Macedonia (ancient Kingdom)
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Macedonia Ancient Kingdom


  • 808-168 BC
  • 150-148 BC
The Kingdom of Macedonia in 336 BC (orange)
The Kingdom of Macedonia in 336 BC (orange)
Common languagesAncient Macedonian, Attic, Koine Greek
Greek polytheism, Hellenistic religion
o 808-778 BC
Caranus (first)
o 179-168 BC
Perseus (last)
Historical eraClassical Antiquity
808 BC
512/511-493 BC
492-479 BC
359-336 BC
338-337 BC
335-323 BC
323 BC
322-275 BC
168 BC


Before the 4th century BC, Macedonia was a small kingdom outside of the area dominated by the great city-states of Athens, Sparta and Thebes, and briefly subordinate to Achaemenid Persia.[3] During the reign of the Argead king PhilipII (359-336 BC), Macedonia subdued mainland Greece and the Thracian Odrysian kingdom through conquest and diplomacy. With a reformed army containing phalanxes wielding the sarissa pike, PhilipII defeated the old powers of Athens and Thebes in the Battle of Chaeronea in 338BC. PhilipII's son Alexander the Great, leading a federation of Greek states, accomplished his father's objective of commanding the whole of Greece when he destroyed Thebes after the city revolted. During Alexander's subsequent campaign of conquest, he overthrew the Achaemenid Empire and conquered territory that stretched as far as the Indus River. For a brief period, his empire was the most powerful in the world - the definitive Hellenistic state, inaugurating the transition to a new period of Ancient Greek civilization. Greek arts and literature flourished in the new conquered lands and advances in philosophy, engineering, and science spread throughout much of the ancient world. Of particular importance were the contributions of Aristotle, tutor to Alexander, whose writings became a keystone of Western philosophy.

After Alexander's death in 323BC, the ensuing wars of the Diadochi, and the partitioning of Alexander's short-lived empire, Macedonia remained a Greek cultural and political center in the Mediterranean region along with Ptolemaic Egypt, the Seleucid Empire, and the Kingdom of Pergamon. Important cities such as Pella, Pydna, and Amphipolis were involved in power struggles for control of the territory. New cities were founded, such as Thessalonica by the usurper Cassander (named after his wife Thessalonike of Macedon).[9] Macedonia's decline began with the Macedonian Wars and the rise of Rome as the leading Mediterranean power. At the end of the Third Macedonian War in 168BC, the Macedonian monarchy was abolished and replaced by Roman client states. A short-lived revival of the monarchy during the Fourth Macedonian War in 150-148BC ended with the establishment of the Roman province of Macedonia.



The name Macedonia (Greek: , Makedonía) comes from the ethnonym (Makedónes), which itself is derived from the ancient Greek adjective (makednós), meaning "tall, slim", also the name of a people related to the Dorians (Herodotus), and possibly descriptive of Ancient Macedonians.[10] It is most likely cognate with the adjective (makros), meaning "long" or "tall" in Ancient Greek.[10] The name is believed to have originally meant either "highlanders", "the tall ones", or "high grown men".[note 1] Linguist Robert S. P. Beekes claims that both terms are of Pre-Greek substrate origin and cannot be explained in terms of Indo-European morphology,[11] however De Decker argues that the arguments are insufficient.[12]


Early history and legend


The Classical Greek historians Herodotus and Thucydides reported the legend that the Macedonian kings of the Argead dynasty were descendants of Temenus, king of Argos, and could therefore claim the mythical Heracles as one of their ancestors as well as a direct lineage from Zeus, chief god of the Greek pantheon.[13] Contradictory legends state that either Perdiccas I of Macedon or Caranus of Macedon were the founders of the Argead dynasty, with either five or eight kings before AmyntasI.[14] The assertion that the Argeads descended from Temenus was accepted by the Hellanodikai authorities of the Ancient Olympic Games, permitting Alexander I of Macedon (r. 498-454 BC) to enter the competitions owing to his perceived Greek heritage.[15] Little is known about the kingdom before the reign of AlexanderI's father Amyntas I of Macedon (r. 547-498 BC) during the Archaic period.[16]


A silver octadrachm of Alexander I of Macedon (r. 498-454 BC), minted c. 465-460 BC, showing an equestrian figure wearing a chlamys (short cloak) and petasos (head cap) while holding two spears and leading a horse
The "Ionians with shield-hats" (Old Persian cuneiform: ?, Yaun? takabar?)[20] depicted on the tomb of Xerxes I at Naqsh-e Rustam, were probably Macedonian soldiers in the service of the Achaemenid army, wearing the petasos or kausia, c.480 BC.[21]

A year after Darius I of Persia (r. 522-486 BC) launched an invasion into Europe against the Scythians, Paeonians, Thracians, and several Greek city-states of the Balkans, the Persian general Megabazus used diplomacy to convince AmyntasI to submit as a vassal of the Achaemenid Empire, ushering in the period of Achaemenid Macedonia.[note 3] Achaemenid Persian hegemony over Macedonia was briefly interrupted by the Ionian Revolt (499-493BC), yet the Persian general Mardonius brought it back under Achaemenid suzerainty.[22]

Although Macedonia enjoyed a large degree of autonomy and was never made a satrapy (i.e. province) of the Achaemenid Empire, it was expected to provide troops for the Achaemenid army.[23] AlexanderI provided Macedonian military support to Xerxes I (r. 486-465 BC) during the Second Persian invasion of Greece in 480-479 BC, and Macedonian soldiers fought on the side of the Persians at the 479BC Battle of Platea.[24] Following the Greek victory at Salamis in 480BC, AlexanderI was employed as an Achaemenid diplomat to propose a peace treaty and alliance with Athens, an offer that was rejected.[25] Soon afterwards, the Achaemenid forces were forced to withdraw from mainland Europe, marking the end of Persian control over Macedonia.[26]

Involvement in the Classical Greek world

Macedon (orange) during the Peloponnesian War around 431BC, with Athens and the Delian League (yellow), Sparta and Peloponnesian League (red), independent states (blue), and the Persian Achaemenid Empire (purple)

Although initially a Persian vassal, AlexanderI of Macedon fostered friendly diplomatic relations with his former Greek enemies, the Athenian and Spartan-led coalition of Greek city-states.[27] His successor PerdiccasII (r. 454-413 BC) led the Macedonians to war in four separate conflicts against Athens, leader of the Delian League, while incursions by the Thracian ruler Sitalces of the Odrysian kingdom threatened Macedonia's territorial integrity in the northeast.[28] The Athenian statesman Pericles promoted colonization of the Strymon River near the Kingdom of Macedonia, where the colonial city of Amphipolis was founded in 437/436BC so that it could provide Athens with a steady supply of silver and gold as well as timber and pitch to support the Athenian navy.[29] Initially Perdiccas II did not take any action and might have even welcomed the Athenians, as the Thracians were foes to both of them.[30] This changed due to an Athenian alliance with a brother and cousin of PerdiccasII who had rebelled against him.[30] Thus, two separate wars were fought against Athens between 433 and 431BC.[30] The Macedonian king retaliated by promoting the rebellion of Athens' allies in Chalcidice and subsequently won over the strategic city of Potidaea.[31] After capturing the Macedonian cities Therma and Beroea, Athens besieged Potidaea but failed to overcome it; Therma was returned to Macedonia and much of Chalcidice to Athens in a peace treaty brokered by Sitalces, who provided Athens with military aid in exchange for acquiring new Thracian allies.[32]


A Macedonian didrachm minted during the reign of Archelaus I of Macedon (r. 413-399 BC)

Brasidas died in 422 BC, the year Athens and Sparta struck an accord, the Peace of Nicias, that freed Macedonia from its obligations as an Athenian ally.[37] Following the 418BC Battle of Mantinea, the victorious Spartans formed an alliance with Argos, a military pact PerdiccasII was keen to join given the threat of Spartan allies remaining in Chalcidice.[38] When Argos suddenly switched sides as a pro-Athenian democracy, the Athenian navy was able to form a blockade against Macedonian seaports and invade Chalcidice in 417BC.[39] PerdiccasII sued for peace in 414BC, forming an alliance with Athens that was continued by his son and successor ArchelausI (r. 413-399 BC).[40] Athens then provided naval support to ArchelausI in the 410BC Macedonian siege of Pydna, in exchange for timber and naval equipment.[41]

Although Archelaus I was faced with some internal revolts and had to fend off an invasion of Illyrians led by Sirras of Lynkestis, he was able to project Macedonian power into Thessaly where he sent military aid to his allies.[42] Although he retained Aigai as a ceremonial and religious center, ArchelausI moved the capital of the kingdom north to Pella, which was then positioned by a lake with a river connecting it to the Aegean Sea.[43] He improved Macedonia's currency by minting coins with a higher silver content as well as issuing separate copper coinage.[44] His royal court attracted the presence of well-known intellectuals such as the Athenian playwright Euripides.[45] When ArchelausI was assassinated (perhaps following a homosexual love affair with royal pages at his court), the kingdom was plunged into chaos, in an era lasting from 399 to 393BC that included the reign of four different monarchs: Orestes, son of ArchelausI; AeropusII, uncle, regent, and murderer of Orestes; Pausanias, son of AeropusII; and AmyntasII, who was married to the youngest daughter of ArchelausI.[46] Very little is known about this turbulent period; it came to an end when AmyntasIII (r. 393-370 BC), son of Arrhidaeus and grandson of AmyntasI, killed Pausanias and claimed the Macedonian throne.[47]

A silver stater of Amyntas III of Macedon (r. 393-370 BC)

Amyntas III was forced to flee his kingdom in either 393 or 383BC (based on conflicting accounts), owing to a massive invasion by the Illyrian Dardani led by Bardylis.[note 4] The pretender to the throne Argaeus ruled in his absence, yet AmyntasIII eventually returned to his kingdom with the aid of Thessalian allies.[48] AmyntasIII was also nearly overthrown by the forces of the Chalcidian city of Olynthos, but with the aid of Teleutias, brother of the Spartan king Agesilaus II, the Macedonians forced Olynthos to surrender and dissolve their Chalcidian League in 379BC.[49]

Alexander II (r. 370-368 BC), son of EurydiceI and AmyntasIII, succeeded his father and immediately invaded Thessaly to wage war against the tagus (supreme Thessalian military leader) Alexander of Pherae, capturing the city of Larissa.[50] The Thessalians, desiring to remove both AlexanderII and Alexander of Pherae as their overlords, appealed to Pelopidas of Thebes for aid; he succeeded in recapturing Larissa and, in the peace agreement arranged with Macedonia, received aristocratic hostages including AlexanderII's brother and future king PhilipII (r. 359-336 BC).[51] When Alexander was assassinated by his brother-in-law Ptolemy of Aloros, the latter acted as an overbearing regent for PerdiccasIII (r. 368-359 BC), younger brother of AlexanderII, who eventually had Ptolemy executed when reaching the age of majority in 365BC.[52] The remainder of Perdiccas III's reign was marked by political stability and financial recovery.[53] However, an Athenian invasion led by Timotheus, son of Conon, managed to capture Methone and Pydna, and an Illyrian invasion led by Bardylis succeeded in killing PerdiccasIII and 4,000 Macedonian troops in battle.[54]

Rise of Macedon

Left, a bust of Philip II of Macedon (r. 359-336 BC) from the Hellenistic period, located at Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek. Right, another bust of Philip II, a 1st-century AD Roman copy of a Hellenistic Greek original, now in the Vatican Museums.
Map of the Kingdom of Macedon at the death of PhilipII in 336BC (light blue), with the original territory that existed in 431BC (red outline), and dependent states (yellow)



The Macedonians, like the other Greeks, traditionally practiced monogamy, but PhilipII practiced polygamy and married seven wives with perhaps only one that did not involve the loyalty of his aristocratic subjects or new allies.[note 5] His first marriages were to Phila of Elimeia of the Upper Macedonian aristocracy as well as the Illyrian princess Audata to ensure a marriage alliance.[61] To establish an alliance with Larissa in Thessaly, he married the Thessalian noblewoman Philinna in 358BC, who bore him a son who would later rule as Philip III Arrhidaeus (r. 323-317 BC).[62] In 357BC, he married Olympias to secure an alliance with Arybbas, the King of Epirus and the Molossians. This marriage would bear a son who would later rule as AlexanderIII (better known as Alexander the Great) and claim descent from the legendary Achilles by way of his dynastic heritage from Epirus.[63] It is unclear whether or not the Achaemenid Persian kings influenced PhilipII's practice of polygamy, although his predecessor AmyntasIII had three sons with a possible second wife Gygaea: Archelaus, Arrhidaeus, and Menelaus.[64] PhilipII had Archelaus put to death in 359BC, while PhilipII's other two half brothers fled to Olynthos, serving as a casus belli for the Olynthian War (349-348BC) against the Chalcidian League.[65]

While Athens was preoccupied with the Social War (357-355 BC), PhilipII retook Amphipolis from them in 357BC and the following year recaptured Pydna and Potidaea, the latter of which he handed over to the Chalcidian League as promised in a treaty.[66] In 356BC, he took Crenides, refounding it as Philippi, while his general Parmenion defeated the Illyrian king Grabos of the Grabaei.[67] During the 355-354BC siege of Methone, PhilipII lost his right eye to an arrow wound, but managed to capture the city and treated the inhabitants cordially, unlike the Potidaeans, who had been enslaved.[note 6]

Philip II then involved Macedonia in the Third Sacred War (356-346BC). It began when Phocis captured and plundered the temple of Apollo at Delphi instead of submitting unpaid fines, causing the Amphictyonic League to declare war on Phocis and a civil war among the members of the Thessalian League aligned with either Phocis or Thebes.[68] PhilipII's initial campaign against Pherae in Thessaly in 353BC at the behest of Larissa ended in two disastrous defeats by the Phocian general Onomarchus.[note 7] PhilipII in turn defeated Onomarchus in 352BC at the Battle of Crocus Field, which led to PhilipII's election as leader (archon) of the Thessalian League, provided him a seat on the Amphictyonic Council, and allowed for a marriage alliance with Pherae by wedding Nicesipolis, niece of the tyrant Jason of Pherae.[69]


After campaigning against the Thracian ruler Cersobleptes, in 349BC, PhilipII began his war against the Chalcidian League, which had been reestablished in 375BC following a temporary disbandment.[72] Despite an Athenian intervention by Charidemus,[73] Olynthos was captured by PhilipII in 348BC, and its inhabitants were sold into slavery, including some Athenian citizens.[74] The Athenians, especially in a series of speeches by Demosthenes known as the Olynthiacs, were unsuccessful in persuading their allies to counterattack and in 346BC concluded a treaty with Macedonia known as the Peace of Philocrates.[75] The treaty stipulated that Athens would relinquish claims to Macedonian coastal territories, the Chalcidice, and Amphipolis in return for the release of the enslaved Athenians as well as guarantees that PhilipII would not attack Athenian settlements in the Thracian Chersonese.[76] Meanwhile, Phocis and Thermopylae were captured by Macedonian forces, the Delphic temple robbers were executed, and PhilipII was awarded the two Phocian seats on the Amphictyonic Council and the position of master of ceremonies over the Pythian Games.[77] Athens initially opposed his membership on the council and refused to attend the games in protest, but they eventually accepted these conditions, perhaps after some persuasion by Demosthenes in his oration On the Peace.[78]

Left, a Niketerion (victory medallion) bearing the effigy of king Philip II of Macedon, 3rd centuryAD, probably minted during the reign of Roman Emperor Alexander Severus. Right, the ruins of the Philippeion at Olympia, Greece, which was built by Philip II of Macedon to celebrate his victory at the Battle of Chaeronea in 338BC.[79]

Over the next few years, Philip II reformed local governments in Thessaly, campaigned against the Illyrian ruler Pleuratus I, deposed Arybbas in Epirus in favor of his brother-in-law AlexanderI (through PhilipII's marriage to Olympias), and defeated Cersebleptes in Thrace. This allowed him to extend Macedonian control over the Hellespont in anticipation of an invasion into Achaemenid Anatolia.[80] In 342BC, PhilipII conquered a Thracian city in what is now Bulgaria and renamed it Philippopolis (modern Plovdiv).[81] War broke out with Athens in 340BC while PhilipII was engaged in two ultimately unsuccessful sieges of Perinthus and Byzantion, followed by a successful campaign against the Scythians along the Danube and Macedonia's involvement in the Fourth Sacred War against Amphissa in 339BC.[82] Thebes ejected a Macedonian garrison from Nicaea (near Thermopylae), leading Thebes to join Athens, Megara, Corinth, Achaea, and Euboea in a final confrontation against Macedonia at the Battle of Chaeronea in 338BC.[83] After the Macedonian victory at Chaeronea, PhilipII installed an oligarchy in Thebes, yet was lenient toward Athens, wishing to utilize their navy in a planned invasion of the Achaemenid Empire.[84] He was then chiefly responsible for the formation of the League of Corinth that included the major Greek city-states except Sparta. Despite the Kingdom of Macedonia's official exclusion from the league, in 337BC, PhilipII was elected as the leader (hegemon) of its council (synedrion) and the commander-in-chief (strategos autokrator) of a forthcoming campaign to invade the Achaemenid Empire.[85] Philip's plan to punish the Persians for the suffering of the Greeks and to liberate the Greek cities of Asia Minor[86] as well as perhaps the panhellenic fear of another Persian invasion of Greece, contributed to his decision to invade the Achaemenid Empire.[87] The Persians offered aid to Perinthus and Byzantion in 341-340BC, highlighting Macedonia's strategic need to secure Thrace and the Aegean Sea against increasing Achaemenid encroachment, as the Persian king Artaxerxes III further consolidated his control over satrapies in western Anatolia.[88] The latter region, yielding far more wealth and valuable resources than the Balkans, was also coveted by the Macedonian king for its sheer economic potential.[89]

When Philip II married Cleopatra Eurydice, niece of general Attalus, talk of providing new potential heirs at the wedding feast infuriated PhilipII's son Alexander, a veteran of the Battle of Chaeronea, and his mother Olympias.[90] They fled together to Epirus before Alexander was recalled to Pella by PhilipII.[90] When PhilipII arranged a marriage between his son Arrhidaeus and Ada of Caria, daughter of Pixodarus, the Persian satrap of Caria, Alexander intervened and proposed to marry Ada instead. PhilipII then cancelled the wedding altogether and exiled Alexander's advisors Ptolemy, Nearchus, and Harpalus.[91] To reconcile with Olympias, PhilipII had their daughter Cleopatra marry Olympias' brother (and Cleopatra's uncle) AlexanderI of Epirus, but PhilipII was assassinated by his bodyguard, Pausanias of Orestis, during their wedding feast and succeeded by Alexander in 336BC.[92]


Left, Bust of Alexander the Great by the Athenian sculptor Leochares, 330BC, Acropolis Museum, Athens. Right, Bust of Alexander the Great, a Roman copy of the Imperial Era (1st or 2nd centuryAD) after an original bronze sculpture made by the Greek sculptor Lysippos, Louvre, Paris.
Alexander's empire and his route

Modern scholars have argued over the possible role of AlexanderIII "the Great" and his mother Olympias in the assassination of PhilipII, noting the latter's choice to exclude Alexander from his planned invasion of Asia, choosing instead for him to act as regent of Greece and deputy hegemon of the League of Corinth, and the potential bearing of another male heir between PhilipII and his new wife, Cleopatra Eurydice.[note 8] AlexanderIII (r. 336-323 BC) was immediately proclaimed king by an assembly of the army and leading aristocrats, chief among them being Antipater and Parmenion.[93] By the end of his reign and military career in 323BC, Alexander would rule over an empire consisting of mainland Greece, Asia Minor, the Levant, ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, Persia, and much of Central and South Asia (i.e. modern Pakistan).[94] Among his first acts was the burial of his father at Aigai.[95] The members of the League of Corinth revolted at the news of PhilipII's death, but were soon quelled by military force alongside persuasive diplomacy, electing Alexander as hegemon of the league to carry out the planned invasion of Achaemenid Persia.[96]


Throughout his military career, Alexander won every battle that he personally commanded.[101] His first victory against the Persians in Asia Minor at the Battle of the Granicus in 334BC used a small cavalry contingent as a distraction to allow his infantry to cross the river followed by a cavalry charge from his companion cavalry.[102] Alexander led the cavalry charge at the Battle of Issus in 333BC, forcing the Persian king Darius III and his army to flee.[102] DariusIII, despite having superior numbers, was again forced to flee the Battle of Gaugamela in 331BC.[102] The Persian king was later captured and executed by his own satrap of Bactria and kinsman, Bessus, in 330BC. The Macedonian king subsequently hunted down and executed Bessus in what is now Afghanistan, securing the region of Sogdia in the process.[103] At the 326BC Battle of the Hydaspes (modern-day Punjab), when the war elephants of King Porus of the Pauravas threatened Alexander's troops, he had them form open ranks to surround the elephants and dislodge their handlers by using their sarissa pikes.[104] When his Macedonian troops threatened mutiny in 324BC at Opis, Babylonia (near modern Baghdad, Iraq), Alexander offered Macedonian military titles and greater responsibilities to Persian officers and units instead, forcing his troops to seek forgiveness at a staged banquet of reconciliation between Persians and Macedonians.[105]


Alexander perhaps undercut his own rule by demonstrating signs of megalomania.[106] While utilizing effective propaganda such as the cutting of the Gordian Knot, he also attempted to portray himself as a living god and son of Zeus following his visit to the oracle at Siwah in the Libyan Desert (in modern-day Egypt) in 331BC.[107] His attempt in 327BC to have his men prostrate before him in Bactra in an act of proskynesis borrowed from the Persian kings was rejected as religious blasphemy by his Macedonian and Greek subjects after his court historian Callisthenes refused to perform this ritual.[106] When Alexander had Parmenion murdered at Ecbatana (near modern Hamadan, Iran) in 330BC, this was "symptomatic of the growing gulf between the king's interests and those of his country and people", according to Errington.[108] His murder of Cleitus the Black in 328BC is described as "vengeful and reckless" by Dawn L. Gilley and Ian Worthington.[109] Continuing the polygamous habits of his father, Alexander encouraged his men to marry native women in Asia, leading by example when he wed Roxana, a Sogdian princess of Bactria.[110] He then married Stateira II, eldest daughter of DariusIII, and Parysatis II, youngest daughter of Artaxerxes III, at the Susa weddings in 324BC.[111]


Kingdoms of the diadochi c.301BC, after the Battle of Ipsus
  Kingdom of Ptolemy I Soter
  Kingdom of Cassander
  Kingdom of Lysimachus
  Kingdom of Seleucus I Nicator
A golden stater of Philip III Arrhidaeus (r. 323-317 BC) bearing images of Athena (left) and Nike (right)

When Alexander the Great died at Babylon in 323BC, his mother Olympias immediately accused Antipater and his faction of poisoning him, although there is no evidence to confirm this.[116] With no official heir apparent, the Macedonian military command split, with one side proclaiming Alexander's half-brother PhilipIII Arrhidaeus (r. 323-317 BC) as king and the other siding with the infant son of Alexander and Roxana, AlexanderIV (r. 323-309 BC).[117] Except for the Euboeans and Boeotians, the Greeks also immediately rose up in a rebellion against Antipater known as the Lamian War (323-322BC).[118] When Antipater was defeated at the 323BC Battle of Thermopylae, he fled to Lamia where he was besieged by the Athenian commander Leosthenes. A Macedonian army led by Leonnatus rescued Antipater by lifting the siege.[119] Antipater defeated the rebellion, yet his death in 319BC left a power vacuum wherein the two proclaimed kings of Macedonia became pawns in a power struggle between the diadochi, the former generals of Alexander's army.[120]

A council of the army convened in Babylon immediately after Alexander's death, naming PhilipIII as king and the chiliarch Perdiccas as his regent.[121] Antipater, Antigonus Monophthalmus, Craterus, and Ptolemy formed a coalition against Perdiccas in a civil war initiated by Ptolemy's seizure of the hearse of Alexander the Great.[122] Perdiccas was assassinated in 321BC by his own officers during a failed campaign in Egypt against Ptolemy, where his march along the Nile River resulted in the drowning of 2,000 of his men.[123] Although Eumenes of Cardia managed to kill Craterus in battle, this had little to no effect on the outcome of the 321BC Partition of Triparadisus in Syria where the victorious coalition settled the issue of a new regency and territorial rights.[124] Antipater was appointed as regent over the two kings. Before Antipater died in 319BC, he named the staunch Argead loyalist Polyperchon as his successor, passing over his own son Cassander and ignoring the right of the king to choose a new regent (since PhilipIII was considered mentally unstable), in effect bypassing the council of the army as well.[125]

Forming an alliance with Ptolemy, Antigonus, and Lysimachus, Cassander had his officer Nicanor capture the Munichia fortress of Athens' port town Piraeus in defiance of Polyperchon's decree that Greek cities should be free of Macedonian garrisons, sparking the Second War of the Diadochi (319-315BC).[126] Given a string of military failures by Polyperchon, in 317BC, PhilipIII, by way of his politically engaged wife Eurydice II of Macedon, officially replaced him as regent with Cassander.[127] Afterwards, Polyperchon desperately sought the aid of Olympias in Epirus.[127] A joint force of Epirotes, Aetolians, and Polyperchon's troops invaded Macedonia and forced the surrender of PhilipIII and Eurydice's army, allowing Olympias to execute the king and force his queen to commit suicide.[128] Olympias then had Nicanor and dozens of other Macedonian nobles killed, but by the spring of 316BC, Cassander had defeated her forces, captured her, and placed her on trial for murder before sentencing her to death.[129]

Cassander married Philip II's daughter Thessalonike and briefly extended Macedonian control into Illyria as far as Epidamnos. By 313BC, it was retaken by the Illyrian king Glaucias of Taulantii.[130] By 316BC, Antigonus had taken the territory of Eumenes and managed to eject Seleucus Nicator from his Babylonian satrapy, leading Cassander, Ptolemy, and Lysimachus to issue a joint ultimatum to Antigonus in 315BC for him to surrender various territories in Asia.[9] Antigonus promptly allied with Polyperchon, now based in Corinth, and issued an ultimatum of his own to Cassander, charging him with murder for executing Olympias and demanding that he hand over the royal family, King AlexanderIV and the queen mother Roxana.[131] The conflict that followed lasted until the winter of 312/311BC, when a new peace settlement recognized Cassander as general of Europe, Antigonus as "first in Asia", Ptolemy as general of Egypt, and Lysimachus as general of Thrace.[132] Cassander had AlexanderIV and Roxana put to death in the winter of 311/310BC, and by 306-305BC, the diadochi were declared kings of their respective territories.[133]

Hellenistic era

The beginning of Hellenistic Greece was defined by the struggle between the Antipatrid dynasty, led first by Cassander (r. 305-297 BC), son of Antipater, and the Antigonid dynasty, led by the Macedonian general Antigonus I Monophthalmus (r. 306-301 BC) and his son, the future king DemetriusI (r. 294-288 BC). Cassander besieged Athens in 303BC, but was forced to retreat to Macedonia when Demetrius invaded Boeotia to his rear, attempting to sever his path of retreat.[134] While Antigonus and Demetrius attempted to recreate PhilipII's Hellenic league with themselves as dual hegemons, a revived coalition of Cassander, Ptolemy I Soter (r. 305-283 BC) of Egypt's Ptolemaic dynasty, Seleucus I Nicator (r. 305-281 BC) of the Seleucid Empire, and Lysimachus (r. 306-281 BC), King of Thrace, defeated the Antigonids at the Battle of Ipsus in 301BC, killing Antigonus and forcing Demetrius into flight.[135]

Cassander died in 297 BC, and his sickly son PhilipIV died the same year, succeeded by Cassander's other sons Alexander V of Macedon (r. 297-294 BC) and Antipater II of Macedon (r. 297-294 BC), with their mother Thessalonike of Macedon acting as regent.[136] While Demetrius fought against the Antipatrid forces in Greece, AntipaterII killed his own mother to obtain power.[136] His desperate brother AlexanderV then requested aid from Pyrrhus of Epirus (r. 297-272 BC),[136] who had fought alongside Demetrius at the Battle of Ipsus, but was sent to Egypt as a hostage as part of an agreement between Demetrius and PtolemyI.[137] In exchange for defeating the forces of AntipaterII and forcing him to flee to the court of Lysimachus in Thrace, Pyrrhus was awarded the westernmost portions of the Macedonian kingdom.[138] Demetrius had his nephew AlexanderV assassinated and was then proclaimed king of Macedonia, but his subjects protested against his aloof, Eastern-style autocracy.[136]

War broke out between Pyrrhus and Demetrius in 290BC when Lanassa, wife of Pyrrhus, daughter of Agathocles of Syracuse, left him for Demetrius and offered him her dowry of Corcyra.[139] The war dragged on until 288BC, when Demetrius lost the support of the Macedonians and fled the country. Macedonia was then divided between Pyrrhus and Lysimachus, the former taking western Macedonia and the latter eastern Macedonia.[139] By 286BC, Lysimachus had expelled Pyrrhus and his forces from Macedonia.[note 10] In 282BC, a new war erupted between SeleucusI and Lysimachus; the latter was killed in the Battle of Corupedion, allowing SeleucusI to take control of Thrace and Macedonia.[140] In two dramatic reversals of fortune, SeleucusI was assassinated in 281BC by his officer Ptolemy Keraunos, son of PtolemyI and grandson of Antipater, who was then proclaimed king of Macedonia before being killed in battle in 279BC by Celtic invaders in the Gallic invasion of Greece.[141] The Macedonian army proclaimed the general Sosthenes of Macedon as king, although he apparently refused the title.[142] After defeating the Gallic ruler Bolgios and driving out the raiding party of Brennus, Sosthenes died and left a chaotic situation in Macedonia.[143] The Gallic invaders ravaged Macedonia until Antigonus Gonatas, son of Demetrius, defeated them in Thrace at the 277BC Battle of Lysimachia and was then proclaimed king Antigonus II of Macedon (r. 277-274, 272-239 BC).[144]

In 280 BC, Pyrrhus embarked on a campaign in Magna Graecia (i.e. southern Italy) against the Roman Republic known as the Pyrrhic War, followed by his invasion of Sicily.[145] Ptolemy Keraunos secured his position on the Macedonian throne by giving Pyrrhus five thousand soldiers and twenty war elephants for this endeavor.[137] Pyrrhus returned to Epirus in 275BC after the ultimate failure of both campaigns, which contributed to the rise of Rome because Greek cities in southern Italy such as Tarentum now became Roman allies.[145] Pyrrhus invaded Macedonia in 274BC, defeating the largely mercenary army of AntigonusII at the 274BC Battle of Aous and driving him out of Macedonia, forcing him to seek refuge with his naval fleet in the Aegean.[146]


Pyrrhus lost much of his support among the Macedonians in 273BC when his unruly Gallic mercenaries plundered the royal cemetery of Aigai.[147] Pyrrhus pursued AntigonusII in the Peloponnese, yet AntigonusII was ultimately able to recapture Macedonia.[148] Pyrrhus was killed while besieging Argos in 272BC, allowing AntigonusII to reclaim the rest of Greece.[149] He then restored the Argead dynastic graves at Aigai and annexed the Kingdom of Paeonia.[150]

The Aetolian League hampered AntigonusII's control over central Greece, and the formation of the Achaean League in 251BC pushed Macedonian forces out of much of the Peloponnese and at times incorporated Athens and Sparta.[151] While the Seleucid Empire aligned with Antigonid Macedonia against Ptolemaic Egypt during the Syrian Wars, the Ptolemaic navy heavily disrupted AntigonusII's efforts to control mainland Greece.[152] With the aid of the Ptolemaic navy, the Athenian statesman Chremonides led a revolt against Macedonian authority known as the Chremonidean War (267-261BC).[153] By 265BC, Athens was surrounded and besieged by AntigonusII's forces, and a Ptolemaic fleet was defeated in the Battle of Cos. Athens finally surrendered in 261BC.[154] After Macedonia formed an alliance with the Seleucid ruler Antiochus II, a peace settlement between AntigonusII and Ptolemy II Philadelphus of Egypt was finally struck in 255BC.[155]

The Temple of Apollo at Corinth, built c.540BC, with the Acrocorinth (i.e. the acropolis of Corinth that once held a Macedonian garrison)[156] seen in the background

In 251 BC, Aratus of Sicyon led a rebellion against AntigonusII, and in 250BC, PtolemyII declared his support for the self-proclaimed King Alexander of Corinth.[157] Although Alexander died in 246BC and Antigonus was able to score a naval victory against the Ptolemies at Andros, the Macedonians lost the Acrocorinth to the forces of Aratus in 243BC, followed by the induction of Corinth into the Achaean League.[158] AntigonusII made peace with the Achaean League in 240BC, ceding the territories that he had lost in Greece.[159] AntigonusII died in 239BC and was succeeded by his son Demetrius II of Macedon (r. 239-229 BC). Seeking an alliance with Macedonia to defend against the Aetolians, the queen mother and regent of Epirus, Olympias II, offered her daughter Phthia of Macedon to DemetriusII in marriage. Demetrius II accepted her proposal, but he damaged relations with the Seleucids by divorcing Stratonice of Macedon.[160] Although the Aetolians formed an alliance with the Achaean League as a result, DemetriusII was able to invade Boeotia and capture it from the Aetolians by 236BC.[156]

The Achaean League managed to capture Megalopolis in 235BC, and by the end of DemetriusII's reign most of the Peloponnese except Argos was taken from the Macedonians.[161] DemetriusII also lost an ally in Epirus when the monarchy was toppled in a republican revolution.[162] DemetriusII enlisted the aid of the Illyrian king Agron to defend Acarnania against Aetolia, and in 229BC, they managed to defeat the combined navies of the Aetolian and Achaean Leagues at the Battle of Paxos.[162] Another Illyrian ruler, Longarus of the Dardanian Kingdom, invaded Macedonia and defeated an army of DemetriusII shortly before his death in 229BC.[163] Although his young son Philip immediately inherited the throne, his regent Antigonus III Doson (r. 229-221 BC), nephew of AntigonusII, was proclaimed king by the army, with Philip as his heir, following a string of military victories against the Illyrians in the north and the Aetolians in Thessaly.[164]

A tetradrachm minted during the reign of Antigonus III Doson (r. 229-221 BC), possibly at Amphipolis, bearing the portrait image of Poseidon on the obverse and on the reverse a scene depicting Apollo sitting on the prow of a ship

Aratus sent an embassy to Antigonus III in 226BC seeking an unexpected alliance now that the reformist king Cleomenes III of Sparta was threatening the rest of Greece in the Cleomenean War (229-222BC).[165] In exchange for military aid, AntigonusIII demanded the return of Corinth to Macedonian control, which Aratus finally agreed to in 225BC.[166] In 224BC, AntigonusIII's forces took Arcadia from Sparta. After forming a Hellenic league in the same vein as PhilipII's League of Corinth, he managed to defeat Sparta at the Battle of Sellasia in 222BC.[167] Sparta was occupied by a foreign power for the first time in its history, restoring Macedonia's position as the leading power in Greece.[168] Antigonus died a year later, perhaps from tuberculosis, leaving behind a strong Hellenistic kingdom for his successor PhilipV.[169]

Philip V of Macedon (r. 221-179 BC) faced immediate challenges to his authority by the Illyrian Dardani and Aetolian League.[170] PhilipV and his allies were successful against the Aetolians and their allies in the Social War (220-217 BC), yet he made peace with the Aetolians once he heard of incursions by the Dardani in the north and the Carthaginian victory over the Romans at the Battle of Lake Trasimene in 217BC.[171] Demetrius of Pharos is alleged to have convinced PhilipV to first secure Illyria in advance of an invasion of the Italian peninsula.[note 11] In 216BC, PhilipV sent a hundred light warships into the Adriatic Sea to attack Illyria, a move that prompted Scerdilaidas of the Ardiaean Kingdom to appeal to the Romans for aid.[172] Rome responded by sending ten heavy quinqueremes from Roman Sicily to patrol the Illyrian coasts, causing PhilipV to reverse course and order his fleet to retreat, averting open conflict for the time being.[173]

Conflict with Rome

The Kingdom of Macedonia (orange) under PhilipV (r. 221-179 BC), with Macedonian dependent states (dark yellow), the Seleucid Empire (bright yellow), Roman protectorates (dark green), the Kingdom of Pergamon (light green), independent states (light purple), and possessions of the Ptolemaic Empire (violet purple)

In 215 BC, at the height of the Second Punic War with the Carthaginian Empire, Roman authorities intercepted a ship off the Calabrian coast holding a Macedonian envoy and a Carthaginian ambassador in possession of a treaty composed by Hannibal declaring an alliance with PhilipV.[174] The treaty stipulated that Carthage had the sole right to negotiate the terms of Rome's hypothetical surrender and promised mutual aid in the event that a resurgent Rome should seek revenge against either Macedonia or Carthage.[175] Although the Macedonians were perhaps only interested in safeguarding their newly conquered territories in Illyria,[176] the Romans were nevertheless able to thwart whatever grand ambitions PhilipV had for the Adriatic region during the First Macedonian War (214-205BC). In 214BC, Rome positioned a naval fleet at Oricus, which was assaulted along with Apollonia by Macedonian forces.[177] When the Macedonians captured Lissus in 212BC, the Roman Senate responded by inciting the Aetolian League, Sparta, Elis, Messenia, and Attalus I (r. 241-197 BC) of Pergamon to wage war against PhilipV, keeping him occupied and away from Italy.[178]

The Aetolian League concluded a peace agreement with PhilipV in 206BC, and the Roman Republic negotiated the Treaty of Phoenice in 205BC, ending the war and allowing the Macedonians to retain some captured settlements in Illyria.[179] Although the Romans rejected an Aetolian request in 202BC for Rome to declare war on Macedonia once again, the Roman Senate gave serious consideration to the similar offer made by Pergamon and its ally Rhodes in 201BC.[180] These states were concerned about PhilipV's alliance with Antiochus III the Great of the Seleucid Empire, which invaded the war-weary and financially exhausted Ptolemaic Empire in the Fifth Syrian War (202-195BC) as PhilipV captured Ptolemaic settlements in the Aegean Sea.[181] Although Rome's envoys played a critical role in convincing Athens to join the anti-Macedonian alliance with Pergamon and Rhodes in 200BC, the comitia centuriata (people's assembly) rejected the Roman Senate's proposal for a declaration of war on Macedonia.[182] Meanwhile, PhilipV conquered territories in the Hellespont and Bosporus as well as Ptolemaic Samos, which led Rhodes to form an alliance with Pergamon, Byzantium, Cyzicus, and Chios against Macedonia.[183] Despite PhilipV's nominal alliance with the Seleucid king, he lost the naval Battle of Chios in 201BC and was blockaded at Bargylia by the Rhodian and Pergamene navies.[184]

A tetradrachm of Philip V of Macedon (r. 221-179 BC), with the king's portrait on the obverse and Athena Alkidemos brandishing a thunderbolt on the reverse

While Philip V was busy fighting Rome's Greek allies, Rome viewed this as an opportunity to punish this former ally of Hannibal with a war that they hoped would supply a victory and require few resources.[note 12] The Roman Senate demanded that PhilipV cease hostilities against neighboring Greek powers and defer to an international arbitration committee for settling grievances.[185] When the comitia centuriata finally voted in approval of the Roman Senate's declaration of war in 200BC and handed their ultimatum to PhilipV, demanding that a tribunal assess the damages owed to Rhodes and Pergamon, the Macedonian king rejected it. This marked the beginning of the Second Macedonian War (200-197BC), with Publius Sulpicius Galba Maximus spearheading military operations in Apollonia.[186]

The Macedonians successfully defended their territory for roughly two years,[187] but the Roman consul Titus Quinctius Flamininus managed to expel PhilipV from Macedonia in 198BC, forcing his men to take refuge in Thessaly.[188] When the Achaean League switched their loyalties from Macedonia to Rome, the Macedonian king sued for peace, but the terms offered were considered too stringent, and so the war continued.[188] In June 197BC, the Macedonians were defeated at the Battle of Cynoscephalae.[189] Rome then ratified a treaty that forced Macedonia to relinquish control of much of its Greek possessions outside of Macedonia proper, if only to act as a buffer against Illyrian and Thracian incursions into Greece.[190] Although some Greeks suspected Roman intentions of supplanting Macedonia as the new hegemonic power in Greece, Flaminius announced at the Isthmian Games of 196BC that Rome intended to preserve Greek liberty by leaving behind no garrisons and by not exacting tribute of any kind.[191] His promise was delayed by negotiations with the Spartan king Nabis, who had meanwhile captured Argos, yet Roman forces evacuated Greece in 194BC.[192]

Encouraged by the Aetolian League and their calls to liberate Greece from the Romans, the Seleucid king AntiochusIII landed with his army at Demetrias, Thessaly, in 192BC, and was elected strategos by the Aetolians.[193] Macedonia, the Achaean League, and other Greek city-states maintained their alliance with Rome.[194] The Romans defeated the Seleucids in the 191BC Battle of Thermopylae as well as the Battle of Magnesia in 190BC, forcing the Seleucids to pay a war indemnity, dismantle most of its navy, and abandon its claims to any territories north or west of the Taurus Mountains in the 188BC Treaty of Apamea.[195] With Rome's acceptance, PhilipV was able to capture some cities in central Greece in 191-189BC that had been allied to AntiochusIII, while Rhodes and Eumenes II (r. 197-159 BC) of Pergamon gained territories in Asia Minor.[196]

Failing to please all sides in various territorial disputes, the Roman Senate decided in 184/183BC to force PhilipV to abandon Aenus and Maronea, since these had been declared free cities in the Treaty of Apamea.[note 13] This assuaged the fear of EumenesII that Macedonia could pose a threat to his lands in the Hellespont.[197] Perseus of Macedon (r. 179-168 BC) succeeded PhilipV and executed his brother Demetrius, who had been favored by the Romans but was charged by Perseus with high treason.[198] Perseus then attempted to form marriage alliances with Prusias II of Bithynia and Seleucus IV Philopator of the Seleucid Empire, along with renewed relations with Rhodes that greatly unsettled EumenesII.[199] Although EumenesII attempted to undermine these diplomatic relationships, Perseus fostered an alliance with the Boeotian League, extended his authority into Illyria and Thrace, and in 174BC, won the role of managing the Temple of Apollo at Delphi as a member of the Amphictyonic Council.[200]

Left, a tetradrachm of Perseus of Macedon (r. 179-168 BC), British Museum. Right, The Triumph of Aemilius Paulus (detail) by Carle Vernet, 1789.

Eumenes II came to Rome in 172 BC and delivered a speech to the Senate denouncing the alleged crimes and transgressions of Perseus.[201] This convinced the Roman Senate to declare the Third Macedonian War (171-168BC).[note 14] Although Perseus's forces were victorious against the Romans at the Battle of Callinicus in 171BC, the Macedonian army was defeated at the Battle of Pydna in June 168BC.[202] Perseus fled to Samothrace but surrendered shortly afterwards, was brought to Rome for the triumph of Lucius Aemilius Paullus Macedonicus, and was placed under house arrest at Alba Fucens, where he died in 166BC.[203] The Romans abolished the Macedonian monarchy by installing four separate allied republics in its stead, their capitals located at Amphipolis, Thessalonica, Pella, and Pelagonia.[204] The Romans imposed severe laws inhibiting many social and economic interactions between the inhabitants of these republics, including the banning of marriages between them and the (temporary) prohibition on gold and silver mining.[204] A certain Andriscus, claiming Antigonid descent, rebelled against the Romans and was pronounced king of Macedonia, defeating the army of the Roman praetor Publius Juventius Thalna during the Fourth Macedonian War (150-148BC).[205] Despite this, Andriscus was defeated in 148BC at the second Battle of Pydna by Quintus Caecilius Metellus Macedonicus, whose forces occupied the kingdom.[206] This was followed in 146BC by the Roman destruction of Carthage and victory over the Achaean League at the Battle of Corinth, ushering in the era of Roman Greece and the gradual establishment of the Roman province of Macedonia.[207]


Division of power

The Vergina Sun, the 16-ray star covering the royal burial larnax of Philip II of Macedon (r. 359-336 BC), discovered in the tomb of Vergina, formerly ancient Aigai

At the head of Macedonia's government was the king (basileus).[note 15] From at least the reign of PhilipII, the king was assisted by the royal pages (basilikoi paides), bodyguards (somatophylakes), companions (hetairoi), friends (philoi), an assembly that included members of the military, and (during the Hellenistic period) magistrates.[208] Evidence is lacking regarding the extent to which each of these groups shared authority with the king or if their existence had a basis in a formal constitutional framework.[note 16] Before the reign of PhilipII, the only institution supported by textual evidence is the monarchy.[note 17]

Kingship and the royal court





Royal pages

Left, the god Dionysos riding a cheetah, mosaic floor in the "House of Dionysos" at Pella, Greece, c. 330-300 BC. Right, a framentary votive relief depicting a youth ladling wine from a krater next to a round table with vases, from the agora of Pella, end of 4th century BC, Archaeological Museum of Pella.




Companions, friends, councils, and assemblies




Magistrates, the commonwealth, local government, and allied states



In ancient Athens, the Athenian democracy was restored on three separate occasions following the initial conquest of the city by Antipater in 322BC.[229] When it fell repeatedly under Macedonian rule it was governed by a Macedonian-imposed oligarchy composed of the wealthiest members of the city-state.[note 24] Other city-states were handled quite differently and were allowed a greater degree of autonomy.[230] After PhilipII conquered Amphipolis in 357BC, the city was allowed to retain its democracy, including its constitution, popular assembly, city council (boule), and yearly elections for new officials, but a Macedonian garrison was housed within the city walls along with a Macedonian royal commissioner (epistates) to monitor the city's political affairs.[231] Philippi, the city founded by PhilipII, was the only other city in the Macedonian commonwealth that had a democratic government with popular assemblies, since the assembly (ecclesia) of Thessaloniki seems to have had only a passive function in practice.[232] Some cities also maintained their own municipal revenues.[230] The Macedonian king and central government administered the revenues generated by temples and priesthoods.[233]



Left, a Macedonian infantryman, possibly a hypaspist, equipped with a hoplon shield and wearing a linothorax cuirass and Thracian helmet; bas relief from the Alexander Sarcophagus, 4th century BC. Right, an ancient Macedonian bronze shield excavated from the archaeological site at Bon?e in North Macedonia, dated 4th century BC.

Early Macedonian army


Philip II and Alexander the Great

After spending years as a political hostage in Thebes, PhilipII sought to imitate the Greek example of martial exercises and the issuing of standard equipment for citizen soldiery, and succeeded in transforming the Macedonian army from a levied force of unprofessional farmers into a well-trained, professional army.[246] PhilipII adopted some of the military tactics of his enemies, such as the embolon (flying wedge) cavalry formation of the Scythians.[247] His infantry wielded peltai shields that replaced the earlier hoplon-style shields, were equipped with protective helmets, greaves, and either cuirasses breastplates or kotthybos stomach bands, and armed with sarissa pikes and daggers as secondary weapons.[note 26] The elite hypaspistai infantry, composed of handpicked men from the ranks of the pezhetairoi, were formed during the reign of PhilipII and saw continued use during the reign of Alexander the Great.[248] PhilipII was also responsible for the establishment of the royal bodyguards (somatophylakes).[249]




Antigonid period military

Fresco of an ancient Macedonian soldier (thorakites) wearing chainmail armor and bearing a thureos shield, 3rd centuryBC, ?stanbul Archaeology Museums



The Antigonid Macedonian kings continued to expand and equip the navy.[262] Cassander maintained a small fleet at Pydna, Demetrius I of Macedon had one at Pella, and Antigonus II Gonatas, while serving as a general for Demetrius in Greece, used the navy to secure the Macedonian holdings in Demetrias, Chalkis, Piraeus, and Corinth.[263] The navy was considerably expanded during the Chremonidean War (267-261BC), allowing the Macedonian navy to defeat the Ptolemaic Egyptian navy at the 255BC Battle of Cos and 245BC Battle of Andros, and enabling Macedonian influence to spread over the Cyclades.[263] AntigonusIII Doson used the Macedonian navy to invade Caria, while PhilipV sent 200 ships to fight in the Battle of Chios in 201BC.[263] The Macedonian navy was reduced to a mere six vessels as agreed in the 197BC peace treaty that concluded the Second Macedonian War with the Roman Republic, although Perseus of Macedon quickly assembled some lemboi at the outbreak of the Third Macedonian War in 171BC.[263]

Society and culture


Language and dialects


Religious beliefs and funerary practices

A mosaic of the Kasta Tomb in Amphipolis depicting the abduction of Persephone by Pluto, 4thcenturyBC
The Lion of Amphipolis in Amphipolis, northern Greece, a 4th-centuryBC marble tomb sculpture[267] erected in honor of Laomedon of Mytilene, a general who served under Alexander the Great



Economics and social class



Visual arts


By the reign of ArchelausI in the 5th century BC, the ancient Macedonian elite was importing customs and artistic traditions from other regions of Greece while retaining more archaic, perhaps Homeric, funerary rites connected with the symposium that were typified by items such as the decorative metal kraters that held the ashes of deceased Macedonian nobility in their tombs.[284] Among these is the large bronze Derveni Krater from a 4th-centuryBC tomb of Thessaloniki, decorated with scenes of the Greek god Dionysus and his entourage and belonging to an aristocrat who had had a military career.[285] Macedonian metalwork usually followed Athenian styles of vase shapes from the 6thcenturyBC onward, with drinking vessels, jewellery, containers, crowns, diadems, and coins among the many metal objects found in Macedonian tombs.[286]

Alexander (left), wearing a kausia and fighting an Asiatic lion with his friend Craterus (detail); late 4th-centuryBC mosaic,[287] Pella Museum.


Theatre, music and performing arts



Literature, education, philosophy, and patronage

Portrait bust of Aristotle, an Imperial Roman (1st or 2nd centuryAD) copy of a lost bronze sculpture made by Lysippos



Sports and leisure


When Alexander I of Macedon petitioned to compete in the foot race of the ancient Olympic Games, the event organizers at first denied his request, explaining that only Greeks were allowed to compete. However, AlexanderI produced proof of an Argead royal genealogy showing ancient Argive Temenid lineage, a move that ultimately convinced the Olympic Hellanodikai authorities of his Greek descent and ability to compete.[302] By the end of the 5thcenturyBC, the Macedonian king ArchelausI was crowned with the olive wreath at both Olympia and Delphi (in the Pythian Games) for winning chariot racing contests.[303] PhilipII allegedly heard of the Olympic victory of his horse (in either an individual horse race or chariot race) on the same day his son Alexander the Great was born, on either 19 or 20July 356BC.[304] Non-royal Macedonians also competed in and won various Olympic contests by the 4th century BC.[305] In addition to literary contests, Alexander the Great staged competitions for music and athletics across his empire.[293]

Dining and cuisine

A banquet scene from a Macedonian tomb of Agios Athanasios, Thessaloniki, 4thcenturyBC; shown are six men reclining on couches, with food arranged on nearby tables, a male servant in attendance, and female musicians providing entertainment.[306]



Ethnic identity

Macedonian boy BM 1906.10-19.1.jpg Terrakota Statue eines Makedoniers 3 Jhdt v Chr.jpg



Technology and engineering




Macedonian rulers also sponsored works of architecture outside of Macedonia proper. For instance, following his victory at the Battle of Chaeronea (338 BC), PhilipII raised a round memorial building at Olympia known as the Philippeion, decorated inside with statues depicting him, his parents Amyntas III of Macedon and Eurydice I of Macedon, his wife Olympias, and his son Alexander the Great.[322]


Military technology and engineering

By the Hellenistic period, it became common for Greek states to finance the development and proliferation of ever more powerful torsion siege engines, naval ships, and standardized designs for arms and armor.[324] Under PhilipII and Alexander the Great, improvements were made to siege artillery such as bolt-shooting ballistae and siege engines such as huge rolling siege towers.[325] E.W.Marsden and M.Y.Treister contend that the Macedonian rulers Antigonus I Monophthalmus and his successor Demetrius I of Macedon had the most powerful siege artillery of the Hellenistic world at the end of the 4thcenturyBC.[326] The siege of Salamis, Cyprus, in 306BC necessitated the building of large siege engines and drafting of craftsmen from parts of West Asia.[327] The siege tower commissioned by DemetriusI for the Macedonian Siege of Rhodes (305-304 BC) and manned by over three thousand soldiers was built at a height of nine stories.[328] It had a base of 4,300 square feet (399 square metres), eight wheels that were steered in either direction by pivots, three sides covered in iron plates to protect them from fire, and mechanically opened windows (shielded with wool-stuffed leather curtains to soften the blow of ballistae rounds) of different sizes to accommodate the firing of missiles ranging from arrows to larger bolts.[328]

During the siege of Echinus by Philip V of Macedon in 211BC, the besiegers built tunnels to protect the soldiers and sappers as they went back and forth from the camp to the siege works. These included two siege towers connected by a makeshift wickerwork curtain wall mounted with stone-shooting ballistae, and sheds to protect the approach of the battering ram.[329] Despite the early reputation of Macedon as a leader in siege technology, Alexandria in Ptolemaic Egypt became the center for technological improvements to the catapult by the 3rdcenturyBC, as evidenced by the writings of Philo of Alexandria.[327]

Other innovations

Although perhaps not as prolific as other areas of Greece in regards to technological innovations, there are some inventions that may have originated in Macedonia aside from siege engines and artillery. The rotary-operated olive press for producing olive oil may have been invented in ancient Macedonia or another part of Greece, or even as far east as the Levant or Anatolia.[330] Mold-pressed glass first appeared in Macedonia in the 4thcenturyBC (although it could have simultaneously existed in the Achaemenid Empire); the first known clear, translucent glass pieces of the Greek world have been discovered in Macedonia and Rhodes and date to the second half of the 4thcenturyBC.[331] Greek technical and scientific literature began with Classical Athens in the 5thcenturyBC, while the major production centers for technical innovation and texts during the Hellenistic period were Alexandria, Rhodes, and Pergamon.[332]

Currency, finances, and resources



State revenues were also raised by collecting produce from arable lands, timber from forests, and taxes on imports and exports at harbors.[338] Some mines, groves, agricultural lands, and forests belonging to the Macedonian state were exploited by the Macedonian king, although these were often leased as assets or given as grants to members of the nobility such as the hetairoi and philoi.[339] Tariffs exacted on goods flowing in and out of Macedonian seaports existed from at least the reign of AmyntasIII, and Callistratus of Aphidnae (d.c.350BC) aided PerdiccasIII in doubling the kingdom's annual profits on customs duties from 20 to 40 talents.[340]

After the defeat of Perseus at Pydna in 168BC, the Roman Senate allowed the reopening of iron and copper mines, but forbade the mining of gold and silver by the four newly established autonomous client states that replaced the monarchy in Macedonia.[341] The law may originally have been conceived by the Senate due to the fear that material wealth gained from gold and silver mining operations would allow the Macedonians to fund an armed rebellion.[342] The Romans were perhaps also concerned with stemming inflation caused by an increased money supply from Macedonian silver mining.[343] The Macedonians continued minting silver coins between 167 and 148BC (i.e. just before the establishment of the Roman province of Macedonia), and when the Romans lifted the ban on Macedonian silver mining in 158BC it may simply have reflected the local reality of this illicit practice continuing regardless of the Senate's decree.[344]





The deification of Macedonian monarchs perhaps began with the death of PhilipII, but it was his son Alexander the Great who unambiguously claimed to be a living god.[note 48] Following his visit to the oracle of Didyma in 334BC that suggested his divinity, Alexander traveled to the Oracle of Zeus Ammon--the Greek equivalent of the Egyptian Amun-Ra--at the Siwa Oasis of the Libyan Desert in 332BC to confirm his divine status.[note 49] Although the Ptolemaic and Seleucid empires maintained ancestral cults and deified their rulers, kings were not worshiped in the Kingdom of Macedonia.[351] While Zeus Ammon was known to the Greeks prior to Alexander's reign, particularly at the Greek colony of Cyrene, Libya, Alexander was the first Macedonian monarch to patronize Egyptian, Persian, and Babylonian priesthoods and deities, strengthening the fusion of Near Eastern and Greek religious beliefs.[352] After his reign, the cult of Isis gradually spread throughout the Hellenistic and Roman world, while beliefs in the Egyptian god Sarapis were thoroughly Hellenized by the Ptolemaic rulers of Egypt before the spread of his cult to Macedonia and the Aegean region.[353] The German historian Johann Gustav Droysen argued that the conquests of Alexander the Great and creation of the Hellenistic world allowed for the growth and establishment of Christianity in the Roman era.[354]

See also



  1. ^ Engels 2010, p. 89; Borza 1995, p. 114; Eugene N. Borza writes that the "highlanders" or "Makedones" of the mountainous regions of western Macedonia are derived from northwest Greek stock; they were akin to those who at an earlier time may have migrated south to become the historical "Dorians".
  2. ^ Lewis & Boardman 1994, pp. 723-724, see also Hatzopoulos 1996, pp. 105-108 for the Macedonian expulsion of original inhabitants such as the Phrygians.
  3. ^ Olbrycht 2010, pp. 342-343; Sprawski 2010, pp. 131, 134; Errington 1990, pp. 8-9.
  4. ^ Roisman 2010, pp. 158-159; see also Errington 1990, p. 30 for further details; the Greek historian Diodorus Siculus provided a seemingly conflicting account about Illyrian invasions occurring in 393BC and 383BC, which may have been representative of a single invasion led by Bardylis of the Dardani.
  5. ^ Müller 2010, pp. 169-170, 179.
  6. ^ Müller 2010, pp. 171-172; Buckler 1989, pp. 63, 176-181; Cawkwell 1978, pp. 185-187.
    Cawkwell contrarily provides the date of this siege as 354-353 BC.
  7. ^ Müller 2010, pp. 172-173; Cawkwell 1978, pp. 60, 185; Hornblower 2002, p. 272; Buckler 1989, pp. 63-64, 176-181.
    Conversely, Buckler provides the date of this initial campaign as 354BC, while affirming that the second Thessalian campaign ending in the Battle of Crocus Field occurred in 353BC.
  8. ^ Gilley & Worthington 2010, pp. 189-190; Müller 2010, p. 183.
  9. ^ Gilley & Worthington 2010, pp. 199-200; Errington 1990, pp. 44, 93.
    Conversely, Errington dates Lysimachus' reunification of Macedonia by expelling Pyrrhus of Epirus as occurring in 284BC, not 286BC.
  11. ^ Eckstein 2010, pp. 229-230; see also Errington 1990, pp. 186-189 for further details.
  12. ^ Bringmann 2007, pp. 86-87.
    Errington 1990, pp. 202-203: "Roman desire for revenge and private hopes of famous victories were probably the decisive reasons for the outbreak of the war."
  13. ^ Bringmann 2007, pp. 93-97; Eckstein 2010, p. 239; Errington 1990, pp. 207-208.
    Bringmann dates this event of handing over Aenus and Maronea along the Thracian coast as 183BC, while Eckstein dates it as 184BC.
  14. ^ Bringmann 2007, pp. 98-99; see also Eckstein 2010, p. 242, who says that "Rome ... as the sole remaining superpower ... would not accept Macedonia as a peer competitor or equal."
  17. ^ King 2010, p. 375.
    Pietro de Francisci was the first to refute Granier's ideas and advance the theory that the Macedonian government was an autocracy ruled by the whim of the monarch, although this issue of kingship and governance is still unresolved in academia. See: de Francisci 1948, pp. 345-435 as well as King 2010, p. 375 and Errington 1990, p. 220 for further details.
  19. ^ Sawada 2010, pp. 403-405.
  20. ^ King 2010, p. 382.
  23. ^ King 2010, p. 390.
  26. ^ According to Sekunda, Philip II's infantry were eventually equipped with heavier armor such as cuirasses, since the Third Philippic of Demosthenes in 341 BC described them as hoplites instead of lighter peltasts: Sekunda 2010, pp. 449-450; see also Errington 1990, p. 238 for further details.
    However, Errington argues that breastplates were not worn by the phalanx pikemen of either Philip II or Philip V's reigns (during which sufficient evidence exists). Instead, he claims that breastplates were worn only by military officers, while pikemen wore the kotthybos stomach bands along with their helmets and greaves, wielding a daggers as secondary weapons along with their shields. See Errington 1990, p. 241.
  27. ^ Sekunda 2010, pp. 455-456.
  28. ^ Sekunda 2010, pp. 455-457.
  30. ^ Sekunda 2010, pp. 460-461; for the evolution of Macedonian military titles, such as its command by tetrarchai officers assisted by grammateis (i.e. secretaries or clerks), see Errington 1990, pp. 242-243.
  31. ^ Sekunda 2010, pp. 461-462;
  34. ^ Hatzopoulos 2011a, p. 44; Engels 2010, pp. 94-95; Woodard 2010, pp. 9-10.
  35. ^ Woodard 2004, pp. 12-14; Hamp, Eric; Adams, Douglas (2013). "The Expansion of the Indo-European Languages Archived 2014-02-22 at the Wayback Machine", Sino-Platonic Papers, vol 239. Accessed 16 January 2017.
    Georgiev 1966, pp. 285-297: ancient Macedonian is closely related to Greek, and Macedonian and Greek are descended from a common Greek-Macedonian idiom that was spoken till about the second half of the 3rd millennium BC.
  36. ^ For instance, Cleopatra VII Philopator, the last active ruler of the Ptolemaic dynasty in Egypt, spoke Koine Greek as a first language and by her reign (51-30 BC) or some time before it the Macedonian language was no longer used. See Jones 2006, pp. 33-34.
  38. ^ Hatzopoulos 2011a, pp. 47-48; for a specific example of land reclamation near Amphipolis during the reign of Alexander the Great, see Hammond & Walbank 2001, p. 31.
  41. ^ Hatzopoulos 2011b, p. 59; Sansone 2017, p. 223; Roisman 2010, p. 157.
  42. ^ Errington 1990, pp. 224-225.
  43. ^ Hatzopoulos 2011b, pp. 69-71.
  44. ^ Errington 1990, pp. 3-4.
  47. ^ For instance, Demosthenes when labeling PhilipII of Macedon as a barbarian whereas Polybius called Greeks and Macedonians as homophylos (i.e. part of the same race or kin). See: Woodard 2010, pp. 9-10; Johannes Engels also discusses this ambiguity in ancient sources: Engels 2010, pp. 83-89.
  48. ^ Worthington 2012, p. 319.
  49. ^ Worthington 2012, p. 319; Worthington 2014, pp. 180-183.
    After the priest and Oracle of Zeus Ammon at the Siwa Oasis convinced him that PhilipII was merely his mortal father and Zeus his actual father, Alexander began styling himself as the 'Son of Zeus', which brought him into contention with some of his Greek subjects who adamantly believed that living men could not be immortals. See Worthington 2012, p. 319 and Worthington 2014, pp. 182-183 for details.


  1. ^ Hatzopoulos 1996, pp. 105-106; Roisman 2010, p. 156.
  3. ^ a b c Sprawski 2010, pp. 135-138; Olbrycht 2010, pp. 342-345.
  6. ^ Hornblower 2008, pp. 55-58.
  7. ^ Austin 2006, pp. 1-4.
  9. ^ a b Adams 2010, p. 215.
  10. ^ a b Beekes 2009, p. 894.
  11. ^ Beekes 2009, p. 894
  12. ^ De Decker, Filip (2016). "An Etymological Case Study On The And Vocabulary In Robert Beekes's New Etymological Dictionary Of Greek: M". Studia Linguistica Universitatis Iagellonicae Cracoviensis. 133 (2). doi:10.4467/20834624SL.16.006.5152.
  13. ^ King 2010, p. 376; Sprawski 2010, p. 127; Errington 1990, pp. 2-3.
  16. ^ a b King 2010, p. 376.
  17. ^ Errington 1990, p. 2.
  18. ^ Thomas 2010, pp. 67-68, 74-78.
  19. ^ Anson 2010, pp. 5-6.
  20. ^ Darius I, DNa inscription, Line 29
  21. ^ Adams 2010, pp. 343-344
  22. ^ Olbrycht 2010, p. 344; Sprawski 2010, pp. 135-137; Errington 1990, pp. 9-10.
  23. ^ Olbrycht 2010, pp. 343-344; Sprawski 2010, p. 137; Errington 1990, p. 10.
  24. ^ King 2010, p. 376; Olbrycht 2010, pp. 344-345; Sprawski 2010, pp. 138-139.
  25. ^ Sprawski 2010, pp. 139-140.
  26. ^ Olbrycht 2010, p. 345; Sprawski 2010, pp. 139-141; see also Errington 1990, pp. 11-12 for further details.
  27. ^ Sprawski 2010, pp. 141-143; Errington 1990, pp. 9, 11-12.
  28. ^ Roisman 2010, pp. 145-147.
  29. ^ Roisman 2010, pp. 146-147; Müller 2010, p. 171; Cawkwell 1978, p. 72; see also Errington 1990, pp. 13-14 for further details.
  30. ^ a b c Roisman 2010, pp. 146-147.
  31. ^ Roisman 2010, pp. 146-147; see also Errington 1990, p. 18 for further details.
  32. ^ Roisman 2010, pp. 147-148; Errington 1990, pp. 19-20.
  33. ^ Roisman 2010, pp. 149-150; Errington 1990, p. 20.
  34. ^ Roisman 2010, pp. 150-152; Errington 1990, pp. 21-22.
  36. ^ Roisman 2010, pp. 152-153; Errington 1990, pp. 22-23.
  37. ^ Roisman 2010, p. 153; Errington 1990, pp. 22-23.
  38. ^ Roisman 2010, pp. 153-154; see also Errington 1990, p. 23 for further details.
  40. ^ Roisman 2010, p. 154; Errington 1990, pp. 23-24.
  41. ^ Roisman 2010, pp. 154-155; Errington 1990, p. 24.
  42. ^ Roisman 2010, pp. 155-156.
  44. ^ a b Roisman 2010, pp. 156-157.
  45. ^ Roisman 2010, pp. 156-157; Errington 1990, p. 26.
  46. ^ Roisman 2010, pp. 157-158; Errington 1990, pp. 28-29.
  47. ^ Roisman 2010, p. 158; Errington 1990, pp. 28-29.
  49. ^ Roisman 2010, pp. 159-160; Errington 1990, pp. 32-33.
  50. ^ Roisman 2010, p. 161; Errington 1990, pp. 34-35.
  51. ^ Roisman 2010, pp. 161-162; Errington 1990, pp. 35-36.
  52. ^ Roisman 2010, pp. 162-163; Errington 1990, p. 36.
  53. ^ Roisman 2010, pp. 162-163.
  54. ^ Roisman 2010, pp. 163-164; Errington 1990, p. 37.
  55. ^ Müller 2010, pp. 166-167; Buckley 1996, pp. 467-472.
  56. ^ Müller 2010, pp. 167-168; Buckley 1996, pp. 467-472.
  57. ^ Müller 2010, pp. 167-168; Buckley 1996, pp. 467-472; Errington 1990, p. 38.
  58. ^ Müller 2010, p. 167.
  59. ^ Müller 2010, p. 168.
  60. ^ Müller 2010, pp. 168-169.
  61. ^ Müller 2010, p. 169.
  63. ^ Müller 2010, pp. 170-171; Gilley & Worthington 2010, p. 187.
  65. ^ Müller 2010, pp. 169, 173-174; Cawkwell 1978, p. 84; Errington 1990, pp. 38-39.
  66. ^ Müller 2010, p. 171; Buckley 1996, pp. 470-472; Cawkwell 1978, pp. 74-75.
  68. ^ Müller 2010, pp. 171-172; Buckler 1989, pp. 8, 20-22, 26-29.
  69. ^ Müller 2010, p. 173; Cawkwell 1978, pp. 62, 66-68; Buckler 1989, pp. 74-75, 78-80; Worthington 2008, pp. 61-63.
  72. ^ Müller 2010, p. 173; Cawkwell 1978, p. 44; Schwahn 1931, col. 1193-1194.
  73. ^ Cawkwell 1978, p. 86.
  74. ^ Müller 2010, pp. 173-174; Cawkwell 1978, pp. 85-86; Buckley 1996, pp. 474-475.
  75. ^ Müller 2010, pp. 173-174; Worthington 2008, pp. 75-78; Cawkwell 1978, pp. 96-98.
  76. ^ Müller 2010, p. 174; Cawkwell 1978, pp. 98-101.
  77. ^ Müller 2010, pp. 174-175; Cawkwell 1978, pp. 95, 104, 107-108; Hornblower 2002, pp. 275-277; Buckley 1996, pp. 478-479.
  78. ^ Müller 2010, p. 175.
  79. ^ Errington 1990, p. 227.
  80. ^ Müller 2010, pp. 175-176; Cawkwell 1978, pp. 114-117; Hornblower 2002, p. 277; Buckley 1996, p. 482; Errington 1990, p. 44.
  81. ^ Mollov & Georgiev 2015, p. 76.
  82. ^ Müller 2010, p. 176; Cawkwell 1978, pp. 136-142; Errington 1990, pp. 82-83.
  83. ^ Müller 2010, pp. 176-177; Cawkwell 1978, pp. 143-148.
  84. ^ Müller 2010, p. 177; Cawkwell 1978, pp. 167-168.
  85. ^ Müller 2010, pp. 177-179; Cawkwell 1978, pp. 167-171; see also Hammond & Walbank 2001, p. 16 for further details.
  87. ^ Olbrycht 2010, pp. 348, 351
  88. ^ Olbrycht 2010, pp. 347-349
  89. ^ Olbrycht 2010, p. 351
  90. ^ a b Müller 2010, pp. 179-180; Cawkwell 1978, p. 170.
  91. ^ Müller 2010, pp. 180-181; see also Hammond & Walbank 2001, p. 14 for further details.
  92. ^ Müller 2010, pp. 181-182; Errington 1990, p. 44; Gilley & Worthington 2010, p. 186; see Hammond & Walbank 2001, pp. 3-5 for details of the arrests and judicial trials of other suspects in the conspiracy to assassinate Philip II of Macedon.
  93. ^ Gilley & Worthington 2010, p. 190; Müller 2010, p. 183; Renault 2001, pp. 61-62; Fox 1980, p. 72; see also Hammond & Walbank 2001, pp. 3-5 for further details.
  94. ^ Gilley & Worthington 2010, p. 186.
  95. ^ Gilley & Worthington 2010, p. 190.
  96. ^ Gilley & Worthington 2010, pp. 190-191; see also Hammond & Walbank 2001, pp. 15-16 for further details.
  97. ^ Gilley & Worthington 2010, p. 191; Hammond & Walbank 2001, pp. 34-38.
  98. ^ Gilley & Worthington 2010, p. 191; Hammond & Walbank 2001, pp. 40-47.
  100. ^ Gilley & Worthington 2010, pp. 191-192; see also Errington 1990, pp. 91-92 for further details.
  101. ^ Gilley & Worthington 2010, pp. 192-193.
  103. ^ Gilley & Worthington 2010, pp. 193-194; Holt 2012, pp. 27-41.
  104. ^ Gilley & Worthington 2010, pp. 193-194.
  107. ^ Gilley & Worthington 2010, pp. 194-195.
  108. ^ Errington 1990, pp. 105-106.
  109. ^ Gilley & Worthington 2010, p. 198.
  110. ^ Holt 1989, pp. 67-68.
  111. ^ Gilley & Worthington 2010, p. 196.
  113. ^ Gilley & Worthington 2010, pp. 200-201; Errington 1990, p. 58.
  114. ^ Gilley & Worthington 2010, p. 201.
  115. ^ Gilley & Worthington 2010, pp. 201-203.
  117. ^ Gilley & Worthington 2010, p. 204; see also Errington 1990, pp. 115-117 for further details.
  118. ^ Gilley & Worthington 2010, p. 204; Adams 2010, p. 209; Errington 1990, pp. 69-70, 119.
  119. ^ Gilley & Worthington 2010, pp. 204-205; Adams 2010, pp. 209-210; Errington 1990, pp. 69, 119.
  121. ^ Adams 2010, pp. 208-209; Errington 1990, p. 117.
  122. ^ Adams 2010, pp. 210-211; Errington 1990, pp. 119-120.
  123. ^ Adams 2010, p. 211; Errington 1990, pp. 120-121.
  124. ^ Adams 2010, pp. 211-212; Errington 1990, pp. 121-122.
  125. ^ Adams 2010, pp. 207 n. #1, 212; Errington 1990, pp. 122-123.
  126. ^ Adams 2010, pp. 212-213; Errington 1990, pp. 124-126.
  127. ^ a b Adams 2010, p. 213; Errington 1990, pp. 126-127.
  128. ^ Adams 2010, pp. 213-214; Errington 1990, pp. 127-128.
  129. ^ Adams 2010, p. 214; Errington 1990, pp. 128-129.
  130. ^ Adams 2010, pp. 214-215.
  131. ^ Adams 2010, pp. 215-216.
  132. ^ Adams 2010, p. 216.
  133. ^ Adams 2010, pp. 216-217; Errington 1990, p. 129.
  135. ^ Adams 2010, p. 217; Errington 1990, pp. 145-147; Bringmann 2007, p. 61.
  137. ^ a b Bringmann 2007, p. 61.
  139. ^ a b Adams 2010, pp. 218-219; Bringmann 2007, p. 61.
  140. ^ Adams 2010, p. 219; Bringmann 2007, p. 61; Errington 1990, pp. 156-157.
  141. ^ Adams 2010, p. 219; Bringmann 2007, pp. 61-63; Errington 1990, pp. 159-160.
  142. ^ Errington 1990, p. 160.
  143. ^ Errington 1990, pp. 160-161.
  144. ^ Adams 2010, p. 219; Bringmann 2007, p. 63; Errington 1990, pp. 162-163.
  145. ^ a b Adams 2010, pp. 219-220; Bringmann 2007, p. 63.
  146. ^ Adams 2010, pp. 219-220; Bringmann 2007, p. 63; Errington 1990, p. 164.
  147. ^ Adams 2010, p. 220; Errington 1990, pp. 164-165.
  148. ^ Adams 2010, p. 220.
  150. ^ Adams 2010, p. 220; Errington 1990, pp. 165-166.
  151. ^ Adams 2010, p. 221; see also Errington 1990, pp. 167-168 about the resurgence of Sparta under Areus I.
  153. ^ Adams 2010, p. 221; Errington 1990, pp. 168-169.
  154. ^ Adams 2010, p. 221; Errington 1990, pp. 169-171.
  155. ^ Adams 2010, p. 221.
  156. ^ a b Adams 2010, p. 222.
  157. ^ Adams 2010, pp. 221-222; Errington 1990, p. 172.
  158. ^ Adams 2010, p. 222; Errington 1990, pp. 172-173.
  161. ^ Adams 2010, p. 223; Errington 1990, pp. 173-174.
  163. ^ Adams 2010, p. 223; Errington 1990, pp. 174-175.
  164. ^ Adams 2010, p. 223; Errington 1990, pp. 175-176.
  165. ^ Adams 2010, pp. 223-224; Eckstein 2013, p. 314; see also Errington 1990, pp. 179-180 for further details.
  166. ^ Adams 2010, pp. 223-224; Eckstein 2013, p. 314; Errington 1990, pp. 180-181.
  167. ^ Adams 2010, p. 224; Eckstein 2013, p. 314; Errington 1990, pp. 181-183.
  169. ^ Adams 2010, p. 224; Errington 1990, pp. 183-184.
  170. ^ Eckstein 2010, p. 229; Errington 1990, pp. 184-185.
  171. ^ Eckstein 2010, p. 229; Errington 1990, pp. 185-186, 189.
  172. ^ Eckstein 2010, p. 230; Errington 1990, pp. 189-190.
  173. ^ Eckstein 2010, pp. 230-231; Errington 1990, pp. 190-191.
  175. ^ Bringmann 2007, p. 80; see also Eckstein 2010, p. 231 and Errington 1990, pp. 191-193 for further details.
  176. ^ Errington 1990, pp. 191-193, 210.
  178. ^ Bringmann 2007, p. 82; Eckstein 2010, pp. 232-233; Errington 1990, pp. 193-194; Gruen 1986, pp. 17-18, 20.
  179. ^ Bringmann 2007, p. 83; Eckstein 2010, pp. 233-234; Errington 1990, pp. 195-196; Gruen 1986, p. 21; see also Gruen 1986, pp. 18-19 for details on the Aetolian League's treaty with Philip V of Macedon and Rome's rejection of the second attempt by the Aetolians to seek Roman aid, viewing the Aetolians as having violated the earlier treaty.
  180. ^ Bringmann 2007, p. 85; see also Errington 1990, pp. 196-197 for further details.
  181. ^ Eckstein 2010, pp. 234-235; Errington 1990, pp. 196-198; see also Bringmann 2007, p. 86 for further details.
  182. ^ Bringmann 2007, pp. 85-86; Eckstein 2010, pp. 235-236; Errington 1990, pp. 199-201; Gruen 1986, p. 22.
  184. ^ Bringmann 2007, p. 86; Errington 1990, pp. 197-198.
  185. ^ Bringmann 2007, p. 87.
  186. ^ Bringmann 2007, pp. 87-88; Errington 1990, pp. 199-200; see also Eckstein 2010, pp. 235-236 for further details.
  187. ^ Eckstein 2010, p. 236.
  188. ^ a b Bringmann 2007, p. 88.
  190. ^ Bringmann 2007, p. 88; Eckstein 2010, pp. 236-237; Errington 1990, p. 204.
  191. ^ Bringmann 2007, pp. 88-89; Eckstein 2010, p. 237.
  192. ^ Bringmann 2007, pp. 89-90; see also Eckstein 2010, p. 237 and Gruen 1986, pp. 20-21, 24 for further details.
  193. ^ Bringmann 2007, pp. 90-91; Eckstein 2010, pp. 237-238.
  195. ^ Bringmann 2007, pp. 91-92; Eckstein 2010, p. 238; see also Gruen 1986, pp. 30, 33 for further details.
  197. ^ Bringmann 2007, p. 97; see also Errington 1990, pp. 207-208 for further details.
  198. ^ Bringmann 2007, p. 97; Eckstein 2010, pp. 240-241; see also Errington 1990, pp. 211-213 for a discussion about Perseus's actions during the early part of his reign.
  199. ^ Bringmann 2007, pp. 97-98; Eckstein 2010, p. 240.
  200. ^ Bringmann 2007, p. 98; Eckstein 2010, p. 240; Errington 1990, pp. 212-213.
  201. ^ Bringmann 2007, pp. 98-99; Eckstein 2010, pp. 241-242.
  202. ^ Bringmann 2007, p. 99; Eckstein 2010, pp. 243-244; Errington 1990, pp. 215-216; Hatzopoulos 1996, p. 43.
  203. ^ Bringmann 2007, p. 99; Eckstein 2010, p. 245; Errington 1990, pp. 204-205, 216; see also Hatzopoulos 1996, p. 43 for further details.
  204. ^ a b Bringmann 2007, pp. 99-100; Eckstein 2010, p. 245; Errington 1990, pp. 216-217; see also Hatzopoulos 1996, pp. 43-46 for further details.
  205. ^ Bringmann 2007, p. 104; Eckstein 2010, pp. 246-247.
  206. ^ Bringmann 2007, pp. 104-105; Eckstein 2010, p. 247; Errington 1990, pp. 216-217.
  207. ^ Bringmann 2007, pp. 104-105; Eckstein 2010, pp. 247-248; Errington 1990, pp. 203-205, 216-217.
  208. ^ King 2010, p. 374; see also Errington 1990, pp. 220-221 for further details.
  209. ^ King 2010, p. 373.
  210. ^ King 2010, pp. 375-376.
  211. ^ King 2010, pp. 376-377.
  212. ^ King 2010, p. 377.
  213. ^ a b King 2010, p. 378.
  214. ^ King 2010, p. 379.
  216. ^ a b King 2010, p. 380.
  218. ^ Olbrycht 2010, pp. 345-346.
  220. ^ Sawada 2010, p. 403.
  221. ^ Sawada 2010, pp. 404-405.
  222. ^ Sawada 2010, p. 406.
  224. ^ Sawada 2010, pp. 382-383.
  226. ^ King 2010, pp. 384-389; Errington 1990, p. 220.
  227. ^ King 2010, pp. 383-384; Errington 1990, p. 220.
  228. ^ King 2010, p. 390.
  229. ^ Amemiya 2007, pp. 11-12.
  230. ^ a b Errington 1990, p. 231.
  231. ^ Errington 1990, pp. 229-230.
  232. ^ Errington 1990, p. 230.
  233. ^ Errington 1990, pp. 231-232.
  234. ^ Hatzopoulos 1996, pp. 365-366.
  235. ^ Hatzopoulos 1996, pp. 366-367.
  236. ^ Hatzopoulos 1996, pp. 367-369.
  237. ^ Hatzopoulos 1996, pp. 368-369.
  238. ^ Errington 1990, p. 242.
  239. ^ Sekunda 2010, p. 447; Errington 1990, pp. 243-244.
  240. ^ Sekunda 2010, pp. 447-448.
  241. ^ Sekunda 2010, pp. 448-449; see also Errington 1990, pp. 238-239 for further details.
  242. ^ Errington 1990, pp. 238-239; 243-244.
  243. ^ Sekunda 2010, p. 449.
  244. ^ Sekunda 2010, pp. 448-449.
  245. ^ Errington 1990, pp. 239-240.
  246. ^ Errington 1990, pp. 238, 247.
  247. ^ a b Sekunda 2010, p. 451.
  249. ^ a b Sekunda 2010, p. 452.
  250. ^ Sekunda 2010, p. 451; Errington 1990, pp. 241-242.
  251. ^ Sekunda 2010, pp. 449-451.
  252. ^ Sekunda 2010, p. 451; Errington 1990, pp. 247-248; Hammond & Walbank 2001, pp. 24-26.
  253. ^ Sekunda 2010, p. 453.
  254. ^ a b Sekunda 2010, p. 454.
  256. ^ a b Sekunda 2010, pp. 458-459.
  257. ^ Sekunda 2010, p. 461.
  258. ^ a b Sekunda 2010, p. 460.
  259. ^ Sekunda 2010, p. 469
  260. ^ Sekunda 2010, p. 462.
  261. ^ Sekunda 2010, pp. 463-464.
  262. ^ Errington 1990, pp. 247-248.
  264. ^ Anson 2010, p. 17, n. 57, n. 58; Woodard 2010, pp. 9-10; Hatzopoulos 2011a, pp. 43-45; Engels 2010, pp. 94-95.
  265. ^ Engels 2010, p. 95.
  266. ^ Engels 2010, p. 94.
  267. ^ Sansone 2017, p. 223.
  268. ^ Anson 2010, pp. 17-18; see also Christesen & Murray 2010, pp. 428-445 for ways in which Macedonian religious beliefs diverged from mainstream Greek polytheism, although the latter was hardly "monolithic" throughout the Classical Greek and Hellenistic world and Macedonians were "linguistically and culturally Greek" according to Christesen and Murray. Christesen & Murray 2010, pp. 428-429.
  269. ^ Errington 1990, pp. 225-226.
  270. ^ Errington 1990, p. 226; Christesen & Murray 2010, pp. 430-431
  271. ^ a b Errington 1990, p. 226.
  272. ^ Borza 1992, pp. 257-260; Christesen & Murray 2010, pp. 432-433; see also Hammond & Walbank 2001, pp. 5-7 for further details.
  273. ^ Borza 1992, pp. 259-260; see also Hammond & Walbank 2001, pp. 5-6 for further details.
  274. ^ Borza 1992, pp. 257, 260-261.
  275. ^ Borza 1992, p. 257.
  276. ^ Sansone 2017, pp. 224-225.
  277. ^ Hatzopoulos 2011a, pp. 47-48; Errington 1990, p. 7.
  278. ^ Hatzopoulos 2011a, p. 48; Errington 1990, pp. 7-8, 222-223.
  279. ^ Hatzopoulos 2011a, p. 48.
  280. ^ Anson 2010, pp. 9-10.
  282. ^ Anson 2010, pp. 10-11.
  283. ^ Hammond & Walbank 2001, pp. 12-13.
  284. ^ Hardiman 2010, p. 515.
  285. ^ Hardiman 2010, pp. 515-517.
  286. ^ a b Hardiman 2010, p. 517.
  287. ^ Palagia 2000, pp. 182, 185-186.
  288. ^ Head 2016, pp. 12-13; Piening 2013, p. 1182.
  291. ^ Müller 2010, p. 182.
  294. ^ Worthington 2014, p. 185.
  296. ^ Hatzopoulos 2011b, p. 58; Roisman 2010, p. 154; Errington 1990, pp. 223-224.
  297. ^ Hatzopoulos 2011b, pp. 58-59; see also Errington 1990, p. 224 for further details.
  298. ^ Chroust 2016, p. 137.
  299. ^ Rhodes 2010, p. 23.
  300. ^ Rhodes 2010, pp. 23-25; see also Errington 1990, p. 224 for further details.
  301. ^ a b Errington 1990, p. 225.
  302. ^ Badian 1982, p. 34, Anson 2010, p. 16; Sansone 2017, pp. 222-223.
  303. ^ Hatzopoulos 2011b, p. 59.
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  348. ^ Asirvatham 2010, p. 104.
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  354. ^ Anson 2010, p. 3.




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