Lower Macedonia (Greek: Κάτω Μακεδονία, Kato Makedonia) or Lower Macedon or Macedonia proper or Emathia is a geographical term used in Antiquity referring to the coastal plain watered by the rivers Haliacmon, Axius and Loudias, stretching along the coast of the Thermaic Gulf, which was the core and defined the center of the Argead kingdom of Macedon. Its districts were: Emathia, Pieria, Bottiaea, Almopia, Amphaxitis. Aigai (near modern Vergina), the original capital of Macedon, and Pella, the birthplace of Alexander the Great and the new capital of the kingdom since the 4th century BC, were in Lower Macedonia, in modern Central Macedonia, in Greece.
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👉 Lower Macedonia in the context of Doric Greek language
Doric or Dorian (Ancient Greek: Δωρισμός, romanized: Dōrismós), also known as West Greek, was a group of Ancient Greek dialects; its varieties are divided into the Doric proper and Northwest Doric subgroups. Doric was spoken in a vast area, including northern Greece (Acarnania, Aetolia, Epirus, western and eastern Locris, Phocis, Doris, and possibly Lower Macedonia and Upper Macedonia), most of the Peloponnese (Achaea, Elis, Messenia, Laconia, Argolid, Aegina, Corinthia, and Megara), the Southern Aegean (Kythira, Milos, Thera, Crete, Karpathos, and Rhodes), as well as the colonies of some of those regions in Cyrene, Magna Graecia, the Black Sea, the Ionian Sea and the Adriatic Sea. It was also spoken in the Greek sanctuaries of Dodona, Delphi, and Olympia, as well as at the four Panhellenic festivals; the Isthmian, Nemean, Pythian, and Olympic Games.
By Hellenistic times, under the Achaean League, an Achaean Doric koine appeared, exhibiting many peculiarities common to all Doric dialects, which delayed the spread of the Attic-based Koine Greek to the Peloponnese until the 2nd century BC. The only living descendant of Doric is the Tsakonian language which is still spoken in Greece today; though critically endangered, with only a few hundred – mostly elderly – fluent speakers left.
In this Dossier
- ⭐ Core Definition: Lower Macedonia
- 👉 Lower Macedonia in the context of Doric Greek language
- Lower Macedonia in the context of Argead dynasty
- Lower Macedonia in the context of Aeolic Greek
- Lower Macedonia in the context of Aegae (Macedonia)
- Lower Macedonia in the context of Upper Macedonia
- Lower Macedonia in the context of Bottiaea
Lower Macedonia in the context of Argead dynasty
The Argead dynasty (Greek: Ἀργεάδαι, romanized: Argeádai), also known as the Temenid dynasty (Greek: Τημενίδαι, Tēmenídai) was an ancient Macedonian royal house of Dorian Greek provenance. They were the founders and the ruling dynasty of the kingdom of Macedon from about 700 to 310 BC.
Their tradition, as described in ancient Greek historiography, traced their origins to Argos, of Peloponnese in Southern Greece, hence the name Argeads or Argives. Initially, the Argeadae were the rulers of the tribe of the same name, (Argead Macedonians) who prevailed in early Emathia. By the time of Philip II they had expanded their reign further, to include under the rule of Macedonia all Upper Macedonian states. The family's most celebrated members were Philip II of Macedon and his son Alexander the Great, under whose leadership the kingdom of Macedonia gradually gained predominance throughout Greece, established the Hellenic League, defeated the Achaemenid Empire and expanded as far as Egypt and India. The mythical founder of the Argead dynasty is King Caranus. The Argeads claimed descent from Heracles through his great-great-grandson Temenus, also king of Argos.
Lower Macedonia in the context of Aeolic Greek
In linguistics, Aeolic Greek (/iːˈɒlɪk/), also known as Aeolian (/iːˈɒliən/), Lesbian or Lesbic dialect, is the set of dialects of Ancient Greek spoken mainly in Boeotia; in Thessaly; in the Aegean island of Lesbos; in the Greek colonies of Aeolis in Anatolia and adjoining islands; and possibly in Lower Macedonia.
The Aeolic dialect shows many archaisms in comparison to the other Ancient Greek dialects (Arcadocypriot, Attic, Ionic, and Doric), as well as many innovations; it is, consequently, considered to be—for the modern reader—perhaps the most difficult of the dialects.
Lower Macedonia in the context of Aegae (Macedonia)
Aegae or Aigai (Ancient Greek: Αἰγαί) was the original capital of Macedon, the ancient kingdom of the Makedones in Emathia in northern Greece. The site is located on the foothills of the Pierian Mountains, between the modern towns of Vergina and Palatitsia, and overlooks the Central Macedonian Plain. The city was abandoned in the 3rd century and was rediscovered in the 19th.
Three major archaeological missions have been carried out at Aegae. The first was led by Léon Heuzey of the French School at Athens in the 1860s; Manolis Andronikos led excavations over a century later and made many important discoveries, including the tomb of Philip II and the Golden Larnax bearing the Vergina Sun; and Angeliki Kottaridi led restoration efforts in the 2000s. Today it is the site of an archaeological site and two museums. Prior to the discoveries at Vergina, Edessa was thought to be the site of Aegae.
Lower Macedonia in the context of Upper Macedonia
Upper Macedonia (Greek: Ἄνω Μακεδονία, Ánō Makedonía) or Upper Macedon is a geographical and tribal term to describe the upper/western of the two parts in which, together with Lower Macedonia, the ancient kingdom of Macedon was roughly divided.
The Upper Macedonian regions of Elimiotis, Tymphaea, Orestis, Eordaea and southern Lynkestis, correspond roughly to the region of Western Macedonia in Greece, while Pelagonia and the northern part of Lynkestis correspond roughly to the Pelagonia Statistical Region in North Macedonia.
Lower Macedonia in the context of Bottiaea
Bottiaea (Greek: Βοττιαία Bottiaia) was a geographical region of Lower Macedonia and an administrative district of the Macedonian Kingdom. It was previously inhabited by the Bottiaeans, a people of uncertain origin, later expelled by the Macedonians into Bottike (Chalcidice). In Roman times it was replaced by Emathia as a geographical term.