Not many information has been saved about Ikaria in prehistoric Greece. Proof has been found that Ikaria was inhabited  in the Neolithic period. In 750 BC colonists from Milito arrived in Ikaria and it was probably they who established  the ancient  towns of “Thermae” and later, the ancient “Oenoe”  both of which played  a part in the first Athenian Alliance and they enjoyed great prosperity. We can estimate a population of about 13.000 inhabitants  the Fifth century  BC, and from the taxes that both towns were paying to Athenian empire, we can conclude that  Ikaria was a wealthy island and  was placed in the upper 30% of the states that they were paying tribute.

Oenoe became known because of the excellent Pramnian wine. Although we don’t know this wine’s exact qualities it seems to have been so expensive that enabled Oenoe to pay a substantial amount of money as a tribute  to Athens.
During the Peloponnesian War the development that Ikaria hat achieved, declined, and the island remained a member of the Athenian League until Alexander the great was declared commander of Greece. When he died Ikaria island became a part of the Ptolemians in Egypt.

In 133 BC Ikaria  had been included  in the Roman province of Asia until the early years of the First Century, when pirates took control  of Ikaria. All the sea side villages of Ikaria disappeared and their inhabitants moved to the safety of the interior of the island. However in  29 BC the Romans reestablished their control of the island.

New development was experienced in Ikaria in the Byzantine era while the island used as a place of exile for members of the royal family who were considered  as a threat to the Empire’s throne. The ancient Oenoe renamed as “Dolichi”, became an administrative center and flourished again. It is claimed that in this era the population reached 70.000 inhabitants.

By the end of the 3rd century pirates appear  in the scene again, such as Muslims Saracens, Maltesians, Genuese, Calabrians, Sicilians and Turks who were a serious and continuous threat for Ikaria and other islands in the following centuries. According to documents from the monastery of Patmos, Ikarians that time managed to kill or chase many of them away, but still they were suffering a lot and for that reason  they built the anti-pirate villages (not visible from the sea) up in the mountains such as “Langada”.