Pydna
Pydna is an ancient Greek city located in Pieria, southern Macedonia, near the Thermaic Gulf. Initially positioned on a coastal hill, it was closely associated with King Alexander I of Macedonia. The city faced several significant historical events, including a siege by the Athenians in 432 BC, and a later capture by King Archelaus of Macedonia around 411/410 BC, who relocated it inland to a site known today as Kitros. Pydna was notable for its acropolis and harbor, although much of the original site has eroded into the sea.
Throughout its history, Pydna experienced shifts in power and influence, including periods of Athenian control and later incorporation into the Chalcidian League. The city played a pivotal role in the conflict between Macedonia and Rome, particularly during the decisive Battle of Pydna in 168 BC, where the Romans defeated King Perseus of Macedonia. This battle marked a turning point that led to the dissolution of the Macedonian kingdom, highlighting the decline of Hellenistic states in the face of Roman expansion. Pydna's rich history reflects the complex interactions of ancient Greek politics and warfare.
Subject Terms
Pydna
(Makrygialos, Kitros)
A Greek city in Pieria (southern Macedonia, northeastern Greece), beside the Thermaic Gulf. The original settlement was on the shore, situated on a hill south of the modern Makrygialos. According to Thucydides, the town belonged to King Alexander I of Macedonia (c 495–450 BC). In 432, just before the beginning of the Peloponnesian War, it was besieged by the Athenians. About 411/410 the Macedonian King Archelaus besieged and captured Pydna and transplanted it two or three miles inland, to a location described as Citrum (the modern Kitros) by Strabo. The site, of which a large part has now fallen into the sea, possessed an acropolis—protected by cliffs on all four sides—and a harbor (now the Touzla [salt] marsh) at the mouth of river Karagats.
After Archelaus' death (399), however, the inhabitants moved back to the former location of their city, which shortly afterward issued its first coinage as an independent member of the Chalcidian League (seeChalcidice, Olynthus). The place came under Athenian influence in 364/3, but was captured by Philip II of Macedonia in 356, whereupon the activity of its mint ceased. In 317/316 Cassander, one of Alexander the Great's successors, blockaded Alexander's mother Olympias in Pydna, which held out until her elephants all died and her mercenaries were compelled to resort to cannibalism: at that juncture the city surrendered, and Olympias was killed by revengeful relatives of men she had murdered.
In 168, `the plain before Pydna’ was the scene of the decisive battle in the war between King Perseus of Macedonia and the Romans. At a locality below four flat-topped ridges—which has now been identified with the valley area of Ayios Demetrios and Ayios Yeoryios—Perseus' left wing was routed by the allies of the Roman commander Marcus Aemilius Paullus; and then the phalanx in the Macedonian center, after making initial progress, was thrown into disarray by broken ground, and suffered destruction. The whole action was over within an hour, and Pydna was sacked by the victorious Romans. The engagement had decisively displayed the superiority of their legions over the phalanx. Its other result was the abolition of the Macedonian kingdom, the first of the great Hellenistic states to be obliterated by Rome.