Achaemenid Macedonia

Achaemenid Macedonia
Αχαιμενιδών Μακεδονία
512/511 BC–479 BC
Macedonia as a Persian vassal kingdom during the early stages of the Greco-Persian Wars
Capital		Aigai
Languages		Ancient Macedonian, Aramaic, Attic Greek, Koine Greek, Old Persian
Government		Vassal monarchy (512/511-492 BC) Fully subordinate monarchy (492-479 BC)
President		Amyntas I (first)
		Alexander I (last)
Historical era		Classical Antiquity
•	Macedon becomes a vassal kingdom under Darius I.	512/511–492 BC
•	Macedon becomes a fully subordinate part of Persia.	492–479 BC
•	Conclusion of the Second Persian invasion of Greece.	479 BC
•	Macedon gains independence from Persia.	479 BC
Currency		Daric, Siglos, Tetradrachm

Achaemenid Macedonia refers to the period the ancient Greek Kingdom of Macedonia was under the Achaemenid Persian sway. In 512/511 BC, Megabyzus forced the Macedonian king Amyntas I to make his kingdom a vassal of the Achaemenids. In 492, following the Ionian Revolt, Mardonius firmly re-tightened the Persian grip in the Balkans, and made Macedon a fully subordinate kingdom within the Achaemenid domains, part of its administrative system, until the definite withdrawal of the Persians from their European territories following the eventual failure at the Second Persian invasion of Greece.

Around 513 BC, as part of the military incursions ordered by Darius I, a huge Achaemenid army invaded the Balkans and tried to defeat the Western Scythians roaming to the north of the Danube river. Several Thracian peoples, and nearly all of the other European regions bordering the Black Sea (including parts of the modern-day Bulgaria, Romania, Ukraine, and Russia), were conquered by the Achaemenid army before it returned to Asia Minor. Darius's highly regarded commander Megabazus was responsible to fulfill the conquers in the Balkans. The Achaemenid troops conquered Thrace, the coastal Greek cities, and the Paeonians. Eventually, in about 512-511 BC, the Macedonian king Amyntas I accepted the Achaemenid domination and surrendered his country as a vassal state to the Achaemenid Persia. The multi-ethnic Achaemenid army possessed many soldiers from the Balkans. Moreover, many of the Macedonian and Persian elite intermarried. For instance, Megabazus' own son, Bubares, married Amyntas' daughter, Gygaea; and that supposedly ensured good relations between the Macedonian and Achaemenid rulers.