Abstract
The article discusses the history of Pella after the Roman abolition of the Antigonid monarchy (168–167 BC) and up to the founding of a colony nearby (c. 30 BC). In 167 BC, Pella became the main city of the third of the four "parts" (μερίδες) of the Macedonian "federation" (or "confederation"). For the following twenty years, the political situation in Macedonia was extremely unstable. In 162 BC, members of the council (σύνεδροι) (of the third "part" or the pan-Macedonian synedrion) were murdered by a certain Damasippus in the fortress on the island of Phakos, which adjoined Pella to the south. In 149 BC, Pella was occupied by Andriscus, who briefly restored the monarchy in Macedonia. As a result of Andriscus's defeat by the Romans in 148 BC, Macedonia became a province. It is generally believed that from this time onwards, the residence of its governors was located in Thessalonica. However, the fact that the residence was initially in Pella may be indicated by an Athenian decree published in Delphi concerning a long dispute between two guilds of Dionysus's artists, Athenian and Isthmian. At one stage, in 117 BC, representatives of the guilds visited the governor of Macedonia, G. Cornelius Sisenna, in Pella, reaching an agreement with his mediation. Apparently, only after Pella was destroyed by an earthquake around 90 BC was the residence of the Roman governors moved to Thessalonica. At the end of the Civil Wars, 1.5 km west of the old Macedonian capital, which continued to exist but lost its former significance, a Roman colony was founded, adopting its name – Colonia Iulia Augusta Pella (Pellensis).
Keywords
Macedonia, Pella, royal residence, polis, the Antigonids, Third Macedonian war, residence of the Roman governors, earthquake, colony.
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