The Derrones (or ''Deroni, Derroni'') were a

Thracian The Thracians (; grc, Θρᾷκες ''Thrāikes''; la, Thraci) were an Indo-European speaking people who inhabited large parts of Eastern and Southeastern Europe in ancient history.. "The Thracians were an Indo-European people who occupied ...

or a

Paionian In antiquity, Paeonia or Paionia ( grc, Παιονία, Paionía) was the land and kingdom of the Paeonians or Paionians ( grc, Παίονες, Paíones). The exact original boundaries of Paeonia, like the early history of its inhabitants, a ...

tribe. Our knowledge of them comes from coins bearing variations of the legend of DERRONIKON (ΔΕΡΡΟΝΙΚΟΝ) - DERR (ΔΕΡΡ). The letters used in the coins are Greek, although this does not prove that the Derrones spoke the same language as their southern neighbours. These coins, which were perhaps made for export as much as for internal trade, are traditionally dated to 500–450 BC.Ancient Coinage of Thraco Macedonian Tribes: Derrones
Wildwinds Based on numismatic evidence, and especially coin hoards, there are two theories regarding the geographic position of the tribe. The first theory claims that they should be placed in the central Balkans, in the northern part of

North Macedonia North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Socialist Feder ...

(at the Upper Strymon valley), while the second theory considers that this tribe, at least at the time of the striking of the inscribed coins (i.e. early 5th century), was based in an area further to the south.

Notes

References

- SVORONOS J.N., "L’Hellénisme primitif de la Macédoine prouve par la Numismatique et l’or du Pangée", JIAN 19 (1919). - HAMMOND N.G.L., GRIFFITH G.T., A History of Macedonia II, Oxford 1979. - PETROVA Eleonora, "The coinage of the Paeonian Tribal Organisations and Paeonian Kings (VI to III Centuries B.C.), Coins and mints in Macedonia": in Proceedings of the symposium held in honor of the 80th birthday and 50th anniversary of the scholarly and educational work of Ksente Bogoev, member of the Macedonian Academy of Arts and Sciences / vetan Grozdanov, editor; translated by Elizabeta Bakovska, Katerina Hristovska Skopje: Macedonian Academy of Arts and Sciences: National Bank of the Republic of Macedonia, 2001, pp. 13–27 - TZAMALIS Alexandros R.A.
“The Coins of the Derronians. Examination of the Circulation through the Coin Hoards", ''Themelion.24 papers in Honor of Professor Petros Themelis from his students and colleagues'', Athens 2013
{{Paionians Ancient tribes in Macedonia Ancient tribes in North Macedonia Paeonian tribes Thracian tribes