Paeonia
, the land of the
Paeonians, originally including the whole Axius (Vardar) River valley and the surrounding areas, in what is now northern
Greece
, Macedonia, and western
Bulgaria
. The Paeonians, who were probably of mixed Thraco-Illyrian origin, were weakened by the Persian invasion (490
bc
), and those tribes living along the
Strymon River
(in western Bulgaria) fell under Thracian control. The growth of Macedonia forced the remaining Paeonians northward, and in 358
bc
they were defeated by
Philip II
of Macedonia. The native
dynasty
, however, continued to be highly respected: about 289
bc
, King Audoleon received Athenian citizenship, and his daughter married
Pyrrhus
, king of Epirus. Under the Romans, Paeonia was included in the second and third districts of the province of Macedonia. By
ad
400, however, the Paeonians had lost their identity, and Paeonia was merely a geographic term.