Europus (or Europos; ) was a town in

Bottiaea Bottiaea (Greek: ''Bottiaia'') was a geographical region of ancient Macedonia and an administrative district of the Macedonian Kingdom. It was previously inhabited by the Bottiaeans, a people of uncertain origin, later expelled by the Macedon ...

(later named Emathia),

ancient Macedonia Macedonia ( ; , ), also called Macedon ( ), was an ancient kingdom on the periphery of Archaic and Classical Greece, which later became the dominant state of Hellenistic Greece. The kingdom was founded and initially ruled by the royal ...

. It was located between

Idomenae Idomenae or Idomenai (, possibly from Ἰδομενεύς - ''Idomeneus''), also known as Idomene (Ἰδομένη), or Eidomenae or Eidomenai, or Idomenia, was a town of ancient Macedonia. The places Idomenae between Stena (Macedonia), Stena and ...

and the plains of

Cyrrhus Cyrrhus (; ) is a city in ancient Syria founded by Seleucus Nicator, one of Alexander the Great's generals. Other names for the city include Coricium, Corice, Hagioupolis, Nebi Huri (), and Khoros (). A false etymology of the sixth century conne ...

and

Pella Pella () is an ancient city located in Central Macedonia, Greece. It served as the capital of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedon. Currently, it is located 1 km outside the modern town of Pella ...

, situated on the right bank of the Axius below Idomene, where modern Evropos lies. Not far above the entrance of the great maritime plain, the site of Europus has been recognised by that strength of position which enabled it to resist

Sitalces Sitalces (Sitalkes) (; ; reigned 431–424 BC) was one of the kings of the Thracian Odrysian state. The Suda called him Sitalcus (Σίταλκος). He was the son of Teres I, and on the sudden death of his father in 431 BC succeeded to t ...

and the

Thracians The Thracians (; ; ) were an Indo-European languages, Indo-European speaking people who inhabited large parts of Southeast Europe in ancient history.. "The Thracians were an Indo-European people who occupied the area that today is shared betwee ...

. We have the concurring testimony of

Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; , ; ; – 160s/170s AD) was a Greco-Roman mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were important to later Byzantine science, Byzant ...

and Pliny that this town of Emathia was different from Europus of Almopia. Europos was the birthplace of

Seleucus I Nicator Seleucus I Nicator (; Ancient Greek, Greek: Σέλευκος Νικάτωρ, ''Séleukos Nikátōr'', "Seleucus the Victorious"; ) was a Ancient Macedonians, Macedonian Greek general, officer and successor of Alexander the Great who went on to fo ...

, and two cities in

Seleucid Empire The Seleucid Empire ( ) was a Greek state in West Asia during the Hellenistic period. It was founded in 312 BC by the Macedonian general Seleucus I Nicator, following the division of the Macedonian Empire founded by Alexander the Great ...

were named Europos. There is also reported a Delphic ''

proxenos Proxeny or () in ancient Greece was an arrangement whereby a citizen (chosen by the city) hosted foreign ambassadors at his own expense, in return for honorary titles from the state. The citizen was called (; plural: or , "instead of a foreign ...

'' Machatas from Europos in the late 4th century BCE. The site of Europos is near the modern Europos.

References

Source

Bibliography

* '' The Classical Gazetteer'', 1851, p. 152 * ''An inventory of archaic and classical poleis'', 2004, p. 802 * ''Seleukos Nikator'' by John D. Grainger, 2013, p. 4 Bottiaea Cities in ancient Macedonia Populated places in ancient Macedonia Former populated places in Greece Paionia (municipality) {{AncientMacedonia-geo-stub