Looking for Illyrian remains in Albania

Albania sounds to be the right place to find traces of Illyria, if any are to be found. 

We know that Alexander spent time in Illyria but not where. There were no cities of importance, but people scattered around in small tribes fighting among themselves and invading Macedonia on a regular base in search of fertile land. The borders of Illyria were not clearly drawn. Those of today's Albania are but don't match neither with old Illyria, although roughly in its center, nor with Epirus in the south where it is shared with Greece.

Honestly, I don't know what proof of Illyria I can find or will come across, for they had no alphabet, cities, or art of their own – at least to my knowledge. Albania is not making things easier either since the country has been locked away for half a century with a totalitarian regime that only can be compared to North Korea. It is now trying to emerge in the hope of meeting Western standards, although the Albanians have only scant notions of what that means, especially those living in the eastern mountains where time has come to a standstill. I am on a general tour of one week which is supposed to touch base with the key periods of Albania's history, the Macedonians and Greeks, the Romans and Byzantines, the Ottomans and Skanderberg (National Albanian Awakening), the Slavs, King Zog with WW1, the many foreign rulers during WW2 and the authoritarian communist regime under Enver Hoxha. An extremely long and varied timeline although I am interested only in the very first centuries. Whatever I'll learn about the Illyrians themselves and the Macedonian occupation is a welcome bonus.

In a previous blog about the Illyrians (see: A closer look at Illyria), I summarized the roles played by King Philip II of Macedonia and his son Alexander the Great in putting Illyria on the map. After becoming king of Macedonia, Philip prioritized signing a treaty with the Illyrians, including his marriage with Audata, King Bardylis' granddaughter. This was only a way to win time because one year later, Philip marched north. He met the Illyrian army near Lake Ohrid, where he was victorious, and demanded that the Illyrians pull out of Upper Macedonia north to Lake Lychnitis. Alexander, in turn, sought refuge in Illyria after the brawl during his father's wedding to Cleopatra, Attalus' niece, in 337 BC. Attalus brought a toast to a lawful successor of Macedonia, implying that Alexander was a bastard. We know how Alexander reacted, especially since his father took Attalus' side. This was when Alexander left for Illyria, taking his mother, Olympias, to the safety of her brother's court in Epirus.

Peace with Illyria lasted while it lasted for as soon they heard that King Philip was assassinated in 336 BC, they felt free from any obligation towards Macedonia. Alexander could not afford to have these troublesome tribes raiding his northern borders while preparing to cross to Asia. So, as soon as the most urgent matters were settled in Pella, Alexander took his army north and not only defeated the Illyrians but mopped up all the resistance. Ultimately, the Illyrians became faithful allies and fought at his side throughout his Asian campaign.

I am curious to see the landscape Alexander crossed to understand where he may have been during his self-imposed exile. I will soon be rewarded when we drive over the most horrible road from Pogradec to Gjirokastra through the mountainous region of southeastern Albania.

Pogradec lies on the crossroad linking Tirana, the Albanian capital, to Elbasan and Korce and on the southern bank of Lake Ohrid, where King Philip made history. This was an essential stop along the Via Egnatia in antiquity that connected Byzantium to Rome. Today Lake Ohrid is shared between Albania and FYROM (meanwhile renamed the Republic of Northern Macedonia). It is one of the three geological wonders in the world harboring endemic species that cover the entire food chain. As we drive down to the shores of the lake, the views are superb, and I am impressed by the sheer size of the lake; it must have looked like a sea to people in antiquity. Unlike the more inland parts, our stop in Ohrid has a very Mediterranean feeling. But Alexander has been remembered in these parts, for I find restaurants and wine carrying the name Aleksandrija.

The next day we pick up the main road from Korca south to Gjirokastra, but our maximum speed on this bumpy, degraded, deteriorated, and unmaintained road is 25 km/hour. It takes us all day to get there, but nobody is complaining, for the landscape is absolutely breathtaking! There are no cities or towns, hardly an occasional cluster of houses, recent constructions next to dilapidated shacks that may be stables or housing, who knows. Small gardens, a few fruit trees, a couple of cows, and donkeys are all that people have to live. I am told that in winter, the snow is two meters deep in these parts, making it impossible for cars or buses to get through. Even today, there is no regular bus service in those parts – how isolated can one live? Was it like this in Alexander's days, I wonder. It cannot have been much better, if any, for the land and weather are still what it was. No wonder the Illyrians were envious of the fertile plains of Lower Macedonia! Overall the landscape is green with a wide assortment of trees and low bushes between patches of rocky grassland framed with high barren peaks. Occasionally, a river or stream meanders through the valleys, reflecting the sunlight or threatening clouds. The productive patches of land along those waterways are thriftily cultivated, a pleasant sign in this otherwise austere land.

Then we reach Gjirokastra, whose Greek name is Argyropolis (meaning silver castle), which must have been a fortified place in Epirus (yes, we are in Epirus here!). The oldest finds so far are the city walls from the 3rd century AD. The remains of today's citadel, built between the 6th and 12th centuries, still command the otherwise Ottoman city.

It is funny when I come across a Rruga Antipatrea, which is the old name for Berat, and most probably, this street and city was named after Antipater. A restaurant proudly shows off the name Antigoni. What a shame that there are no written records in Illyria and that the Macedonians or the Greeks didn't bother to write about them.

The most rewarding moments of my tour were those when I faced Illyrian artifacts in the local museums. In Apollonia, I saw my first Illyrian shield from the 4th century BC, which looked so closely like a Macedonian one. I was told that the difference was to be found in its curving; whether that is true or not, I don't know, for it had the same semi-circles and the Medusa head in the center, complete with shiny inlaid eyes that intensified her glance. Another shield was shown at the Skanderberg Museum, with the same semi-circles but carrying the Macedonian star in its center, with an Illyrian helmet and some arrows and spearheads. More helmets were exhibited at the Archaeological Museum of Tirana, where a mold for an Illyrian shield was also displayed.

Yet, the most unexpected highlights are the Royal Tombs of Selca e Poshtme, a place in the middle of nowhere with no decent road leading to it. This is supposedly the ancient city of Pelium, perched high on an acropolis that overlooks the river Shkumbin. In the middle of the 4th century BC, the Illyrian town was protected by a wall, and its life was intensive. They made pottery out of grey clay imitating Greek shapes and decorations, created metal and bronze tools, and traded their goods over the roads along the river, which would later become the Via Egnatia. It was the residence of the Illyrian kings. However, excavations are still in an early stage, and Pelium's role is mainly based on the coins found in cities like Apollonia and Dyrrhachion (modern Dürres). The main discovery is four royal tombs right under the cliff of the acropolis; definitely Illyrian but, at first glance, very Macedonian. More about these great tombs in my next post, Alexander's psychological warfare in Pelium, Illyria.

Last but not least, I should focus on the route followed by the Via Egnatia, although I have yet to come across any visible pavement like in Philippi, Greece, for instance. From Ohrid, it ran through Elbasan, where it split in two. One arm connected directly to Dyrrhachion (Dürres), and another crossed Apollonia and Antipatrea (Berat) to end at Dyrrhachion on the Adriatic coast. From here, ships ferried people and goods to Brindisi on the Italian side. I regret that I have not seen a remnant of this famous road but have only been pointed to the line it followed through the cities. Maybe next time?

Aegae, where Alexander’s world changed forever

The Theatre of Aegae was one of the largest in Greece in the fourth century BC, but nowadays we need a good amount of imagination to picture its size and shape. Except for the front row reserved for the most prominent guests, the theatre was not built of stone. The hillside adjacent to the Royal Palace was probably lined with wooden seats, of which nothing remains. During my last visit in early spring 2011, the terrain was overgrown and the grass stood high, revealing dimly the rough shape of the cavea divided into wedges separated by corridors. Work is still in progress with new excavations, and there is hope for a better understanding of the theater that is anchored in history. Enigmatic is still the place reserved for the king, which usually was a special seat in the front row, but no single hint has been found. Manolis Andronikos, the great archaeologist who discovered the Tomb of Philip II in modern Vergina, tentatively suggests that either a special throne seat was carried into the theatre or that the Macedonian king would have sat in his own comfort on the northern porch of his palace which is only 60m away front the edge of the orchestra. 

 [Picture from Hellenic Macedonia]

Anyway, it was here that in the early morning hours of a summer day in July 336 BC, Alexander’s world was going to change forever. The day before, King Philip II of Macedonia had celebrated the marriage of his daughter, Cleopatra, with King Alexandros of Epirus. Besides the noblemen and the Macedonian people, representatives and envoys from all over Greece had been invited to attend the ceremony. For Philip, the wedding was also an opportunity to show his own success as he had brought prosperity and peace to Macedonia, and more importantly, peace to all of Greece since he had been acclaimed as Hegemon of Greece by the League of Corinth. As an additional festive note, his new wife had given birth to a daughter, Europa, only a few days earlier.

Today would be filled with musical contests and lavish banquets for the king’s friends and all his guests. As ruler of the Greek world, he felt safe walking alone to the center of the large orchestra (28m in diameter). It is here that Pausanias, one of his royal bodyguards, suddenly rushed in and stabbed the king to death. It is almost as if we can hear the shouting, the cries of disgust and fear, the tumult, and the general chaos of people witnessing this atrocity and running in every direction. No Greek tragedy had ever been so real! Alexander could not have been far away when it happened, but all help came too late. Pausanias was caught soon enough and killed on the spot.

Alexander was now King of Macedonia, but his kingship started in blood, his father’s blood, and more blood was going to be shed over his succession to the throne (read more: Philip’s Apogee and his Assassination). Was it chance/fate or premeditation/ conspiracy that led to the murder, we’ll never know.

Only the day before, Alexander had been worrying about his role as heir to the Macedonian throne. His father had sent an advance party of 10,000 men to Abydos across the Hellespont, under the command of his closest generals Parmenion, Attalus, and Amyntas. After the wedding, Philip would join them. Alexander must have felt uncomfortable about his father’s inner circle, in which Attalus had now become his son-in-law. Attalus, in turn, was married to a daughter of Parmenion, and so was General Coenus. These men occupied important posts within the army, of which Alexander was excluded. It is most probable that Philip destined his son to stay in Macedonia as Regent and deputy hegemon of the League of Corinth. Although this role was of the utmost importance, it meant that Alexander would sit at the royal desk - a very far cry from his desire to fight and conquer. In Philip’s eyes, it would have been unwise to leave Macedonia together with his son, for he would have left his country exposed should they both be killed in Asia.

But in these early hours of what was supposed to be a festive day, Alexander’s life and, evidently, his destiny took a very sharp turn. He now had to think quickly and instantly assume his role as king. Luckily, the Macedonians were quick to accept him and swore allegiance to their new king. After that, everyone who could have been involved in the murder of his father and those who could be a threat to his place on the throne had to be eliminated. That evidently included Amyntas, the true heir to the throne entrusted to Philip when he was still a minor. Amyntas was now in his twenties and could have claimed his rightful title. Another threat was Attalus, who was soon executed. Queen Olympias took care of Philip’s last wife and her baby.

Alexander’s next priority was to organize his father’s funeral. The dead king’s body was placed on a pyre, together with his arms and outfit, and the entire Macedonian army in polished outfits marched by for a last salute. Afterward, as was the custom, Philip’s bones were washed with wine and placed inside a gold larnax, which in turn was placed inside a stone sarcophagus. Meanwhile, Alexander had constructed an appropriate tomb to receive the king’s remains along with funerary goods made of silver and gold. Then the tomb was covered with earth to form a 43-meter-high tumulus that was to be revealed only two thousand five hundred years later (see: The Great Tumulus of Vergina).

It seems that from now on, magnificent Aegae was stained with blood. It was the old capital of Macedonia, founded in the last years of the 4th century BC, showing off all the pomp and circumstance we can expect of a kingdom at its apogee. It was the most magnificent building of Macedonia in its days, measuring roughly 105x88m, with all rooms arranged around a central open courtyard. It had a monumental entrance on the eastern side composed of three or four successive hallways. This facade is the only side of the palace that has an upper floor where traces of dark-blue and red paint have been found – a colorful statement visible from far away to any visitor.

The open inner courtyard was surrounded by a colonnade of 16 columns on each of the four sides, a square in which each side was 44.5 meters long. The best reconstruction of the palace, although partial, was shown at the exhibition at the Louvre “Alexandre le Macédonien” for on the terrain it is very difficult to mentally rebuild it. This may change when the ongoing restoration works come to a conclusion, I hope at least.

To the left, just before entering the courtyard, there is the Tholos, most probably used as a shrine or as a court of judgment, although it may also be seen as the Throne Room.

The rooms on the south side of the courtyard, i.e., on the left, have a suite on either side of the entrance space and seem to indicate that they were used for public services. The asymmetric entrance door and the raised platform along the walls tend to indicate that these were androns where banquets would be held. Two of the three rooms have yielded fine pebble mosaics.

Opposite the main entrance to the Palace are located three larger, nearly square rooms. They measure roughly 17x17m, and the floors were covered with marble slabs still in situ. Here also, there is a slight elevation running along the walls, making believe they were used for couches for bigger banquet events, probably reserved for the palace guards. These rooms were roofed as plenty of tiles have been found on top of the marble floor, but it puzzles archaeologists how a roof could span such a wide space.

The northern rooms were bordered by a one-meter-wide veranda, accessible through a small corridor from the central yard, offering a wide view over the Macedonian plain below. This definitely was an innovation, and no other example of a veranda has so far been found.

A short update of the excavations was published in early 2012 in this article.

It is hard to imagine the kind of luxury and refinement that surrounded Alexander since boyhood, either here at the Palace of Aegae or at the Royal Palace of Pella, of which even less is known. Yet all this beauty faded when, with the death of his father, Greece saw a great opportunity to revolt in a serious effort to throw off the Macedonian yoke. The tribes along the northern borders of Macedonia also considered that this was the right time to regain their independence. These themes will be handled in the next episode, “The King is dead, long live the King”.

Pella, the birthplace of Alexander the Great

Pella became the capital of Macedonia in the early 4th century BC. The choice for the location is, as always, made with great care. Situated at the mouth of the Axios River the city had direct access to the sea, although till now the harbor has not yet been located. That is not surprising for today’s Pella lies 25 km land inwards as over the past two thousand years the river has silted up and has covered the remains of the settlement. The land was fertile however sloping up gently towards the mountains which now are part of the Republic of Macedonia. Standing here, it is not difficult to mentally erase the houses and roads and imagine what it may have looked like in Alexander’s days with fields of barley, wheat, and oats, or rows of olive trees followed by fruit trees, mainly peaches and pomegranate – a garden of Eden.

Any first-time visitor to Pella will be struck by the American layout of the street plan, all house blocks of the same size, and all streets crossing each other at a right angle. The east-west roads were nine meters wide while the north-south streets were a mere six meters. A wider ornamental road 15 meters wide ran through the city center to the Agora. Pella knew an excellent water supply and a close look would reveal the underlying functional system with at the crossroad a special earthen urn that collected the dirt and could easily be removed for cleaning. The city counted many wells and fountains, combined with an efficient drainage system.

Excavations are ongoing, with the ups and downs that typically go hand in hand with finances. When I was here the first time in 1973, there were only a few pebble mosaic floors amidst a handful of slender Ionic columns; the most precious mosaics leaning against a shack covered with a piece of roofing. Since then the excavated surface has expanded steadily, and a first small museum housed the earlier exposed mosaics together with marble and terracotta statues among which a head of Alexander as a young prince and a statue representing him as Pan. Most recently, a new museum has been built where many more artifacts have joined the collection, now exhibited in chronological order.

The true eye-catchers at the Archaeological Museum of Pella are of course the pebble mosaics: a Lion Hunt featuring Alexander and Craterus; Dionysus Seated on a Panther and Carrying the Thyrsus Staff; a Griffon Attacking a Deer; and a couple of centaurs. As always, I’m entirely taken by the Tanagra statuettes among which those of two ladies playing the lyre; a couple of playful cupids, and several heads with ladies showing all sorts of hairdo. From the potters’ quarters, there is a wide selection of pots, vases, and other vessels, very representative of their period in time. Striking are the ivory and bone elements from now perished wooden kline or couches that have partially been reconstructed. Further, several golden crowns, a wide choice of silver and gold coins; remains of a frescoed wall from the second century BC; a small marble horseman although decapitated still carrying a proud posture; a marble inlaid round table; etc.

The mosaics of Pella are quite unique since they are mainly made with pebbles of different sizes ranging from white to grey to bluish-grey collected from the nearby beach and arranged in patterns. Here and there a touch of yellow or red is added to enhance the picture and the contours are accentuated using bronze strips. The large mosaic of the Rape of Helena has remained in situ under a protective roof. Such dynamics with the horses in full gallop and the dashing dresses; the edges of the panel are trimmed with palmetto and acanthus motives. The next room is paved with a mosaic showing a Deer Hunt, also in full action. This house alone covers a surface of 3,000 m2. The private houses varied in size and the rooms were arranged around a central courtyard, generally framed by colonnades. Many mosaics have been covered up with sand to protect them, an understandable precaution but very sad to find them hidden from view.

The Agora covering 700 m2 in the heart of Pella underwent thorough restoration, making the layout easier to understand with the six-meter-wide surrounding Stoas that gave access to a wide array of workshops and shops selling food, pottery, jewelry, and more. On the north side, official buildings have been identified like the Temple of Aphrodite and others supposedly serving the city’s administration. The southwestern side may have housed the archives since many seals used to secure the papyri have been retrieved. More houses were uncovered on the south side of the old main road which now runs right through the middle of antique Pella. It is here that the intriguing round Sanctuary of Darron has been identified whose striking mosaic floor has been transferred to the Museum. 

The Royal Palace of Pella where Prince Alexander grew up is located further uphill to the north - still within reach of the city. The Palace alone covers an area of 6 ha and was divided into five separate complexes, including beside the living quarters, the necessary storage rooms, rooms reserved for entertainment, service rooms, and even a swimming pool and a palestra. These complexes were, of course, interconnected by corridors and staircases. The royal family must have occupied the most central part, counting four large buildings around a large open courtyard. It would be interesting to figure out how close Philip’s wives lived to each other, how much space was occupied by the official administration and military management, where the many visiting delegations were lodged, which rooms the King used to receive his guests, etc. 

The Palace was supposed to open to the public in 2011 but at the last moment, it was decided to restart more archaeological work on the premises. I was not allowed inside but could at least walk all the way around it, taking in the view over the city of Pella and the sea beyond. Behind me, the Macedonian landscape was covered with bright spring flowers from the white chamomile and pink hollyhock to the deep red puppies and purple wild onions – an explosion of colors over the rolling hills. It felt like a homecoming, in an intoxicating excitement. The land is pleasantly green, cut through by refreshing clear streams tumbling down from higher elevations under the blue sky filled with fleets of puffy clouds. This is truly the place where Alexander spent his youth!

Like other boys and young men his age, Alexander would have been hunting boar, foxes, and lions (who have since long gone) probably in the hills to the north. We have the abovementioned mosaic of the Lion Hunt with Craterus to illustrate the hunting parties and also the fresco above the Tomb of Philip at Aegae (modern Vergina). Hunting was a way to train for war and to develop physical and mental skills. Without his friends, Alexander would have had a rather lonely youth since his father was constantly fighting the neighboring tribes and cities in order to extend and stabilize Macedonia. The young prince grew up with the stories of his father’s campaigns that must have fueled his imagination based on the legends of Troy he treasured all his life. Around age twelve, Philip invited Aristotle to teach the young prince and even found an appropriate location at the temple of the Nymphs in Mieza.  These probably were the years when Alexander learned the most in many fields, like literature, topography, biology, zoology, botany, ethics, and even meteorology – a knowledge he shared with his boyhood friends such as Hephaistion, Ptolemy, and Nearchus [see: Mieza, Alexander's schooling]. Alexander’s interest in medicine must have come from these days with Aristotle, a skill he used throughout his life to treat his sick friends.

Macedonia was not an isolated “Barbarian” country as so often stated, but the court had long been a center for culture where envoys, refugees, artists, actors, and delegates from all around the Mediterranean spent time. Alexander’s knowledge of the world extended thus far beyond his homeland and immediate neighbors and he must have had quite a broad insight of what was going on in other parts of the ancient world. Theopompus of Chios who later on wrote a History of Philip was one of the visitors. Envoys from Sparta, Thebes, Thessaly and Phocis found their way to Pella. Athens sent several ambassadors to the capital to end the successive Sacred Wars and we know that negotiators like Demosthenes, Aeschines, Philocrates, and Nausicles participated in these missions. More significant was the presence of Artabazus II, satrap of Hellespontine Phrygia who revolted the Persian rule and found refuge at Philip’s court. He spent several years there with his wives and children, among which his eldest daughter Barsine. She was about seven years older than Alexander and we know how they met again many years later when she became his mistress and even bore him a son, Heracles. 

When Philip appointed his 16-year-old son as Regent while he went fighting in the east, Alexander must have realized how much his father trusted him and at the same time, he recognized him as the official heir to the throne. These feelings were stressed again two years later during the Battle of Chaeronea where Alexander not alone proved his leadership and capability in military matters at the head of the cavalry but he crushed the Sacred Band of Thebes that was known to be invincible; this must have boosted his ego to an even higher level. Alexander must have felt ready to take command, not only of the army but maybe also of the kingdom. Realizing, however, that his father was “only” in his mid-forties and that he would have to wait a very long time to take over his tasks must have been hard to accept. He would have to live in the shadow of his powerful father for another twenty years at least.

Shortly afterward, some worrying situations developed. Philip married for the seventh time, this time with Cleopatra, the niece of one of his leading generals, Attalus, who during the wedding feast proclaimed that Macedonia would at last have a legitimate heir to the throne! Alexander’s mother was from Epirus, meaning Alexander was only half Macedonian. Alexander was enraged by Attalus’ remark and asked his father to reprimand his general. He did not, and Alexander promptly left the Macedonian court with his mother. He entrusted her to her brother’s care, Alexandros of Epirus, when he joined the Illyrians, making Philip worry about his earlier peace treaty with them. When the King sobered up, he realized that he had to recall his son, which he did through the intervention of Demaratus of Corinth, a common friend. He also had to make up with his brother-in-law to avoid a possible revolt in the next-door Epirus. To this purpose, he offered his own daughter in marriage to his wife’s brother, meaning that Alexander’s sister was to marry her uncle. It was during this wedding feast that King Philip II of Macedonia was murdered. 

By the time Alexander celebrated his twentieth birthday, another drama unfolded at the Macedonian court. Philip was approached by Pixodarus of Caria for a marriage alliance. Philip put his eldest (half-witted) son Arrhidaeus forward to marry Ada, the younger daughter of Pixodarus. When Alexander heard the news, he felt overlooked and secretly sent the tragic actor Thettalus to renegotiate the deal, presenting himself instead of Arrhidaeus. When Philip got vent of this plot behind his back, it was his turn to be furious, for he was still King and ruler of Macedonia, not his son. As a punishment, he exiled a group of Alexander’s closest friends – among them Nearchus, Ptolemy, Harpalus, and Erigyius – and warned his son not to interfere in his plans ever again. It is known that Alexander rewarded his friends later on for their loyalty to high positions in his army. 

A few months later, the wedding of Cleopatra and Alexandros of Epirus was to be celebrated at Aegae in great pomp. This is when King Philip II was murdered. Alexander became the new king of Macedonia. This story will be tackled next under the title, Aegae, where Alexander's world changed forever.

[Click here to see all the pictures of Pella]

A closer look at Illyria

So little is known about Illyria, and so little is mentioned in history that it hardly appears on a map. Yet, it was the northwestern neighbor of Macedonia that made life difficult for Alexander and, before that, for his father, Philip II. Today, most of the northern territory is occupied by Serbia, while the south is in the hands of Albania.

[Map from Wikipedia]

The Illyrians envied the good agricultural land and lush grasslands of the Macedonian floodplains and invaded that country on a more or less regular basis. It was during such an attack in 360/359 BC by the Illyrian King Bardylis that King Perdiccas III of Macedonia was killed and, with him, 4,000 brave Macedonian soldiers. This incursion left the door open for further invasions, for not only could the Illyrians push all the way down to the Thermaic Gulf, but neighboring tribes like the Paeonians (in the buffer zone between Illyria and Macedonia) and the Thracians from the east could also seize this opportunity. With the death of Perdiccas III, Macedonia was exposed to more attacks by its neighbors. Besides, there was also the matter of succession to the throne since the dead king’s son, Amyntas, was still a youngster. Given all these threats, the Macedonian Assembly unexpectedly proclaimed Philip king in 359 BC, and the people swore their oath of allegiance to him. The most urgent enemies were evidently the Illyrians, who had just defeated his brother, and it seems that King Philip II managed to sign some treaty which may have included his marriage with Audata (his second wife), King Bardylis’ granddaughter. One year later, with a stronger army, Philip was completely confident to march into Illyria and bluntly refused to accept old king Bardylis’ terms. Consequently, both armies met near today’s Lake Ochrid, maybe close to Heraklea Lyncestis. Philip was victorious and demanded that the Illyrians pull out of Upper Macedonia all the way north to Lake Lychnitis, including the tribes of Orestis, which until then were controlled by the Molossian King of Epirus – no small achievement for a young king.

Illyria again comes into the news in 337 BC at King Philip’s wedding to Cleopatra, the niece of Attalus. Purposely or by accident, Attalus brings a toast to a lawful successor to the Macedonian throne, which implies that he looked at Alexander as a bastard. We know how insulted Alexander felt, more so when his father sided with Attalus. Alexander then leaves the court, taking his mother Olympia with him, and after placing her in the hands of her brother, the King of Epirus, he himself retires to Illyria. It is not known what he did or didn’t do there, except spending the winter. All that is being reported is that Alexander returns to his father’s palace thanks to the diplomatic intervention of Demaratus, a mutual friend and actor.

The news of Philip’s murder in October 336 BC runs fast, and practically all his new allies start revolting. The following summer, Alexander, who meanwhile succeeded his father as king of Macedonia, marched north towards the Danube and defeated the Illyrians on his way back to subdue Thebes. Obviously, no deep ties of friendship had been forged during his earlier stay.

This long introduction brings me to recent excavations carried out at Kale-Krševica in southeastern Serbia, exposing significant remains of what appears to be a city from the late 4th/early 3rd century BC built according to the Greek model in the days of Philip and Alexander! The settlement covers an area of about five hectares and was located on an important through-road from Greece to Central Europe. Archaeology in Serbia is still in its infancy, and only about 6% of this site has been investigated so far, raising more questions than providing answers. But based on the type of architecture, the shreds of pottery and amphorae, the coins and jewelry, tools, and the overall organizational system of the area, clearly establish a Greek presence that might lead to locating the city of Damastion, which is still elusive as well as its precious silver mines mentioned by Strabo. This would, of course, boost further research. So far, it has been established that most of the settlement was located on the slopes of the hill towards the Krševica River. Several remains were uncovered, like a rampart, a larger building, undefined walls, ovens, etc.

It is interesting, however, to mention that a wide range of coins has been found with the effigy of Philip, silver drachmae showing Alexander the Great, and bronze coins of Cassander, Uranopolis, and Demetrios Poliorcetes – all of them showing close ties with Macedonia in any case. On top of these specimens, one tetradrachma of early Damastion was discovered (hence the possible theory that this settlement might be the very city), and one tetradrachma of Aduleon, King of Paeonia.

Yet one of the greatest discoveries so far is the arched vault used for water storage and supply, a highly sophisticated and modern installation for its time. It shows that because of the rising water level by the end of the fourth century BC, the entire appearance and function of the original structure had to be adapted, resulting in this 10 meters long and 6 meters wide cistern, built from large ashlars to a height of at least six meters. The fact is that it must have held enough water for a population of several thousand. A more intensive investigation had to be abandoned, however, as archaeologists were seriously hampered by the high water table, and the cistern has been buried again pending more advanced technologies.

Well, this is just a tiny corner of Illyria that has surfaced lately. Still, it would be extremely interesting to see these excavations and others bring proof of closer contact with Macedonia from the days of King Philip II and Alexander the Great.

[Last two pictures from Kale-Krševica]

Olympias, mother of Alexander the Great by Elizabeth Carney

Olympias, mother of Alexander the Great (ISBN 0-415—33317-2), is an excellent book about an equally exceptional woman – an absolute must for every admirer of Alexander the Great!

It is amazing what information Elizabeth Carney has been able to produce, primarily since so very little has been written about Olympias, even in antiquity. E. Carney knows the mother of Alexander the Great very intimately, and as she states herself, she has been living with her longer than with her own husband. That tells a great deal. 

At first glance, the book looks deceptively small, but the amount of information and the conclusions she manages to present is enormous.

The chapter division has been kept relatively simple:

1. Olympias the Molossian tells us about Olympias' youth; the kingdom of Molossia; the social place of married women in Greece and Macedonia; and the preparations for her wedding with Philip II of Macedonia in Samothrace.
2. Olympias, the wife of Philip II, discusses the problems of a polygamous marriage; her place at Philip's court; her role as the mother of a possible heir; her involvement in the Pixodarus affair, and the consequences of Attalus' accusation about the legality of Alexander as Macedonian king; Philip conceiving the construction of the Philippeon in Olympia after his victory at Chaeronea.
3. Olympias, the mother of the king, Alexander the Great, obviously starts in 336 BC with her possible implication in the murder of her husband and her son's ascension to the throne. Discussed are the murder of Cleopatra (Philip's last wife) and her child(ren); her disagreements with Antipater since Alexander had not clearly defined the role of each; Olympias' own political power through customary female religious activities (together with that of her daughter Cleopatra  queen of Molossia, by now widowed from marrying her uncle, Olympias' brother).
4. Olympias on her own, leaves her in a world of total chaos with no time or opportunity to grieve over her son's death (his body never returned home). The bickering of Alexander's generals is examined, and the generally accepted idea that Alexander was poisoned at Antipater's instigation, with the complicity of his sons. Olympias measures her strength against that of Adea Eurydike, the wife of Philip Arrhidaeus, and then liquidates both of them. Cassander rules over Macedonia. Cleopatra, Alexander's sister, tries to save Macedonia by putting herself on the marriage market without success and is eventually killed. Finally, the murder of Olympias and its circumstances are scrutinized. This is by far the period when most of what we know about Olympias has been recorded, although the chronology is often lost in the complexity of the events.
5. Olympias and religion are less about Olympias' religious practice than the general involvement of women in religion, both in Macedonia and Greece proper.
6. Olympias' afterlife examines her burial and how she has been remembered throughout Roman times, generally together with her famous son.
7. Appendix. Olympias and the sources. In this extra chapter E. Carney clearly explains the pros and cons related to sources like Diodorus, Justin, Curtius, Arrian, Plutarch, and Pausanias.

Throughout her book, E. Carney painstakingly examines what has been written by the abovementioned authors and what has been mentioned in the Alexander Romance to put together an image of Olympias and the time she lived in. She does this most pleasantly, with an open mind, scrutinizing and analyzing every nuance in the sentences of the extensive bibliography she is using. She is cautious in drawing her conclusions, and rightfully so. Unlike many other authors, she is not ramming her views and ideas down my throat.

In my opinion, it takes a woman to write about Olympias. No one could have done a better job than Elizabeth Carney.