Lynkestis

Lynkestis or Lynchestia (Greek: Λυγκηστίς, Λυγκηστία meaning "land of the lynx") was a region (in earlier times, a kingdom) of Upper Macedonia located on the southern borders of Illyria. The inhabitants of Lynkestis were known as Lynkestai (Λυγκησταί), a northwestern Greek tribe that belonged to the Molossian tribal state, or koinon, of Epirus.

History

The region of Lynchestia was ruled by kings, lords and independent or semi-independent chieftains until the Argead rulers of Macedon (Amyntas IV, Philip II) neutralized Lynchestia's independence with dynastic alliances and the practice of raising tribal chieftains' sons in the palaces of Philip II. To the north of Lynchestia was the region of Deuriopus, while Paeonia was to the northeast, Pelagonia bordered on the east, Emathia and Almopia to the southeast, and Orestia, Eordaia and the Haliacmon river at some distance to the south.

The wealthy kings of Lynkestis traced their origins to the Bacchiad kings that were expelled from Corinth in the 7th century BC. During the Peloponnesian War (431–404 BC) Arrhabaeus, the king of Lyncestis, waged war against Perdiccas II of Macedon (r. 451–413 BC) at the Battle of Lyncestis in 423 BC. According to Strabo, Irra was the daughter of Arrhabaeus, and that his granddaughter was Eurydice, the mother of Philip II.