Macedonia’s influence in Pelagonia

The exact location of the Kingdom of Pelagonia is still eluding archaeologists and historians but they agree that it is somewhere in the region of Bonče in Northern Macedonia, close to the Greek border. 

Based on historical sources, Pelagon was established in the early 4^th century BC as the capital of the Pelagonian tribe. In the Iliad, however, Homer mentions that Asteropaius, who fought against Achilles in Troy, is the son of King Pelagon. Many other historical and mythological figures go by the name Pelagon, which does not help to define who is who. 

The kingdom was known to be adjacent to Paeonia and early in his kingship, Philip II of Macedonia campaigned in those countries north of Macedonia. Paeonia was led by Parmenion, who decided to rally to the side of the new king. What exactly happened elsewhere remains rather obscure. 

Between the villages of Bonče and Podme, a necropolis with several tumuli has been located. These tombs date from between the 4^th to the 2^nd century BC and are all in Macedonian style. 

A larger grave site was surrounded by a circular stone wall, not unlike the Kasta Hill tomb of Amphipolis. Because of its impressive 30 meters in diameter, the tumulus has been attributed to a king of Pelagonia. A particularly long vaulted corridor of 20 meters, 2.95 meters high and 2.15 meters wide, led to the antechamber and the burial chamber proper. This room was rectangular and measured 8 x 6.6 meters with a height of 5.60 meters. Like the corridor, the main section of the tomb was cut onto the rock surface and lined with large stone blocks that reached up to a length of three meters. 

All tombs have been thoroughly plundered well before WW1. The roofs of the burial chambers have been dismantled and the stones reused in more recent local constructions. Although nothing of any historical value has been found inside the graves, the remains confirm that the 4^th century BC was a period of exceptional wealth.

In the fields of Bonče not far from these grave sites, bits of three partially preserved royal shields have been discovered with a close link to Macedonia. They display a central sun with 12 rays surrounded by three concentric circles. Around these, a series of smaller suns with 8 rays are represented. 

One of the shields carried the inscription ΒΑΣΙΛ ΔΗΜΗΤΡΙΟ (King Demetrius). It is generally accepted that it belonged to Demetrius II of the Antigonid dynasty, whose ancestral capital Antigona was located not far from Bonče, but this is not certain. 

[Reconstruction picture from the Macedonian Times]

The symbolic meaning of each and every detail remains problematic as so many variations have been found over the years. A handful of examples have been discussed in my earlier blog post, How Macedonian is a Macedonian shield?

[Two top pictures are from Wikipedia]