Strabo calls the island Tilos and includes it in the Sporades, while Stefanos Byzantios and Pliny call it Agathousa and include it in the Cyclades.

Important paleontological finds and bones of dwarf elephants, dating back to the Mesolithic era, have been found in the Xarkadio cave. Neolithic pottery and stoneware were found in the same cave, while recent research also revealed the presence of remains of the Minoan culture.

During the second Greek colonization, in the 7th century BC, the Tilians, together with the Lindians, colonized the city of Gela in Sicily.

In the 5th c. (427/6) Tilos becomes a member of the 1st Athenian Alliance, as appears from tax lists where its name is mentioned

But, in the 4th c. the island was an independent thing which is established by inscriptions and also by the coins it had circulated. In the middle of the 3rd century and until the Roman period, it was part of the mighty Rhodian state.

The poet Irinna, who is considered equal to Sappho, was probably born in Tilos in the 6th or according to others in the 4th century BC.

Dates - milestones in the island's ancient history are 227 - 226 BC, when a strong earthquake tore down the walls of Tilos and 42 BC, when it was conquered by the Romans.

In the Byzantine period, it was administratively part of the subject of Samos, while ecclesiastically in the metropolis of Rhodes.

The Ioannite Knights captured Tilos in 1309 and it remained under their rule for 200 years. The Knights maintained the administrative autonomy of Tilos and strengthened the defense of the island against pirates by building or repairing castles. The security and consequent economic prosperity created great artistic activity especially in the field of ecclesiastical iconography.

The Turks first attacked Tilos in 1322 and managed to capture it in 1522.

The Turkish occupation was succeeded in 1912 by the Italian occupation, while in 1943 it was occupied by the Germans.

In 1948 Tilos joined Greece.

Editor: Fotini Anastasopoulou