the Social War (357-355 BC), it fell for a few years to the king Mausolus of Caria. Proximity to the east gave the island first access to imported silk thread. Aristotle mentions silk weaving conducted by the women of the island. Silk production of garments was conducted in large factories by female slaves. Hellenistic Era During the course of the Fourth War of the Diadochi Ptolemy I Soter captured Kos from Antigonus I Monophthalmus, incorporating it into his kingdom. In the Hellenistic period, Kos attained the zenith of its prosperity. Kos was valued by the Ptolemies, who used it as a naval outpost to oversee the Aegean. As a seat of learning, it arose as a provincial branch of the museum of Alexandria, and became a favorite resort for the education of the princes of the Ptolemaic dynasty. During the Hellenistic age, there was a medical school; however, the theory that this school was founded by Hippocrates (see below) during the Classical age is an unwarranted extrapolation. It was the home of the major Hellenistic poet-scholar Philitas. Despite the incorporation of Kos to the Ptolemaic Kingdom, the island kept its political autonomy (shown in a 3rd-century BC decree found at Kos and well-studied by experts in Greek history). The island was ruled autonomously through to its citizens' assembly and magistrates (the monarch, the prostates, the exegetes, etc). The fact that the city could legislate decrees and apply its own laws shows political independence regarding the Ptolemaic Kingdom. The city-state remained in control of its political institutions and civil rights. Kos also became a center of production of unrefined silk, oars and amphorae. Kos economic development during the period can further be exemplified by the 3rd- and 2nd-century BC construction of a theater, a new market with multiple stoas, a temple to Apollo at Alisarna, construction and expansion of the Asclepeion, fortification works at Alisarna and multiple richly decorated houses. In 240 BC, Ziaelas of Bithynia, Seleucus II Callinicus and Ptolemy III Euergetes provided guarantees for the transformation of Kos Asclepeion into an asylum. This decision made Kos a more attractive destination for merchants and pilgrims. Kos had a strong reputation for justice from the late fourth century BC and was called on more frequently than any other city in the Hellenistic period to provide judges for the arbitration of disputes between and within other cities. Between 310 and 300 BC,