31. In their further extension the Macedonians fell in with Grecian, with Pæonian, and with Thracian tribes, which they either subdued or dislodged; but no expulsion was probably so complete that some part of the former population was not left behind. Among the tribes thus driven out were the Bottiæans, who were reported to have come from Athens and Crete;(2093) a tradition which could hardly have arisen, if they had not been a Grecian people. Notice should also be taken of the Grecian and Pelasgic names of the cities on the Axius, viz., Ichnæ, Eidomenæ, Gortynia, Atalante, and Europus,(2094) which cannot have been given by the Pæonians, and therefore must be referred to the ancient Greek population of this region. Beyond the Axius, according to Herodotus,(2095) was Creston, a settlement of Thessalian Pelasgians, whence they do not appear to have been expelled by the victorious Macedonians; which fate befell the Almopians, an ancient branch of the Minyæ.(2096) It has been already shown that the common population of Leibethrum and Pieria was at least nearly related to the Greeks: the names of Λείβηθρα, for a well-watered valley, Πίμπλη for a full fountain, and of Ἑλικὼν for a winding stream, are evidently Grecian.(2097)
As to the Eordians, the ancient foes of Macedon, it is uncertain whether they should be considered as belonging to the Illyrian or the Pæonian race;(2098) of this latter tribe, in earlier times, a small, and, in later, a considerable portion obeyed the Macedonian kings. And, lastly, the subjection of the Bisaltæ, who even in the time of Perseus formed one of the chief parts of the kingdom of Macedon,(2099) joined to that nation a people of purely Thracian descent; and the Macedonians, in the political meaning of the word, ceased more and more to be a regular nation, or a body of men of the same origin and language.(2100)
_On the customs and language of the Macedonians._
32. In order to trace the national character and origin of the Macedonians, it is necessary to distinguish three things; first, their Illyrian descent; secondly, their extension over other, for the most part Grecian countries; and thirdly, the introduction by the ruling family, of the civilisation and refinements of the Greeks; which must have gained great ground when Alexander the Philhellene offered himself as a combatant at the Olympic games, and honoured the poetry of Pindar;(2101) and when Archelaus, the son of Perdiccas,—the same person who first established many fortresses and roads in his dominions, and formed a Macedonian army,(2102) nay, even had it in view to procure a navy,(2103)—had tragedies of Euripides acted at his court under the direction of that poet. These changes must have chiefly affected the regions near the sea; for they could not have equally extended to the Macedonians of Lyncus, &c., who, even in the time of Strabo, had the greatest resemblance to the Dassaretians, Taulantians, &c., and, until the overthrow of the Macedonian monarchy, preserved their ancient savage habits; which Livy only partially accounts for by their intercourse with neighbouring barbarians.(2104)