Aegae (Macedonia)

Aegae or Aigai (Ancient Greek: Αἰγαί), also Aegeae or Aigeai (Αἰγέαι) was the original capital of the Macedonians, an ancient kingdom in Emathia in northern Greece.

Coinage of Aegae towards the end of the reign of Amyntas I, under Achaemenid Macedonia, circa 510–480 BC. Goat kneeling right, head reverted; pellet above and before / Quadripartite incuse square.
Main article: Vergina

The city was also the burial-place of the Macedonian kings, the dynasty which sprang from the Temenid Perdiccas. It was built on a commanding and picturesque site near the modern town of Vergina.[1][2]

The seat of government was afterwards transferred to the marshes of Pella, which lay in the plain beneath the ridge through which the Lydias forces its way to the sea. But the old capital always remained the "hearth" (ἑστία, Diod. Excerpt. p. 563) of the Macedonian kingdom and the burial place for their kings. The body of Alexander the Great was to have reposed at Aegae,[3] where his father Philip II of Macedon fell by the hand of Pausanias of Orestis[4] but it was taken to Memphis through the intrigues of Ptolemy I Soter.

The recently excavated palace is considered to be not only the biggest but, together with the Parthenon, the most significant building of classical Greece.[5]

In 1996, the archaeological site of Aigai was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List because of its monumental significance in Western civilization and exceptional architecture.[6]

Tomb of Philip II at Aegae (Vergina)
Further information: Museum of the Royal Tombs of Aigai (Vergina)

In 1977, Greek archaeologist Manolis Andronikos started excavating the Great Tumulus at Aegae[7] and found that two of the four tombs in the tumulus were undisturbed since antiquity. Moreover, these two, and particularly Tomb II, contained fabulous treasures and objects of great quality and sophistication.[8]

Although there was much debate for some years,[9][10] Tomb II has been shown to be that of Philip II as indicated by many features,[11] including the greaves, one of which was shaped consistently to fit a leg with a misaligned tibia (Philip II was recorded as having broken his tibia). Also, the remains of the skull show damage to the right eye caused by the penetration of an object (historically recorded to be an arrow).[12]

The most recent research gives further evidence that Tomb II contains the remains of Philip II.[13]


  • Great Tumulus of Aegae
    Great Tumulus of Aegae
  • The tomb of Philip II of Macedon at the Museum of the Royal Tombs in Vergina
    The tomb of Philip II of Macedon at the Museum of the Royal Tombs in Vergina
  • The golden larnax and the golden grave crown of Philip
    The golden larnax and the golden grave crown of Philip

See also

References
  1. Lund University. Digital Atlas of the Roman Empire.
  2. Richard Talbert, ed. (2000). Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World. Princeton University Press. p. 50, and directory notes accompanying.
  3. Pausanias (1918). "6.3". Description of Greece. Vol. 1. Translated by W. H. S. Jones; H. A. Ormerod. Cambridge, Massachusetts; London: Harvard University Press; William Heinemann – via Perseus Digital Library.
  4. Diodorus Siculus. Bibliotheca historica (Historical Library). Vol. 16.91, 92.
  5. "Αιγές (Βεργίνα) | Museum of Royal Tombs of Aigai -Vergina". www.aigai.gr. Archived from the original on 2018-12-29. Retrieved 2020-01-10.
  6. "Archaeological Site of Aigai (modern name Vergina)". UNESCO World Heritage Convention. United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization. Retrieved 25 November 2022.
  7. "Αιγές (Βεργίνα) | Museum of Royal Tombs of Aigai -Vergina". aigai.gr. Archived from the original on 2018-12-29. Retrieved 2018-10-25.
  8. National Geographic article outlining recent archaeological examinations of Tomb II.
  9. Hatzopoulos B. Miltiades, The Burial of the Dead (at Vergina) or The Unending Controversy on the Identity of the Occupant of Tomb II. Tekmiria, vol. 9 (2008) Archived 2011-07-28 at the Wayback Machine
  10. Antonis Bartsiokas; et al. (July 20, 2015). "The lameness of King Philip II and Royal Tomb I at Vergina, Macedonia". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 112 (32): 9844–48. Bibcode:2015PNAS..112.9844B. doi:10.1073/pnas.1510906112. PMC 4538655. PMID 26195763.
  11. Musgrave, Jonathan; Prag, A. J. N. W.; Neave, Richard; Fox, Robin Lane; White, Hugh (8 August 2010). "The Occupants of Tomb II at Vergina. Why Arrhidaios and Eurydice must be excluded". International Journal of Medical Sciences. 7 (6): s1–s15. Retrieved 2018-10-25.
  12. See John Prag and Richard Neave's report in Making Faces: Using Forensic and Archaeological Evidence, published for the Trustees of the British Museum by the British Museum Press, London: 1997
  13. New Finds from the Cremains in Tomb II at Aegae Point to Philip II and a Scythian Princess, T. G. Antikas* and L. K. Wynn-Antikas, International Journal of Osteoarchaeology

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Smith, William, ed. (1854–1857). "Aegae". Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography. London: John Murray.  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Smith, William, ed. (1854–1857). "Edessa". Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography. London: John Murray.

40°28′45″N 22°19′29″E

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