Gordynia or Gortynia or Gortynion was a settlement reached in

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 ...

, in the southern valley of the

Axios Axios commonly refers to: * Axios (river), a river that runs through Greece and North Macedonia * ''Axios'' (website), an American news and information website Axios may also refer to: Brands and enterprises * Axios, a brand of suspension produ ...

river, northeast of

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 ...

close to the Paionian border.

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 ...

places Gordenia (Γορδηνία), in his list of cities in Emathia, after

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 before

Edessa Edessa (; ) was an ancient city (''polis'') in Upper Mesopotamia, in what is now Urfa or Şanlıurfa, Turkey. It was founded during the Hellenistic period by Macedonian general and self proclaimed king Seleucus I Nicator (), founder of the Sel ...

. Plinius (HN 4.34) gives the name in plural, Gordyniae.

Stephanus of Byzantium Stephanus or Stephen of Byzantium (; , ''Stéphanos Byzántios''; centuryAD) was a Byzantine grammarian and the author of an important geographical dictionary entitled ''Ethnica'' (). Only meagre fragments of the dictionary survive, but the epit ...

calls it Gordynia and its ethnic noun Gordyniates. In

Thucydides Thucydides ( ; ; BC) was an Classical Athens, Athenian historian and general. His ''History of the Peloponnesian War'' recounts Peloponnesian War, the fifth-century BC war between Sparta and Athens until the year 411 BC. Thucydides has been d ...

(2.100) Gortynia and

Atalanta Atalanta (; ) is a heroine in Greek mythology. There are two versions of the huntress Atalanta: one from Arcadia (region), Arcadia, whose parents were Iasus and Clymene (mythology), Clymene and who is primarily known from the tales of the Caly ...

came to terms with the

Thracian The Thracians (; ; ) were an 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 between north-eastern Greece, ...

army of

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 ...

, out of regard for Amyntas the son of Philip, the brother of

Perdiccas II Perdiccas II () was the king of Macedonia from 454 BC until his death in 413 BC. During the Peloponnesian War, he frequently switched sides between Sparta and Athens. Biography Family Perdiccas II was the oldest son of Alexander I. He had f ...

, who accompanied the expedition. Forum 02484

Hammond places Gortynion near to

Axioupoli Axioupoli (), known until 1927 as Boymitsa (Боймица, Μποέμιτσα), is a small town and a former municipality in the former Paionia Province of Kilkis regional unit, Greek Macedonia. Since the 2011 local government reform it is par ...

. M.B. Hatzopoulos, near to Vardarski Rid. Hammond relates the name with Cretan

Gortys Gortyna (; also known as Gortyn (Γορτύν)) was a town of ancient Crete which appears in the Homeric poems under the form of Γορτύν; but afterwards became usually Gortyna (Γόρτυνα). According to Stephanus of Byzantium it was or ...

and the

Bottiaeans The Bottiaeans or Bottiaei (Ancient Greek: ) were an ancient people of uncertain origin, living in Central Macedonia. Sometime, during the Archaic period, they were expelled by Macedonians from Bottiaea to Bottike. During the Classical era, they ...

who came from Crete. Photis Petsas, to

Gordias Gordias (; also ) was the name of at least two members of the royal house of Phrygia. The best-known Gordias was reputedly the founder of the Phrygian capital city Gordium, the maker of the legendary Gordian Knot, and the father of the legendary ...

, a Brygian/

Phrygia In classical antiquity, Phrygia ( ; , ''Phrygía'') was a kingdom in the west-central part of Anatolia, in what is now Asian Turkey, centered on the Sangarios River. Stories of the heroic age of Greek mythology tell of several legendary Ph ...

n name. Gordynia is not attested in

epigraphy Epigraphy () is the study of inscriptions, or epigraphs, as writing; it is the science of identifying graphemes, clarifying their meanings, classifying their uses according to dates and cultural contexts, and drawing conclusions about the wr ...

References

*A History of Macedonia Volume 1: Historical geography and prehistory By Nicholas Geoffrey Lemprière Hammond, Guy Thompson Griffith Page 171 (1972) *An inventory of archaic and classical poleis By Mogens Herman Hansen, Thomas Heine Nielse
Page 794
(2004)

External links

Bottiaea Geography of ancient Macedonia Cities in ancient Macedonia {{AncientMacedonia-geo-stub