Item: i57666

Authentic Ancient 

Coin of:

Greek city of Pella in Macedonia
Bronze 20mm (8.26 grams) Struck 158-149 B.C.
Reference: Sear 1446; Moushmov 6453; SNGCop 266ff.
Helmeted head of Athena Parthenos right
ΠEΛ-ΛHΣ, bull grazing right.

The city was founded by Archelaus I of Macedon (413–399 BC) as the capital of his kingdom, replacing the older palace-city of Aigai (Vergina). After this, it was the seat of King Philip II of Macedon and of Alexander the Great, 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”.

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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.^[1] 

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

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
, 

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

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.

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]

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

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.