Macedon Macedonia Ancient Kingdom from 8th century BC Coins Numismatic Investment

• Report rights infringement
• published: 26 Jun 2013
• views: 45

http://www.TrustedCoins.com Macedonia or Macedon (from Greek: Μακεδονία, Makedonía) was an ancient kingdom, centered in the northeastern part of the Greek peninsula, bordered by Epirus to the west, Paionia to the north, the region of Thrace to the east and Thessaly to the south. For a brief period, after the conquests of Alexander the Great, it became the most powerful state in the world, controlling a territory that included most of Greece and Persia, stretching as far as the Indus River; at that time it inaugurated the Hellenistic period of history. Name The name Macedonia (Greek: Μακεδονία, Makedonía) is related to the ancient Greek word μακεδνός (Makednos). It is commonly explained as having originally meant 'a tall one' or 'highlander', possibly descriptive of the people. The shorter English name variant Macedon developed in Middle English, based on a borrowing from the French form of the name, Macédoine. History Early history and legend The lands around Aegae, the first Macedonian capital, were home to various peoples. Macedonia was called Emathia (from king Emathion) and the city of Aiges was called Edessa, the capital of fabled king Midas. According to legend, Caranus, accompanied by a multitude of Greeks came to the area in search for a new homeland [5] took Edessa and renamed it to Aegae. Subsequently, he expelled Midas and other kings off the lands and he formed his new kingdom. According to Herodot, it was Dorus, the son of Hellen who led his people to Histaeotis, whence they were driven off by the Cadmeians into Pindus, where they settled as Macedonians. Later, a branch would migrate further south to be called Dorians [6]. It seems that the first Macedonian state emerged in the 8th or early 7th century BC under the Argead Dynasty, who, according to legend, migrated to the region from the Greek city of Argos in Peloponnesus (thus the name Argead).[7] It should be mentioned that the Macedonian tribe ruled by the Argeads, was itself called Argead (which translates as "descended from Argos"). The kingdom was situated in the fertile alluvial plain, watered by the rivers Haliacmon and Axius, called Lower Macedonia, north of the mountain Olympus. Around the time of Alexander I of Macedon, the Argead Macedonians started to expand into Upper Macedonia, lands inhabited by independent Macedonian tribes like the Lyncestae and the Elmiotae and to the West, beyond Axius river, into Eordaia, Bottiaea, Mygdonia, and Almopia-, regions settled by, among others, many Thracian tribes.[8] Near the modern city of Veria, Perdiccas I (or, more likely, his son, Argaeus I) built his capital, Aigai (modern Vergina). After a brief period under Persian rule under Darius Hystaspes, the state regained its independence under King Alexander II (495–450 BC). Macedon during the Peloponnesian Warr around 431 BC. In the long Peloponnesian War Macedon was a secondary power that alternated in support between Sparta and Athens. Involvement in the Greek world Prior to the 4th century BC, the kingdom covered a region approximately corresponding to the province of Macedonia of modern Greece Amyntas III (c. 393–370 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 to the north and northwest. It became increasingly Atticised during this period, though prominent Athenians appear to have regarded the Macedonians as uncouth.[10] Before the establishment of the League of Corinth, even though the Macedonians apparently spoke a dialect of the Greek language and claimed proudly that they were Greeks, they were not considered to fully share the classical Greek culture by many of the inhabitants of the southern city states, because they did not share the polis based style of government of the southerners.[9] Herodotus, being one of the foremost biographer in antiquity who lived in Greece at the time when the Macedonian king Alexander I was in power, mentioned: "I happen to know, and I will demonstrate in a subsequent chapter of this history, that these descendants of Perdiccas are, as they themselves claim, of Greek nationality. This was, moreover, recognized by the managers of the Olympic games, on the occasion when Alexander wished to compete and his Greek competitors tried to exclude him on the ground that foreigners were not allowed to take part. Alexander, however, proved his Argive descent, and so was accepted as a Greek and allowed to enter for the foot-race. He came in equal first"..[11] Over the 4th century Macedon became more politically involved with the south-central city-states of Ancient GreecePella, resembling Mycenaean culture more than classic Hellenic city-states, and other archaic customs,

Cyme Ancient Greek City with Amazon Warrior in Asia Minor History and Authentic Coins to Buy

• Report rights infringement
• published: 16 Jun 2013
• views: 46

http://www.TrustedCoins.com Cyme (or Kymi, also: Phriconis, modern Namurt) was an ancient Greek city in Aeolis (Asia Minor) close to the kingdom of Lydia. The Aeolians regarded Cyme as the largest and most important of their twelve cities, which were located on the coastline of Asia Minor (modern day Turkey). As a result of their direct access to the sea, unlike most non-landlocked settlements of the ancient world, trade is believed to have prospered. In his Histories, Herodotus makes reference to Cyme (or Phriconis) as being one of the cities in which the rebel Lydian governor Pactyes sought refuge, following his attempted rebellion against the Persian King Cyrus the Great: Pactyes, when he learnt that an army was already on his tracks and near, took fright and fled to Cyme, and Mazares the Mede marched to Sardis with a detachment of Cyrus' troops. Finding Pactyes and his supporters and his supporters gone, the first thing he did was to compel the Lydians to carry out Cyrus' orders — as a result of which they altered from that moment their whole way of life; he then sent a demand to Cyme that Pactyes should be surrendered, and the men of the town decided to consult the oracle at Branchidae as to whether they should obey…The messengers returned home to report, and the citizens of Cyme were prepared in consequence to give up the wanted man. Location Both the author of the 'life of Homer' and Strabo the ancient geographer, locate Cyme north of the Hermus river on the Asia Minor coastline, modern day Namurt Limani Map of Aegean c.200 BC showing the location of Kyme. After crossing the Hyllus, the distance from Larissa to Cyme was 70 stadia, and from Cyme to Myrina was 40 stadia. (Strabo: 622) Archaeological finds such as coins give reference also to a river, believed to be that of the Hyllus. Early history Little is known about the foundation of the city to supplement the traditional founding legend. Settlers from mainland Greece (most likely Euboea) migrated across the Aegean Sea during the Late Bronze Age as waves of Dorian-speaking invaders brought an end to the once mighty Mycenaean civilisation some time around 1050 BC. During the Late Bronze Age and early Greek Dark Ages the dialect of Cyme and the surrounding region of Aeolis, like that of neighboring island Lesbos closely resembled the local dialect of Thessalia and Boetia. Culturally however the citizens of Cyme considered themselves of Ionian descent. An Ionic dialect is believed to have been the local language and would have given rise to the famous Cumae alphabet that is believed to have originated in or near Cyme. Archaeologists believe Kyme was already inhabited by Pelasgians prior to the Euboean arrival: Around 950 every tribe had settled down in its own territory. They co-existed beside each other, but never formed a nation… they even almost never felt as one nation. There would always be a strong contrast between the different groups, especially between the Ionians and the Dorians. The Ionians arrived in Hellas around 1600 and mixed with the original inhabitants while the Dorians arrived 500 years later and enslaved them, without learning anything from their culture. The Dorians valued their system of tribes and remained isolated as Sparta would show later on, while the Ionians valued art, science and individualism which were the cornerstones of Athens. The colony was founded during the Greek Dark Ages by settlers from Locris in central Greece who began by reducing the Pelasgian citadel of Larisa near the river Hermus Cyme developed into a regional metropolis to some thirty other towns and settlements in Aeolis. The Cymeans were later ridiculed as a people who had for three hundred years lived on the coast and not once exacted harbor taxes on ships making port. Hesiod’s father is said to have started his journey across the Aegean from Cyme. The cities of southern Aeolis in the region surrounding Cyme occupied a good belt of land with rough mountains in the background yet Cyme like other colonies along the coast did not trade with the native Anatolians further inland who had occupied Asia Minor for thousands of years. Cyme consequently played no significant role in the history of western Asia Minor prompting the historian Ephorus, himself a native of the city, to comment repeatedly in his narrative of Greek history that while the events he wrote about were taking place his fellow Cymeans had for centuries sat idly by and kept the peace. Politically, Cyme is assumed to have started as a settler democracy following in the tradition of other established colonies in the region although Aristotle concluded that by the 7th and 6th centuries BC the once great democracies in the Greek world (including Cyme) evolved not from democracies to oligarchies as was the natural custom but from democracies to tyrannies.