What is "akanthos"

Akanthos (; ) was an ancient Greek city on the Athos peninsula. It was located near the modern town of Ierissos on the north-east side of Akti, on the most eastern peninsula of Chalcidice. Strabo and Ptolemy erroneously place Acanthus on the Singitic Gulf, but there can be no doubt that the town was on the Strymonian Gulf, as is stated by Herodotus and other authorities: the error may have perhaps arisen from the territory of Acanthus having stretched as far as the Singitic Gulf. The name of the ancient city (derived from the acanthus bush) is due to the thorny nature of the area or to the thorny nature of the town's foundation.