Idomenae or Idomenai (, possibly from Ἰδομενεύς - ''Idomeneus''), also known as Idomene (Ἰδομένη), or Eidomenae or Eidomenai, or Idomenia, was a town of

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 ...

. The places Idomenae between Stena and

Tauriana Tauriana or Taureana (Taurianum in Latin, ''Ταυρανία'' in Greek language, Greek) was an ancient city located in present Palmi, Calabria, Palmi, Reggio Calabria province. The city stood 1 km south of the river ''Metauros'' (probably '' ...

; 12 m.p. from Stena, which in modern units is about .

History

The most important archaeological site of the

Valandovo Municipality Valandovo ( ) is a municipality in the southern part of North Macedonia. '' Valandovo'' is also the name of the town where the municipal seat is found. Valandovo Municipality is part of Southeastern Statistical Region. Geography The municipalit ...

was inhabited from the 7th century BC until the 6th century AD. The ruins at Isar, Marvinci are believed to be the ancient Macedonian town of Idomenae, which first appeared in documentation in the 5th century BC during the Peloponnesian War. It sits on a hill above the

Vardar The Vardar (; , , ) or Axios (, ) is the longest river in North Macedonia and a major river in Greece, where it reaches the Aegean Sea at Thessaloniki. It is long, out of which are in Greece, and drains an area of around . The maximum depth of ...

River. This was a fortified settlement formed near the springs of the river. It later became a

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

city.

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 ...

, king of

Thrace Thrace (, ; ; ; ) is a geographical and historical region in Southeast Europe roughly corresponding to the province of Thrace in the Roman Empire. Bounded by the Balkan Mountains to the north, the Aegean Sea to the south, and the Black Se ...

, on his route from Thrace to Macedonia, crossed Mount Cercine, leaving the

Paeones Paeonians () were an ancient Proto-Indo-Europeans, Indo-European people that dwelt in Paeonia (kingdom), Paeonia. Paeonia was an old country whose location was to the north of Ancient Macedonia, to the south of Dardania (Roman province), Dardania ...

on his right, and the

Sinti The Sinti (masc. sing. ''Sinto''; fem. sing. ''Sintetsa, Sinta'') are a subgroup of the Romani people. They are found mostly in Germany, France, Italy and Central Europe, numbering some 200,000 people. They were traditionally Itinerant groups i ...

and

Maedi The Maedi (also ''Maidans'', ''Maedans'', or ''Medi''; ) were a Thracian tribe in antiquity. Their land was called Maedica (Μαιδική). In historic times, they occupied the area between Paionia and Thrace, on the southwestern fringes of ...

on his left, and descended upon the long river Axius at Idomenae. Sitalces and his troops destroyed Idomenae in 429 B.C. It is described by

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 ...

as being within the province of

Emathia Emathia may refer to: * Emathia (Macedonia), an ancient region in northern Greece * Imathia, modern Greek administrative unit * Emathia (Thrace), a town of ancient Thrace * Emathia (Albania), a region near river Mati * Emathia (cicada) ''Ema ...

, and was near

Doberus Doberus or Doberos () was a town of Paeonia, which Sitalces reached after crossing Mount Cercine, and where many troops and additional volunteers reached him, making up his full total. Hierocles calls the town Diaborus or Diaboros (Διάβορο ...

, next to which it is named by Hierocles among the towns of Consular Macedonia under the

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived History of the Roman Empire, the events that caused the ...

. Idomenae is documented from the early to mid 5th century BCE. Before becoming a part of the province of Emathia the city was the administrative center of the Parorbelia region of

. During the rule of Philip II the region was defunct and incorporated together with Idomenae into

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 ...

which in turn was renamed to Emathia. It is now the

archaeological site An archaeological site is a place (or group of physical sites) in which evidence of past activity is preserved (either prehistoric or recorded history, historic or contemporary), and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline ...

Isar The Isar () is a river in Austria and in Bavaria, Germany. Its source is in the Karwendel mountain range of the Alps. The Isar river enters Germany near Mittenwald and flows through Krün, Wallgau, Bad Tölz, Munich, and Landshut before reaching ...

, located near the village of

Marvinci Marvinci (Macedonian and sr-cyr, Марвинци) is a village in the Valandovo municipality, in the southeastern part of North Macedonia. Geography Marvinci is located in the southeast of the country, some 8 km from the nearest town, also ...

, in the

Valandovo Valandovo ( ) is a small town in southeastern North Macedonia. The city is the seat of Valandovo Municipality. History Ancient Period Evidence of life can be found beginning in the 10th-7th centuries B.C. There is a settlement known as Mal Kon ...

municipality of modern-day

North Macedonia North Macedonia, officially the Republic of North Macedonia, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe. It shares land borders with Greece to the south, Albania to the west, Bulgaria to the east, Kosovo to the northwest and Serbia to the n ...

Archaeology

At its beginning, Idomenae was about 5,000 km² big. An

acropolis An acropolis was the settlement of an upper part of an ancient Greek city, especially a citadel, and frequently a hill with precipitous sides, mainly chosen for purposes of defense. The term is typically used to refer to the Acropolis of Athens ...

with defensive walls was built, a pottery building was also built, and so were other buildings. The people in this town traded a lot with the

Asia Minor Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...

, which is evidenced by the facts that much of the material found on pottery here was used in graves in Asia Minor. There are also many

amphoras An amphora (; ; English ) is a type of container with a pointed bottom and characteristic shape and size which fit tightly (and therefore safely) against each other in storage rooms and packages, tied together with rope and delivered by land ...

from the islands of

Thassos Thasos or Thassos (, ''Thásos'') is a List of islands of Greece, Greek island in the North Aegean, North Aegean Sea. It is the northernmost major Greek island, and 12th largest by area. The island has an area of 380 km2 and a population of abo ...

and

Rhodes Rhodes (; ) is the largest of the Dodecanese islands of Greece and is their historical capital; it is the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, ninth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Administratively, the island forms a separ ...

. Idomenae together with the site of

Vardarski Rid Vardarski Rid also known as Gordynia is an archaeological site in Gevgelija, North Macedonia of a town dating from Early Antiquity. Archaeological excavations reveal the architectural layout of the monumental stoa, an acropolis, and other segment ...

make up the two oldest ancient Macedonian sites in

.macedoniafor91days. "The Ruins of Isar and Vardarski Rid". https://macedonia.for91days.com/the-ruins-of-isar-and-vardarski-rid/"

References

Archaeological sites in North Macedonia Former populated places in the Balkans Geography of ancient Paeonia Valandovo Municipality Cities in ancient Macedonia {{NorthMacedonia-archaeology-stub