Pella

Pella (Greek: Πέλλα) was an ancient city located in Central Macedonia, Greece. It served as the capital of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon starting from 4th century BC up until the roman conquest in 168 BC. Currently, it is located 1 km outside the modern town of Pella.

Pella was probably founded at the beginning of the 4th century BC by Archelaus I as the new capital of Macedon, supplanting Aigai, which still remained the burial place for the kings and the royal family. Pella was the birthplace of Philip II in 382 BC, and of Alexander the Great, his son, in 356 BC. Pella quickly became the largest and richest city in Macedonia and flourished particularly under the rule of Cassander and Antigonus II. In 168 BC the city was sacked by the Romans during the Third Macedonian War and entered a long period of decline, its importance eclipsed by that of the nearby Thessalonica.

The name is probably derived from the word pella, (Ancient Greek: πέλλα), "stone" which seems to appear in some other toponyms in Greece like Pellene. Julius Pokorny reconstructs the word from the Proto-Indo-European root peli-s, pel-s, Vedic Sanskrit: pāsāna, stone (from *pars, *pels), Greek: πέλλα, λίθος, stone, Hesychius (*pelsa), Pashto: parša (*plso), cliff, Germanic : *falisa, German: Fels, Old Norse: fell (*pelso), Illyrian: *pella, *palla. Solders in an essay on Hesychius glossary has referenced πέλλα (pella), λίθος (stone) as an ancient Macedonian word. With the prefix "α" it forms the word ἀπέλλα, apella, "fence, enclosure of stones". Robert Beekes relates the word πέλλα with the name of the city, but suggests that it probably has pre-Greek origin.

In antiquity, Pella was a strategic port in Lower Macedonia, connected to the Thermaic Gulf by a navigable inlet, but the harbour and gulf have since silted up, leaving the site inland.

Pella is first mentioned in relation to Xerxes' campaign and in relation to Macedonian expansion and the war against Sitalces, the king of the Thracians.

It was probably built as the commercial capital of the kingdom of Macedon by Archelaus I, complementing the older palace-city of Aigai although there appears to be some possibility that it may have been created by Amyntas III.

Archelaus invited the painter Zeuxis, the greatest painter of the time, to decorate his palace. He also later hosted the poet Timotheus of Miletus and the Athenian playwright Euripides who finished his days there writing and producing Archelaus. Euripides' Bacchae was first staged here, about 408 BC. According to Xenophon, in the beginning of the 4th century BC Pella was the largest Macedonian city. It was the birthplace and seats of Philip II, in 382 BC and of Alexander the Great, his son, in 356 BC. It was already a walled city in the time of Philip II and he made the city of great international importance.

It became the largest and richest city in Macedonia and flourished particularly under Cassander's rule who redesigned and expanded it. The reign of Antigonus most likely represented the height of the city's prosperity, as this is the period which has left the most archaeological remains. The famous poet Aratus died in Pella c. 240 BC.