Paeonians

Culture

Religion

They worshipped the Sun in the form of a small round disk fixed on the top of a pole. They adopted the cult of Dionysus, known amongst them as Dyalus or Dryalus, and Herodotus mentions that the Thracian and Paeonian women offered sacrifice to Queen Artemis (probably Bendis).

Manners and customs

They drank barley beer and various decoctions made from plants and herbs.

The women were famous for their industry. In this connection Herodotus tells the story that Darius, having seen at Sardis a beautiful Paeonian woman carrying a pitcher on her head, leading a horse to drink, and spinning flax, all at the same time, inquired who she was. Having been informed that she was a Paeonian, he sent instructions to Megabazus, commander in Thrace, to deport two tribes of the nation without delay to Asia. An inscription, discovered in 1877 at Olympia on the base of a statue, states that it was set up by the community of the Paeonians in honor of their king and founder Dropion. Another king, whose name appears as Lyppeius on a fragment of an inscription found at Athens relating to a treaty of alliance, is no doubt identical with the Lycceius or Lycpeius of Paeonian coins.

History

The first Paeonian settlement to be mentioned is Amydon by Homer in the Iliad. Polybius mentions that Emathia, roughly the later district between the Haliacmon and Axios in Lower Macedonia, was earlier called Paeonia, and Strabo, that it extended to Pieria and Pelagonia; these references are related to the Bronze Age period before the Trojan War according to N. G. L. Hammond. 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. In classical antiquity, Paeonians lived from the middle to the lower Vardar river basin. The country of Paeonians had some important resources; it was rich in gold.

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 Stobi (Gradsko) and Bylazora. 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. 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.

In the late 6th century BC, the Persians conquered Paeonians as far as Lake Prasias, including the Paeoplae and Siropaiones. Part of them were deported from Paeonia to Asia. 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 (near 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. The Paeonians included several independent tribes, all later united under the rule of a single king to form the Kingdom of Paeonia.

To the south, Paeonians bordered ancient Macedonians. As a consequence of the growth of Macedonian power, and under pressure from their Thracian neighbors, their territory was considerably diminished in the 5th and 4th centuries BCE; it 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. 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. 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, 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. 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.

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 BCE, 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. Antigonus Gonatas then annexed Paeonia into his kingdom. However, Irwin Merker suggests that when Demetrios II of Macedon and the Aetolian League were at war in the 230s BCE, the king of Paeonia Dropion "was involved as an ally of Aitolia." 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." 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. The capture of Bylazora in 217 BCE by Philip V partly stabilized the northern Dardanian–Macedonian frontier.

In 168 BCE, Roman legions conquered Macedon in turn, and a new and much larger Roman province bearing this name was formed. Paeonia around the Axios, formed part of the second and third districts of the newly constituted Roman province of Macedonia, respectively. Centuries later under Diocletian, Paeonia and Pelagonia formed a province called Macedonia Secunda or Macedonia Salutaris, belonging to the Praetorian prefecture of Illyricum.

Tribes

The Paeonian tribes (five or eight) were:

• Agrianes (also, Agriani and Agrii) (it is also claimed that this tribe was Thracian)
• Odomantes (also Odomanti) (it is also claimed that this tribe was Thracian)
• Derrones (also Derroni) (it is also claimed that this tribe was Thracian)
• Laeaeans (also Laeaei and Laiai)
• Doberes
• Paeoplae
• Siropaiones
• Almopians

Notable Paeonians

Mythological

• Paeon (son of Endymion)
• Pyraechmes
• Asteropaeus

Historical

• Pigres of Paionia
• Agis of Paeonia
• Lycceius
• Patraus
• Ariston of Paeonia
• Langarus
• Audoleon
• Leon of Paeonia
• Dropion