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PYDNA (Ancient city) PIERIA
Pudna. A town which originally stood on the coast of Pieria, in the
Thermaic gulf. Themistocles was conducted by two Macedonian guides across the
mountains, and found a merchant ship about to sail for Asia. (Thuc. ii. 137.)
Pydna was blockaded by the Athenians, who, after prosecuting the siege in vain,
concluded a convention with Perdiccas. (Thuc. i. 61.) It was taken B.C. 411 by
Archelaus, who removed its site 20 stadia from the sea. (Diodor. xiii. 49.) Afterwards
it was gained for Athens by Timotheus; but in the two first years of the disastrous
Social War (358--356), Pydna, about the exchange of which for Amphipolis there
had been a secret negotiation, was betrayed to Philip by a party of traitors in
the town. (Demosth. adv. Leptinem, p. 476. § 71. Olynth. i. p. 10. § 5, Olynth.
ii. p. 19. § 6; Ulpian, ad loc.; Theopompus, Fr. 189, ed Didot.) Several Athenian
citizens were taken in Pydna, and sold into slavery, whom Demosthenes ransomed
from his own funds. (Plut. Vit. X. Orator. p. 851, vol. ix. p. 381, ed. Reiske.)
Towards the close of the year B.C. 316, Olympias retired to Pydna, where she was
besieged by Cassander, and taken prisoner by him. (Diodor. xix. 49; Polyaen. iv.
11. § 3.) In the spring of B.C. 169, Perseus abandoning Dium, retreated before
the consul Q. Marcius Philippus to Pydna. (Liv. xliv. 6.) After again occupying
the strong line of the Enipeus, Perseus, in consequence of the dexterous flank
movement of P. Scipio Nasica, was compelled to fall back upon Pydna. On the 22nd
of June, B.C. 168 (an eclipse fixes the date, Clinton, F. H. vol. iii. p. 82),
the fate of the Macedonian monarchy was decided in a plain near the town, which
was traversed by a small river, and bordered by heights affording a convenient
retreat and shelter to the light infantry, while the plain alone contained the
level ground necessary for the phalanx. (Liv. xliv. 32 - 46; Plut. Aemil. 13 -
23.) The Epitomiser of Strabo and a Scholiast upon Demosthenes (Olynth. i. p.
10) assert that the Kitros of their time was the same place as Pydna; but their
authority is of no great weight, and Colonel Leake (Northern Greece, vol. iii.
pp. 429 - 435) has shown that the ancient, site is better represented by Ayan,
where there are Hellenic remains, and, on the slope towards the sea, two tumuli,
probably monuments of the battle. Kitro, it may be supposed, rose upon the decay
of Pydna and Methone, between which it lies. For autonomous coins of Pydna, see
Eckhel. vol. ii. p. 76.
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited June 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
(Pudna). Now Kitron. A town of Macedonia in the district Pieria, was situated at a small distance west of the Thermaic Gulf, on which it had a harbour. It was originally a Greek colony, but it was subdued by the Macedonian kings, from whom, however, it frequently revolted. It was subdued by Philip, who enlarged and fortified the place. It is especially memorable on account of the victory gained under its walls by Aemilius Paulus over Perseus, the last king of Macedonia, 168. Under the Romans it was also called Citrum or Citrus.
This text is cited Oct 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
A city in Pieria, the ethnic being Pydnaios. It issued coinage as
early as the late 6th c. B.C. Like Methone, Pydna was considered a Greek city,
as opposed to the Thracian and Macedonian cities along the coast of the Thracian
gulf and inland. It is mentioned first by Thucydides (1.137) in connection with
Themistocles' flight to Persia, as "Pydna of Alexander," the king of
Macedonia. It became important during the Peloponnesian War. In 432 B.C. it was
besieged by the Athenians (Thuc. 1.61). Archelaus made a brief siege of the fortified
seashore city of Pydna with the help of the Athenian navy (ca. 410 B.C.) and after
taking it moved the city 20 stades inland from the shore (Diod. Sic. 13.14). But
after Archelaus' death it appears that the citizens of Pydna moved their city
back to the shore. Pydna issued coins again from 389 to 379 B.C. In 364-363 B.C.
the Athenians took it, but in 357-356 B.C. it fell into Philip's hands. In 317-316
B.C. after a long siege of the city Kassander put Olympias, Alexander the Great's
mother, to death there (Diod. 19.36.1, 49.1). In the same place the last act of
the drama of Macedonian Hellenism took place: the battle of Pydna (22 June 168
B.C.) in which M. Aemilius Paulus defeated Perseus, last king of Macedonia, and
put an end to Macedonian power.
Although the site of Pydna is disputed, it is reasonably well established.
The city on the shore is on a hill S of the town of Makrygialos, called by the
natives "Old Pydna" or Paliokitros. The Pydna of Archelaus is at Kitros.
The port is by the promontory Atherida. The battle of Pydna, according to a recent
study, took place on the hills on either side of the river now called Mavroneri
(ancient Leukos), while its tributary, the Pelikas, is identified as the Aeson.
Another theory is that the battle took place nearer Pydna, by the modern town
of Ano and Kato Joannis, near Kourinos, where there are two grave tumuli.
There have never been excavations in the area of Pydna except for
the discovery of a "Macedonian" tomb by Heuzey. The information about
the topography of Pydna and the battle near it is based on continual surface observations
by many investigators, and on chance finds, which are in the Thessalonika Museum
and the Archaeological Collection of Katerini, the present capital of the Nome
of Pieria.
PH. M. Petsas, ed.
This text is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites,
Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Nov 2002 from
Perseus Project URL below, which contains bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
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