
Alexander Jannaeus