Lower Macedonia ( el, Κάτω Μακεδονία, ''Kato Makedonia'') or Macedonia proper or
Emathia
Emathia ( gr, Ἠμαθία) was the name of the plain opposite the Thermaic Gulf when the kingdom of Macedon was formed. The name was used to define the area between the rivers Aliakmon and Loudias, which, because it was the center of the kingd ...
is a geographical term used in
Antiquity referring to the coastal plain watered by the rivers
Haliacmon
The Haliacmon ( el, Αλιάκμονας, ''Aliákmonas''; formerly: , ''Aliákmon'' or ''Haliákmōn'') is the longest river flowing entirely in Greece, with a total length of . In Greece there are three rivers longer than Haliakmon, Maritsa ( e ...
,
Axius on the west and bounded by
Strymon on the east. Its districts were:
Pieria,
Bottiaea
Bottiaea (Greek: ''Bottiaia'') was a geographical region of ancient 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 Macedoni ...
,
Emathia
Emathia ( gr, Ἠμαθία) was the name of the plain opposite the Thermaic Gulf when the kingdom of Macedon was formed. The name was used to define the area between the rivers Aliakmon and Loudias, which, because it was the center of the kingd ...
,
Crestonia
Crestonia (or Crestonice) ( el, Κρηστωνία) was an ancient region immediately north of Mygdonia. The Echeidorus river, which flowed through Mygdonia into the Thermaic Gulf, had its source in Crestonia. It was partly occupied by a remnant o ...
,
Mygdonia
Mygdonia (; el, Μυγδονία / Μygdonia) was an ancient territory, part of Ancient Thrace, later conquered by Macedon, which comprised the plains around Therma (Thessalonica) together with the valleys of Klisali and Besikia, including the ...
and
Bisaltia. There were also included the subregions
Anthemous
Anthemus or Anthemous ( grc, Ἀνθεμοῦς), also known as Anthemuntus or Anthemountos (Ἀνθεμοῦντος), was a town of ancient Macedonia of some importance, belonging to the early Macedonian monarchy. It appears to have stood sou ...
and
Crousis in it which were originally part of
Chalcidice but were annexed earlier. The region corresponds roughly to the modern Greek region of
Central Macedonia
Central Macedonia ( el, Κεντρική Μακεδονία, Kentrikí Makedonía, ) is one of the thirteen administrative regions of Greece, consisting of the central part of the geographical and historical region of Macedonia. With a populat ...
, except for the
Chalcidice peninsula.
The center and two capitals (
Aigai and
Pella
Pella ( el, Πέλλα) is an ancient city located in Central Macedonia, Greece. It is best-known for serving as the capital city of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon, and was the birthplace of Alexander the Great.
On site of the ancient cit ...
) of the
ancient Macedonian kingdom lay in Emathia and Bottiaea respectively, from where the Macedonians conquered gradually the
Thracian
The Thracians (; grc, Θρᾷκες ''Thrāikes''; la, Thraci) were an Indo-European speaking people who inhabited large parts of Eastern and Southeastern Europe in ancient history.. "The Thracians were an Indo-European people who occupied ...
-inhabited areas east of the Axius in the 5th and 4th centuries BC. For this reason the regions of
Edonis,
Sintice
Sintice or Sintike ( Greek: Σιντική) was an ancient region and later district of the kingdom of Macedon. It was located north of Bisaltia and Odomantike up to Messapio mount and west of Crestonia and South Paeonia to Strymon river and ...
,
Odomantis and
Pieris, conquered by
Philip II Philip II may refer to:
* Philip II of Macedon (382–336 BC)
* Philip II (emperor) (238–249), Roman emperor
* Philip II, Prince of Taranto (1329–1374)
* Philip II, Duke of Burgundy (1342–1404)
* Philip II, Duke of Savoy (1438-1497)
* Philip ...
, were termed in
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
''Macedonia Adjecta'' (Επίκτητος Μακεδονία).
See also
*
Upper Macedonia
*
Ancient Greek geography
;Pre-Hellenistic Classical Greece
*Homer
* Anaximander
* Hecataeus of Miletus
* Massaliote Periplus
* Scylax of Caryanda (6th century BC)
*Herodotus
;Hellenistic period
* Pytheas (died c. 310 BC)
*''Periplus of Pseudo-Scylax'' (3rd or 4th centur ...
*
History of Macedonia (ancient kingdom)
The kingdom of Macedonia was an ancient state in what is now the Macedonian region of northern Greece, founded in the mid-7th century BC during the period of Archaic Greece and lasting until the mid-2nd century BC. Led first by the Argead dyn ...
Sources
*''A Manual of Ancient Geography''. by Heinrich Kiepert, George Augustin. Macmillan. p 182
*''The Greek World in the Fourth Century''. by Lawrence A. Tritle. p 167
*''The Classical Gazetteer''. Hazlitt. p 210
External links
Map of the growth of Macedonia 4th BC - Lower Macedonia is shown in brown- Retrieved from Eliznik. com.
Geography of ancient Macedonia
Macedonia
Macedonia (ancient kingdom)
{{AncientMacedonia-geo-stub