CHAPTER XII.

GRECO-MACEDONIAN EMPIRE.

SECTION I.-RISE OF MACEDON UNDER PHILIP.

of Macedon.

MACEDON, or Macedonia, was the country lying immediately north Location of Thessaly, between Mount Scardus on the west and the maritime plain of Thrace on the east. It was bounded on the north by Pæonia. Its greatest length from north to south was about ninety miles, and its width from east to west averaged seventy miles. Its area was probably almost six thousand square miles, about half that of Belgium. The country is divided by high mountain-chains, capped with snow, into a number of distinct basins, some of which have a lake in the center, while others are watered by rivers, which flow eastward into the Ægean, with a single exception. The basins are of such extent as to present the appearance of a succession of plains. The more elevated regions are mostly richly wooded, abounding with sparkling rivulets, deep gorges and numerous waterfalls; but in some places the country seems dull and monotonous, the traveler passing for miles over a series of bleak downs and bare hillsides, stony and without shrubs.

The chief mountains of Macedon were the Scardian and other branches from the chain of Hamus; Pangæus, famous for its rich gold and silver mines; Athos, jutting into the Egean sea, forming a remarkable and dangerous promontory; and Olympus, partly belonging to Thessaly. Most of these, especially the Scardian chain and Mount Athos, were richly wooded, and the timber produced by them was highly valued by ship-builders. The chief rivers of Macedon emptying into the Adriatic were the Panyásus, the Apsus, the Laüs, and the Celydnus; those flowing into the Egean were the Haliácmon, the Erigon, the Axius, and the Strymon.

The soil of Macedon was fruitful; great abundance of corn, wine and oil being especially produced on the seacoast; while most of the mountains were rich in mineral treasures. Macedonia was noted for its excellent breed of horses, and thirty thousand brood mares were

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Mountains and Rivers.

Products,

Inhabi-
tants,
Cities,
Etc.

Early History

of

kept in the royal stables at Pella. Macedonia was said to contain one hundred and fifty different nations, each of its cities and towns being at one time regarded as an independent state. The western part of the country was inhabited by the barbarous Taulantii, in whose territory was the city of Epidamnus, founded by a Corcyræan colony, and whose name the Romans changed to Dyrácchium, now called Durazzo. In this same region was the city of Apollonia, founded by the Corinthians. South of the Taulantii, but also on the Adriatic, was the territory of the Alymióta, whose chief cities were Elyma and Bullis. East of these was the little inland district of the kingdom of Oréstes, where the son of Agamemnon is said to have settled after the murder of his mother. Macedonia proper was the south-eastern portion of the country, and contained the city of Ægæa, or Edessa, the cradle of the Macedonian kingdom, and Pella, the favorite capital of its most powerful monarchs. The districts of Macedonia proper bordering on the sea were called Piéria, and were consecrated to the Muses. These districts contained the important cities of Pydna, Phyllace and Dium. North-east was the region of Amphaxitis, bordering on the Thermaic Gulf, and its principal cities were Therma, afterwards called Thessaloníca, now Saloníca, and Stagíra, the birth-place of Aristotle. Chalcidice, or the Chalcidian peninsula, between the Thermaic and Strymonian Gulfs, has its coasts deeply indented with bays and inlets of the Egean sea, and contained many important trading cities and colonies, the chief of which were Pellêné, in the headland of the same name; Potidea, a Corinthian colony; Toróne, on the Toroanic Gulf; and Olynthus, celebrated for the many sieges sustained by it. In the region of Edonia, near the Strymon river, was Amphipolis, a favorite Athenian colony, Scotussa and Crenídas, the name of the latter being changed to Philippi by Philip of Macedon.

According to the Greek tradition the Macedonian kingdom was founded by Hellenic colonists from Argos under Cáranus, who were Macedon. said to have been conducted by a flock of goats to the city of Edessa, which was easily stormed and taken (B. C. 813). The Macedonian people were not Hellenes, but belonged to the barbarous races, differing very little from the Greeks in ethnic type, and being most nearly related with the Illyrians in race. The Argive colony was hospitably received, and gradually acquired power in the region of Mount Bermius; and, according to Herodotus, Perdiccas, one of the original Argive emigrants, was acknowledged as king. Other ancient writers mention three kings before Perdiccas, whose combined reigns embraced a period of about a century. The period following is very obscure, little being known except the names of the kings. PERDICCAS I. is said to have reigned almost fifty years, from about B. C. 700 to B.