Editing Macedonia (ancient kingdom) (section)

===Early history and legend===
{{main|Achaemenid Macedonia|Argead dynasty}}
{{further|List of ancient Macedonians#Kings}}
[[File:Vergina2.jpg|thumb|The entrance to one of the royal tombs at [[Vergina]], a [[UNESCO World Heritage Site]]]]
The [[Classical Greece|Classical]] [[Greek historiography|Greek historians]] [[Herodotus]] and [[Thucydides]] reported the [[Origin myth|legend]] that the [[List of Macedonian kings|Macedonian kings]] of the [[Argead dynasty]] were descendants of [[Temenus]], king of [[Argos, Peloponnese|Argos]], and could therefore claim the mythical [[Heracles]] as one of their [[ancestor]]s as well as [[Family tree of the Greek gods|a direct lineage]] from [[Zeus]], chief god of the [[Greek mythology|Greek pantheon]].<ref name="king 376 sprawski 127 errington 2 3">{{harvnb|King|2010|p=376}}; {{harvnb|Sprawski|2010|p=127}}; {{harvnb|Errington|1990|pp=2–3}}.</ref> Contradictory legends state that either [[Perdiccas I of Macedon]] or [[Caranus of Macedon]] were the founders of the Argead dynasty, with either five or eight kings before Amyntas{{nbsp}}I.<ref>{{harvnb|King|2010|p=376}}; {{harvnb|Errington|1990|pp=3, 251}}.</ref> The assertion that the Argeads descended from Temenus was accepted by the ''[[Hellanodikai]]'' authorities of the [[Ancient Olympic Games]], permitting [[Alexander I of Macedon]] ({{reign|498|454|era=BC}}) to enter the competitions owing to his perceived Greek heritage.<ref>{{harvnb|Badian|1982|p=34}}; {{harvnb|Sprawski|2010|p=142}}.</ref> Little is known about the kingdom before the reign of Alexander{{nbsp}}I's father [[Amyntas I of Macedon]] ({{reign|547|498|era=BC}}) during the [[Archaic Greece|Archaic period]].<ref name="king 2010 376"/>

The [[History of Macedonia (ancient kingdom)|kingdom of Macedonia]] was situated along the [[Haliacmon]] and [[Vardar|Axius]] rivers in [[Lower Macedonia]], north of [[Mount Olympus]]. Historian [[Robert Malcolm Errington]] suggests that one of the earliest Argead kings established [[Aegae (Macedonia)|Aigai]] (modern [[Vergina]]) as their capital in the mid-7th century{{nbsp}}BC.<ref>{{harvnb|Errington|1990|p=2}}.</ref> Before the 4th century{{nbsp}}BC, the kingdom covered a region corresponding roughly to the [[Western Macedonia|western]] and [[Central Macedonia|central]] parts of the [[Macedonia (Greece)|region of Macedonia]] in modern [[Greece]].<ref>{{harvnb|Thomas|2010|pp=67–68, 74–78}}.</ref> It gradually expanded into the region of [[Upper Macedonia]], inhabited by the Greek [[Lynkestis|Lyncestae]] and [[Elimiotis|Elimiotae]] tribes, and into regions of [[Emathia (Macedonia)|Emathia]], [[Eordaia]], [[Bottiaea]], [[Mygdonia]], [[Crestonia]], and [[Almopia]], which were inhabited by various peoples such as [[Thracians]] and [[Phrygians]].<ref group="note">{{harvnb|Lewis|Boardman|1994|pp=723–724}}, see also {{harvnb|Hatzopoulos|1996|pp=105–108}} for the Macedonian expulsion of original inhabitants such as the [[Phrygians]].</ref> Macedonia's non-Greek neighbors included Thracians, inhabiting territories to the northeast, [[Illyrians]] to the northwest, and [[Paeonians]] to the north, while the lands of [[Thessaly]] to the south and [[Epirus]] to the west were inhabited by Greeks with similar cultures to that of the Macedonians.<ref>{{harvnb|Anson|2010|pp=5–6}}.</ref>

[[File:Oktadrachm of Alexander I 498 – 454 BCE.jpg|thumb|left|A silver ''[[drachm|octadrachm]]'' of [[Alexander I of Macedon]] ({{reign|498|454|era=BC}}), [[Mint (facility)|minted]] {{circa|465–460 BC}}, showing an [[equestrianism|equestrian]] figure wearing a ''[[chlamys]]'' (short cloak) and ''[[petasos]]'' (head cap) while holding two spears and leading a horse]]
{{multiple image
| align        = right
| footer_align = center
| image1       = Xerxes I tomb Ionian with petasos or kausia soldier circa 480 BCE cleaned up.jpg
| width1       = 106
| image2       = Xerxes tomb Ionian with petasos.jpg
| width2       = 150
| footer       = The "Ionians with shield-hats" ([[Old Persian cuneiform]]: [[Wikt:𐎹𐎢𐎴𐎠 𐏐 𐎫𐎣𐎲𐎼𐎠|𐎹𐎢𐎴𐎠𐏐𐎫𐎣𐎲𐎼𐎠]], ''Yaunā takabarā'')<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.livius.org/sources/content/achaemenid-royal-inscriptions/dna/?|title=DNa – Livius|website=www.livius.org}}</ref> depicted on the tomb of [[Xerxes I]] at [[Naqsh-e Rustam]], were probably Macedonian soldiers in the service of the [[Achaemenid army]], wearing the [[petasos]] or [[kausia]], {{Circa|480 BC}}.<ref>{{harvnb|Olbrycht|2010|pp=343–344}}</ref>
}}
A year after [[Darius I of Persia]] ({{reign|522|486|era=BC}}) launched [[European Scythian campaign of Darius I|an invasion]] into Europe against the [[Scythians]], [[Paeonians]], [[Thrace|Thracians]], and several Greek city-states of the [[Balkans]], the Persian general [[Megabazus]] used diplomacy to convince Amyntas{{nbsp}}I to submit as a [[Vassal state|vassal]] of the [[Achaemenid Empire]], ushering in the period of [[Achaemenid Macedonia]].<ref group="note">{{harvnb|Olbrycht|2010|pp=342–343}}; {{harvnb|Sprawski|2010|pp=131, 134}}; {{harvnb|Errington|1990|pp=8–9}}. <br />Errington is skeptical that at this point [[Amyntas I of Macedon]] offered any submission as a vassal at all, at most a token one. He also mentions how the Macedonian king pursued his own course of action, such as inviting the exiled Athenian [[tyrant]] [[Hippias (tyrant)|Hippias]] to take refuge at [[Anthemous]] in 506{{nbsp}}BC.</ref> Achaemenid Persian [[hegemony]] over Macedonia was briefly interrupted by the [[Ionian Revolt]] (499–493{{nbsp}}BC), yet the Persian general [[Mardonius (general)|Mardonius]] brought it back under Achaemenid [[suzerainty]].<ref>{{harvnb|Olbrycht|2010|p=344}}; {{harvnb|Sprawski|2010|pp=135–137}}; {{harvnb|Errington|1990|pp=9–10}}.</ref>

Although Macedonia enjoyed a large degree of [[autonomy]] and was never made a [[satrap]]y (i.e. province) of the Achaemenid Empire, it was expected to provide troops for the [[Achaemenid army]].<ref>{{harvnb|Olbrycht|2010|pp=343–344}}; {{harvnb|Sprawski|2010|p=137}}; {{harvnb|Errington|1990|p=10}}.</ref> Alexander{{nbsp}}I provided Macedonian military support to [[Xerxes I]] ({{reign|486|465|era=BC}}) during the [[Second Persian invasion of Greece]] in 480–479 BC, and Macedonian soldiers fought on the side of the Persians at the 479{{nbsp}}BC [[Battle of Platea]].<ref>{{harvnb|King|2010|p=376}}; {{harvnb|Olbrycht|2010|pp=344–345}}; {{harvnb|Sprawski|2010|pp=138–139}}.</ref> Following the [[Battle of Salamis|Greek victory at Salamis]] in 480{{nbsp}}BC, Alexander{{nbsp}}I was employed as an Achaemenid diplomat to propose a peace treaty and alliance with [[Classical Athens|Athens]], an offer that was rejected.<ref>{{harvnb|Sprawski|2010|pp=139–140}}.</ref> Soon afterwards, the Achaemenid forces were [[Wars of the Delian League|forced to withdraw from mainland Europe]], marking the end of Persian control over Macedonia.<ref>{{harvnb|Olbrycht|2010|p=345}}; {{harvnb|Sprawski|2010|pp=139–141}}; see also {{harvnb|Errington|1990|pp=11–12}} for further details.</ref>