Greek city of Pella in Macedonia
Bronze 21mm (9.37 grams) Struck 168-158 B.C.
Reference: Sear 1443; B.M.C. 5.,p.18,76
Head of Athena right, wearing richly ornamented crested helmet.
ΓAIOY TAMIOY – Bull feeding right; monogram
above, BOT monogram beneath.
Pella became the capital of the Macedonian kingdom under
Archelaus, in succession to Aigai. Following the Roman conquest in 168 B.C.,
Pella was the capital of the third republic. Its issues are often in the name of
the Bottiaians, the original inhabitants of the district in which Pella was
situated.
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Athena or Athene
(Latin:
Minerva
), also referred to as
Pallas Athena, is the goddess of war, civilization, wisdom, strength,
strategy, crafts, justice and skill in
Greek mythology
.
Minerva
,
Athena’s Roman
incarnation,
embodies similar attributes. Athena is also a shrewd companion of
heroes and the
goddess
of
heroic endeavour. She is the
virgin
patron of
Athens
. The Athenians built the
Parthenon
on the Acropolis of her namesake
city, Athens, in her honour (Athena Parthenos). Athena’s cult as the patron of
Athens seems to have existed from the earliest times and was so persistent that
archaic myths about her were recast to adapt to cultural changes. In her role as
a protector of the city (polis),
many people throughout the Greek world worshiped Athena as Athena Polias
(“Athena of the city”).
Athens
and Athena bear etymologically connected
names.
Pella (Greek:
Πέλλα), an ancient city located in
Pella Prefecture
of
Macedonia
in Greece
, was the
capital
of the
ancient
kingdom
of
Macedon
. A common
folk etymology
is traditionally given for the name Pella, ascribing
it to a form akin to the
Doric
Apella
,
originally meaning a ceremonial location where decisions were made.
However, the local form of Greek was not Doric, and the word exactly matches
standard Greek pélla “stone”, undoubtedly referring to a famous landmark
from the time of its foundation.
//
History
The city was founded by
Archelaus
(413–399
BC) as the capital of his kingdom, replacing the older palace-city of
Aigai
(Vergina).
After this, it was the seat of the king
Philip II
and of
Alexander
, his son. In
168 BC
, it was
sacked by the
Romans
,
and its treasury transported to
Rome. Later, the
city was destroyed by an
earthquake
and eventually was rebuilt over its ruins. By 180 AD,
Lucian
could
describe it in passing as “now insignificant, with very few inhabitants”.
Pella is first mentioned by
Herodotus
of
Halicarnassus
(VII, 123) in relation to
Xerxes
‘ campaign and by
Thucydides
(II, 99,4 and 100,4) in relation to Macedonian expansion and the war against
Sitalces
,
the king of the Thracians
. According to
Xenophon
,
in the beginning of the 4th century BC, it was the largest Macedonian city. It
was probably built as the capital of the kingdom by Archelaus, although there
appears to be some possibility that it may have been
Amyntas
. It attracted Greek artists such the painter
Zeuxis
, the poet
Timotheus
of
Miletus
and the
tragic author
Euripides
who finishes his days there writing and producing Archelaus.
Archelaus invited the painter
Zeuxis
, the
greatest painter of the time, to decorate it. He was later the host of the
Athenian playwright
Euripides
in his retirement. Euripides
Bacchae
premiered here, about
408 BC
. Pella
was the birthplace of Philip II and of Alexander, his son. The hilltop
palace
of
Philip, where Aristotle
tutored young Alexander, is being excavated.
In antiquity, Pella was a port connected to the
Thermaic Gulf
by a navigable
inlet
, but the
harbor has silted, leaving the site landlocked. The reign of
Antigonus
likely represented the height of the city, as this is the period
which has left us the most archaeological remains.
Pella is further mentioned by
Polybius
and Livy
as the
capital of
Philip V
and of
Perseus
during the
Macedonian Wars
, fought against the
Roman Republic
. In the writings of Livy, we find the only description of how
the city looked in 167 BC
to
Lucius Aemilius Paulus Macedonicus
, the Roman who defeated Perseus at the
battle
of Pydna
:
- …[Paulus] observed that it was not without good reason that it had been
chosen as the royal residence. It is situated on the south-west slope of a
hill and surrounded by a marsh too deep to be crossed on foot either in
summer or winter. The citadel the “Phacus,” which is close to the city,
stands in the marsh itself, projecting like an island, and is built on a
huge substructure which is strong enough to carry a wall and prevent any
damage from the infiltration from the water of the lagoon. At a distance it
appears to be continuous with the city wall, but it is really separated by a
channel which flows between the two walls and is connected with the city by
a bridge. Thus it cuts off all means of access from an external foe, and if
the king shut anyone up there, there could be no possibility of escape
except by the bridge, which could be very easily guarded.. [3]
The famous poet Aratus
died in Pella ca
240 BC
. Pella
was sacked by the Romans in
168 BC
, when
its treasury was transported to Rome.
In the
Roman province of Macedonia
, Pella was the capital of the third district,
and was possibly the seat of the Roman governor. Crossed by the
Via
Egnatia
[4],
Pella remained a significant point on the route between
Dyrrachium
and
Thessalonika
. Cicero
stayed there in
58 BC
, but by
then the provincial seat had already transferred to Thessalonika. It was then
destroyed by earthquake in the first century BC; shops and workshops dating from
the catastrophe have been found with remains of their merchandise. The city was
eventually rebuilt over its ruins, which preserved them, but, ca
AD 180
,
Lucian
of Samosata
could describe it in passing as “now insignificant, with very few
inhabitants”
The city went into decline for reasons unknown (possibly an earthquake) by
the end of the 1st century BC. It was the object of a colonial deduction
sometime between 45 and
30 BC
; in any
case currency was marked Colonia Iulia Augusta Pella.
Augustus
settled peasants there whose land he had usurped to give to his veterans (Dio
Cassius LI, 4). But unlike other Macedonian colonies such as
Philippi
,
Dion
, and
Cassandreia
it never came under the jurisdiction of
ius
Italicum
or Roman law. Four pairs of colonial magistrates (IIvirs
quinquennales) are known for this period.
The decline of the city was rapid, in spite of colonization:
Dio
Chrysostom
( 33.27Or.)
and Lucian
both
attest to the ruin of the ancient capital of Philip II and Alexander; though
their accounts may be exaggerated. In fact, the Roman city was somewhat to the
west of and distinct from the original capital; which explains some
contradictions between coinage,
epigraphs
, and testimonial accounts. In the Byzantine period, the Roman site
was occupied by a fortified village.
The
site
Urban
area
The city is built on the
island
of Phacos
, a
promontory
which dominates the wetlands which encircle Pella to the south, and a lake which
opened to the sea in the
Hellenistic period
.
Palace
The city wall mentioned by Livy is only partly known. It consists of a
rampart of crude bricks (about 50 cm square) raised on a stone foundation; some
of which has been located North of the palace, and some in the South next to the
lake. Inside the ramparts, three hills occupy the North, and the palace is
situated on a place of honour on the central hill. Partly searched, it occupied
a considerable area of perhaps 60,000 square metres). The plan is still not well
known, but has been related to that of the city plan (see diagram).
The Pella palace consisted of several — possibly seven — large architectural
groupings juxtaposed in two rows, each including a series of rooms arranged
around a central square courtyard, generally with porticos. Archaeologists have
thus far identified a
palaestra
and baths
. The south facade of the palace, towards the city, consisted of one
large (at least 153 metres long) portico, constructed on a two metres high
foundation. The relationship between the four principal complexes is defined by
an interruption in the portico occuupied by a triple
propylaeum
, 15 m high, which gave the palace an imposing monumental air when
seen from the city below.
Dating of the palace has posed some problems: the large buildings could date
the reign of Philip II, but other buildings appear to be earlier. The baths date
from the reign of
Cassander
.
The size of the complex indicates that, unlike the palace at Vergina, this
was not only a royal residence or a grandiose monument but also a place of
government which was required to accommodate a portion of the administrative
apparatus of the kingdom.
Hippodamean
plan
The city proper was located south of and below the palace. Designed on a
grid plan
as envisaged by
Hippodamus
, it consists of two series of parallel streets which intersect at
right angles and form a grid of eight rows of rectangular blocks. These blocks
are of a consistent width — each approximately 45 m — and a length which varies
from 111 m to 152 m, 125 metres being the most common. The streets are from 9 to
10 metres wide, except for the middle East–West arterial, which is up to 15
metres wide. This street is the primary access to the central public
agora
, which
occupied a space of ten blocks. Two North-South streets area also a bit wider
than the rest, and serve to connect the city to the port further South. The
streets had sewers and were equipped to convey water to individual residences.
Lion Hunt Mosaic in Pella
This type of plan dates to the first half of the fourth century BC, and is
very close to the ideal in design, though it distinguishes itself by large block
size; Olynthus
in
Chalcidice
for example had blocks of 86.3×35 metres. On the other hand,
later Hellenistic urban foundations have blocks comparable to those of Pella:
112×58 m in Laodicea ad Mare
, or 120×46 m in
Aleppo
.
The agora holds pride of place in the centre of the city, occupying an
imposing 200 by 181 metres; 262×238 metres if one counts the potrticos which
surround it on all sides.
Archaeology
Based on the descriptions provided by
Titus Livius
, the site was explored by 19th-century voyagers including
Holand, Pouqueville, Beaujour, Cousinéry, Delacoulonche, Hahn, Glotz and Struck.
The first excavation was begun by G. Oikonomos in 1914–15. The modern systematic
exploration of the site began in 1953 and full excavation was being done in
1957. The first series of campaigns were completed in 1963, more excavations
following in 1980. These digs continue in the section identified as the agora.
In February 2006, a farmer accidentally uncovered the largest tomb ever found
in Greece. The names of the noble
ancient Macedonian
family are still on inscriptions and painted sculptures
and walls have survived. The tomb dates to the
2nd
or 3rd century BC, following the rule of Alexander the Great.[6]
An atrium with a pebble-mosaic paving
Archaeological digs in progress since 1957 have uncovered a small part of the
city, which was made rich by Alexander and his heirs. The large agora or market
was surrounded by the shaded colonnades of
stoae, and streets
of enclosed houses with frescoed walls round inner courtyards. The first
trompe-l’oeil
wall murals imitating perspective views ever seen were on
walls at Pella. There are
temples
to Aphrodite
,
Demeter
and
Cybele
, and
Pella’s pebble-mosaic floors, dating after the lifetime of Alexander, are
famous: some reproduce Greek paintings; one shows a lion-griffin attacking a
stag, a familiar motif also of
Scythian
art, another depicts
Dionysus
riding a leopard.
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