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In antiquity,Paeonia orPaionia (Ancient Greek:Παιονία,romanized: Paionía) was the land and kingdom of thePaeonians (or Paionians; Ancient Greek:Παίονες,romanized: Paíones).The exact original boundaries of Paeonia, like the early history of its inhabitants, are obscure, but it is known that it roughly corresponds to present-dayNorth Macedonia,[1][2][3][4] and also to some parts of northernGreece, westernBulgaria[5] and southeasternmostSerbia.[6]
Ancient authors placed Paeonia south ofDardania, north ofMacedon, west of the Thracian mountains, and east of the southernmostIllyrians of the Ohrid-Prespa basin.[7] It was separated from Dardania by the mountains through which the Vardar river passes from the field ofScupi (modernSkopje) to the valley ofBylazora (near modernSveti Nikole).In theIliad, the Paeonians are portrayed as allies of theTrojans. During thePersian invasion of Greece, the conquered Paeonians from as far as the Lake Prasias, including thePaeoplae andSiropaiones, were deported from Paeonia to Asia.[8]In 356 BC Paeonia was made a Macedonian vassal byPhilip II,[9] who took advantage of the death of kingAgis and campaigned against its northern neighbor. Down to 227 BC, at least seven Paeonian kings reigned, and during that period, Paeonia remained a distinct entity, either subject to Macedonia or independent.[10] In 227 BC,Antigonus Doson conquered the southern part of Paeonia ('Macedonian Paeonia'[11]) and ten years afterPhilip V of Macedon conquered the rest by capturingBylazora.
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The Paeonian tribes were:
Some modern scholars consider the Paeonians to have been of eitherIllyrian,[20]Brygian/Phrygian,[21]Thracian,[22] or of mixed origins.[23] Linguistically, the very small number of surviving words in thePaeonian language have been variously connected to its neighboring languages –Illyrian andThracian (and every possibleThraco-Illyrian mix in between),[24]Phrygian, as well as toGreek but with a great deal of Illyrian and Thracian influence as a result of their proximity.[25] According toRadoslav Katičić, the possibility that the Paeonians took part in the "great Greek migration" and remained behind on the route cannot be wholly ruled out.[26] Irwin L. Merker considers the Paeonians to be ofHellenic stock.[27]
There is relatively little mention of the Paeonians in theworks of the ancient Greeks.[25]Homer[28] speaks of Paeonians from theAxios fighting on the side of theTrojans, but theIliad does not mention whether the Paeonians were kin to the Trojans, and instead connects them to thePhrygians.[29]Homer calls the Paeonian leaderPyraechmes (parentage unknown); later on in theIliad (Book 21), Homer mentions a second leader,Asteropaeus, son ofPelagon. Herodotus and Thucydides distinguish the Paeonians from theThracians.[29] According to their national legend,[30] they wereTeucrian colonists fromTroy. Several eastern Paeonian tribes, including theAgrianes, clearly fell within the Thracian sphere of influence.
Appian wrote of a genealogy in which Paion, the eponym of the Paeonians, is the son ofAutarieus, the eponym of theAutariatae, and father ofSkordiskos andTriballos, the eponyms of two central Balkanic tribes, oneCeltic and the otherThracian. This might connect the Paeonians with the Illyrian complex, although as Katičić suggests, Appian might not refer to the Paeonians but might refer instead to thePannonians, since Appian uses the Paeonian name to denote that ethnic group as well.[29]
Pausanias tells us of another genealogy, which connects the Paeonians with the PeloponnesianEpeians and theAetolians; Paion is said to be the son ofEndymion and brother ofEpeius andAitolus.[29][31][32] This version, indeed, establishes a Greek affiliation for the Paeonians;[29] Anson writes that "this notice from Pausanias may suggest that at least by the second century AD the Paeonians were seen as part of the Greek community".[33]
Before the reign ofDarius Hystaspes, they had made their way as far east asPerinthus inThrace on thePropontis. At one time allMygdonia, together withCrestonia, was subject to them. WhenXerxes crossedChalcidice on his way toTherma (later renamedThessalonica), he is said to have marched through Paeonian territory. They occupied the entire valley of the Axios (Vardar) as far inland asStobi, the valleys to the east of it as far as theStrymon and the country roundAstibus and the river of the same name, with the water of which they anointed their kings.Pelagonia was used as a name for the westernmost part of Paeonia, while the north-westernmost part of Pelagonia was referred to asDerriopos.[34]Emathia, roughly the district between theHaliacmon and Axios, was once called Paeonia; andPieria andPelagonia were inhabited by Paeonians. As a consequence of the growth of Macedonian power, and under pressure from their Thracian neighbors, their territory was considerably diminished, and in historical times was limited to the north of Macedonia fromIllyria to the Strymon.
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InGreek mythology, the Paeonians were said to have derived their name fromPaeon the son ofEndymion.[35] Endymion ofElis, the lover of the goddess of the Moon (Selene), had three sons:Paeon,Epeios, andAetolus; the eponymous ancestors of the Paeonians, Epeians, andAetolians, respectively. Endymion, in order to give his kingdom to one of them, made them run a race in Olympia, where Epeios won and took the kingdom. Paeon left in disappointment to settle in the Upper Valley of Axios which was since called Paeonia.
In the Trojan War, the Paeonians "with ankylosed bows" (Iliad, II 848-850) "wearing helmets with horsetails" were allies of the Trojans, appearing to fight on their side, under King Pyraichmes and Asteropaeus.
In early times, the chief town and seat of the Paeonian kings wasBylazora (in modernSveti Nikole municipality inNorth Macedonia) on the Vardar; later, the seat of the kings was moved toStobi (near modernGradsko).[36]
Subjugation of the Paeonians happened as a part of Persian military operations initiated byDarius the Great (521–486) in 513 – after immense preparations – a huge Achaemenid army invaded theBalkans and triedto defeat the EuropeanScythians roaming to the north of theDanube river.[36] Darius' army subjugated several Thracian peoples, and virtually all other regions that touch the European part of theBlack Sea, such as parts of nowadaysBulgaria,Romania,Ukraine, andRussia, before it returned toAsia Minor.[36][37] Darius left in Europe one of his commanders namedMegabazus whose task was to accomplish conquests in the Balkans.[36] The Persian troops subjugated gold-richThrace, the coastal Greek cities, as well as defeating and conquering the powerfulPaeonians.[36][38][39] At the time of thePersian invasion, the Paeonians on the lower Strymon had lost, while those in the north maintained, their territorial integrity.[citation needed]
At some point after theGreco-Persian Wars, the Paeonian princedoms coalesced into a kingdom centred in the central and upper reaches of theAxios andStrymon rivers, corresponding with today's central and eastern parts of North Macedonia and western Bulgaria. They joined with the Illyrians to attack the northern areas of theKingdom of Macedonia. The Illyrians, who had a culture of piracy, would have been cut off from some trade routes if movement through this land had been blocked. They unsuccessfully attacked the northern defences of Macedonian territory in an attempt to occupy the region. In 360–359 BC, southern Paeonian tribes (then ruled byAgis) were launching raids into Macedon, (Diodorus XVI. 2.5) in support of an Illyrian invasion.
The Macedonian Royal House was thrown into a state of uncertainty by the death ofPerdiccas III, but his brotherPhilip II assumed the throne, reformed the army (providingphalanxes), and proceeded to stop both the Illyrian invasion and the Paeonian raids through the boundary of the "Macedonian Frontier", which was the northern perimeter which he intended to defend as an area of his domain. He followed Perdiccas's succession in 358 BC with a campaign deep into the north, into Paeonia itself.[40][41][42][43][44][45] Paeonia was made a Macedonian vassal in 356 during the course ofPhilip's Balkan campaigns.[46] Although they retained their territory and the right to mint coins, the Paeonians were expected to provide both tribute and manpower for Macedonian military campaigns.[47] This reduced the Paeonian Kingdom then ruled byLyppeius to a semi-autonomous, subordinate status, which led to a process of gradual and formalHellenization of the Paeonians, who, during the reign of Philip II, began to issue coins with Greek legends like the Macedonian ones. A Paeonian cavalry contingent, led byAriston, possibly brother of KingPatraus and father of the later kingAudoleon,[48] was attached to Alexander the Great's army.Alexander the Great wished to bestow the hand of his sisterCynane uponLangarus, king of the Agrianians, who had shown himself loyal to Philip II.
The daughter ofAudoleon, a king of Paeonia, was the wife ofPyrrhus, king ofEpirus. In 279, when theGauls defeatedPtolemy Ceraunus and got as far asDelphi, it is certain that Paeonia was overrun and held for a time by their chieftainBrennus, but in the wake of theCeltic invasion,Leon reestablished the Paeonian kingdom.[49]Antigonus Gonatas then annexed Paeonia into his kingdom.[50]Irwin Merker suggests that whenDemetrios II and theAetolian League were at war, "Dropion was involved as an ally of Aitolia."[51] Additionally he states that "When Demetrios orAntigonos Doson created the Macedonian Koinon he was imitated by his northern neighbor Dropion who hoped in this way both to modernize the constitution of his Kingdom and to increase the support of his subjects."[51] In 230 theDardani underLongarus[52] capturedBylazora from the Paeonians. In 227 BC,Antigonus Doson conquered the southern part of Paeonia and founded the city ofAntigoneia, and ten years afterPhilip V of Macedon conquered the rest by capturingBylazora; after thisPerseis andAstraion were founded. The citizens of Paeonian cities were not Macedonians but Paeonians. Only after the Roman conquest in 168 BC, Paeonia was integrated intoMacedonia.[10]
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The Paeonians included several independent tribes, all later united under the rule of a single king. Little is known of their manners and customs. They adopted the cult ofDionysus, known amongst them asDyalus orDryalus, and Herodotus mentions that theThracian and Paeonian women offered sacrifice to QueenArtemis (probablyBendis). They worshipped the sun in the form of a small round disk fixed on the top of a pole. They drank barley beer and various decoctions made from plants and herbs. The country was rich in gold and abituminous kind of wood (or stone, which burst into a blaze when in contact with water) calledtanrivoc (ortsarivos). The women were famous for their industry. In this connection Herodotus[72] tells the story thatDarius, having seen atSardis a beautiful Paeonian woman carrying a pitcher on her head, leading a horse to drink, and spinningflax, all at the same time, inquired who she was. Having been informed that she was a Paeonian, he sent instructions toMegabazus, commander in Thrace, to deport two tribes of the nation without delay to Asia.
A passage inAthenaeus seems to indicate the affinity of theirlanguage withMysian.[citation needed] The scanty remains of thePaeonian language do not allow a firm judgement to be made. On one side are Wilhelm Tomaschek and Paul Kretschmer, who claim it belonged to theIllyrian family, and on the other side is Dimitar Dečev, who claims affinities withThracian. On the other hand, the Paeonian kings issued coins from the time of Philip II of Macedon onwards, bearing their names written in straightforward Greek. All the names of the Paeonian Kings that have come down to us are, in fact, explainable with and clearly related to Greek (Agis, Ariston, Audoleon, Lycceius, etc.), a fact that, according to Irwin L. Merker, puts into question the theories of Illyrian and Thracian connections. Irwin L. Merker considers the Paeonian language closely related toGreek (i.e.,Hellenic)[73] or anancient Greek dialect as he writes "on the basis of the Paionian names, we can say that there is no evidence that the Paionians did not speak a dialect of Greek".[74]Vladimir I. Georgiev suggested aPhrygian affiliation.[75]
An inscription, discovered in 1877 atOlympia on the base of a statue, states that it was set up by the community of the Paeonians in honor of their king and founderDropion. Another king, whose name appears asLyppeius on a fragment of an inscription found atAthens relating to a treaty of alliance, is no doubt identical with theLycceius or Lycpeius of Paeonian coins.[76]
Ariston was a member of the Paeonian royal house, possibly brother of KingPatraus and father of the later king,Audoleon.[77] His service with Alexander the Great, like that of the ThracianSitalces II and others, helped to ensure the loyalty of his nation to Macedon in the Alexander's absence to Persia. He was the commander of the unit of Paeonian cavalry. Consequently, around 150 cavalrymen, commanded by Ariston, crossed with Alexander's army into Asia Minor in 334.[78] Initially only one squadron strong, the Paeonians received 500 reinforcements in Egypt and a further 600 at Susa.[79] At theBattle of Gaugamela, the Paeonian cavalry was placed on the right flank with thesarissophoroi. In 331 BC, the Paeonian cavalry routed a large force of Persian cavalry near the Tigris, and Ariston personally slew the Persian leader Satropates; he then presented Alexander with the Persian's severed head. He asked Alexander for a gold cup as a reward for his feat, and the king publicly saluted him and drank to his health.[80][81]
TheAgrianes were armed withjavelins and were the elite unit of Alexander the Great's light infantry. They fought under kingLangarus against theTriballians in 335 BC,[82][better source needed] and succeeded in protecting the lands of Alexander and were thus rewarded with the right to govern themselves, a move that led to a long-lasting and most reliable alliance. At theBattle of Gaugamela (331 BC), during Alexander the Great's conquest of Persia, the contingent of Agrianian peltasts numbered 1,000 men.
After the Celtic invasion of the Balkans weakened the Paeonians, the political and military role of the Dardanians began to grow in the region. They expanded their state to the area of Paeonia which definitively disappeared from history.[83] In 230 the Dardani underLongarus[84] capturedBylazora from the Paeonians. Paeonia consolidated again but, in 217 BC,Philip V of Macedon succeeded in uniting and incorporating intohis empire the separate regions ofDassaretia and Paeonia. A mere 70 years later (in 168 BC),Roman legions conquered Macedon in turn, and a new and much larger Roman province bearing this name was formed. Paeonia around the Axios formed the second and third districts respectively of the newly constitutedRoman province of Macedonia.[85] Centuries later underDiocletian, Paeonia andPelagonia formed a province calledMacedonia Secunda orMacedonia Salutaris, belonging to thePraetorian prefecture of Illyricum.
Paeonia is roughly equivalent to the country currently known as the Republic of North Macedonia (the former FYROM).
Paeonia, roughly where the F.Y.R.O.M. is today.
Ovid was lax in his geography, not least over Paeonia (in fact roughly coextensive with the present Slav republic of Macedonia.).
The Agrianians were a Thracian people from the area that is now southern Serbia
Merker, 'Ancient Kingdom of Paeonia', pp.36-93, accepts the Paeonians as Hellenes.
This notice from Pausanias may suggest that at least by the second century AD the Paeonians were seen as part of the Greek community
But in 279 the Galatians or Gauls (the Celtic tribes) appeared in Macedonia, defeated the Macedonians and got as far as Delphi and Thermopylai. It is certain that Paionia was overrun and held for a time by Brennus the Celtic chieftain....This, I think, quite clearly shows that Leon was king of Paionia in the wake of the Celtic invasions, and that he was the person responsible for the reestablishment of Paionian state.
It was only during the reign of Demetrios II (239-229) that Aitolia and Macedonia were at war, the so-called War of Demetrios. I think that in this war Dropion was involved as an ally of Aitolia. ... When Demetrios or Antigonos Doson created the Macedonian Koinon he was imitated by his northern neighbor Dropion who hoped in this way both to modernize the constitution of his Kingdom and to increase the support of his subjects.
But before we can really draw any picture of the Paionians, we must settle one problem, and that problem is, "Were the Paionians of Hellenic stock?" By the term "Hellenic stock" I do not mean that they were Hellenes in the same sense as the ancient Athenians or Korinthians were Hellenes. The Paionians were far too backward to be considered Hellenes in this sense. Rather I ask, "Did the ancestors of the Paionians and the ancestors of the Athenians and Korinthians enter the Balkan peninsula together from some common point of origin, speaking the same or a similar language and sharing a similar culture?" Naturally in the course of time each of these two groups would have developed along different lines.
Thus, on the basis of the Paionian names, we can say that there is no evidence that the Paionians did not speak a dialect of Greek.
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This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Smith, William, ed. (1870).Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology.{{cite encyclopedia}}:Missing or empty|title= (help)
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Paeonia".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 20 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
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