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[German version] (Ἄζωρος; Ázōros). City belonging to the tripolis of the  Perrhaebi (Str. 7,7,9), near the present-day city of Vuvala, by the Sarandaporos. Although first mentioned as a Macedonian fort in 317 BC (Diod. Sic. 19,52,6), A. appears to date from much earlier. Probably as a member of the Perrhaebi alliance in the 2nd cent. BC, A. managed to settle a border dispute with  Mondaea (Syll3 638). Disputed territory in the 3rd Macedonian War (Pol. 28,13; Liv. 42,53,6; 44,2,8). Errington, Robert Malcolm (Marburg/Lahn) Bibliography F. Stählin, Das hellenische Thessalien, 1924…

[German version] (Ἐριγών; Erigṓn). Largest tributary of the  Axius, flows through the Macedonian regions of Lyncestis, Pelagonia and Derriopus, mouth near Stobi; today's Crna Reka. Errington, Robert Malcolm (Marburg/Lahn) Bibliography F. Papazoglou, Les villes de Macédoine, 1988, 292.

[German version] (Λείβεθρα; Leíbethra). Macedonian city between Dion [II 2] and Heracleon [2] near modern Leptokarya (cf. Str. 7, fr. 18); its territorium bordered on Gonni [1. no. 2]. In the 3rd cent. BC, L. was considered to be autonomous as it received Delphian theōroí (‘envoys’) [2. 17 l. 52], but it obviously became merged with the Roman colony of Dion [II 2] (CIL III 591). According to Str. 9,2,25, L. was sacred to the Muses; Pausanias heard in Larisa the story that Orpheus had been buried in L. but after a severe flood his bones h…

[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: Macedonia, Macedones (Δράβησκος; Drábēskos). City of the Edones near Zdravik c. 12 km north of  Amphipolis, where the Athenians were defeated by the Thracians in c. 465 BC (Thuc. 1,100,4). Traces of settlement are existing up into the Roman Imperial period, when D. was a station on the via Egnatia (Tab. Peut.: Daravescos). Errington, Robert Malcolm (Marburg/Lahn) Bibliography F. Papazoglou, Les villes de Macédoine, 1988, 391f. TIR K 35,1, 25.

[German version] (Περραιβοί; Perrhaiboí). Tribe on the western slopes of Olympus [1] on the border between Thessalia and Macedonia. Still independent in Homer (Hom. Il. 2,749) , in the 5th cent. BC they were dependent on the Thessali, particularly on Larisa [3], as tributary períoikoi (Thuc. 4,78,6; Str. 9,5,19). From the period of their independence they retained two votes in the Delphic Amphictyonic Council  ( Amphiktyonía ), until Philip [4] II took one vote from them (346 BC). With Thessalia, the P. belonged to the Macedonian Kingdom unt…

[German version] (Μόρρυλος/ Mόrrylos). City in Macedonian Crestonia (Macedonia) near modern Ano Apostoloi, known from inscriptions no earlier than the Hellenistic period, later also mentioned in Plin. HN 4,35 and Ptol. 3,13,38. M. had city status in the 3rd cent. BC and received theoroí (‘festival envoys’) from Delphi [1. 18 Z. 84]. M. sustained a significant cult of Asclepius. Errington, Robert Malcolm (Marburg/Lahn) Bibliography 1 A. Plassart, Liste delphique des théorodoques, in: BCH 45, 1921, 1-85. M.B. Chatzopoulos, L.D. Loukopoulou, M. Cité de la Crestonie (Meletem…

[German version] (Παίονες/ Paíones, Παιονία/ Paionía). Large tribe under its own king, inhabiting the north of the area later known as Macedonia, particularly in the valley of the Axius and the surrounding mountain regions as far as the Strymon (Thuc. 2,98,2; Str. 7,5,1). Hom. Il. 848-50 knew of the P. as friends of the Trojans; in c. 500 BC, the P. around Lake Prasias were temporarily deported to Phrygia by the Persian Megabazus (Hdt. 5,16) [1]. In 359 BC, P. attacked the Macedonians, but they were defeated and subjugated by Philip [4] II (Diod. Sic…

[German version] (Γόννος; Gónnos, Γόννοι; Gónnoi). Town of the  Perrhaebi, located on three hills to the north of the Peneius at the western entry to the Tempe valley. Evidence of settlement dates back to the Neolithic. In historical times, after initial domination by Larissa, the town gained in strategic importance in the course of the 4th cent. BC, following Philip II's conquest of Thessalia. It became a Macedonian fortress with a garrison and influx of Macedonian population, and experienced a peri…

[German version] (Λητή; Lētḗ). Strategically located city in Macedonia/Mygdonia near modern Liti, minted coins already before the city became Macedonian in the 5th cent. BC [1. 67-72]. In the 4th cent. BC recognized as a city within Macedonia (SEG 36,331 l. 19), L. kept a cult site for Demeter [2. 44 no. 123]. As an autonomous Macedonian city L. received Delphian theōroí (‘envoys’) in the 3rd cent. [3. 18 l. 73], as part of the Roman province Macedonia, L. honoured the quaestor M. Annius in 117 BC because of his aid against marauding Celts (Syll.3 700), but was obviously still threatened…

[German version] (Βέρμιον; Bérmion). Mountain in the south of  Macedonia, west of Emathia (now Doxa) and east of Beroea [1]. From here the Macedonians penetrated Lower Macedonia (Hdt. 8,138). B. is said to have been the home of the Thracian  Bryges (Str. 7 fr. 25). Errington, Robert Malcolm (Marburg/Lahn)

[German version] (Βόλβη; Bólbē). Marshy lake in the Mygdonian depression (Macedonia) on the land route running, on a west-east axis, from Thessalonica to Amphipolis that was also used by the via Egnatia to the south.  Apollonia [3] and Arethusa [8] were among the larger cities on the shoreline of the lake. Steph. Byz. (s.v. B.) mentions a city B.; a fortress named Bolbus was restored under Justinian (Procop. Aed. 4,4,43). Errington, Robert Malcolm (Marburg/Lahn)

[German version] (Πίμπλεια; Pímpleia). Village on the Macedonian coast in the territory of Dion [II 2], also Pipleia (cf. Hesych. s.v. Πίπλειαι; Varro Ling. 7,20), c. 3 km to the south of modern Dion. Orpheus is supposed to have lived in P. (Str. 7a,1,17f.), the place is supposed to have been dedicated to the Muses (Str. 9,2,25). Errington, Robert Malcolm (Marburg/Lahn) Bibliography F. Papazoglou, Les villes de Macédoine, 1988, 112.

[German version] (Μίεζα; Míeza). An ancient Macedonian town between Beroea [1] and Edessa [1], probably near modern Naoussa, its exact location is unknown. Aristotle [6] taught the young Alexander the Great at the Nymphaeum of M. (Plut. Alexander 7). Peucestas, the triērárchēs of Alexander, came from M. (Arr. Ind. 18,6; [2. 318f. no. 634]). In the 3rd cent. BC, M. had the status of a polis, and received theōroí from Delphi [1. 17 l. 59]. Cf. also Plin. HN 4,34; Ptol. 3,12,36. Errington, Robert Malcolm (Marburg/Lahn) Bibliography 1 A. Plassart, Inscriptions de Delphes. La liste des T…

[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: Delian League (Ἄργιλος; Árgilos). Founded by settlers from Andros, c. 3 km inland from the mouth of the Strymon. Member of the  Delian League, seceded from Athens in 424/23 BC (Thuc. 4,103,4), remained autonomous until the capture of Amphipolis by Philip II. A settlement still existed in Roman imperial times. Errington, Robert Malcolm (Marburg/Lahn) Bibliography M. Zahrnt, Olynth und die Chalkidier, 1971, 158-160 F. Papazoglou, Les villes de Macédoine, 1988, 363.

[German version] ( Celetrum). Town in the Epirote or rather upper Macedonian region of Orestis, only once mentioned in literature with this name (Liv. 31,40,2), but because of the clearly described location identified as the modern Kastoria. Probably founded anew under Galerius at the beginning of the 4th cent. AD as Diokletianopolis, afterwards deserted, rebuilt under Justinian (Procop. Aed. 4,3). Bishop's seat in the 6th cent. AD (Hierocles, Synekdemos 642,12). Errington, Robert Malcolm (Marburg/Lahn) Bibliography F. Papazoglou, Les villes de Macédoine, 1988, 238f.

[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: Thraci, Thracia | | Macedonia, Macedones | Macedonia, Macedones | Peloponnesian War | Delian League (Ἀμφίπολις; Amphípolis). City in the fertile land of the  Edones, on a hillside 4.5 km upriver of the mouth of the  Strymon which surrounds the city on three sides. It was founded in 437/6 BC by the Athenian Hagnon in this strategically dominating position (Ἐννέα Ὁδοί, Ennéa Hodoí, ‘Nine Ways’), with the support and participation of other Greek towns (Thuc. 9; Diod. Sic. 12,32,3). A. controlled the land rou…

[German version] (Βορμίσκος; Bormískos). City in  Mygdonia, east of Bolbe (Thuc. 4,103,1). Euripides is said to have been torn to pieces by dogs there (Steph. Byz. s.v.). B. was assimilated into  Arethusa [8] but even in the imperial period was remembered through the mutatio Euripides on the   via Egnatia . Errington, Robert Malcolm (Marburg/Lahn) Bibliography M. Zahrnt, Olynth und die Chalkidier, 1971, 170.

[German version] (Ἰδομεναί/ Idomenaí, Lat. Idomene, Eidomene). Town in the Amphaxitis region of Macedonia, on the road from Thessalonica to the Danube (Str. 8,8,5; Tab. Peut. 8,1), perhaps near the modern Marvinci. I. is already documented in the 5th cent. BC (Thuc. 2,100,3); in the 3rd cent. BC, it was visited by Delphic theōroí (‘sacred envoys’) [1] and was still known in the 6th cent. AD (Hierocles, Synekdemos 639,5). Errington, Robert Malcolm (Marburg/Lahn) Bibliography 1 BCH 45, 1921, 17 Z. 68. F. Papazoglou, Les villes de Macédoine, 1988, 177.

[German version] (Ἠμαθία; Ēmathía). Old name for Lower Macedonian regions (Hom. Il. 14,226; Str. 7, fr. 11), later only an imprecise poetic term for Macedonia west of the  Axius without Pieria (Ptol. 3,13,9). By E. Pol. 23,10,4 understood Paeonia, Str. l.c. (cf. Steph. Byz. s.v.) knew of a city E. Errington, Robert Malcolm (Marburg/Lahn) Bibliography N. G. L. Hammond, A History of Macedonia I, 1972, 155f.

[German version] (Ἐλίμεια; Elímeia). Region, originally belonging to Epirus (Str. 9,5,11), east of the Pindus range on the upper course of the Haliacmon south of Orestis and Eordaea; from the 5th. cent. BC, the people of the Elimiotaea in upper Macedonia took their name from E. (Thuc. 2,99). The location of the eponymous town is uncertain (Kozani, Palaiogratsiano?). Cities of the Hellenistic and Roman era are  Aeane and Caesarea (bishop's seat: Hierocles Synekdemos 642,11). Despite its dependence o…

(Πέλλα; Pélla). [German version] [1] City near modern Palea {{?}}Pella This item can be found on the following maps: | Coloniae | Diadochi and Epigoni | Alexander | Hellenistic states | Macedonia, Macedones | Macedonia, Macedones | Peloponnesian War | Persian Wars | Punic Wars | Balkans, languages | Education / Culture From c. 400 BC under Archelaus [1] the residence of Macedonian kings near modern Palea P., in Antiquity reachable from the sea by ship on the Lydias. By the 4th cent. BC the largest Macedonian city (Xen. Hell. 5,2,13), with a system…

[German version] [1] Residence and burial place of the Macedonian Argead kings This item can be found on the following maps: Achaemenids | Dark Ages | Macedonia, Macedones | Macedonia, Macedones | Persian Wars | Education / Culture (Aegeae, Αἰγαί, Αἰγέαι [ Aigaí, Aigéai]). Residence and burial place of the Macedonian Argead kings near present-day Vergina. Starting point for the Macedonian conquering of Pieria and  Bottiaea and main seat of the king until  Pella was expanded for this purpose in the 4th cent. BC. From then onwards the site…

This item can be found on the following maps: Theatre | Christianity | Coloniae | Macedonia, Macedones | Macedonia, Macedones | Natural catastrophes | Education / Culture | Mineral Resources (Φίλιπποι/ Phílippoi, Latin Philippi). [German version] I. Founding Hellenistic and Roman Periods City in eastern Macedonia, founded by Philip [4] II around 355 BC on the site of Crenides or Daton (App. B. Civ. 4,105) on the occasion of the conquest of the region between the Strymon and the Nestus [1], inhabited by the Thracians (Thraci). The Via Eg…

(Κύρρος; Kýrrhos). [German version] [1] Macedonian city Macedonian city near the modern Aravissos between Pella and Edessa, existed already in the 5th cent. BC (Thuc. 2,100,1); was to be the site of one of the gigantic temples supposedly planned by Alexander the Great (Diod. Sic. 18,4,5); half-finished partial structures in an ancient quarry near C. could be connected with this intended construction project [1]. An unpublished inscription (cf. [2]) attests to a municipal authority concerned with the bu…

(Βέροια; Béroia). [German version] [1] In Macedonia This item can be found on the following maps: Christianity | Macedonia, Macedones | Macedonia, Macedones | Education / Culture In Macedonia. Errington, Robert Malcolm (Marburg/Lahn) [German version] A. Hellenistic and Roman periods City in Macedonian  Bottice, east of the Bermium; now Verria. First mentioned in the 5th cent. BC (Thuc. 1,61,4), B. had its development, like many Macedonian cities, principally in the Hellenistic period; the Antigonids seem to have particularly favoured…

(Θεσσαλονίκη/ Thessaloníkē). [German version] [1] City in Thessalia This item can be found on the following maps: Thraci, Thracia | Caesar | Christianity | | Coloniae | Diadochi and Epigoni | Commerce | Hellenistic states | Limes | Macedonia, Macedones | Macedonia, Macedones | Pilgrimage | Pompeius | Punic Wars | Rome | Rome (Latin Thessalonica, -nice; today also T.) Errington, Robert Malcolm (Marburg/Lahn) [German version] I. Location, Classical Period City on the Thermaic Gulf (Thermaios Kolpos) with a favourable natural harbour and best connections with the hin…

[I] (Ἄξιος; Áxios). Largest river in  Macedonia, today Vardar; rises in Sar Planina and flows into the Aegean to the west of Thessalonica. Barely navigable owing to its gorges, the A. valley does, however, form the main overland route between the Aegean and the region around the Danube, a route which has been in use from the time of antiquity and is still used today. The A. flowed through the settlement territories of the Dardani, the Paeones and the Macedones (Amphaxitis). [II] Plebeian gentile name, mentioned in records since the 3rd cent. BC and possibly connected with th…

(Μεθώνη/ Methṓnē, Μοθώνη/ Mothṓnē). [German version] [1] City on the west coast of Messana [2] This item can be found on the following maps: Sparta | Achaeans, Achaea | Macedonia, Macedones A city on the west coast of Messana [2]. Its indigenous name was Mothṓnē (Μοθώνη on coins), after the reef called Móthōn which rose in front of it; hence the medieval and modern name Modon, Mothoni, Methoni (Μεθώνη in Thuc. 2,25,1ff. and Strab. 8,4,3). There are few ancient remains: isolated bases of city walls under the Venetian fortress and the breakwater wa…

(Ἡράκλειον; Hērákleion). [German version] [1] Town on Crete's northern coast Town on Crete's northern coast, modern Iraklion. In a legal support agreement with Miletus (259/250 BC) H. appears as a sovereign town allied with  Knossos (Stv III 482 I) [1]. H. was in the 1st cent. BC, probably in succession to Amnisus, the port town of Knossos (Str. 10,4,7f.) and probably subject to it (cf. Str. 10,5,1). Based on Plin. HN 4,59, it was presumed that H. also bore the name Mation [2]. However, the consensus is that Pliny misunderstood his Greek source (πολισμάτιον Ἡ.; polismátion H., ‘the little…

(Πέτρα/ Pétra, 'rock') [German version] [1] Capital of the Nabataean Empire This item can be found on the following maps: Syria | Theatre | | Commerce | Hellenistic states | India, trade with | Limes | Rome | Rome | Egypt Capital of the Nabataean kingdom (Nabataei) in Edom, about 80 km to the south of the Dead Sea in the Wādı̄ Mūsā (in modern Jordan). The city is first mentioned by Diodorus [18] under the name Pétra (Diod. Sic. 19, 95-98) as the Nabataei's place of refuge and assembly ('High place, rock'). The inscriptionally documented Semitic name of P. is Raqmu. Although the surrounding are…

This item can be found on the following maps: Sassanids | Syria | Christianity | Zenobia | | Coloniae | Commerce | Asia Minor | Limes | Pilgrimage | Pompeius | Rome (Ἔδεσσα; Édessa). [German version] [1] City in central Macedonia This item can be found on the following maps: | Macedonia, Macedones City in central Macedonia at the eastern entrance to the Kara-Burun pass from Lower to Upper Macedonia, today known as Edessa, formerly as Vodena. In previous times, E. was wrongly regarded as the old Macedonian royal seat of  Aegae [1]. E. was first men…

(Μακεδονία/ Makedonía, Μακεδόνες/ Makedónes, Lat. Macedonia, Macedones). [German version] I. Geography, economy, ethnogenesis The core territory of the ancient Macedonian state was in the plains immediately to the east and north of the Olympus mountain range. Beginning with the 7th cent. BC, the Macedones conquered from their capital Aegae [1] step by step Pieria (south of the lower Haliacmon), Bottiaea (between Haliacmon and Axius), Almopia, Mygdonia (located in lowlands of lake Bolbe), Crestonia (to the no…

(Αἴσων; Aísōn). [German version] [1] Figure from Greek mythology, eponym of the city of Aeson Son of Cretheus and Tyro (Scarphes: schol. D Hom. Il. 532), husband of Polymelas or Alcimedes, father of Jason (Hom. Od. 11,258; Hes. Theog. 992; fr. 38-40 M-W; Pherecyd. FGrH F 104; Apollod. 1,107) and of Promachus (Apollod. 1, 143; Diod. Sic. 4,50,2). Eponym of the city of Aeson (Pherecyd. FGrH F 103; Pind. fr. 273; Apoll. Rhod. 1,411 with schol.), lives, however, always in Iolcus, whose legitimate ruler is his olde…

[German version] I. Persons (Δίων; Díōn) Meister, Klaus (Berlin) [German version] [I 1] Close friend of Plato and defender of his philosophy Son of Hipparinus, brother-in-law and son-in-law of Dionysius I of Syracuse, b. 409 BC, close friend of Plato and defender of his philosophy since Plato's first visit to Syracuse in 388. He gained prestige and wealth as Dionysius' I' trusted friend and advisor and also remained an influential person under Dionysius II. In 366, he arbitrated the peace with Carthage and called Pl…

(Ἀπολλωνία; Apollōnía). [German version] [1] City in southern  Illyricum This item can be found on the following maps: | Colonization | Macedonia, Macedones | Persian Wars | Punic Wars | Delian League City in southern  Illyricum, in antiquity on the north bank of the Aous, c. 6 km from the sea, near modern Pojani (Albania). Founded by Corinthians at the beginning of the 6th cent. BC, with the participation of Corcyra (mythical oikist Gylax). Hdt. 9,93-95, Paus. 5,22,3 f. and inscriptions attest to the wealth of A. during the 5th cent. BC; …

(Ἡράκλεια; Hērákleia). [German version] [1] H. Trachinia This item can be found on the following maps: Aetolians, Aetolia | Peloponnesian War | Education / Culture (Ἡράκλεια ἡ Τραχινία; H. hē Trachinía). City on a rock to the left of and above the exit of the gorge of the  Asopus [1] into the Spercheus plain, separated from Oete ( Oetaei, Oete) on the southern and western flanks by deep streambeds, where the Trachinian rocks rise up with their numerous tomb caves. The lower city has vanished without trace. H. was founded in …