Paeonians (Ancient Greek: Παίονες, romanized: Paíones) were an ancient Indo-European people that dwelt in Paeonia. Paeonia was an old country whose location was to the north of Ancient Macedonia, to the south of Dardania, to the west of Thrace and to the east of Illyria. Most of their land was in the Axios (or Vardar) river basin, roughly in what is today North Macedonia.^{[1][2][3][4][5][6]}

Geography

The Paeonians lived from the middle to the lower Vardar river basin in antiquity. The first Paeonian settlement to be mentioned in antiquity is Amydon by Homer in the Iliad. To the north and west, the Paeonians bordered Illyrian peoples but these borders were unstable. In particular, the border with the Dardani seems to have shifted several times between Gradsko (Stobi) and Bylazora. The capture of Bylazora in 217 BCE by Philip V partly stabilized the northern Dardanian-Paeonian frontier. To their east, the Paeonians bordered Thracian peoples along the Bregalnica river, which seems to have formed the natural border between the Maedi and the Paeonians. Along the Lakavica river, a left-bank tributary of the Bregalnica, it is most likely Paeonian settlements were distributed. Their territory extended to the southeast up to the upper Strumica river basin (roughly the area of modern Strumica municipality) and bordered Sintice. An important Paeonian settlement in this region was Doberus which is mentioned in 429 BCE in the Odrysian campaign against Macedon by Sitalces.^[7] To their west and southwest along the Crna Reka river, the Paeonians who themselves probably occupied the lower Crna Reka border a number of Illyrian and upper Macedonian or Pelagonian peoples, while to the south the Brygian town of Skydra or Kydra was situated.^[8] To the south, Paeonians bordered Macedonians. Before 1000 BCE, Paeonians must have settled in the lower Vardar basin as far south as Mygdonia where Strabo places them in an area known as Amphaxitis. The expansion of the Macedonian state during the 4th century BCE resulted in the foundation of several new cities in southern Paeonia including Idomenae and Antigonia.^[9]

Ethnolinguistic kinship

Modern linguists are uncertain as to the classification of Paeonian, due to the extreme scarcity of surviving materials in the language, with numerous hypotheses having been suggested about their language and their origins: Illyrian,^[10][11] Brygian/Phrygian,^[12] Thracian,^[13] or of mixed origins.^[14] According to Radoslav Katičić, the prevailing opinion is that they were of "Illyrian" origin, in the sense that they belonged to same linguistic grouping as the people of the north-western Balkans, while some scholars have proposed a Greek origin and that their language was an ancient Greek dialect.^[10] The possibility that they took part in the Greek migration, remained behind on the route and consequently spoke a Greek dialect or a lost Indo-European language closely related to Greek cannot be ruled out.^[10] According to the national legend,^[15] they were Teucrian colonists from Troy. Homer speaks of Paeonians from the Axios fighting on the side of the Trojans,^[16] but the Iliad does not mention whether the Paeonians were kin to the Trojans. Homer calls the Paeonian leader Pyraechmes (parentage unknown); later on in the Iliad (Book 21), Homer mentions a second leader, Asteropaeus, son of Pelagon.

Pausanias described that Paeon, the eponymous ancestor of the Paionians, was a brother of Epeius and Aetolus, the eponymous ancestors of the Epeians of Elis and the Aetolians respectively.^[17] According to Irwin L. Merker, this genealogy shows that the Ancient Greeks considered the Paionians to be of Hellenic stock. 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".^[18] Their place-name has several cognates in Greece such as Παιονίδαι (Paeonidai), a deme of the tribe Leontis in Attica. A place in the Argolid also has the same name.^[19]

Paeonian is considered a Paleo-Balkan language but this is only a geographical grouping, not a genealogical one. Athenaeus seems to have connected the Paeonian language to the barely-attested Mysian language. Mysian was possibly a member of the Anatolian branch in the Indo-European language family or a member of the Phrygian language (languages of the Bryges, Phrygians, Western and Eastern Mushki).^[20][21][22]

Culture

Coins of Patraus, king of Paeonia in c. 335–315 BCE.

History

Paeonian country

The country of Paeonians had some important resources – it was rich in gold.

During the Persian invasion of Greece they conquered Paeonians as far as Lake Prasias, including the Paeoplae and Siropaiones. Part of them were deported from Paeonia to Asia.^[25]

Before the reign of Darius Hystaspes, they had made their way as far east as Perinthus in Thrace on the Propontis. At one time, all Mygdonia, together with Crestonia, was subject to them. When Xerxes crossed Chalcidice on his way to Therma (later renamed Thessalonica), he is said to have marched through Paeonian territory. They occupied the entire valley of the Axios (Vardar) as far inland as Stobi, the valleys to the east of it as far as the Strymon and the country round Astibus and the river of the same name, with the water of which they anointed their kings. Emathia, roughly the district between the Haliacmon and Axios, was once called Paeonia; and Pieria and Pelagonia 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 lands north of Macedonia and from Illyria to the Strymon. Philip II of Macedon took advantage of the death of their king Agis and campaigned against them. Paeonia was made a Macedonian vassal in 356 BCE, during the course of Philip's Balkan campaigns.^[26] 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.^[27] This reduced the Paeonian Kingdom then ruled by Lyppeius to a semi-autonomous, subordinate status. A Paeonian cavalry contingent, led by Ariston, possibly brother of King Patraus and father of the later king Audoleon,^[28] was attached to Alexander the Great's army. Alexander the Great wished to bestow the hand of his sister Cynane upon Langarus, king of the Agrianians, who had shown himself loyal to Philip II.

Down to 227 BCE, at least seven Paeonian kings reigned, and during that period, Paeonia remained a distinct entity, either subject to Macedonia or independent. In 279, when the Gauls defeated Ptolemy Ceraunus and got as far as Delphi, it is certain that Paeonia was overrun and held for a time by their chieftain Brennus, but in the wake of the Celtic invasion, Leon reestablished the Paeonian kingdom.^[29] Antigonus Gonatas then annexed Paeonia into his kingdom.^[30] Irwin Merker suggests that when Demetrios II and the Aetolian League were at war, "Dropion was involved as an ally of Aitolia."^[31] Additionally, he states that "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."^[31] In 227 BCE, Antigonus Doson conquered the southern part of Paeonia and founded the city of Antigoneia (near modern Negotino), and ten years after Philip V of Macedon conquered the rest by capturing Bylazora; after this, Perseis and Astraion were founded.^[32]

Tribes

The Paeonian tribes (five or eight) were:

• Agrianes^[34] (also, Agriani and Agrii) (it is also claimed that this tribe was Thracian)
• Almopians^[35] (also Almopioi)
• Derrones^[36] (also Derroni) (it is also claimed that this tribe was Thracian)
• Doberes^[37]
• Laeaeans^[34] (also Laeaei and Laiai)
• Odomantes^[38] (also Odomanti) (it is also claimed that this tribe was Thracian)^[39]
• Paeoplae^[40]
• Siropaiones^[41]

References

Sources

• Duridanov, Ivan (1975). Die Hydronymie des Vardarsystems als Geschichtsquelle (PDF). Böhlau Verlag. ISBN 3412839736.
• Hatzopoulos, Miltiades B. (2020). Ancient Macedonia. De Gruyter. ISBN 978-3-11-071876-8.
• Katičić, Radoslav (2012) [1976]. Winter, Werner (ed.). Ancient Languages of the Balkans (Part 1). Trends in Linguistics: State-of-the-art Reports. Vol. 4. De Gruyter Mouton. ISBN 978-3-11-156887-4.
• Mallory, J. P. (1997). Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture. Douglas Q. Adams. ISBN 1884964982. Retrieved 23 March 2013.

Further reading

External links

• https://www.livius.org/articles/people/paeones/