Antigonia ( grc, Ἀντιγόνεια) also

transliterated Transliteration is a type of conversion of a text from one script to another that involves swapping letters (thus '' trans-'' + '' liter-'') in predictable ways, such as Greek → , Cyrillic → , Greek → the digraph , Armenian → or ...

as Antigonea and Antigoneia was a

Hellenistic In Classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Mediterranean history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the emergence of the Roman Empire, as signified by the Battle of Actium in ...

city in Paeonia, modern

North Macedonia North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Socialist Feder ...

, placed in the

Peutinger Table ' (Latin for "The Peutinger Map"), also referred to as Peutinger's Tabula or Peutinger Table, is an illustrated ' (ancient Roman road map) showing the layout of the ''cursus publicus'', the road network of the Roman Empire. The map is a 13th-cen ...

between

Stenae Prosek or Prošek may refer to: Places * Prosek, North Macedonia, an archaeological site in North Macedonia * Prosek, Niška Banja, a village in Serbia * Prosek (Prague), a neighbourhood in Prague ** Prosek (Prague Metro), a Prague Metro station ** ...

(now named

Prosek Prosek or Prošek may refer to: Places * Prosek, North Macedonia, an archaeological site in North Macedonia * Prosek, Niška Banja, a village in Serbia * Prosek (Prague), a neighbourhood in Prague ** Prosek (Prague Metro), a Prague Metro station ** ...

, near modern

Demir Kapija Demir Kapija ( mk, Демир Капија ) is a small town in North Macedonia, located near the ominous limestone gates of the same name. It has 3,725 inhabitants. The town is the seat of Demir Kapija Municipality. Etymology The name of the tow ...

) and

Stobi Stobi or Stoboi ( grc, Στόβοι, Stóboi; la, Stobi; mk, Стоби, Stobi), was an ancient town of Paeonia, later conquered by Macedon, and finally turned into the capital of the Roman province of Macedonia Salutaris. It is located near ...

Scymnus Scymnus of Chios ( grc-gre, Σκύμνος ὁ Xῖος; fl. c. 185 BC) was a Greek geographer. It was thought he was the author of the ''Periodos to Nicomedes'', a work on geography written in Classical Greek. It is an account of the world ( ...

, 631 It is tentatively located near modern

Negotino Negotino ( mk, Неготино, ) is a town in North Macedonia, the seat of the Negotino Municipality. Its population is about 13,000. Geography Negotino is located on the right side of the river Vardar. It is about Above mean sea level, abov ...

Classical sources

Our written sources about Antigonia of Paeonia are quite obscure. In a description of Paeonia,

Pliny the Elder Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/2479), called Pliny the Elder (), was a Roman author, naturalist and natural philosopher, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the emperor Vespasian. He wrote the encyclopedic '' ...

(23-79 AD) lists a number of tribes, regions and towns. He tells us that Stobi is a town with many Roman citizens, followed by the phrase "next comes Antigonea, Europus, upon the river Axius" and so on. Thus, we know that Antigonia is located somewhere near Stobi and that Antigonia is not placed on the bank of the river Axius like Aeropus as said by Pliny. In 272 BC

Antigonus II Gonatas Antigonus II Gonatas ( grc-gre, Ἀντίγονος Γονατᾶς, ; – 239 BC) was a Macedonian ruler who solidified the position of the Antigonid dynasty in Macedon after a long period defined by anarchy and chaos and acquired fame for ...

gained full control of Macedonia and we know that he founded at least three cities with this name; an Antigonia on the mainland of

Chalkidike Chalkidiki (; el, Χαλκιδική , also spelled Halkidiki, is a peninsula and regional unit of Greece, part of the region of Central Macedonia, in the geographic region of Macedonia in Northern Greece. The autonomous Mount Athos region con ...

near

Cassandreia Cassandreia, Cassandrea, or Kassandreia ( grc, Κασσάνδρεια, ''Kassándreia'') was once one of the most important cities in Ancient Macedonia, founded by and named after Cassander in 316 BC. It was located on the site of the earlier Anc ...

(

Antigonia Psaphara Antigonia Psaphara or Antigoneia Psaphara ( grc, Ἀντιγόνεια Ψαφαρά), or simply Antigonia, Antigonea, or Antigoneia (Ἀντιγόνεια) was a Hellenistic city in Macedon in the district Crusis (Krousis) in Chalcidice, placed by ...

), another in

Atintania Atintanes or Atintanians ( gr, Ἀτιντᾶνες, ''Atintánes'' or Ἀτιντᾶνιοι, ''Atintánioi'', la, Atintanii) was an ancient tribe that dwelled in the borderlands between Epirus and Illyria, in an inland region which was called Ati ...

Epirus sq, Epiri rup, Epiru , native_name_lang = , settlement_type = Historical region , image_map = Epirus antiquus tabula.jpg , map_alt = , map_caption = Map of ancient Epirus by Heinrich ...

, as a useful barrier against the

Illyrians The Illyrians ( grc, Ἰλλυριοί, ''Illyrioi''; la, Illyrii) were a group of Indo-European languages, Indo-European-speaking peoples who inhabited the western Balkan Peninsula in ancient times. They constituted one of the three main Paleo ...

( Chaonian Antigonia) and a third one as we assume in Paeonia, with the aim of controlling the conquered province.

Livy Titus Livius (; 59 BC – AD 17), known in English as Livy ( ), was a Ancient Rome, Roman historian. He wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people, titled , covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome before the traditiona ...

(59 BC - 17 AD) who described the events of the

Third Macedonian War The Third Macedonian War (171–168 BC) was a war fought between the Roman Republic and King Perseus of Macedon. In 179 BC, King Philip V of Macedon died and was succeeded by his ambitious son Perseus. He was anti-Roman and stirred anti-Roman f ...

gives details of the formation of the

Macedonian Macedonian most often refers to someone or something from or related to Macedonia. Macedonian(s) may specifically refer to: People Modern * Macedonians (ethnic group), a nation and a South Slavic ethnic group primarily associated with North M ...

troops before the

Battle of Pydna The Battle of Pydna took place in 168 BC between Rome and Macedon during the Third Macedonian War. The battle saw the further ascendancy of Rome in the Hellenistic world and the end of the Antigonid line of kings, whose power traced back to ...

(168 BC). He writes that on the right wing were the Macedonian cavalry and Cretan light infantry; Midon of Beroea was in charge of the latter force, Menon of Antigonia commanded the cavalry and the formation as a whole. Next to the wings were posted the royal cavalry and mixed units of the picked auxiliaries of many nations; Petrocles of Antigonia and Didas, the governor of Paeonia were in command of these.

, ''

Ab Urbe Condita Libri The work called ( en, From the Founding of the City), sometimes referred to as (''Books from the Founding of the City''), is a monumental history of ancient Rome, written in Latin between 27 and 9 BC by Livy, a Roman historian. The work ...

'', Book 44 From this description of the forces we are informed that lower Paeonia (Macedonian Paeonia) was commanded by a Macedonian governor and that Paeonia played a central role for providing troops and cavalry to the Macedonian army. After the defeat of the battle at Pydna, the kingdom of Macedon was severely punished and reduced to a

Roman Province The Roman provinces (Latin: ''provincia'', pl. ''provinciae'') were the administrative regions of Ancient Rome outside Roman Italy that were controlled by the Romans under the Roman Republic and later the Roman Empire. Each province was rule ...

. Antigonia as one of the main suppliers of cavalry to the Macedonian army was by no means spared. However, in spite of that, we know that Antigonia continued to exist as a city since

Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; grc-gre, Πτολεμαῖος, ; la, Claudius Ptolemaeus; AD) was a mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist, who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were of importanc ...

(90 -168 AD) listed it in his work Geographiae.

References

* Smith, William (editor); ''

Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography The ''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography'' is the last in a series of classical dictionaries edited by the English scholar William Smith (1813–1893), following ''A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities'' and the ''Dictionary of Gr ...

''
"Antigoneia"

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, (1854)

Notes

{{Hellenistic colonies Hellenistic colonies in Macedonia Geography of ancient Paeonia Antigonid colonies in Macedonia Former populated places in the Balkans Populated places in ancient Macedonia