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{{short description|Town in northern Greece, site of ancient Aigai}}
{{For|the Star of Vergina or Macedonian Star|Vergina Sun}}
{{For|the archeological site and original Macedonian capital|Aegae (Macedonia)}}
{{Infobox Greek Dimos
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|pop_community = 1096
|area_municunit = 69.0
}}
{{Infobox UNESCO World Heritage Site
| Official_name = Archaeological Site of Aigai (modern name Vergina)
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}}
'''Vergina''' ({{
Vergina is best known as the site of ancient '''[[Aegae (Macedonia)|Aigai]]''' ({{Langx|grc|Αἰγαί}}, {{Transl|grc|Aigaí}}, [[Latinisation of names|Latinized]]: ''Aegae''), the first capital of [[Macedon]]. In 336 BC [[Philip II of Macedon|Philip II]] was assassinated in Aigai's theatre and his son, [[Alexander the Great]], was proclaimed king. While the resting place of Alexander the Great is unknown, researchers uncovered three tombs at Vergina in 1977 – referred to as tombs I, II and III.
Tomb I contained [[Philip II of Macedon|Philip II, Alexander the Great's father]], tomb II belonged to [[Philip III of Macedon]], Alexander the Great's half-brother, while tomb III contained [[Alexander IV of Macedon|Alexander IV]], Alexander the Great's son.<ref>Antonis Bartsiokas, Juan Luis Arsuaga, Nicholas Brandmeir: The identification of the Royal Tombs in the Great Tumulus at Vergina, Macedonia, Greece: A comprehensive review. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, Volume 52, December 2023, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2023.104279</ref><ref>Antonis Bartsiokas (2024): [https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00934690.2024.2409503 The Identification of the Sacred “Chiton” (Sarapis) of Pharaoh Alexander the Great in Tomb II at Vergina, Macedonia, Greece. Journal of Field Archaeology, 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1080/00934690.2024.2409503]</ref>
Aigai has been awarded [[UNESCO]] [[World Heritage Site]] status as "an exceptional testimony to a significant development in European civilization, at the transition from classical [[city-state]] to the [[empire|imperial]] structure of the [[Hellenistic]] and [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] periods".<ref name = "unesco"/>
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''Aigai'' is the name of several ancient Greek cities (see [[Aegean Sea#Etymology]]). Their name is often derived from the name of a legendary founder, [[Aegeus]]. In the case of this city, it is also etymologized as "city of goats" (from αἴξ, ''aíks'', "goat") by [[Diodorus Siculus]], who reports it was named so by Perdiccas I who was advised by the [[Pythia|Pythian priestess]] to build the capital city of his kingdom where goats led him.<ref>Sikeliotis, Diodoros or [[Diodorus Siculus]] 80–20 B.C., Historical, 7.16: "and then/Where thou shalt see white-horned goats, with fleece/Like snow, resting at dawn, make sacrifice/Upon the blessed gods upon that spot/And raise the chief city of a state."</ref>
Archaeologic evidence shows that Aigai developed as an organized collection of villages, spatially representing the aristocratic structure of tribes centred on the power of the king. It remained so throughout its history.<ref name="ReferenceA">{{cite web|url=http://www.aigai.gr/en/multimedia/timeline/aiges/vergina/macedonia|title=Timeline – Museum of Royal Tombs of Aigai -Vergina|website=www.aigai.gr|access-date=16 July 2018|archive-date=17 February 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200217175524/http://www.aigai.gr/en/multimedia/timeline/aiges/vergina/macedonia|url-status=dead}}</ref> Indeed, Aigai never became a large city and most of its inhabitants lived in surrounding villages.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.latsis-foundation.org/amea/eng/electronic-library/the-museum-cycle/aigai-the-royal-metropolis-of-the-macedonians|title=Aigai: The royal metropolis of the Macedonians – Multimedia|website=Latsis Foundation|access-date=16 July 2018|archive-date=16 July 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180716223918/http://www.latsis-foundation.org/amea/eng/electronic-library/the-museum-cycle/aigai-the-royal-metropolis-of-the-macedonians|url-status=dead}}</ref> The walled ''asty'' (acropolis) was built at the centre of Aigai.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.aigai.gr/en/explore/asty/aiges/vergina |title=The ancient city
From Aigai the Macedonians spread to the central part of Macedonia and displaced the local population of [[Pierians]].
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His was the most lavish funeral ceremony of historic times held in Greece. Laid on an elaborate gold and ivory deathbed wearing his precious golden oak wreath, the king was surrendered, like a new Hercules, to the funeral pyre.
The [[Wars of the Diadochi|bitter struggles]] between the [[Diadochi|heirs of Alexander]] in the 3rd century adversely affected the city; in 276 BC [[Gauls|Gallic]] mercenaries of [[Pyrrhus of Epirus|Pyrrhus]] plundered many of the tombs.
After the overthrow of the Macedonian kingdom by the Romans [[Battle of Pydna|in 168 BC]], both old and new capitals were destroyed, the walls pulled down and all buildings burned.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> In the 1st century AD, a landslide destroyed what had been rebuilt (excavations establish that parts were still inhabited then).<ref>"Vergina 2012: The excavation at the 'Tsakiridis' Section": Styliani Drougou, professor of History and Archaeology Department, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. http://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/vergina-2012-excavation-at-tsakiridis.html</ref>
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In 1937, the University of Thessaloniki resumed the excavations. More ruins of the ancient palace were found, but the excavations were abandoned on the outbreak of war with [[Italy]] in 1940. After the war the excavations were resumed, and during the 1950s and 1960s the rest of the royal capital was uncovered, including the theatre.
The Greek archaeologist [[Manolis Andronikos]] became convinced that a hill called the ''[[Royal tombs of Vergina|Great Tumulus]]'' (Μεγάλη Τούμπα) concealed the tombs of the Macedonian kings. In 1977, Andronikos undertook a six-week dig at the Great Tumulus and found four buried tombs, two of which had never been disturbed. Andronikos identified that these were the burial sites of the kings of Macedon, including the tomb of [[Philip II of Macedon|Philip II]], father of [[Alexander the Great]] (Tomb II) and also of [[Alexander IV of Macedon]], son of Alexander the Great and [[Roxana]] (Tomb III). This view was challenged by some archaeologists,<ref>{{cite book |last=Borza |first=Eugene N. |author-link=Eugene N. Borza |date=1999 |title=Before Alexander: Constructing Early Macedonia |url=https://archive.org/details/before-alexander-constructing-early-macedonia/page/68/mode/1up |series=Publications of the Association of Ancient Historians, 6 |location=[[Claremont, California|Claremont, CA]] |publisher=Regina Books |isbn=0941690970 |pages=68–74 |via=[[Internet Archive]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Bartsiokas |first=Antonis |date=21 April 2000 |title=The Eye Injury of King Philip II and the Skeletal Evidence from the Royal Tomb II at Vergina |journal=[[Science (journal)|Science]] |volume=288 |issue=5465 |pages=511–514 |bibcode=2000Sci...288..511B |doi=10.1126/science.288.5465.511 |pmid=10775109 |jstor=3075009}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Borza |first1=Eugene N. |author-link1=Eugene N. Borza |last2=Palagia |first2=Olga |author-link2=Olga Palagia |date=2007 |title=The Chronology of the Macedonian Royal Tombs at Vergina |journal=Jahrbuch des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts |volume=122 |pages=81–125 |issn=0070-4415}}</ref>
In 2023, nearly 50 years later, a study led by professor of anthropology at the [[Democritus University of Thrace]] Antonios Bartsiokas 'conclusively' revealed that the skeleton long identified as belonging to [[Alexander IV of Macedon]] is in fact his father [[Philip II of Macedon]], and vice versa: Tomb I contained [[Philip II of Macedon|Philip II, Alexander the Great's father]], tomb II belonged to [[Philip III of Macedon]], Alexander the Great's half-brother, while tomb III contained [[Alexander IV of Macedon|Alexander IV]], Alexander the Great's son.<ref>Antonis Bartsiokas, Juan Luis Arsuaga, Nicholas Brandmeir: The identification of the Royal Tombs in the Great Tumulus at Vergina, Macedonia, Greece: A comprehensive review. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, Volume 52, December 2023, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2023.104279</ref> Tomb I also contained the remains of a woman and a baby, who Bartsiokas identified as Philip II's young wife [[Cleopatra Eurydice]] and their newborn child. Cleopatra Eurydice was assassinated along with her newborn child.<ref>Antonis Bartsiokas (2024): [https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00934690.2024.2409503 The Identification of the Sacred “Chiton” (Sarapis) of Pharaoh Alexander the Great in Tomb II at Vergina, Macedonia, Greece. Journal of Field Archaeology, 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1080/00934690.2024.2409503]</ref>
▲This view was challenged by some archaeologists,<ref>{{cite book |last=Borza |first=Eugene N. |author-link=Eugene N. Borza |date=1999 |title=Before Alexander: Constructing Early Macedonia |url=https://archive.org/details/before-alexander-constructing-early-macedonia/page/68/mode/1up |series=Publications of the Association of Ancient Historians, 6 |location=[[Claremont, California|Claremont, CA]] |publisher=Regina Books |isbn=0941690970 |pages=68–74 |via=[[Internet Archive]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Bartsiokas |first=Antonis |date=21 April 2000 |title=The Eye Injury of King Philip II and the Skeletal Evidence from the Royal Tomb II at Vergina |journal=[[Science (journal)|Science]] |volume=288 |issue=5465 |pages=511–514 |bibcode=2000Sci...288..511B |doi=10.1126/science.288.5465.511 |pmid=10775109 |jstor=3075009}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Borza |first1=Eugene N. |author-link1=Eugene N. Borza |last2=Palagia |first2=Olga |author-link2=Olga Palagia |date=2007 |title=The Chronology of the Macedonian Royal Tombs at Vergina |journal=Jahrbuch des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts |volume=122 |pages=81–125 |issn=0070-4415}}</ref> but in 2010 research based on detailed study of the skeletons, vindicated Andronikos and supports the evidence of facial asymmetry caused by a possible trauma of the cranium of the male, evidence that is consistent with the history of Philip II.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bris.ac.uk/news/2010/7207.html|title=2010: Vergina Tomb II - News - University of Bristol|first=University of|last=Bristol|website=www.bris.ac.uk|access-date=16 July 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Musgrave |first1=J. |last2=Prag |first2=A. J. N. W. |last3=Neave |first3=R. |last4=Fox |first4=R. L. |last5=White |first5=H. |name-list-style=amp |date=2010 |title=The Occupants of Tomb II at Vergina. Why Arrhidaios and Eurydice must be excluded |url=https://www.medsci.org/v07p00s1.htm |journal=International Journal of Medical Sciences |volume=7 |issue=6 |pages=s1–s15}}</ref> From 1987 the burial cluster of the queens was discovered including the tomb of Queen [[Eurydice I of Macedon|Eurydice]]. In March 2014, five more royal tombs were discovered in Vergina, possibly belonging to [[Alexander I of Macedon]] and his family or to the family of [[Cassander]] of Macedon. Some artifacts excavated at Vergina may be treated as influenced by Asian practices or even imported from [[Achaemenid Persia]] in late 6th and early 5th centuries BC,<ref>{{harvnb|Roisman|Worthington|2011|p=345}}.</ref> which is during the time [[Macedonia (ancient kingdom)|Macedon]] was under the Persian sway.
===Royal burial cluster of Philip II===
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The Cluster of the Queens includes cist and pit tombs dating to the Greco-Persian Wars era, two of which probably belong to the mother and spouse of Alexander I: the all golden "Lady of Aigai" and her female relative, in whose funeral at least twenty-six small [[terracotta]] statues. One from around 340 BC with an imposing marble throne is identified as that of [[Eurydice I of Macedon|Eurydice]], mother of Philip II.
The so-called "Ionic Tomb" or "Rhomaios's Tomb", named after its excavator, Konstantinos Rhomaios, is an elegant Macedonian tomb with an Ionic facade consisting of four engaged columns crowned by a painted floral frieze, now no longer visible because of weathering. It contained a marble throne with armrests supported by sphinxes.<ref>{{cite book |
==Gallery==
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==References==
*Drougou S., [[Chrysoula Saatsoglou-Paliadeli|Saatsoglou Ch.]], ''Vergina: Reading around the archaeological site'', Ministry of Culture, 2005.
*{{cite book|last1=Roisman|first1=Joseph|last2=Worthington|first2=Ian|title=A Companion to Ancient Macedonia|publisher=John Wiley and Sons|year=2011|isbn=978-1-4443-5163-7|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QsJ183uUDkMC&q=Achaemenid+Persians+ruled+balkans&pg=PA345}}
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