Macedonia (Roman province)

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Macedonia
Μακεδονία
Theme of Thessalonica
later on 		7th century
Preceded by		 Succeeded by
Macedonia (ancient kingdom)
Thessalonica (theme)
Strymon (theme)
Today part ofGreece
North Macedonia
Albania
Bulgaria

Macedonia (

King of Macedonia in the Fourth Macedonian War. The province incorporated the former Kingdom of Macedonia with the addition of Epirus, Thessaly, and parts of Illyria, Paeonia and Thrace.[4]

During the Republican period, the province was of great military significance, as the main bulwark protecting the Aegean region from attacks from the north. The Via Egnatia, which crossed the province from west to east was of great strategic importance, providing the main overland link between Rome and its domains in the Eastern Mediterranean. In this period, campaigns against the Dardani and Scordisci to the north and the Thracians to the east were nearly constant. By the first century BC, the province notionally extended to the Danube.

Macedonia was a central theatre for several campaigns of the

senatorial province, governed by a proconsul
.

Throughout the

Thessalonica and Philippi. These communities were organised in a similar way to other cities of the Roman Empire and were largely self-governing. Greek was the main language of the region, but Latin was used for official purposes and in the Roman colonies. There were substantial Christian
communities in the province by the mid-first century AD.

In

Eastern Roman Empire
until the end of the fourteenth century.

History

Macedonian Wars

Tetradrachm of Perseus, minted between 179–172 BC at Pella or Amphipolis.
Coin issued by Andriscus during the Fourth Macedonian War (149–148 BC).
Main article: Macedonian Wars

The Romans clashed with the Macedonian kingdom in three wars in the early third century BC. After defeating

Athena Itonia as its patron deities. Its coinage superseded that of the individual Thessalian cities and continued until the end of the first century BC.[8][9]

The kingdom was briefly reunited in 150 BC by the pretender

epoch date of the provincial era, but in practice it may have been a gradual process.[15]

Republican province

At its creation, the province of Macedonia encompassed

Thessalonica and the governor held proconsular status
.

Two years after the foundation of the new province, in 146 BC, Romans defeated the

Mainland Greece. Scholars disagree on whether or not Achaia was formally incorporated into the province of Macedonia following this defeat,[19] but intermittent interventions in Achaian affairs by the governors are attested.[20]

Via Egnatia

Ancient Via Egnatia in Kavala (Neapolis)

Sometime after 146 BC,

Pindus mountains and continued through Macedonia to Thessalonica, and from there to Cypsela, on the east bank of the Hebrus river.[21] This stretch was completed by 120 BC;[22] it followed a pre-existing route, but was a more solid, level road than the previous road, with a width of between three and six metres.[21] A second road from the Adriatic coast at Apollonia, which joined the main Via Egnatia somewhere inland was added shortly after 120 BC.[23] Later in the second century BC, the eastern end of the road was extended all the way to the Byzantium.[24] The road was important for military and economic purposes, providing the main overland link between Rome and its domains in the Eastern Mediterranean.[25]

Northern and eastern campaigns

Macedonia was of central importance to Roman military strategy in this period as a bulwark against attacks from the north.[26] The Dardani to the northwest, had initially supported the Romans in their conquest of Macedonia, but after 148 BC, they increasingly came into conflict with the Romans.[27][28] There were also occasional conflicts with the Thracians to the east.[28] However, the key enemy of the Romans in this period were the Scordisci, a Celtic group that largely supplanted the Dardanians as the most powerful group in the central Balkans.[29] They first invaded Macedonia in 149 BC during the Fourth Macedonian War and had to be driven out by Metellus.[30]

In the first years of the province two pretenders attempted to restore the Macedonian kingdom. The first, Alexander, invaded from Thrace in 148 BC and was defeated by Metellus. The second, referred to in the sources as 'Pseudo-Philip' or 'Pseudo-Perseus' also invaded from the east, in 143 or 142, with an army of up to 16,000 men, but was defeated by the quaestor Tremellus Scrofa.[31] The Scordisci invaded in 141 BC and defeated a Roman army commanded by Decimus Junius Silanus Manlianus[29] or, less likely, Publius Cornelius Scipio Nasica.[31] In belated response to this defeat, Marcus Cosconius launched an attack on the Scordisci in 135 BC, defeating them in Thrace.[29][31] The delay may have been because Roman attention was focussed on the construction of the Via Egnatia.[31]

In 119 BC, the Scordisci invaded again, ravaging the area near

Gaius Porcius Cato launched a large-scale invasion, but he was defeated and nearly the whole army was killed.[33] The Romans dispatched several further commanders, Gaius Caecilius Metellus Caprarius in 113 BC and Marcus Livius Drusus in 112, who inflicted defeats on the Thracians and the Scordisci respectively.[33] From 110 to 107 BC, Marcus Minucius Rufus campaigned against the Scordisci and the Bessian tribe of Thracians to the east, bringing an end to their raids for about twenty years.[22][33]

After this, the Romans turned their attention to the eastern border. The Romans defeated some Thracians under an unnamed commander in 104 BC.

Mithridates VI attacked Macedonia, as part of the First Mithridatic War.[36] In 84 BC a force of Scordisci, Dardianians and Maedi penetrated all the way to Delphi and sacked the sanctuary, before they were violently expelled by Lucius Cornelius Scipio Asiaticus (consul 83 BC).[37][36]

Callatis, Dionysoupolis, and Odessus
.

In the aftermath of the Mithridatic Wars, the Romans again launched a concerted military effort in the region. Before the war, governors had tended to be

propraetors, usually in office for a single year. Henceforth, they were consuls or proconsuls and often held command for several years.[38] Appius Claudius Pulcher had some success in the Rhodope Mountains in 77 BC,[39] but was replaced after his death from illness by C. Scribonius Curio, who was given a force of five legions. He campaigned from 75 to 74 BC, becoming the first Roman commander to lead an army to the Danube and reduced the Dardanians to submission.[39][36] Between 73 and 71 BC, Marcus Terentius Varro Lucullus led another force of five legions against the Bessi and entered Moesia, bringing the Greek cities on the west coast of the Black Sea under Roman control and campaigning against the Getae all the way to the mouth of the Danube.[40][36] These campaigns were intended to secure the northern border so that Macedonia and Greece would no longer be threatened by raids and to put Rome in a better position to confront Mithridates VI in future conflicts.[36] Efforts to consolidate these enormous conquests continued for decades,[41] often meeting with rebuffs, most notably the two campaigns of Gaius Antonius Hybrida in the north ca. 62-61 BC, in which he was defeated disastrously by the Dardianians and at the Battle of Histria by the Bastarnae.[42][41]

The governorship of Lucius Calpurnius Piso Caesoninus from 57 to 55 BC is the subject of Cicero's In Pisonem, in which Caesoninus is accused of corruption, abuse, and murder of the provincials on a grand scale, as well as shaving sparked another invasion by the Dardianians and Bessi that even placed Thessaloniki under siege, but the speech may not give an accurate picture of Caesoninus' conduct.[43]

Civil wars

Map of the Pharsalus campaign, 48 BC.
Map of the Philippi campaign, 42 BC.

Macedonia was one of the main arenas of the civil wars at the end of the Roman Republic.

Egypt.[47] On taking control of the province, Caesar separated it from Greece to the south for the first time. This division was reversed after his death in 44 BC, but would be revived in the Imperial period.[48]

After the

Octavian in the Second Triumvirate and invade Macedonia, defeating Brutus and his forces at the Battle of Philippi in 42 BC.[49]

After Philippi, Macedonia fell within the territories assigned to Mark Antony and it was governed by his

war broke out between Octavian and Antony in 32 BC and Antony was defeated in 31 BC at the Battle of Actium, after which Macedonia and the rest of the Eastern Mediterranean came under Octavian's control, marking the beginning of the Principate.[49]

Principate

senatorial province
of Macedonia in southeastern Europe

Following Actium, Octavian entrusted Macedonia to the proconsul

Crassus the triumvir, who led a campaign into the north that lasted until 27 BC, finally subjugating the whole region south of the Danube, for which he was granted a triumph.[50][51]

In the

legates appointed by the Emperor, and senatorial provinces, which continued to be governed by senators who had previously served as consuls or praetors. Most of the provinces with a large military presence on the borders of the empire were Imperial provinces, but Macedonia was anomalous in being a senatorial province despite its military significance. The territories south of Thermopylae and the Ceraunian Mountains now became the separate province of Achaia.[51] This province included the territory which would become the province of Epirus (later Epirus Vetus) under Emperor Trajan.[52]

Thrace.[56]

The establishment of new provinces to the north and the consolidation of Roman control in the Balkans in general led to a decline in the military importance of Macedonia to Rome, as the legions defending the northern border were henceforth based in Dalmatia, Moesia, and Thrace.[57] Nevertheless, the province continued to provide a vital role in the transport of supplies from Italy to the northern and eastern borders of the Empire, as well as serving as a source of manpower.[56]

Organisation

The cities of the province had a range of different statuses. Six

Thessalonica, Abdera, and Maroneia held the status of 'free cities' (civitates liberae), and Edessa was probably an 'allied city' (civitas foederata).[59]

In the Republican period a cult of "the Roman Benefactors" (Rhomaioi euergetai), the

Roman Imperial cult was introduced under Augustus, with numismatic and epigraphic evidence attesting to the worship of Julius Caesar as Divus Julius following Actium. Under Tiberius, cults of Augustus and of Livia are attested as well, while divine honours for Caligula and subsequent emperors are attested during their own lifetimes.[61]

Gold medallion in honour of Alexander the Great minted by the Macedonian League, early 3rd century AD

The cities of Macedonia were arranged into the League of the Macedonians (Greek: koinon ton Makedonon), with its seat at

Olympic games, and from AD 229, games in honour of Alexander the Great.[63] From the time of the emperor Claudius until the end of the second century AD, the league minted its own coinage, with the thunderbolt, a traditional symbol of Macedon on the reverse. In the third century AD, the league continued to mint coinage, but with new types, relating to athletic competition.[63] Through this institution, Macedonian identity and loyalty to the Roman emperor were closely aligned.[63]

There was a separate civic league for the

Thessalians
.

Late Antiquity

The reforms of

Diocese of Moesia, but subsequently became part of a new Diocese of Macedonia (administered from Thessaloniki), one of three dioceses comprising the praetorian prefecture of Illyricum (administered from Sirmium
until 379, then from Thessaloniki). Meanwhile, the province of Macedonia was divided into a number of smaller provinces.

When the Prefecture of Macedonia was divided between the

Eastern Illyricum. With the permanent division of the Empire in 395, Macedonia passed to the Eastern Empire
.

Economy

A tetradrachm of Thasos from Roman-controlled Macedonia. It was minted between 148 and 80 BC. Obverse shows Dionysos and reverse shows Herakles.

The reign of

Asia Minor
.

The economy was greatly stimulated by the construction of the Via Egnatia during 130s and 120s BC, the installation of Roman merchants in the cities, and the founding of Roman colonies. The Imperial government brought, along with its roads and administrative system, an economic boom, which benefited both the Roman ruling class and the lower classes. With vast arable and rich pastures, the great ruling families amassed huge fortunes in the society based on slave labor.

The improvement of the living conditions of the productive classes brought about an increase in the number artisans and craftspeople to the region. Stonemasons, miners, blacksmiths, etc. were employed in every kind of commercial activity and craft. Greek people were also widely employed as tutors, educators and doctors throughout the Roman world.

The export economy was based essentially on agriculture and livestock, while iron, copper, and gold along with such products as timber, resin, pitch, hemp, flax, and fish were also exported. Another source of wealth was the kingdom's ports, such as

better source needed
]

List of Roman governors

Republican

Governors of Macedonia (148-30 BC)[74]
Governor Dates Title
Quintus Caecilius Metellus Macedonicus 148-146 BC Praetor proconsul
Gnaeus Egnatius ca. 145 BC Proconsul
Aulus Licinius Nerva 143 or 142 BC Praetor
Publius Cornelius Scipio Nasica Corculum 142/1 or 141/0 BC[75]
Decimus Junius Silanus Manlianus 141 BC Praetor
Quintus Calpurnius Piso 138 or 137 BC Praetor
Marcus Cosconius
 135-133 BC Praetor
Tiberius (Latinius) Pandusa 129 BC Praetor
Publius Cornelius Lentulus 128 BC
Sextus Pompeius 119 BC Praetor
Marcus Annius 119 BC Quaestor
Gnaeus Cornelius Sisenna 118 BC Praetor proconsul
Quintus Fabius Maximus Eburnus 116-114 BC Consul; Proconsul
Gaius Porcius Cato
 114 BC Consul
Gaius Caecilius Metellus Caprarius 113-112 BC Consul; Proconsul
Marcus Livius Drusus 112-111 BC Consul
Marcus Minucius Rufus 110-106 BC Praetor proconsul
Gaius Billienus after 106 BC? Praetor proconsul
Gaius Clivius after 104 BC? Praetor proconsul
Gaius Servilius Vatia before 100 BC?
Titus Didius 101-100 BC
Lucius Aurelius ca. 100 BC Praetor proconsul
Gnaeus Pompeius Strabo between 104 and 93 BC
Lucius Julius Caesar 94 BC Praetor proconsul
Gaius Sentius 93—87 BC Praetor proconsul
Sulla 86-84 BC Proconsul
Lucius Hortensius 85 BC Legatus
Lucius Cornelius Scipio Asiaticus 85-84 BC
Gnaeus Cornelius Dolabella
 80—78 BC Proconsul
Appius Claudius Pulcher 78—76 BC Proconsul
Gaius Scribonius Curio 75—72 BC Proconsul
Marcus Terentius Varro Lucullus 72-71 BC Proconsul
Lucius Quinctius Rufus 68-67 BC? Proconsul
Rubrius 67-66 BC Praetor
Lucius Manlius Torquatus 64-63 BC Proconsul
Gaius Antonius Hybrida 62-60 BC Proconsul
Gaius Octavius 60-59 BC Praetor proconsul
Lucius Culleolus 59/58 BC Proconsul
Lucius Appuleius Saturninus 58 BC Praetor
Lucius Calpurnius Piso Caesoninus 57—55 BC Proconsul
Quintus Ancharius 55-54 BC Praetor proconsul
Gaius Cosconius
 ca. 53-51 BC Praetor proconsul
Gnaeus Tremellius Scrofa or Marcus Nonius Sufenas 51-50 BC
Titus Antistius 49 BC Quaestor propraetor
Decimus Laclius 45-44 BC Legatus
Quintus Hortensius Hortalus
 44-42 BC Proconsul
Gaius Antonius
 43 BC Proconsul
Marcus Junius Brutus 43-42 BC Proconsul
Lucius Marcius Censorinus 42-40 BC Legatus proconsul
Gaius Asinius Pollio 40-39 BC Legatus proconsul
Quintus Paquius Rufus ca. 30s BC? Legatus proconsul
Titus Statilius Taurus 31-30 BC? Legatus proconsul

Imperial

Notable individuals

Saints and clerics

Writers

Physicians

See also

References

  1. ^ A Companion to Ancient Macedonia, By Joseph Roisman and Ian Worthington, page 549
  2. ISBN 960-7265-01-7
    .
  3. ISBN 960-7265-16-5
    .
  4. ISSN 2204-3128
    .
  5. ^ Eckstein 2010, p. 245; Errington 1990, pp. 216–217; Hatzopoulos 1996, pp. 43–46.
  6. ^ a b Papazoglou 1979, p. 305.
  7. ^ Kremydi-Sicilianou 2005, pp. 97–98.
  8. ^ Thonemann, The Hellenistic World: Using Coins as Sources 2016 ISBN 9781316091784, pp. 71
  9. ^ Graninger, D. (2011) Cult and Koinon in Hellenistic Thessaly. Leiden.
  10. ^ Vanderspoel 2010, p. 252.
  11. ^ Papazoglou 1979, p. 303.
  12. ^ Papazoglou 1979, p. 304.
  13. ^ Vanderspoel 2010, p. 258.
  14. ^ Vanderspoel 2010, p. 255.
  15. ^ Papazoglou 1979, p. 306.
  16. ^ Papazoglou 1979, pp. 302–308.
  17. ^ a b Vanderspoel 2010, p. 259.
  18. ^ Cic. Contra Pisonem 38
  19. ^ Vanderspoel 2010, p. 256.
  20. ^ Papazoglou 1979, p. 311.
  21. ^ a b Vanderspoel 2010, p. 265.
  22. ^ a b c d e Vanderspoel 2010, p. 262.
  23. ^ Vanderspoel 2010, pp. 265–266.
  24. ^ Vanderspoel 2010, p. 266.
  25. ^ O'Sullivan 1972.
  26. ^ Vanderspoel 2010, pp. 252 & 257.
  27. ^ P. Vladimir (2006). "Pre-roman and Roman Dardania historical and geographical considerations". Balcanica (37): 7–23.
  28. ^ a b Vanderspoel 2010, p. 257.
  29. ^ a b c Papazoglou 1979, p. 312.
  30. ^ Vanderspoel 2010, p. 260.
  31. ^ a b c d Vanderspoel 2010, p. 261.
  32. ^ This event is known from an inscription erected in honour of Marcus Annius at Lete: Syll.3 700; Papazoglou 1979, p. 312
  33. ^ a b c d Papazoglou 1979, p. 313.
  34. ^ Papazoglou 1979, pp. 315–316.
  35. ^ a b Papazoglou 1979, p. 316.
  36. ^ a b c d e f g Vanderspoel 2010, p. 263.
  37. ^ Papazoglou 1979, p. 317.
  38. ^ Papazoglou 1979, pp. 308–309.
  39. ^ a b Papazoglou 1979, p. 318.
  40. ^ Papazoglou 1979, pp. 318–319.
  41. ^ a b Vanderspoel 2010, p. 264.
  42. ^ Papazoglou 1979, p. 319.
  43. ^ Papazoglou 1979, p. 320.
  44. ^ a b c Papazoglou 1979, p. 321.
  45. Caesar, Bellum Civile
    3.34
  46. ^ a b Papazoglou 1979, p. 322.
  47. ^ Vanderspoel 2010, pp. 267–268.
  48. ^ Papazoglou 1979, p. 223.
  49. ^ a b Vanderspoel 2010, p. 268.
  50. ^ Freese, John Henry (1911). "Moesia" . In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 18 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 643–644.
  51. ^ a b c Vanderspoel 2010, p. 269.
  52. ^ a b Vanderspoel 2010, pp. 269–270.
  53. Annales
     1.76.4
  54. ^ Suetonius, Life of Claudius 25.3, Cassius Dio Roman History 60.24.1
  55. ^ Wiseman, James (1979). "Corinth and Rome I". ANRW. 7 (1): 503.
  56. ^ a b c Vanderspoel 2010, p. 270.
  57. ^ Vanderspoel 2010, pp. 252 & 269.
  58. ^ a b Kremydi-Sicilianou 2005, p. 99.
  59. ^ Kremydi-Sicilianou 2005, pp. 98–99.
  60. ^ Papazoglou 1979, pp. 307–308.
  61. ^ Kremydi-Sicilianou 2005, p. 98.
  62. ^ Papazoglou 1998.
  63. ^ a b c d Kremydi-Sicilianou 2005, pp. 102–103.
  64. ISBN 9780472112388
    .
  65. ^ The Loeb Editor's Notes, 28 Nova Epirus or Illyris Graeca
  66. ^ A new classical dictionary of Greek and Roman biography, mythology, and geography: partly based upon the Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology by Sir William Smith,1851, page 392
  67. ^ Catholic Encyclopedia - Durazzo
  68. ISBN 1-113-19974-1
    , 734.
  69. ^ Atlas of Classical History by R. Talbert, 1989, page 175: "... divided the diocese of Moesia into two, styled Thracia and Macedonia, the latter consisting of the provinces from Epirus Nova and Macedonia southward."
  70. Dyrrachium
    (=Epidamnus) as its capital.
  71. ISBN 0-631-19807-5
    , Page 210
  72. JSTOR 293653
  73. ^ Macedonia – Province of the Roman Empire
  74. ^ Papazoglou 1979, pp. 310–311.
  75. ^ Vanderspoel 2010.
  76. ^ Ronald Syme, The Roman Revolution (Oxford: University Press, 1939), p.330 n. 3
  77. ^ CIL III, 6074 = ILS 975
  78. ^ a b Werner Eck, "Über die prätorischen Prokonsulate in der Kaiserzeit. Eine quellenkritische Überlegung", Zephyrus 23/24 (1972/73), pp. 240f
  79. ^ Unless otherwise stated, the names of the proconsular governors from 69 to 139 are taken from Werner Eck, "Jahres- und Provinzialfasten der senatorischen Statthalter von 69/70 bis 138/139", Chiron, 12 (1982), pp. 281–362; 13 (1983), pp. 147–237
  80. ^ Unless otherwise stated, the names of the proconsular governors from 139 to 180 are taken from Géza Alföldy, Konsulat und Senatorenstand unter der Antoninen (Bonn: Rudolf Habelt Verlag, 1977), p. 265
  81. ^ Unless otherwise stated, the names of the proconsular governors from 187 to 235 are taken from Paul M. M. Leunissen, Konsuln und Konsulare in der Zeit von Commodus bis Severus Alexander (180-235 n. Chr.), (Amsterdam: J.C. Gieben 1989), pp. 302-304
  82. ^ Amphiareion — c. 80-50 BC Epigraphical Database
  83. ^ www.phl.uoc.gr/eulimene/eulimene03.pdf

Bibliography

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