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Everyone, more or less, knows the myth of Europe, the young princess abducted by Zeus from ancient Phoenicia and brought to the continent named after her. But how many know that in the heart of ancient Macedonia, there was the most… European city of antiquity, Europus, today within the boundaries of the Regional Unit of Kilkis?
“Europus was an important city of ancient Bottiaea, just 18 km from the capital of the Macedonian kingdom, Pella. It was the ‘City of Europeans,’ according to an epigraphic testimony from the end of the 2nd century BC on an honorary pedestal for the proconsul Marcus Minucius Rufus. This Roman official, known to us from this inscription, is not unknown to us. We also know him from Rome, because he helped the province of Macedonia and specifically Europus not to fall into the hands of Gallic and other tribes.
In his honor, therefore, in the city he protected, a statue was erected, part of the base of which is preserved with the honorary inscription, and, along with other objects, we present at the National Archaeological Museum (NAM),” states Georgia Stratouli, head of the Ephorate of Antiquities of Kilkis, to the Athens-Macedonian News Agency (ANA-MPA).
The exhibition, which will last until Sunday, March 16, 2025 (an extension might be given), is part of the successful organization of NAM “Museum Meetings at the National” and is the second “Meeting” – the first was the presentation of the lead oracles of Dodona. In it, antiquities from ancient Europus, a prosperous city at the core of the Macedonian kingdom with renowned citizens at the Pan-Hellenic sanctuaries, prominent members of the Macedonian aristocracy, and a strongly recognizable identity for contemporary society, the birthplace of Seleucus I, one of the major successors of Alexander the Great, are being exhibited for the first time in Athens.
But what do we know about the city that bears such a characteristic name? “According to the myth, Europus is genealogically linked to the eponymous hero of the Macedonians, Europus, son of Macedon and Orithyia, daughter of Cecrops. Etymologically, the word Europus means ‘broad,’ perhaps reflecting the morphology of the area, in the valley of the wide and navigable Axios and the shadow of the forested Paiko. The etymological relationship with the name of our continent is of course obvious,” says G. Stratouli about the city that today holds two brand names: the name Europus and Seleucus I Nicator, the founder of the Seleucid dynasty and a protagonist of the Hellenistic World.
“We know from Thucydides that in classical times the city had very strong walls that in 429 BC protected it from an attack by the Thracian king Sitalkes. It was already an important city and flourished during the Hellenistic period and remained prosperous later, in the 2nd and 1st century BC, although it was tested by successive hostile invasions. This was because Europus was in a very strategic position in the valley of the once navigable Axios that discharged into the Thermaic Gulf. As we have depicted in the exhibition with objects and wall surfaces, grave monuments from the 4th century BC made of Attic marble have been found in Europus. From the typology of the forms and their carving, it seems that they are imported products. If there were no sea and then the river, would it be easy to transport marbles, weighing tons, from Attica to the north?” notes G. Stratouli to the ANA-MPA about the significance that a city so close to Axios, but also to the capital of the Macedonian kingdom, Pella (once a significant port), had in antiquity.
“The rich with metal grave goods burial monuments of Europus from the early Hellenistic era (end of the 4th – beginning of the 3rd century BC), excavated in the 1990s by archaeologist Thomi Savvopoulou, as well as the Hellenistic tomb of Mesia with a burial complex consisting of a monumental box-shaped tomb and a Macedonian tomb, discovered in 2020-2021 by an excavation team under the direction of Georgia Stratouli and once belonged to the land of Europus, constitute indirect evidence that few citizens of ancient Europus would have economic prosperity, as those referred to as Europeans in sanctuaries of Larissa and Peloponnesian Argos during the 4th and 3rd century BC, but also renowned ones, such as Machatas from Europus, who is mentioned in the list of theorodokes of the Delphi Oracle, which he and his family visited, enjoying special honors due to the high social status they held,” explains the interlocutor of the ANA-MPA.
“From Europus, moreover, came Seleucus I Nicator, founder of the Seleucid dynasty and protagonist of the Hellenistic World, the most important according to historian Arrian of the successors of Alexander the Great, who among many other cities founded Dura-Europos on the Euphrates, in an area that resembled his birthplace,” informs G. Stratouli on the occasion of the exhibition at NAM, where, apart from findings from the Archaeological Museum of Kilkis, which is currently being upgraded, two 10-minute videos produced by the Ephorate of Antiquities of Kilkis, one dedicated to the historical course of Seleucus titled “Seleucus I Nicator. From Europus to the Hellenistic World” and the other, titled “City of Europeans,” dedicated to the archaeological site of Europus, are presented.
“In the exhibition, we tried to present the importance of the ancient city and demonstrate its potential contribution to the tourism development of Central Macedonia. We have excavated a very small part of the ancient city and its cemeteries. It would be desirable for the research to continue. The city, which began to be created in the 10th century BC, namely in the Early Iron Age, was thriving during the classical and Hellenistic and Roman periods, mainly because of its strategic position that controlled the trade routes from the Aegean to the Balkan hinterland, as well as the fertile valley of Axios that provided opportunities for the development not only of cereals, viticulture, and olive trees, but also livestock. Even today, cattle breeding thrives in the area of Kilkis. And let’s not forget that Kilkis is an area rich in mineral raw materials,” emphasizes the archaeologist.
The currently accessible archaeological site, covering 21 acres, includes part of the Roman and early Christian cemetery of Europus, in which various types of burial monuments survived, among which monumental brick arched tombs stand out. On the site, there is an “Information Center of Ancient Europus” which welcomes and informs visitors in detail about the history of this important city, as well as its descendant, Seleucus I Nicator. South of the organized archaeological site, cemeteries of different eras extend. Additionally, one of the six exciting routes proposed by the Ephorate of Antiquities of Kilkis concerns the “City of Europeans” (https://www.efa-kilkis.gr/routes/discovering-the-area-of-the-aristocratic-europus-the-city-of-europeans/).
It is noted that, at the first presentation of the archaeological route “The Rape of Europa. A journey from myth to the soils of an unknown ancient city,” on 22/2, Dr. Georgia Stratouli will guide the exhibition station “City of Europeans,” while the event will be enriched with music of antiquity by Thanasis Kleopas and Theodoros Koumartzis, interpreters of the musical group Seikilo Ancient World Music. The other two events will take place on March 8 and 22, also on Saturday, at 13:00. In all three presentations, archaeologists from NAM and the Ephorate of Antiquities of Kilkis will welcome the visitors in the Museum’s halls and will explore together with them the origins of the myth of Europa from the eastern Mediterranean of the Bronze Age to the ancient kingdom of Macedonia. (23/2/2025)