page_title: Achaemenid Macedonia
section_title: 512/511 BC: Achaemenid vassal state
hierarchical_section_title: Achaemenid Macedonia / 512/511 BC: Achaemenid vassal state
caption_attribution_description: English: MACEDON, Aegae. Circa 510-480 BC
context_page_description: Achaemenid Macedonia refers to the period in which the ancient Greek Kingdom of Macedonia was under the sway of the Achaemenid Persians. In 512/511 BC, the Persian general Megabyzus forced the Macedonian king Amyntas I to make his kingdom a vassal of the Achaemenids. In 492 BC, following the Ionian Revolt, the Persian general Mardonius firmly re-tightened the Persian grip in the Balkans, making Macedon a fully subordinate kingdom within the Achaemenid domains and part of its administrative system, until the definite withdrawal of the Persians from their European territories following the failure of the Second Persian invasion of Greece.
context_section_description: 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 modern-day Bulgaria, Romania, Ukraine and Russia), were conquered by the Achaemenid army before it returned to Asia Minor.
  Darius's highly regarded commander, Megabyzus, was responsible for conquering 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 submitted his country as a vassal state to Achaemenid Persia. Megabazus received the present of "Earth and Water" from Amyntas, which symbolized submission to the Achaemenid Emperor.
  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, with the intention of ensuring good relations between the Macedonian and Achaemenid rulers and reinforcing the alliance.
caption: Coinage around the end of the reign of Amyntas I, under the Achaemenids, Aegae, circa 510–480 BC. Goat kneeling right, head reverted; pellet above and before / Quadripartite incuse square.
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