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Macedon's Polis of...
Aegae
General Urbs
 Aegae(Bergina) Historical Background
Aegae (pronounced eye-guy) is the ancient capital of Macedon and its religious center. Although King Archelaus moved the capitol to the city of Pella in the fourth century BCE., Aegae remained the ceremonial capital of Macedon. Herodotus tells us that even in his time, members of the royal family traveled to Aegae to offer sacrifices. The name, Aegae, is from the Greek root, meaning a place of water as here, the fertile land is fed by the many streams which rush out of the Pierian Mountains and into the plain below. It is place of great dark forests and open productive farm lands near the foothills of Mount Olympus. The Late French Archaeologist, Leon Heuzey, in the 19th century described it thus;
"It is indeed a wonderful place, this lesser-known side of the Pieria mountains, sloping to the open spaces of Imathia. Here, the vegetation of the nearby northern face of Olympus descends to the banks of the Aliakmon. Tall trees, mostly majestic elms, cluster in dense forests, often interspersed with fields of corn and sesame.
From league to league a village with red roofs is encountered, or some farm well-stocked with cattle, which resounds to the clamour of large flocks of geese. Then you lose yourself again in the depths of the forest, along shady paths churned every day by the hooves of buffalo and the wheels of carts". It is in Aegae that we find the tomb of Philip II, father of Alexander, and in Aegae, that he was assassinated in 336 BCE.. All the kings of Macedon are buried here save one, Alexander The Great. The legend was that the royal house of Macedon would last as long as its kings were buried in Aegae. With the death of Alexander who was not buried here, The Argaed House of Macedon came to its end as the legend had predicted. In Aegae is the old palace, a theater, and the temple of Eukleia, the mother of the Gods. Though the Greek ruling house brought with them the Gods of Greece, the people here still worshipped the old mother Goddess of The East, Potnia Theron (mistress Of Animals) Mother And Virgin. When the political center of Macedon was moved to Pella, Aegae became a religious and ceremonial city, but the fertile lands around it still maintained a prosperous agricultural people and does to this day. Credits:
- Hood write-up by Kallistos Alexandros
The Discussions of Aegae:
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