Sample contribution assessment Athenian inscription, part of a tribute list of cash-paying members of the Delian League.
This is a list of known military alliances of ancient Greek poleis. They comprise the terms symmachia and koinon, both of which meant a league for the mutually supportive conduct of war, both offensive and defensive. The terms might be used with the same referents in the same source or be used mutually exclusively in the sources. Both words had other meanings, which are not covered here.
In theory at the time the poleis were meant to be autonomous. In fact the autonomy varied a great deal, which everyone of the times knew. Complaints and revolts were common. Apart from the domination of large states, such as Athens and Sparta, the leagues were named after the ethnic regions they were intended to defend. They were an intermediate step between the independent poleis and the Macedonian, Roman, or Persian provincial administrations that brought the poleis to an end and replaced the politeia with a local government subordinate to a province. "Federation," "confederacy", and a third term, sympoliteia only describe the degree of independence, or lack of it. Different scholars respect a wide degree of latitude.
Tabular list
English names
Greek names
Members
Dates
Map or picture
League of Athena Ilias, League of the cities, League of Ilion, Aeolian League, Confederacy of Athena Ilias
In 306 BC Antigonus I granted to Ilion an alliance in the Troad for support of the yearly Panathenaia festival for Athena Ilias. Renewed in 77 BC by the Roman quaestor. Coins minted until the late 1st century. The league is known entirely from inscriptions.[1]
Defined in Herodotus 149 as a dodecapolis. The many references to "the Aeolians" and "Aeolis" imply a koinon, as do joint operations by name with Ionia. Earliest use of name is Hittite Ayawalas, 14th cent. BC.[2]
Latest certain evidence of earliest presence is 650 BC. The League survived into Hellenistic times, until it was disbanded upon its annexation by the Roman Republic in 133 BC
First parliamentary act given at Labraunda in 267 BC under Ptolemid rule. Other cities were under Macedonian rule at different times. Ceased to exist under Roman rule.
Λυκίων τὸ κοινόν, κοινὸν τῶν Λυκίων, koinon ton Lykion
About 28 poleis representing all of Lycia, judging by their individual minting of coins. These are listed in the article.
A voluntary pro-Roman alliance offered to the Roman Republic as an alternative to annexation by Rhodes. The Romans took it, treating Lycia as a free protectorate, 168 BC until 43 AD.
Four merides[lower-alpha 3] of poleis.[lower-alpha 4] Format: meris number, coin name,[lower-alpha 5] literary name, capital city. I, protes, none, Amphipolis; II, deuteras, Amphaxitis, Thessalonika; III, none, Bottia, Pella; IV, tetartis, Upper (ano) Makedonia, Heraclea Lynci
Founded in 432 BC by Olynthus, Pydna (After 377 BC), Torone, Potidaea and a number of smaller cities, disbanded in 379 BC, but reestablished in 377 BC, and finally annexed in 348 BC by Philip II of Macedon
The Phocian koinon enabled Phocis to act as one nation, which the sources called a chora ("country") and a patris ("fatherland"). Temples date to 7th century BC. 20-22 poleis were dioecised in 346 BC with the alliance at the end of the Third Sacred War. Some few made sympoliteiai subsequently.[5]
Earliest certain date is 455 BC in response to an attack by the Messenians. Partitioned by Epirus and the Aetolian League in 230 BC, and dissolved after the battle of Actium in 30 BC. Attested in both literature and inscriptions. The specific impulse in 455 was defense, followed by nationalistic and economic measures.
↑ Formerly each of these three tribal capitals sent a tetrad (four delegates) to a governing civil council. Now, a koinon was formed of the three poleis, and was placed in the care of another, religious council. The religion was the worship of deified Augustus
↑ The Macedonian koinon was perhaps the least like an alliance and most like a unified state (a chora called Μακεδονία) ruled by an autocrat. According to recent studies it was created piecemeal by Philip II, appearing in the 5th century BC under the ethnic Macedonians in an inscription. The four-part structure was the result of successive annexations: an original lowland Old Kingdom (Meris III), to which the mountainous Upper Macedonia (Meris IV) was added on the west side of the Axios River. Subsequently Merides II and I in that order were added on the east of the Axios. Philip called these divisions ethna as they were considered different peoples. The name Merides appears in the coins later, when they were integrated into the new whole. Obviously the numbering was assigned after the whole had developed, as it runs counter to the annexation. Philip's capital Pella, the original Macedonia, was thus in III.[3]
↑ Moderns present two theories: 1) The merides are Macedonian in origin 2) the merides are Roman. Exponents of 1) cite the koinon coins appearing under Philip V. Also, Meris is related to meros, "part", but the Romans would have created them as independent republics to begin with.
↑ There were many more settlements in Macedonia, but only poleis could belong to a koinon or participate in a sympoliteia. Macedonian poleis were created from settlements by Philip II, Alexander's father, during his initial modernization of the then backward kingdom of Macedonia.
↑ More recent studies indicate the four districts were created by Philip II, r. 359-336 BC, under the designation of ethne. Although he granted many of their cities the status of poleis, thus serving as their founder, it is questionable whether Philip joined them into a koinon at this time. He called his arrangement Greater Macedonia. The coinage of the koinon waits for Philip V, who is clearly less powerful and less of an autocrat.
The Macedonians were an ancient tribe that lived on the alluvial plain around the rivers Haliacmon and lower Axios in the northeastern part of mainland Greece. Essentially an ancient Greek people, they gradually expanded from their homeland along the Haliacmon valley on the northern edge of the Greek world, absorbing or driving out neighbouring non-Greek tribes, primarily Thracian and Illyrian. They spoke Ancient Macedonian, which is usually classified by scholars as a dialect of Northwest Doric Greek, and occasionally as a distinct sister language of Greek or an Aeolic Greek dialect. However, the prestige language of the region during the Classical era was Attic Greek, replaced by Koine Greek during the Hellenistic era. Their religious beliefs mirrored those of other Greeks, following the main deities of the Greek pantheon, although the Macedonians continued Archaic burial practices that had ceased in other parts of Greece after the 6th century BC. Aside from the monarchy, the core of Macedonian society was its nobility. Similar to the aristocracy of neighboring Thessaly, their wealth was largely built on herding horses and cattle.
Pythion or Pythium, also Pythoion (Πύθοιον) was a city and polis (city-state) of Perrhaebia in ancient Thessaly, situated at the foot of Mount Olympus, and forming a Tripolis with the two neighbouring towns of Azorus and Doliche. Pythion derived its name from a temple of Apollo Pythius situated on one of the summits of Olympus, as we learn from an epigram of Xeinagoras, a Greek mathematician, who measured the height of Olympus from these parts. Games were also celebrated here in honour of Apollo.
Doliche was an ancient Greek city and polis (city-state) in Perrhaebia in Thessaly, situated at the foot of Mount Olympus. Doliche, with the two neighbouring towns of Azorus and Pythion (Pythium), formed a Tripolis.
Byllis or Bullis or Boullis (Βουλλίς) was an ancient city and the chief settlement of the Illyrian tribe of the Bylliones, traditionally located in southern Illyria. In Hellenistic times the city was either part of Illyria or Epirus. In Roman times it was included within Epirus Nova, in the province of Macedonia. The remains of Byllis are situated north-east of Vlorë, 25 kilometers from the sea in Hekal, Fier County, Albania. Byllis was designated as an archaeological park on 7 April 2003 by the government of Albania.
Amantia was an ancient city and the main settlement of the Amantes, traditionally located in southern Illyria in classical antiquity. In Hellenistic times the city was either part of Illyria or Epirus. In Roman times it was included within Epirus Nova, in the province of Macedonia. The site has been identified with the village of Ploçë, Vlorë County, Albania. Amantia was designated as an archaeological park on 7 April 2003 by the government of Albania.
Orestis was a region of Upper Macedonia, corresponding roughly to the modern Kastoria regional unit located in West Macedonia, Greece. Its inhabitants were the Orestae, an ancient Greek tribe that was part of the Molossian tribal state or koinon.
Gazoros or Gazorus was a town mentioned by Ptolemy to be in the region of Edonis or Odomantike and also by inscriptions of Hellenistic and Roman times. Later in the 4th century BC, it was annexed to the Macedonian kingdom and made a polis under Philip II of Macedon or the Antigonids. Artemis Gazoria or Gazoreitis was worshiped all over the region till Roman times. In the imperial times, according to epigraphic evidences, Gazoros was a member of a federation of five cities ("Pentapolis") that had its seat in the ancient city of Sirra.
The Bylliones were an Illyrian tribe that lived near the Adriatic coast of southern Illyria, on the lower valley of the Vjosa river, in the hinterland of Apollonia. The Bylliones were firstly attested in epigraphic material from the oracle of Dodona dating back to the 4th century BC, and their koinon was firstly attested in a 3rd-century BC inscription from the same oracle. Their territory was trapezoidal on the right side of the rivers Luftinje and Vjosa, extending in the west to the Mallakastra mountains. The chief city of their koinon was Byllis. Another important centre of their koinon was Klos, an earlier Illyrian settlement later called Nikaia, as an inscription attests. The Bylliones also inhabited in the area of an ancient sanctuary of the eternal fire called Nymphaion.
The Epirote League was an ancient Greek coalition, or koinon, of Epirote tribes.
Gordynia or Gortynia or Gortynion was a settlement reached in ancient Macedonia, in the southern valley of the Axios river, northeast of Bottiaea, in Lower Paionia. Ptolemy places Gordenia (Γορδηνία), in his list of cities in Emathia, after Idomenae and before Edessa. Plinius gives the name in plural, Gordyniae. Stephanus of Byzantium calls it Gordynia and its ethnic noun Gordyniates. In Thucydides (2.100) Gortynia and Atalanta came to terms with the Thracian army of Sitalces, out of regard for Amyntas the son of Philip, the brother of Perdiccas II, who accompanied the expedition.
The League of the Macedonians was a confederationally-organized commonwealth institution consisting of all Macedonian communities united around a monarch. It can be paralleled from the koinon of the Molossians, but it seems that the Macedonian koinon had far less power than that of the Molossians. The capital, or headquarters, of the Macedonian koinon was the city of Beroia.
Bottike or Bottice was a western region of ancient Chalcidice, inhabited by Bottiaeans, who, were expelled from their homeland Bottiaea by Macedonians sometime in the Archaic period. Their chief polis was Spartolos. Bottiaeans were members and allies of the Delian League. In 432 they revolted from Athens, along with the Chalkidian League, but in 422 they entered in an alliance with the Athenians. It seems from the inscriptions that they had formed a confederacy (koinon) and struck silver and bronze coins. There were between six and twelve Bottiaean cities but not all of them inside Bottike. According to Herodotus (8.127) Olynthus, close to Bottike, was originally a Bottiaean community.
Atintanes or Atintanians was an ancient tribe that dwelled in the borderlands between Epirus and Illyria, in an inland region which was called Atintania. They have been described as either an Epirote tribe that belonged to the northwestern Greek group, or as an Illyrian tribe. They were occasionally subordinate to the Molossians.
The Argead dynasty, also known as the Temenid dynasty was an ancient Macedonian royal house of Dorian Greek provenance. They were the founders and the ruling dynasty of the kingdom of Macedon from about 700 to 310 BC.
Tragilus or Tragilos, also known as Traelus or Trailos (Τράϊλος), or Tragila (Τράγιλα), was a town of Bisaltia, in ancient Macedonia. Tragilus is mentioned by Stephanus of Byzantium, as well as by epigraphic sources. It belonged to the Delian League since it appears in the Athens tribute register of 422/1 BCE. Tragilus's coins from the 5th century BCE, with the inscription «ΤΡΑΙ» or «ΤΡΑΙΛΙΟΝ», are also preserved. In addition, it is documented in the theorodokos list of Epidaurus of the year 360/59 BCE. William Smith states that this town is doubtless the same as Βράγιλος or Δράγιλος found in Hierocles among the towns of the first or consular Macedonia. In the Peutinger Table there is a place "Triulo" marked as 10 miles from Philippi, which is apparently a corruption of the name form "Traelio" similar to the coin inscriptions «ΤΡΑΙΛΙΟΝ».
The first government of ancient Macedonia was established by the Argead dynasty of Macedonian kings during the Archaic period. The early history of the ancient kingdom of Macedonia is obscure because of shortcomings in the historical record; little is known of governmental institutions before the reign of Philip II during the late Classical period. These bureaucratic organizations evolved in complexity under his successor Alexander the Great and the subsequent Antipatrid and Antigonid dynasties of Hellenistic Greece. Following the Roman victory in the Third Macedonian War over Perseus of Macedon in 168 BC, the Macedonian monarchy was abolished and replaced by four client state republics. After a brief revival of the monarchy in 150–148 BC, the Fourth Macedonian War resulted in another Roman victory and the establishment of the Roman province of Macedonia.
Scithae or Skithai was a town of Chalcidice in ancient Macedonia. It is cited in a fragment of Theopompus collected by Stephanus of Byzantium, which locates it in Thrace, in the vicinity of Potidaea. The city also appears on coins; Scithaean silver coins dated around the year 500 BCE have been preserved.
Sinus or Sinos was a town of the Chalcidice in ancient Macedonia. It belonged to the Delian League since it appears in the tribute records of Athens of 434/3 and 433/2 BCE, where it paid a phoros of 1500 drachmas, and in those of 421/0 BCE where it paid 800 drachmas. It also appears in a tributary decree of 422/1 BCE. Its territory was probably the Sinea found in an inscription dated to 305-297 BCE.
Heraclea or Herakleia was a town of Mygdonia in ancient Macedonia. It is mainly known by Greek epigraphic sources, the oldest of which belongs to the 4th century BCE and the rest are from the Hellenistic and Roman periods. It is also cited by Stephanus of Byzantium, who places it in Kingdom of Macedonia.
Pidasa or Pedasa (Πήδασα) was a town of ancient Caria. During the Ionian Revolt, the Persians suffered a defeat at Pidasa. It was once the chief seat of the Leleges. It was a polis (city-state) and a member of the Delian League. In the early Second Century B.C., Miletus absorbed the citizens and territory of Pidasa through a sympoliteia agreement.
References
↑ "330". Sylloge Inscriptionum Graecarum. attalus.org. Retrieved 2 July 2023. Inscriptions from different sources are linked to the Attalus entry.
↑ Rubinstein, Lene (2004). "Aeolis and South-western Mysia". An Inventory of Archaic and Classical Poleis. Oxford: Oxford U. Press. p.1035. The existence of particular common political institutions on an inter-polis level is not directly attested in our sources, but it is highly likely that there was some kind of Aiolian parallel to the joint political and religious institutions of the Ionian dodekapolis that were centred on the Panionion.
↑ Decourt, Jean-Claude; etal. (2004). "Thessalia and Adjacent Regions". An Inventory of Archaic and Classical Poleis. Oxford: Oxford U. Press. pp.676–731.
↑ Oulhen, Jacquew (2004). "Phocis". An Inventory of Archaic and Classical Poleis. Oxford: Oxford U. Press. pp.399–430.
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