Sintice or Sintike (

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

: Σιντική) was an ancient region and later district of the

kingdom of Macedon Kingdom commonly refers to: * A monarchy ruled by a king or queen * Kingdom (biology), a category in biological taxonomy Kingdom may also refer to: Arts and media Television * ''Kingdom'' (British TV series), a 2007 British television drama ...

. It was located north of Bisaltia and Odomantike up to Messapio mount and west of Crestonia and South Paeonia to Strymon river and Orvilos mount. Its name is derived from the Sintians, a tribe which once inhabited the region. Beyond it, was stretching Medike which was held by the powerful

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 ...

tribe of

Medi The Maedi (also ''Maidans'', ''Maedans'', or ''Medi''; grc, Μαῖδοι or Μαιδοί) were a Thracian tribe in antiquity. In historic times, they occupied the area between Paionia and Thrace, on the southwestern fringes of Thrace, along th ...

with which the Macedonians were in constant wars.

Archaic - Hellenistic period

The region of Sintice was first inhabited by the tribe of Sintians (

: Σίντιοι, Σίντοι). These people were described by Strabo as

Thracians 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 ...

, but other historians claimed that they were

Pelasgians The name Pelasgians ( grc, Πελασγοί, ''Pelasgoí'', singular: Πελασγός, ''Pelasgós'') was used by classical Greek writers to refer either to the predecessors of the Greeks, or to all the inhabitants of Greece before the emergen ...

, closely related to the indigenous inhabitants of

Samothrace Samothrace (also known as Samothraki, el, Σαμοθράκη, ) is a Greek island in the northern Aegean Sea. It is a municipality within the Evros regional unit of Thrace. The island is long and is in size and has a population of 2,859 (2011 ...

Homer Homer (; grc, Ὅμηρος , ''Hómēros'') (born ) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the '' Iliad'' and the '' Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of ...

describes them with the adjective "Agriophones" (Ἀγριόφωνες, lit. "of wild speech").Homer, ''Odyssey'', 8.294 There were many towns in Sintice of which we know

Heraclea Sintica Heraclea Sintica, Heracleia Sintica, Хераклея Синтика in Bulgarian or Herakleia Sintike ( grc, Ἡράκλεια Σιντική), or Heraclea ex Sintiis, also known as Heraclea Strymonus or Herakleia Strymonos (Ἡράκλεια Στ ...

, Paroecopolis, Skotousa, Gareskos, Orbelia and Tristolos. The most important of them was Heraclea, which was built by Amyntas III. The

Macedonian Macedonian most often refers to someone or something from or related to Macedonia. Macedonian(s) may specifically refer to: People Modern * Macedonians (ethnic group), a nation and a South Slavic ethnic group primarily associated with North M ...

king had achieved a great victory against barbarians and because of that he built the town in honor to

Heracles Heracles ( ; grc-gre, Ἡρακλῆς, , glory/fame of Hera), born Alcaeus (, ''Alkaios'') or Alcides (, ''Alkeidēs''), was a divine hero in Greek mythology, the son of Zeus and Alcmene, and the foster son of Amphitryon.By his adopt ...

, from whom the Macedonian kings claimed descent. He fortified the town with impregnable walls, parts of which can be seen to this day. In the times of

Antigonid dynasty The Antigonid dynasty (; grc-gre, Ἀντιγονίδαι) was a Hellenistic dynasty of Dorian Greek provenance, descended from Alexander the Great's general Antigonus I Monophthalmus ("the One-Eyed") that ruled mainly in Macedonia. History ...

the town became capital of Sintice district and seat of the

eparch Eparchy ( gr, ἐπαρχία, la, eparchía / ''overlordship'') is an ecclesiastical unit in Eastern Christianity, that is equivalent to a diocese in Western Christianity. Eparchy is governed by an ''eparch'', who is a bishop. Depending on the ...

of Paeonia as the historian

Titus Livius Titus Livius (; 59 BC – AD 17), known in English as Livy ( ), was a Roman historian. He wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people, titled , covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome before the traditional founding in ...

mentions.

Roman period and Later

In 168 BC

Perseus In Greek mythology, Perseus (Help:IPA/English, /ˈpɜːrsiəs, -sjuːs/; Greek language, Greek: Περσεύς, Romanization of Greek, translit. Perseús) is the legendary founder of Mycenae and of the Perseid dynasty. He was, alongside Cadmus ...

, the last king of Macedon and son of

Philip V Philip V may refer to: * Philip V of Macedon (221–179 BC) * Philip V of France (1293–1322) * Philip II of Spain Philip II) in Spain, while in Portugal and his Italian kingdoms he ruled as Philip I ( pt, Filipe I). (21 May 152713 September ...

, killed in Heraclea Sintica his brother Demitrius, successor of the Macedonian throne. The reasons of the fratricide were two; the rivalry and the pro-Roman influence of the victim, who when small had been raised in Rome. With the death of Demetrius the Romans found a reason to preach the war to Macedonians and the war started immediately. The Sintians, Meadi and other people sided with Perseus and fought the Romans with zeal. However, in the

Battle of Pydna The Battle of Pydna took place in 168 BC between Rome and Macedon during the Third Macedonian War. The battle saw the further ascendancy of Rome in the Hellenistic world and the end of the Antigonid line of kings, whose power traced back t ...

(168 BC) the Romans won and conquered the kingdom of Macedon. After that the kingdom was divided into four client states and Sintice was included in the first with

Amphipolis Amphipolis ( ell, Αμφίπολη, translit=Amfipoli; grc, Ἀμφίπολις, translit=Amphipolis) is a municipality in the Serres regional unit, Macedonia, Greece. The seat of the municipality is Rodolivos. It was an important ancient Gr ...

as capital. Subsequently, after the Battle of Philipi in 42 BC the ancient capital of Sintice, Heraclea, was made a "free town" as

Titus Livy Titus Livius (; 59 BC – AD 17), known in English as Livy ( ), was a Roman historian. He wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people, titled , covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome before the traditional founding in ...

mentions. It was still in existence in the 10th century AD when it was mentioned for the last time by Hierocles and Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos.

References

Geography of ancient Macedonia Historical regions in Greece Historical regions in Bulgaria {{AncientMacedonia-geo-stub