Old preconceptions and new finds. Macedonians or Bottiaians (original) (raw)
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AUX SOURCES DES CONNAISSANCES HISTORIQUES. ÉPIGRAPHIE, TEXTES LITTÉRAIRES ET DOCUMENTS ARCHÉOLOGIQUES. Volume dédié à la mémoire de ALEXANDRU AVRAM, ed. by L. BUZOIANU, V. LUNGU, D. HĂLMAGI, Constanta 2023, 2023
The purpose of this paper is twofold: one the one hand, it presents the results of a new systematic archaeological excavation that has been taking place since 2016 near the village of Neo Rysio, about 17 km south-southeast of Thessaloniki. The site, called “Trapeza of Neo Rysio – Kardia”, has until now yielded architectural remains and finds of several categories belonging to a settlement that was in use in Early Iron Age and the Archaic period. On the other hand, it attempts an approach to the well-known question of the time during which the regions to the East of the Axios River passed under Macedonian control. The reason for the latter is that the abandonment of the specific settlement, according to its finds so far, and the coming of the area under Macedonian control, according to the recent research, appear to have taken place in the same period.
THE ACHAEMENID EMPIRE AND THE NORTH-WESTERN AEGEAN
Ancient West & East, Volume 5, 2006
In the late 6th and early 5th century BC the north-western Aegean was populated by a number of different peoples organised into various polities, but they all came under the domination of the Achaemenid empire for a few short decades. It was from this region too that Alexander set out to conquer the East. The present paper examines the nature of the links between the Macedonian kingdom and the poleis of the region with the empire. It focuses on a number of case studies which deal critically with recently excavated finds as well as already known material. The region is shown to have had a relationship with the Achaemenid sphere that changed through time, and while it was truly on the imperial margins there was still ground for fertile interactions between the Achaemenid centre and the smaller centres of this outlying area.
Inconspicuous Presence? Macedonians on the West Pontic Coast in the Early Hellenistic Period
M. Manoledakis (ed.). Peoples in the Black Sea Region from the Archaic to the Roman Period, 2021
The paper discusses the available evidence, written and archaeological, of Macedonian presence along the Black Sea coast from the Thracian conquests of Philip II to the death of Lysimachus (c. 342-281 BC). The review of the scarce written sources reveals a more evenly spread data for the time of Philip and Alexander III, while all mentions for Lysimachus' reign are concentrated to the north of the Balkan Range. Odessos, Kallatis, and Istros took part in the rebellion in 313 BC, Odessos was a major base of Lysimachus by the end of the century, used by Pleistarchus in 302 BC, and the Diadoch had a 'treasury' at nearby Tirizis. Archaeological evidence create a similar picture. For example, inscribed lead sling bullets that could be related to Philip II and the governors of Alexander III (Alexander of Lyncestis and Zopyrion) have been found from Apollonia to the south to the Danube in the north. Barrel-vaulted ('Macedonian') tombs are known only from the necropoleis of Odessos and Kallatis, indicating the presence of high-ranking Macedonians, and the region from Istros to Odessos (and Mesambria) shared the same trends in the architectural decoration in the first decades of the 3rd century BC. The latter are illustrated by the bucrania with garlands that suggest a connection with Samothrace (where Lysimachus was active) and correlate well with the evidence of the cult of the Great Gods of Samothrace that comes only from the region to the north of the Balkan Range. Meanwhile, a strong impression emerges that Apollonia and possibly Mesambria were not part of Lysimachus' domain, which would appear strange having in mind that the region of the Burgas Bay was crucial for the communications between the area to the north and the core of Lysimachus' kingdom in Southeastern Thrace. A hypothetical explanation could be sought for in certain agreements between him and the Thracians to the south of the Balkan Range-one, but not necessarily the only candidate would be Seuthes III.
The article deals with a complex of issues connected with the campaign waged by the Macedonian expeditionary corps in Asia Minor in 336–335 BC. The author clears up the aims set for the advance-guard, its command structure, strength and composition. He also describes the relevant military operations and reveals the reasons both for the Macedonians' successes in 336 and their failures in 335. The idea is argued that despite the final failures, it is hardly possible to say that the campaign the expeditionary corps conducted ended in its total defeat. Besides, it is noted that those military operations had major significance for Alex-ander's campaign in Asia Minor in 334, because a number of preconditions for its full success had been created right in their course.
A Note on the history of Hellenistic Megara: Τhe date of the Antigonid garrison in Aegosthena
Tekmeria 14, 2018
This paper presents a proposal for the date of the Antigonid military presence in Aegosthena near Megara, which is known only by a Megarian honorary decree for Boiotian Zoilos, the royal commander of the garrison (IG VII 1). The named king Demetrios in the inscription could be Poliorketes (306-284 BC) or his grandson, Demetrios II (239-229 BC). All the available evidences (philological, prosopographical, letters a.o.) are examined and the conclusion is that a date around 295-287 BC is the more preferable.
Ai Khanoum And Greek Domination in Central Asia
Electrum 22 (2015)
Ai Khanoum is probably the most important and the best-known of the Greek settlements founded in Bactria by the Seleucid kings. The site was excavated between 1964 and 1978, but its chronology remains unclear. The purpose of this article is to give a more accurate view of its history, taking into account the results of recent research. As yet, we are still unable to date with precision the time of its foundation, which was not a single event but a process, going on for several decades between the time Alexander the Great entered eastern Bactria in spring 328 and the time a true city was planned there under Antiochos I. Nevertheless, the development of Ai Khanoum occurred only from the beginning of the second century BC, when the city had become, along with Bactra, the major city of the Graeco-Bactrian kingdom. Under the Seleucids as well as the Graeco-Bactrian kings, Ai Khanoum was thus a royal city and its history was subordinate to those of the Greek kings.