Pelion (Illyria)

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"Pellion" redirects here. For Greek mountain in Magnesia, see Pelion.

Pelion, also Pellion or Pelium (

Dassaretis very close to the historical border with Macedonia, however its precise location is uncertain and various theories have been proposed for the site of the settlement.[8]

Founded either by the Illyrian king

Prefecture of Illyricum
.

Name

Attestation

The earliest reference to the settlement is provided by

Epirus Nova, again within the traditional boundaries of Illyria.[10][11]

Etymology

The toponym Pelion (Πήλιον) is Greek.[12]

History

Foundation and early period

Pelium was probably built either as a walled fortified site by the Illyrian king

Battle of Pelium the Illyrians were delayed such that the battle took place in the vicinity of Pelion and not inside Macedonia proper.[16]

After defeating Bardylis in 358, Philip II had extended his control into the region around the lakes Prespa and Ochrid.

Macedon after Philip II's founding of Herakleia.[20] Describing the settlement Arrian uses the word πόλις for Pelion, while Livy uses the word urbs, however nothing can be inferred from their accounts, except that it was a settlement of a certain size with fortifications that could give pause to a Macedonian king.[21]

Illyrian-Macedonian conflict (335 BC)

See also: Siege of Pelium

In his Balkan campaign of 335 BC Alexander the Great received news that Illyrians were preparing to attack western Macedonia.[21] A revolt was undertaken at Pelion by the Illyrian chieftain Cleitus, aided by Glaukias, king of the Taulantii. The city was already taken by Cleitus when Alexander arrived, but Macedonian arrival prevented Glaukias and Cleitus from joining forces. Macedonians briefly besieged Cleitus, however on the next day Glaukias and his forces arrived taking control of the heights that surrounded the plain of Pelion. Illyrian forces hence trapped Alexander's army between the fortified city and the heights surrounding it. After an unsuccessful attempt to break out and after losing men and his strategic position, Alexander was obliged to turn back closer to the Macedonian border; combining a forced march and a bold maneuver, Alexander make a tactical retreat and crossed the river. After three days, Alexander noticed Illyrian guard relaxation and reckless camping in open ground, so he took advantage of the situation and quietly returned crossing the river again and thereafter annihilating Illyrian forces that were taken by surprise. The rest of Illyrians fled to Glaukias' realm, but they burned Pelion before leaving the battlefield. Subsequently Alexander marched south to deal with a new threat, the Theban uprising.[21][3]

Roman period

In the early second century BC, the expanding

Selucid king Antiochus III the Great, and in order to invade Thessaly Philip V escorted two distinct Roman contingents through Macedon. Roman control of Pelium should indicate that the country of the Dassaretii was the furthest east area of Roman control.[25]

Possible locations

Classical sources do not provide enough data to determine the precise location of the ancient site of Pelion,[26] and various placements have been proposed in modern scholarship.[10]

In older research

N.G.L. Hammond's and C.E. Bosworth's conclusions are highly hypothetical and mutually exclusive. Hamond proposed a site near Goricë, west of the Small Prespa Lake, on the eastern side of the plain of Poloskë-Bilisht in Albania; while Bosworth proposed a location in the region of Eordaea or Lyncus.[33][30][34] Already critical of Tarn's and Papazoglu's suggestions, Hammond extremely criticised Bosworth's proposal. Bosworth's proposal has been accepted by few scholars, while Hammond's solution has had a far wider impact.[35]

According to new research carried out by Vujčić (2021), Pelion must be located somewhere to the west or south of Lake Prespa. A placement in Lynchestis or Orestis directly contradicts the historical sources. Bosworth's reconstruction of the events is hard to accept. Also a placement west or north of the

Dassaretis in Illyria, very close to the historical border with Macedonia.[36] On the other hand the precise location of Pelion is more difficult to establish, and although Hammond's interpretation, which places it in Goricë, is widely accepted, it remains uncertain.[37]

See also

References

  1. ^ Vujčić 2021, pp. 507–508.
  2. ^ Hatzopoulos 2020, pp. 43, 206, 228.
  3. ^ a b Howe 2017, pp. 106–107.
  4. ^ Hammond & Griffith 1972, p. 41: "Pelion lay on the Illyrian side of the Wolfs pass. Lake Little Prespa, since Philip's annexation ofland, was on the Macedonian side. In 335 Pelion was 'the strongest city in the region', i.e. in its walled defences (Arr. r. 5. 5), and it was 'favourably situated for making attacks into Macedonia' (Livy 3 I. 40. 5)."
  5. ISBN 978-1444351637
    . Escaping one trap, Alexander came to find himself temporarily in difficulty when he moved against Pelium (located somewhere to the west of the Pindus crest which separated Macedonian from Illyrian lands)
  6. ISBN 9780531018750
    . An Illyrian chieftain named Cleitus had seized the Macedonian frontier fortress town of Pelium, in the pass between Illyria and Macedonia on the upper Apsos (Devol)
  7. ^ Hammond, Nicholas (1994). Collected studies. Hakkert. p. 48. As the fighting among Illyrians was at or near Pelium, we have to put Pelium in Illyria both on the references cited above and also on later statements that it was in Illyria (St. Byz. using Asinius Quadratus), in Dassaretis (Livy 31.40.4).
  8. ^ a b Vujčić 2021, pp. 506–508.
  9. ^ Vujčić 2021, p. 507.
  10. ^ a b c Vujčić 2021, p. 508.
  11. ^ Winnifrith 2002, p. 223: "Rather surprisingly Pelium appears among the places refortified by Justinian in the sixth century that are listed by Procopius"
  12. ^ Vujčić 2021, p. 514.
  13. ^ Hammond & Griffith 1972, p. 191: "Here there were some urban settlements such as Lychnidus and Pelium, and it is probable that they were fortified with walls in the time of Bardylis."
  14. ISBN 0-521-23348-8
    p.429: "It is probable that Bardylis, unlike previous Illyrian dynasts, built a few fortified cities; for Lychnidus and Pelium in the lakeland were walled sites probably before the accession of Philip."
  15. ^ Lane Fox 2011, p. 342: "Nowhere was the phalanx more adept than in the Illyrian campaign of 335 bc against Bardylis’ son Cleitos and his ally Glaucias near the fortified settlement of Pelion. [...] Pelion was an Illyrian site there, not a former settlement of Philip's, and "if Alexander had taken the wrong turning in southern Albania", as Winnifrith well points out, he would have been destroyed, so "Pelion is important for the history of the world".
  16. ^ Vujčić 2021, pp. 514–515.
  17. ^ a b King 2017, p. 140.
  18. ^ Stocker 2009, p. 66.
  19. ^ Vujčić 2021, p. 516.
  20. ^ a b Morton 2017, p. 91: "Alexander waged his campaign in at the Tsangon pass to control his western border before heading off on his extended eastern campaign. This makes sense as this pass controls one of the only two major east-west routes between Illyria and Macedonia, the other being the northern route that became the via Egnatia. Philip II's founding of Herakleia controlled Illyrian access west by the northern route; Alexander taking Pelium and the Tsangon pass controlled the southern route. ... Thus, by taking Pelium, Alexander could reasonably believe that he had protected Macedonia from Illyrian invasion and head off on his eastern campaign."
  21. ^ a b c Vujčić 2021, p. 515.
  22. ^ Morton 2017, p. 91.
  23. ^ Morton 2017, pp. 91–92.
  24. ^ Morton 2017, p. 92.
  25. ^ Morton 2017, pp. 99, 230.
  26. ^ Vujčić 2021, p. 506.
  27. ^ Winnifrith, p. 282: "Pelium should be situated on the high saddle of land overlooking Zvezde to the south, the Maliq plain to the west, the pass of Zvezde through which the road winds to the east, and only approachable from the north, which is where the Illyrian wall was built... Kleitos' campaigns against Alexander ended in defeat near Pelium, still not definitely located, but clearly again near Ohrid and Prespa."
  28. ^ Lane Fox 2011, p. 342: "Since 2003, after renewed autopsy, Winnifrith has made a decisive case for Zvezde, even further to the north-west, and has related it convincingly to Arrian's text. Pelion was an Illyrian site there, not a former settlement of Philip's, and "if Alexander had taken the wrong turning in southern Albania", as Winnifrith well points out, he would have been destroyed, so "Pelion is important for the history of the world"."
  29. ISBN 0-691-04945-9
    , page 755
  30. ^ a b King 2017, p. 252.
  31. ISBN 0631146717
    , p. 123.: “More recently Albanian archaeologists have identified Pelion with the remains at Selcë e Poshtme on the upper course of the Shkumbin.”
  32. ^ Vujčić 2021, pp. 509–510.
  33. ^ Hammond & Griffith 1972, p. 41
  34. ^ Vujčić 2021, pp. 508–509.
  35. ^ Vujčić 2021, p. 509.
  36. ^ Vujčić 2021, pp. 507–508
  37. ^ Vujčić 2021, p. 511–512.

Bibliography

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