Macedon

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Macedon

Macedon or Macedonia () was the name of a kingdom

Monarchy

Ancient Greece

The term Ancient Greece refers to the period of History of Greece lasting from the Greek Dark Ages ca. 1100 BC and the Dorian invasion, to 146 BC and the Roman Republic conquest of Greece after the Battle of Corinth ....
. The homeland of the ancient Macedonians

Ancient Macedonians

The Macedonians were an ancient tribe which inhabited the alluvial plain around the rivers Haliacmon and lower Vardar, north of Mount Olympus in Greece....
, it was bordered by the kingdom of Epirus

Epirus (region)

Epirus is a region in south-eastern Europe, currently divided between the Peripheries of Greece Epirus in Greece and the prefectures of Gjirokast?r, Vlor?, Kor??, and Berat in southern Albania....
to the west and the region of Thrace

Thrace

Thrace is a historical and geographic area in southeast Europe. Today the name Thrace designates a region spread over southern Bulgaria , northeastern Greece , and European Turkey ....
to the east. For a brief period, it became the most powerful state in the world after Alexander the Great

Alexander the Great

Greeks

The Greeks , also known as Hellenes, are a nation and ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighbouring regions, who can also be found in Greek diaspora communities around the world....
, inaugurating the Hellenistic period

Hellenistic period

The Hellenistic period describes the era which followed the conquests of Alexander the Great. During this time, Greek cultural influence and power was at its zenith in Europe and Asia....
of world history

World History

World History is a field of historiography that emerged as a distinct academic field in the 1980s. It examines history from a global perspective....
.

first Macedonian

Ancient Macedonians

The Macedonians were an ancient tribe which inhabited the alluvial plain around the rivers Haliacmon and lower Vardar, north of Mount Olympus in Greece....
state emerged in the 8th

8th century BC

The 8th century BC started the first day of 800 BC and ended the last day of 701 BC....
or early 7th century BC under the Argead Dynasty

Argead dynasty

The Argead dynasty was the ancient Greeks ruling house of Macedon from about 700 BC to 310 BC. Their tradition, as described in ancient Greek historiography, traced their origins to Argos, in southern Greece ....
, who, according to legend, migrated to the region from the Greek city

Polis

A polis -- plural: poleis --is a city, a city-state and also citizenship and body of citizens. When used to describe Classical Athens and its contemporaries, polis is often translated as "city-state."...
of Argos

Argos

Argos is a city in Greece in the Peloponnese near Nafplion, which was its historic harbour, named for Nauplius ....
in Peloponnesus (thus the name Argead).

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Encyclopedia

Macedon or Macedonia () was the name of a kingdom

Monarchy

Ancient Greece

Ancient Macedonians

Epirus (region)

Thrace

Alexander the Great

Greeks

Hellenistic period

World History

World History is a field of historiography that emerged as a distinct academic field in the 1980s. It examines history from a global perspective....
.

History

Early history

The first Macedonian

Ancient Macedonians

The Macedonians were an ancient tribe which inhabited the alluvial plain around the rivers Haliacmon and lower Vardar, north of Mount Olympus in Greece....
state emerged in the 8th

8th century BC

The 8th century BC started the first day of 800 BC and ended the last day of 701 BC....
or early 7th century BC under the Argead Dynasty

Argead dynasty

Polis

Argos

Argos is a city in Greece in the Peloponnese near Nafplion, which was its historic harbour, named for Nauplius ....
in Peloponnesus (thus the name Argead). It should be mentioned that the Macedonian tribe ruled by the Argeads, was itself called Argead (which translates as "descended from Argos").

Its first king is recorded as Perdiccas I. The kingdom was situated in the fertile alluvial plain, watered by the rivers Haliacmon

Haliacmon

The Haliacmon It rises in the northern Pindus mountains in northern Greece on the border with Albania, before flowing southeast then northeast through the Greek peripheries of Greece of West Macedonia and Central Macedonia and then into Lake Kastoria, and into the dam and into the Thermaic Gulf....
and Axius

Axius

Axius is a genus of mud lobster.References...
, called Lower Macedonia, north of the mountain Olympus

Olympus

A number of different things are named Olympus:...
. Around the time of Alexander I of Macedon

Alexander I of Macedon

Alexander I was ruler of Macedon from 498 BC to 454 BC. He was the son of Amyntas I of Macedon king of Macedon and Eurydice.According to Herodotus he was unfriendly to Persian Empire, and had the envoys of Darius I of Persia killed when they arrived at the court of his father during the Ionian Revolt....
, the Argead Macedonians started to expand into Upper Macedonia

Upper Macedonia

Upper Macedonia is a geographical and tribal term to describe the regions that became part of the kingdom of Macedon in the early 4th century BC....
, that is Eordaia, Bottiaea

Bottiaea

Bottiaea was a region of ancient Macedon. It was previously inhabited by the Bottiaeans who, according to Strabo, were Cretans named so after their leader Botton, that emigrated to Sicily and later settled in Macedonia....
, Mygdonia, and Almopia

Almopia

Almopia is a defunct Provinces of Greece of the Pella Prefecture in Macedonia , Greece. One of the regions of ancient Macedon, it corresponds roughly to the Moglena region of Byzantine Empire and modern times....
- which were mountainous regions settled by independent Macedonian tribes. Near the modern city of Veria

Veria

Veria is a city built at the foot of Vermion Mountains in Greece. It is a commercial center of Macedonia , the capital of the Prefectures of Greece of Imathia Prefecture, the province of Imathia and the seat of a bishop of the Church of Greece....
, Perdiccas I (or, more likely, his son, Argaeus I

Argaeus I of Macedon

Argaeus I of Macedon , was king of Macedon of the Argead dynasty from about 678 BC to about 640 BC. He succeeded in the throne his father Perdiccas I of Macedon....
) built his capital, Aigai (modern Vergina

Vergina

Vergina is a small town in northern Greece, located in the prefecture of Imathia Prefecture, Central Macedonia. The town became internationally famous in 1977, when the Greek archaeologist Manolis Andronikos unearthed what he claimed was the burial site of the kings of Macedon, including the tomb of Philip II of Macedon, father of Alexander...
). After a brief period under Persian

Persian Empire

The 'Persian Empire' was a series of successive Iranian or Persianization empires that ruled over the Iranian plateau, the original Persian homeland, and beyond in Southwest Asia, South Asia, Central Asia and the Caucasus....
rule under Darius Hystaspes

Darius I of Persia

Darius I or Darius the Great was the son of Hystaspes and Persian Empire from 522 BC to 486 BC. Darius is the dominant Latin language spelling used by the Roman historians....
, the state regained its independence under King Alexander I

Alexander I of Macedon

495 BC

Sorry, no overview for this topic
–450 BC).

Atticisation and expansion

Prior to the 4th century BC, the kingdom covered a region approximately corresponding to the province of Macedonia

Macedonia (Greece)

Macedonia is a geographical and historical Regions of Greece in Southeastern Europe Europe. Macedonia is the largest and second most populous Greece region....
of modern Greece

Greece

Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , is a country in southeastern Europe, situated on the southern end of the Balkans. It has borders with Albania, Bulgaria and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia to the north, and Turkey to the east....
. It became increasingly Atticised

Attic Greek

Attic Greek is the prestige dialect of Ancient Greek that was spoken in Attica, which includes Athens. Of the ancient dialects, it is the most similar to later Greek, and is the standard form of the language studied in courses of "Ancient Greek"....
during this period, though prominent Athenians

Athens

Athens , the Capital and largest city of Greece, dominates the Attica periphery; as one of the List of cities by time of continuous habitation, its recorded history spans around 3,400 years....
appear to have regarded the Macedonians as uncouth.

A unified Macedonian state was eventually established by King Amyntas III (c. 393

393 BC

Events...
–370 BC), though it still retained strong contrasts between the cattle-rich coastal plain and the fierce isolated tribal hinterland, allied to the king by marriage ties. They controlled the passes through which barbarian invasions came from Illyria

Illyria

'Illyria' was in Classical antiquity a region in the western part of today's Balkan Peninsula, inhabited by tribes of Illyrians, an ancient people who spoke the Illyrian languages....
to the north and northwest. Amyntas had three sons; the first two, Alexander II

Alexander II of Macedon

Alexander II was king of Macedon from 370 ? 368 BC, following the death of his father Amyntas III of Macedon. He was the eldest of the three sons of Amyntas and Eurydice....
and Perdiccas III reigned only briefly. Perdiccas III's infant heir was deposed by Amyntas' third son, Philip II of Macedon

Philip II of Macedon

Philip II of Macedon,...
, who made himself king and ushered in a period of Macedonian dominance of Greece.

Under Philip II, (359

359 BC

Events...
–336 BC), Macedon expanded into the territory of the Paionians, Thracians

Thracians

The ancient Thracians were a group of Indo-European peoples who spoke the Thracian language - a scarcely attested branch of the Indo-European language family....
, and Illyrians

Illyrians

Illyrians has come to refer to a broad, ill-defined "Indo-European languages" group of peoples who inhabited the western Balkans and even possibly Messapia in Southern Italy ....
. Among other conquests, he annexed the regions of Pelagonia

Pelagonia

Pelagonia was an ancient region of Europe later incorporated into Macedon. It was roughly bounded by Dardania to the far north, Illyria to the west and north, Paionia to the east, and Lynkestis to the south and west....
and Southern Paionia

Paionia

Paionia or Paeonia was in ancient geography, the land of the Paeonians , the exact boundaries of which, like the early history of its inhabitants, are very obscure but they were in the region of Thrace....
.

Macedon became more politically involved with the south-central city-states of Ancient Greece

Ancient Greece

Pella

Pella was the Capital of the Ancient Greece Monarchy of Macedon. A common folk etymology is traditionally given for the name Pella, ascribing it to a form akin to the Doric Greek Apella, originally meaning a ceremonial location where decisions were made....
, resembling Mycenaean

Mycenaean Greece

Mycenaean Greece is a cultural period of ancient Greece taking its name from the archaeological site of Mycenae in northeastern Argolis, in the Peloponnese of southern Greece....
culture more than classic Hellenic

Ancient Greece

Olympias

Olympias , ca. 376–316 BC, was an Epirote princess, the fourth wife of King Philip II of Macedon of Macedon and mother of Alexander the Great....
, mother of Alexander.

Another archaic remnant was the very persistence of a hereditary monarchy

Monarchy

A monarchy is a form of government in which supreme power is absolutely or nominally lodged in an individual, who is the head of state, often for Life tenure or until abdication, and "is wholly set apart from all other members of the state." The person who heads a monarchy is called a monarch....
which wielded formidable sometimes absolute power, although this was at times checked by the landed aristocracy, and often disturbed by power struggles within the royal family itself. This contrasted sharply with the Greek cultures further south, where the ubiquitous city-states mostly possessed aristocratic or democratic institutions; the de facto

De facto

De facto is a Latin expression that means "concerning the fact" or in practice but not necessarily ordained by law. It is commonly used in contrast to de jure when referring to matters of law, governance, or technique that are found in the common experience as created or developed without or contrary to a regulation....
monarchy of tyrant

Tyrant

This article is about the political ruler. For other uses see Tyrant and Tyranny In modern usage, a tyrant is a single ruler holding absolute political power over a state or within an organization....
s, in which heredity was usually more of an ambition rather than the accepted rule; and the limited, predominantly military and sacerdotal, power of the twin hereditary Sparta

Sparta

Sparta was a city-state in ancient Greece, situated on the Eurotas River in the southern part of the Peloponnese. From circa 650 BC it rose to become the dominant military power in the region and as such was recognized as the overall leader of the combined Greek forces during the Greco-Persian Wars....
n kings. The same might have held true of feudal institutions like serfdom

Serfdom

Serfdom is the socio-economic status of unfree peasants under feudalism, and specifically relates to Manorialism. It was a condition of Debt bondage or modified slavery which developed primarily during the High Middle Ages in Europe....
, which may have persisted in Macedon well into historical times. Such institutions were abolished by city-states well before Macedon's rise (most notably by the Athenian legislator Solon

Solon

Solon was an Athens statesman, lawmaker, and lyric poetry. He is remembered particularly for his efforts to legislate against political, economic and moral decline in Archaic period in Greece Athens....
's famous seisachtheia
Seisachtheia

Seisachtheia was a set of laws instituted by the Athenian lawmaker Solon in order to rectify the wide-spread serfdom and slavery that had run rampant in Athens by the 6th Century BC, by debt relief....
laws).

In the 4th century BC, Macedon took part in the Amphictyonic League

Amphictyonic League

In the Archaic period in Greece, an amphictyony or Amphictyonic League was an association of ancient Greek tribes formed in the dim past, before the rise of the Greek polis....
, which was an association of ancient Greek tribes formed to protect a specific temple or sacred place. In 356 BC, when Phocians captured and sacked Delphi

Delphi

Delphi is an archaeology site and a modern town in Greece on the south-western spur of Mount Parnassus in the valley of Phocis. Delphi was the site of the Pythia, the most important oracle in the classical Greek world, when it was a major site for the worship of the god Apollo after he slew the Python , a deity who lived there and protecte...
and a sacred war was declared against them, they were expelled from the league, and their two votes were given to Macedonians who had helped to defeat them.

Empire

Philip's son, Alexander the Great

Alexander the Great

356 BC

Events...
–323 BC), managed to briefly extend Macedonian power not only over the central Greek city-states, but also to the Persian empire

Persian Empire

Egypt

Egypt is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Western Asia. Covering an area of about , Egypt borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, the Gaza Strip and Israel to the northeast, the Red Sea to the east, Sudan to the south and Libya to the west....
and lands as far east as the fringes of India

Indian subcontinent

The Indian subcontinent is a large section of the Asian continent consisting of the land lying substantially on the Indian Plate. The subcontinent includes parts of various countries in South Asia, including those on the continental crust , an Island#Continental islands country on the continental shelf , and an Island#Oceanic islands countr...
. Alexander's adoption of the styles of government of the conquered territories was accompanied by the spread of Greek culture and learning through his vast empire. Although the empire fractured into multiple Hellenic regimes shortly after his death, his conquests left a lasting legacy, not least in the new Greek-speaking cities founded across Persia's western territories, heralding the Hellenistic

Hellenistic civilization

File:Diadochen1.pngHellenistic civilization represents the zenith of Ancient Greece influence in the Classical Antiquity from 323 BC to about 146 BC ....
period. In the partition of Alexander's empire among the Diadochi

Diadochi

The Diadochi were the rival successors of Alexander the Great, and their Wars of the Diadochi followed Alexander's death. This was the beginning of the Hellenistic period of Greek history, the time when many people who were not Greek themselves adopted Greek philosophy and styles, Greek urban life, and aspects of the Greek religion....
, Macedonia fell to the Antipatrid dynasty

Antipatrid dynasty

The Antipatrid dynasty was a Macedonian dynasty founded by Cassander, the son of Antipater, who declared himself Kings of Macedon in 302 BC. This dynasty did not last long; in 294 BC it was overthrown by the Antigonid dynasty, whose members proved to be more effective rulers....
, which was overthrown by the Antigonid dynasty

Antigonid dynasty

The Antigonid dynasty was a dynasty of Hellenistic kings descended from Alexander the Great general Antigonus I Monophthalmus .History...
after only a few years, in 294 BC.

Hellenistic era

Antipater

Antipater was a Macedonian general and a supporter of kings Philip II of Macedon and Alexander the Great. In 320 BC, he became regent of all of Alexander's empire....
and his son Cassander

Cassander

Cassander , King of Macedon , was a son of Antipater, and founder of the short-lived Antipatrid dynasty....
gained control of Macedonia but it slid into a long period of civil strife following Cassander's death in 297 BC. It was ruled for a while by Demetrius I

Demetrius I of Macedon

Demetrius I , called Poliorcetes , son of Antigonus I Monophthalmus and Stratonice , was a king of Macedon . He belonged to the Antigonid dynasty....
(294

294 BC

Events...
–288 BC) but fell into civil war.

Demetrius' son, Antigonus II (277

277 BC

Events...
–239 BC), defeated a Galatian invasion as a condottiere, and regained his family's position in Macedonia; he successfully restored order and prosperity there, though he lost control of many of the Greek city-states. He established a stable monarchy under the Antigonid dynasty

Antigonid dynasty

The Antigonid dynasty was a dynasty of Hellenistic kings descended from Alexander the Great general Antigonus I Monophthalmus .History...
. Antigonus III (239

229 BC

Events...
–221 BC) built on these gains by re-establishing Macedonian power across the region.

What is notable about the Macedonian regime during the Hellenistic times is that it was the only successor state to the Empire that maintained the old archaic perception of Kingship, and never adopted the ways of the Hellenistic Monarchy. Thus the king was never deified in the same way that Ptolemies and Seleucids were in Egypt and Asia respectively, and never adopted the custom of Proskynesis

Proskynesis

Proskynesis, formed from the Ancient Greek words pros and kuneo literally means "kissing towards", and refers to the traditional Persian Empire act of prostrating oneself before a person of higher social rank....
. The ancient Macedonians during the Hellenistic times were still addressing their kings in a far more casual way than the subjects of the rest of the Diadochi, and the Kings were still consulting with their aristocracy (Philoi) in the process of making their decisions.

Conflict with Rome

Under Philip V of Macedon

Philip V of Macedon

File:Philip_V_of_Macedon BM.jpgPhilip V was King of Macedon from 221 BC to 179 BC. Philip's reign was principally marked by an unsuccessful struggle with the emerging power of Roman Republic....
(221

221 BC

Events...
–179 BC) and his son Perseus of Macedon

Perseus of Macedon

File:Perseus_of_Macedon BM.jpgPerseus was the last king of the Antigonid dynasty, who ruled the successor state in Macedon created upon the death of Alexander the Great....
(179

179 BC

Events...
–168 BC), the kingdom clashed with the rising power of the Roman Republic

Roman Republic

The Roman Republic was the phase of the Ancient Rome characterized by a republican form of government; a period which began with the overthrow of the Roman Roman Kingdom, c....
. During the 2nd

2nd century BC

The 2nd century BC started the first day of 200 BC and ended the last day of 101 BC. It is considered part of the Classical antiquity era, although depending on the region being studied, other terms may be more proper ....
and 1st centuries BC, Macedon fought a series of wars

Macedonian Wars

The Macedonian and Seleucid wars were a series of conflicts fought by Rome during and after the second Punic war, in the eastern Mediterranean, the Adriatic, and the Aegean Sea....
with Rome. Two major losses that led to their inevitable defeat were in 197 BC when Rome defeated Philip V, and 168 BC when Rome defeated Perseus. The overall losses resulted in the defeat of Macedon, the deposition of the Antigonid dynasty and the dismantling of the Macedonian kingdom. Andriscus

Andriscus

Andriscus, also spelt Andriskos and often called the pseudo-Philip, was King of Macedon , and ruler of Edremit , Balikesir in Aeolis ....
' brief success at reestablishing the monarchy in 149 BC was quickly followed by his defeat the following year and the establishment of direct Roman

Roman Republic

The Roman Republic was the phase of the Ancient Rome characterized by a republican form of government; a period which began with the overthrow of the Roman Roman Kingdom, c....
rule and the organization of Macedon as the Roman province of Macedonia.

Institutions

The political organization of the Macedonian kingdom was a three-level pyramid: on the top, the King and the nation, at the foot, the civic organizations (cities and éthne), and between the two, the districts. The study of these different institutions has been considerably renewed thanks to epigraphy

Epigraphy

Epigraphy is the study of wikt:inscriptions or wikt:epigraphs engraved into stone or other durable materials, or cast in metal, the science of classifying them as to cultural context and date, elucidating them and assessing what conclusions can be deduced from them....
, which has given us the possibility to reread the indications given us by ancient literary sources such as Livy

Livy

Titus Livius , known as Livy in English language, was a Ancient Rome historian who wrote a monumental history of Rome, Ab Urbe Condita, from its founding through the reign of Augustus in Livy's own time....
and Polybius

Polybius

Polybius was a Greek historian of the Hellenistic Period noted for his book called The Histories covering in detail the period of 220–146 BC....
. They show that the Macedonian institutions were near to those of the Greek federal states, like the Aetolian

Aetolian League

The Aetolian League was a confederation of states in ancient Greece centered on the cities of Aetolia in central Greece. Alternatively termed the Aitolian League, it was established in 370 BC in opposition to Macedon and the Achaean League....
and Achaean

Achaean League

The Achaean League was a confederation of Greece poliss in Achaea, a territory on the northern coast of the Peloponnese. An initial confederation existed during the 5th century BC through the 4th century BC....
leagues, whose unity was reinforced by the presence of the king.

The King

The king () headed the central administration: he led the kingdom from its capital, Pella, and in his royal palace was conserved the state's archive. He was helped in carrying out his work by the Royal Secretary (), whose work was of primary importance, and by the Council

Synhedrion

'Synedrion' or Synhedrion is a Greek word for an assembly that holds formal sessions. The Latinized form is 'synedrium'.Depending on the widely varied constitutions, it applied to diverse representative and/or judiciary organs of Greek and hellenistic poliss and treaty organisations....
.

The king was commander of the army, head of the Macedonian religion, and director of diplomacy. Also, only he could conclude treaties, and, until Philip V

Philip V of Macedon

File:Philip_V_of_Macedon BM.jpgPhilip V was King of Macedon from 221 BC to 179 BC. Philip's reign was principally marked by an unsuccessful struggle with the emerging power of Roman Republic....
, mint coins.

The number of civil servants was limited: the king directed his kingdom mostly in an indirect way, supporting himself principally through the local magistrates, the epistates, with whom he constantly kept in touch.

Succession

Royal succession in Macedon was hereditary, male, patrilineal and generally respected the principle of primogeniture

Primogeniture

Primogeniture is the common law right of the firstborn son to inherit the entire Estate , to the exclusion of younger siblings. It is the tradition brought by the Normans to England in 1066....
. There was also an elective element: when the king died, his designated heir, generally but not always the eldest son, had first to be accepted by the council and then presented to the general Assembly to be acclaimed king and obtain the oath of fidelity.

As can be seen, the succession was far from being automatic, more so considering that many Macedonian kings died violently, without having made dispositions for the succession, or having assured themselves that these would be respected. This can be seen with Perdiccas III

Perdiccas III of Macedon

Perdiccas III was king of Macedonia from 368 to 359 BC, succeeding his brother Alexander II of Macedon.Son of Amyntas III of Macedon and Eurydice II of Macedon, he was underage when Alexander II was killed by Ptolemy of Aloros, who then ruled as regent....
, slain by the Illyria

Illyria

'Illyria' was in Classical antiquity a region in the western part of today's Balkan Peninsula, inhabited by tribes of Illyrians, an ancient people who spoke the Illyrian languages....
ns, Philip II

Philip II of Macedon

Philip II of Macedon,...
assassinated by Pausanias of Orestis, Alexander the Great

Alexander the Great

Alexander the Great , also known as Alexander III of Macedon was an ancient Greeks King of Macedon . He was one of the most successful military commanders of all time and is presumed undefeated in battle....
, suddenly died of malady, etc. Succession crises were frequent, especially up to the 4th century BC, when the magnate families of Upper Macedonia still cultivated the ambition of overthrowing the Argaead dynasty and to ascend to the throne.

Finances

The king was the simple guardian and administrator of the treasure of Macedon and of the king's incomes (), which belonged to the Macedonians: and the tributes that came to the kingdom thanks to the treaties with the defeated people also went to the Macedonian people, and not to the king. Even if the king was not accountable for his management of the kingdom's entries, he may have felt responsible to defend his administration on certain occasions: Arrian

Arrian

File:Flavius_Arrianus.jpgLucius Flavius Arrianus 'Xenophon , known in English as Arrian , and Arrian of Nicomedia, was a Ancient Rome historian , a public servant, a military commander and a philosopher of the Roman and Byzantine Greece period....
tells us that during the mutiny

Mutiny

Mutiny is a conspiracy among members of a group of similarly-situated individuals to openly oppose, change or overthrow an existing authority....
of Alexander's soldiers at Opis

Opis

Opis was an ancient Babylonian city on the Tigris, not far from modern Baghdad. The precise location of Opis has not been established, but from the Akkadian language and Greek language texts, it was located on the east bank of the Tigris, near the Diyala River....
in 324 BC, Alexander detailed the possessions of his father at his death to prove he had not abused his charge.

It is known from Livy and Polybius that the basiliká included the following sources of income:

The mines of gold and silver (for example those of the Pangaeus), which were the exclusive possession of the king, and which permitted him to strike currency, as already said his sole privilege till Philip V, who conceded to cities and districts the right of coinage for the lesser denominations, like bronze.
The forests, whose timber was very appreciated by the Greek cities to build their ships: in particular, it is known that Athens
Athens

Athens , the Capital and largest city of Greece, dominates the Attica periphery; as one of the List of cities by time of continuous habitation, its recorded history spans around 3,400 years....
made commercial treaties with Macedon in the 5th century BC to import the timber necessary for the construction and the maintenance of its fleet of war.
The royal landed properties, lands that were annexed to the royal domain through conquest, and that the king exploited either directly, in particular through servile workforce made up of prisoners of war, or indirectly through a leasing system.
The port duties on commerce (importation and exportation taxes).

The most common way to exploit these different sources of income was by leasing: the Pseudo-Aristotle

Aristotle

Aristotle was a Greeks philosopher, a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. He wrote on many subjects, including physics, metaphysics, Poetics , theater, music, logic, rhetoric, politics, government, ethics, biology and zoology....
reports in the Oeconomica that Amyntas III

Amyntas III of Macedon

Amyntas III son of Arrhidaeus and father of Philip II of Macedon, was king of Macedon in 393 BC, and again from 392 to 369 BC.He came to the throne after the ten years of confusion which followed the death of Archelaus II of Macedon, the patron of art and literature....
(or maybe Philip II) doubled the kingdom's port revenues with the help of Callistratus

Callistratus of Aphidnae

Callistratus of Aphidnae was an Athens orator and general in the 4th century BCE.For many years, as prostates, he supported Spartan interests at Athens, recognizing that Thebes, Greece posed a greater threat to Athens....
, who had taken refuge in Macedon, bringing them from 20 to 40 talents

Talent (weight)

The talent is an ancient unit of mass. It corresponded generally to the mass of water in the volume of an Amphora , i.e. one foot cubed. Depending on the length of the respective legal foot, this corresponds roughly to the mass of 27 kg or about 60 English pound s....
per year. To do this, the exploitation of the harbour taxes was given every year at the private offering the highest bidding. It is also known from Livy that the mines and the forests were leased for a fixed sum under Philip V, and it appears that the same happened under the Argaead dynasty: from here possibly comes the leasing system that was used in Ptolemaic Egypt.

Except for the king's properties, land in Macedon was free: Macedonians were free men and did not pay land taxes on private grounds. Even extraordinary taxes like those paid by the Athenians in times of war did not exist. Even in conditions of economic peril, like what happened to Alexander in 334 BC and Perseus in 168 BC, the monarchy did not tax its subjects but raised funds through loans, first of all by his Companions, or raised the cost of the leases.

The king could grant the atelíe , a privilege of tax exemption, as Alexander did with those Macedonian families which had losses in the battle of the Granicus

Battle of the Granicus

The Battle of the Granicus River in May 334 BC was the first of three major battles fought between Alexander the Great and the Persian Empire. Fought in Northwestern Asia Minor, near the site of Troy, it was here where Alexander defeated the forces of the Persian satraps of Asia Minor, including a large force of Greek mercenaries led by Memno...
in May 334

334 BC

Events...
: they were exempted from paying tribute for leasing royal grounds and commercial taxes.

Extraordinary incomes came from the spoils of war, which were divided between the king and his men. At the time of Philip II and Alexander, this was a considerable source of income. A considerable part of the gold and silver objects taken at the time of the European and Asian campaigns were melted in ingots and then sent to the monetary foundries of Pella

Pella

Amphipolis

Amphipolis was an Ancient Greece Greece Polis in the region once inhabited by the Edoni people in the present-day Peripheries of Greece of Central Macedonia....
, most active of the kingdom at that time: an estimate judges that during the reign of Alexander only the mint of Amphipolis struck about 13 million silver tetradrachms

Greek drachma

Drachma, pl. drachmas or drachmae is the name of:#An ancient currency unit found in many Greek city states and successor states, and in many South-West Asian kingdoms of the Hellenistic era....
.

The Assembly

All the kingdom's citizen-soldiers gather in a popular assembly, which is held at least twice a year, in spring and in autumn, with the opening and the closing of the campaigning season.

This assembly ( or ), of the army in times of war, of the people in times of peace, is called by the king and plays a significant role through the acclamation of the kings and in capital trials; it can be consulted (without obligation) for the foreign politics (declarations of war, treaties) and for the appointment of high state officials. In the majority of these occasions, the Assembly does nothing but ratify the proposals of a smaller body, the Council. It is also the Assembly which votes the honors, sends embassies, during its two annual meetings. It was abolished by the Romans

Roman Republic

The Roman Republic was the phase of the Ancient Rome characterized by a republican form of government; a period which began with the overthrow of the Roman Roman Kingdom, c....
at the time of their reorganization of Macedonia in 167 BC, to prevent, according to Livy

Livy

Council (Synedrion)

The Council was a small group formed among some of the most eminent Macedonians, chosen by the king to assist him in the government of the kingdom. As such it was not a representative assembly, but notwithstanding that on certain occasions it could be expanded with the admission of representatives of the cities and of the civic corps of the kingdom.

The members of the Council (synedroi) belong to three categories:

The somatophylakes
Somatophylakes

Somatophylakes , in its literal English language translation from Greek language, means "bodyguards". These bodyguards were high-ranking military units within the Ancient Macedonian army....
(in Greek literally "bodyguards") were noble Macedonians chosen by the king to serve to him as honorary bodyguards, but especially as close advisers. It was a particularly prestigious honorary title. In the times of Alexander there were seven of them.
The Friends (philoi) or the king's Companions (basilikoi hetairoi
Companion cavalry

The Companions were the elite cavalry of the Ancient Macedonian army from the time of king Philip II of Macedon, and have been regarded as the best cavalry in the ancient world....
) were named for life by the king among the Macedonian aristocracy.
The most important generals of the army (hégémones tôn taxéôn), also named by the king.

The king had in reality less power in the choice of the members of the Council than appearances would warrant; this was because many of the kingdom's most important noblemen were members of the Council by birth-right.

The Council primarily exerted a probouleutic function with respect to the Assembly: it prepared and proposed the decisions which the Assembly would have discussed and voted, working in many fields such as the designation of kings and regents, as of that of the high administrators and the declarations of war. It was also the first and final authority for all the cases which did not involve capital punishment.

The Council gathered frequently and represented the principal body of government of the kingdom. Any important decision taken by the king was subjected before it for deliberation.

Inside the Council ruled the democratic principles of iségoria (equality of word) and of parrhésia (freedom of speech), to which even the king subjected himself.

After the removal of the Antigonid dynasty

Antigonid dynasty

The Antigonid dynasty was a dynasty of Hellenistic kings descended from Alexander the Great general Antigonus I Monophthalmus .History...
by the Romans in 167 BC, it is possible that the synedrion remained, unlike the Assembly, representing the sole federal authority in Macedonia after the country's division in four merides.

Regional districts (Merides)

The creation of an intermediate territorial administrative level between the central government and the cities should probably be attributed to Philip II: this reform corresponded with the need to adapt the kingdom's institutions to the great expansion of Macedon under his rule. It was no longer practical to convene all the Macedonians in a single general assembly, and the answer to this problem was the creation of four regional districts, each with a regional assembly. These territorial divisions clearly did not follow any historical or traditional internal divisions; they were simply artificial administrative lines.

This said, it should be noted that the existence of these districts is not attested with certainty (by numismatics

Numismatics

Numismatics is the study or collection of currency, including coins, tokens, paper money, and related objects. While numismatists are often characterized as students or collectors of coins, the discipline also includes a much larger study of payment-media used to resolve debts and the exchange of Good s....
) before the beginning of the 2nd century BC.

External links

at , by Jona Lendering
, Britannica Online

Macedon

History

Early history

Atticisation and expansion

Empire

Hellenistic era

Conflict with Rome

Institutions

The King

Succession

Finances

The Assembly

Council (Synedrion)

Regional districts (Merides)

See also

Further reading

External links