Time Line of Macedonia's History

This is a timeline taken from D. Pandermalis' book MACEDONIA The Historical Profile of Northern Greece. This is an excellent book to get hold of if you wish to learn more about Macedonia.

I. The Early Phase of the Macedonian State

• First Half of the 7th Century B.C.

  Foundation of the Argeadai Dynasty

  
  

• End of the 7th - 6th Century B.C.

  The Macedonian State spreads from the region of Pieria towards the north and the east.

  
  

• End of the 6th Century B.C.

  Amyntas I ascends the Macedonian throne. The Persians attempt to take over Macedonia.

  
  

• 506 B.C.

  The tyrant Hippias takes refuge in Anthemus, which Amyntas I, the Macedonian ruler, has offered him. The Athenian political leaders establish friendly relations with the Macedonian Kingdom.

  
  

• 497 B.C.

  Amyntas dies and his son, Alexander I, succeeds him.

  
  

• Beginning of the 5th Century B.C.

  Alexander I takes part in and is victorious in the Olympic Games.

  
  

• 479 B.C.

  The Athenians give Alexander the status of honored guest. Following the end of the Persian Wars, Alexander dedicates his statue at Delphi.

  
  

• 432 B.C.

  On the eve of the Peloponnesian Wars, Perdikkas II of Macedonia moves with dexterity between the warring factions of Athens and Sparta.

  
  

• 413 B.C.

  Archelaos ascends the throne of Macedonia. A short time later, the capital is transferred from Aigai to Pella. Zeuxis decorates the royal palace.

  
  

• 406 B.C.

  Euripedes is invited to the court of Archelaos. In the sacred city of Dion, worship of Olympian Zeus is glorified by athletic and theatrical contests.

  
  

• 399 B.C.

  Death of Archelaos.

  
  

II. Acme of the Macedonian State

• 390 - 380 B.C.

  The Illyrians attack Macedonia.

  
  

• 359 B.C.

  Perdikkas III is killed in battle against the Illyrians. He is succeeded by Philip II.

  
  

• 357 B.C.

  Philip II marries Olympias, niece of the king of the Molossians, in attempt to foster friendly relations.

  
  

• 356 B.C.

  Philip defeats and expels the Illyrians. Isocrates, in his speech "Concerning Peace", expresses the Pan-Hellenic Idea. In the same year, Alexander III is born.

  
  

• 353 B.C.

  Philip intervenes in Thessaly.

  
  

• 346 B.C.

  The Sacred Ware breaks out in central Greece. Philip, due to his alliance with the Amphictonic Council at Delphi, becomes involved in the events of southern Greece. Philip presides over the Pythian festival.

  
  

• 342 B.C.

  Philip carries out military campaigns against Thrace.

  
  

• 338 B.C.

  The Sacred War ends in the Battle of Chaironeia. Philip participates in the Pan-Hellenic meeting at Corinth.

  
  

• 337 B.C.

  Philip is elected absolute general-for the campaigns against the Persians.

  
  

• 336 B.C.

  Philip is assassinated at Aigai (Vergina).

  
  

III. The Macedonian State Becomes one of the Greek Kingdoms.

• 335 B.C.

  The twenty-year-old son of Philip II, Alexander, continues the work of his father as leader of the Greeks.

  
  

• 334 B.C.

  Alexander begins his campaigns against the Persians, while Antipater remains in Macedonia as regent, loyal friend of his father.

  
  

• 323 B.C.

  The death of Alexander the Great becomes the catalyst for the southern Greeks to express their dissatisfactions (Lamian War) and for struggles among the successors of Alexander. Kassander succeeds his father Antipater and appears as the mediator between the opposing and legitamate successors. With his marriage to Thessaloniki daughter of Philip II, his goal is to appear as the successor of the Argeadai dynasty.

  
  

• 295 B.C.

  Following the death of Kassander, Demetrios Poliorcetes returns to Greece with intentions towards Macedonia. In Thessaly, he founds Demetrias. Demetrios is expelled, and Macedonia falls into anarchy. The Galls pillage Macedonia.

  
  

• 274 B.C.

  Antigonos Gonatas founds a new dynasty, the Antigonids. He bases his rulership on that of the older Macedonian kings.

  
  

• 229 B.C.

  Antigonos Doson expels the Dardanians.

  
  

• 197 B.C.

  The Macedonians are defeated by the Romans at the battle of Kynoskephalae. As a result, Philip V is forced to restrict the boundaries of Macedonia to their traditional limits.

  
  

• 168 B.C.

  Battle of Pydna. The Roman general L. Aemilius Paullus defeats Perseus, the king of the Macedonians.

  
  

IV. Macedonia During the Transitional Phase (167 B.C. to 148 B.C.)

• 167 B.C.

  Aemilius Paullus in Amphipolis declares the "freedom" of the Macedonians. However, in practice, he divides the Macedonian state into four sections with borders between them. Amphipolis, Pella, Thessaloniki, and Pelagonia are named the capitals.

  
  

• 149 B.C.

  A certain Andriskos crowns himself emperor of Macedonia and, relying on the lower social classes incites the Macedonians against the Romans.

  
  

• 148 B.C.

  C. Caecilius Metellus Macedonicus suppresses the revolt of Andriskos. Macedonia becomes a Roman province.

  
  

V. Macedonia as a Roman Province.

• 148 B.C

  Macedonia becomes a Roman province with extended borders which also contain Illyria and central Greece.

  
  

• Circa 130 B.C.

  The Egnatian Way is constructed.

  
  

• 120 - 110 B.C.

  Barbarian invasions into Macedonia.

  
  

• 93 - 87 B.C.

  Mithridates invades the Macedonian territory. A failed revolution of the Macedonian Euphanes.

  
  

• 42 B.C.

  Battle of Philippi. Creation of Roman colonies in Kassandreia, Dion, Philippi and Pella.

  
  

• Augustan Age

  Thessaloniki falls under the category of free city (civitas libera), as does Amphipolis and Skotoussa. During the Imperial Period, the institution of the Koinon was reinforced, which promoted unity between the local and central administration.

  
  

• After the mid 3rd c.

  Invasions of barbarian tribes into Macedonia (Goths and Herulians)

  
  

VI. Macedonia during the Tetrarchate

• 284 - 305 A.D.

  Foundations of organization of the diocese system under Diocletian. The Roman state is maintained in the east and the west. Each section is ruled by an emperor and a caesar.

  
  

• ca. 300 A.D.

  The Caesar Galerios selects Thessaloniki as his imperial seat.

  
  

• 318 A.D.

  The Diocese of Macedonia is founded, which contains the provinces of Macedonia, Old and New Epiros, Thessaly, Achaia, and Crete.

  
  

• 322/3 A.D.

  Constantine the Great constructs the harbor of Thessaloniki.

  
  

• 380 A.D.

  New invasions of the Goths into Macedonia.

  
  

• 390 A.D.

  Slaughter in the hippodrome in Thessaloniki.

  
  

• 395 A.D.

  Invasions of the Visigoths of Alaric into Macedonia. Official division of the Roman state into eastern and western halves.

  
  

VII. Macedonia in the 6th c. AD.

• ca 510 A.D.

  Barbarian invasions into Macedonia from the North (Sloveni, Antai, Bulgars, Kutrigurs).

  
  

• 527 A.D.

  Justinian is crowned emperor. The Byzantine Empire comprises, in this period, the majority of the Mediterranean.

  
  

• ca. 540 A.D.

  Huns invade Macedonia without success, to seize Thessaloniki, and destroy Kassandra in Chalkidiki.

  
  

• 558 - 9 A.D.

  Repeated raids of the Avaro-slavs against Macedonia.

  
  

VIII. Macedonia in the 10th c. A.D.

• 904 A.D.

  Seize and capture of Thessaloniki by Sarascene pirates.

  
  

• 963 A.D

  Founding of the monastery of the Great Lavra and of the monastic community of Mt. Athos.

  
  

• 893 - 1018 A.D.

  Repeated attacks of Bulgarians into Macedonia. The Byzantine-bulgarian wars.

  
  

• 989 A.D.

  Samuel, czar of the Bulgarians, sieges but fails to take Thessaloniki.

  
  

• 1003 A.D.

  Basil II restores Byzantine control over the cities of Veria, Kolindros, Servia and Edessa.

  
  

• 1014 A.D.

  Basil's victory against the Bulgarians in Klidion.

  
  

IX. Macedonia in the second half of the 13th c. A.D.

• 1246 - 61 A.D.

  Macedonia is incorporated into the Byzantine Empire of Nicaia. Andronikos Palaiologos is entrusted with the governing of the areas of Thessaloniki and Veria and his son Micheal Palaiologos with those of Serrae and Meleniko.

  
  

• 1259 A.D.

  Michael VIII Palaiologos is crowned emperor. In the battle of Pelogonia he crushes the Despot of Epiros. Micheal II and his allied Latin forces and recovers all the territories in western and north-western Macedonia.

  
  

• 1261 A.D.

  Recovering of Constantinople, the Byzantine Empire is reestablished.

  
  

• 1282 A.D.

  Attack of the Serbian ruler Stephen Uros II Milutin against Macedonia.

  
  

X. Macedonia from the Greek War of Independence (1821) to the Liberation (1913).

• 1821-1828 A.D.

  Participation of the Macedonians in the common struggle of the Greeks for the liberation from the Ottoman yoke.

  
  

• 1870 A.D.

  Foundation of the independent Bulgarian church, known as Exarchy, beginning of Bulgarian expansionism into Macedonia.

  
  

• 1903 A.D.

  Destruction of many Greek regions in western and northern Macedonia following the uprising on the feast day of the Prophet Elijah (the Ilinden uprising).

  
  

• 1904-1908 A.D.

  The Greeks struggle to prevent Slavic expansion into Macedonia. Volunteer fighters, from occupied as well as free Greece participate in the Macedonian struggle.

  
  

• 1912-1913 A.D.

  Balkan Wars and the liberation of Macedonia from Ottoman overlordship.

  
  

• August 10, 1913

  The treaty of Bucharest officially sets the borders of the Balkan nations in Macedonia. The larger sections of the regions of Thessaloniki and Monastir, from then on belong to Greece.

  
  

XI. Macedonia from 1913 to the Present.

• 1919-1925

  The population exchange within the framework of the Treaties of Neuilly and Lausanne led to the creation of an ethnically homogenous Greek state.

  
  

• 1923

  With the Treaty of Lausanne, the borders of Greece are officially set.

  
  

• 1940-1944

  Renewal of Bulgarian expansionism with the occupation of a section of Macedonia by the Bulgarians, allies of Hitler.

  
  

• 1945 and after

  Diplomatic struggle between Bulgaria and Yugoslavia for the acquisition of the so-called Slavic Macedonians. Attempt of Yugoslavia to construct a "Macedonian Nation" from the various groups of populations with a center in Skopje. Strong Greek reaction based on historic truth, the preservation of the current national borders, and the maintaining of peace in the region.

  
  

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