THE ROYAL ARGAED DYNASTY
OF RUPIŠTE IN KOSTUR (16)
PART OF THE BOOK “SELECTED PAPERS FOR MACEDONIA”
BY SLAVÉ KATIN
As we have shown, the earliest inhabitants of Orestis were Macedonians belonging to the Paleo-Balkan Neolithic family. The antroponym or tribal name comes from the word oros-oros meaning forest, mountain, boundary, or border. They were also named ‘Gorans’ meaning mountaineers, border dwellers, or frontiersmen. Their legendary eponymic hero was their king Orest (Goran) from whom, according to Strabo (VII, 326), the Macedonian Argaed Royal family descends. This is also confirmed by Appian (Historia Romana, 1907, 63) who also claimed that “the Macedonian Argaeds are from Argos in Orestis” (Argos to en Orestiai, othen oi Argaedai Makedones). Orestis, a border region located in Western Macedonia, bordered with Eordaya and Elomea in the east, with Enhelida in the west, with Desaret in the north, and while bordering in the south with the Brigits, Lihnida and Lyncus respectively in the past, it now bordered with Paravaya, Timfaya and Tesprotia.
Orestis, today known as Kostur Region, was located in Upper Macedonia in the upper basin of the river Bistritsa (Haliakmon). This region was a plateau with a 650 meter elevation at its lowest point, surrounded by the Pind, Gramos (2520m) and Voion (1802m) to the south, Askio (2111m), Verno (2128m) and Vičo (2124m) to the east, Varnous (2354m) to the north and Galičica (2288m) to the west.
Argos Orestikon, or Argos of Orestis (Starbon, VII, 326), was the oldest city and capital of Orestis. The city was located on the flatlands of the Argaed Plain, “Argeasteum campun” (Livy, XXVIII, 33). The city today known as Rupište still exists and can be found in the Kostur Region flatlands only 9km away from the city of Kostur, in the northeastern part of the river Bistritsa (Haliakmon). This city is not only the birthplace of several of the Argaed Dynastic kings but is the city that produced a large number of “heters” for the Macedonian phalanges.
Recent archaeological excavations in Orestis and the surrounding region have unearthed artefacts originating from the Neolithic age and even some originating from the Palaeolithic age. Most of these were found in the present day Armenovo (Armenohori) locality, located about 1.5 km away from Rupište (Argos Orestikon). Archaeologists consider this to be the primeval Argos. Other localities in this region include Nestram (Nestorio) located on the northeastern slopes of Gramos, Želegože (Pendavrison), Prešteni (Avgi), Gorentsi (Korisos) and Krpeni (Krapeni) located near the southeastern coast of Lake Kostur, Korešta (Korestis) located near the upper basin of the River Bistritsa (Haliakmon) and others (Daskalaki, 1928, 14).
Stone Age settlements of special significance include the village Dupjak (Dispelio) (Dispelio) located on the southern coast of Lake Kostur about 8 km from Kostur City. Settlements such as this were also found on the coastlines of other Macedonian lakes including Lakes Ohrid, Prespa, Dojran and others. In this locality however, where investigations were conducted starting in 1938 and were continued through 1940, 1974, 1992, 1993 and 1994, large walls were found made of huge processed stones and wooden palisades (fences made of piles driven into the ground) under the surface of the lake which were used to attach wooden houses. Stone tools such as axes, land cultivation devices, household and other tools were also found underwater. Among those artefacts a very interesting and important palaeographic syllabary written on a wooden board was found, carbon dating to 5260 B.C. (Hourmouziades, 1996).
From what we have shown above we can conclude that Orestis was well populated from Neolithic times, especially after the arrival of the first Macedonians who chose to settle there and make it the cradle of all Macedonians.
From Kostopoulos, a well known researcher, publicist, historian and author of ten monographs dealing with Macedonian issues, we have learned that Makedon was Zeus’s son. In his charter “Myths and History” of his last monograph (1992, 14) Kostopoulos explains that “according to mythology, the founding father of the Macedonians was Macedon, son of Zeus, who ruled Western Macedonia, while his brother Magnet reigned over eastern Thessaly. In the last charter “In the dawn of history”, Kostopoulos explains that “the bright history of the Macedonians commenced about 700 B.C., with Orestis (Kostur) as their centre. The Argaed Macedonian Royal Dynasty came from this part of Macedonia and extended to the Dynasty of Philip II and Alexander the Great”.
In order to substantiate his findings regarding the Argaeds, Kostopoulos quotes Appian (I-II century B.C.) from his work “Historia Illyrica” where Appian explains that “the Argaed Macedonians come from Argos in Orestis”. Kostopoulos then goes on to say that Argos, the city located near the source of the Haliakmon River, was the fatherland of the founding father of the Macedonian kings. In other words, he was referring to Argos in Orestis. (One of the Haliakmon confluents which took water from Lake Kostur, which at the time was called Keletron). Similarly Kostopoulos also quotes Strabo (63 B.C. – 24 A.D.) and Pausanias (2nd century B.C.) who both presented the same assertions about the origin of the Macedonian Argaed Royal Dynasty being from Argos in Orestis and not from Argos in Peloponnesus, as claimed by some other historians.
Additionally Kostopoulos quotes Hesiod (7th century B.C.) presenting his claim that Makedon and Magnet were brothers and that the prehistoric Macedonians lived in Pieria with their founding father Makedon, while Magnet was a king of Magnesia in Thessaly. Macedonian king Perdiccas I, from the Argaed Dynasty, built his capital in Aegae (Aigai), today’s Vergina, around 700 B.C. on the steep slopes of Mount Pierija.
According to Herodotus, Temenus’s descendants fled from Argos to Illyria and then to Upper Macedonia. These comments most probably led Strabo (VII, 326) to write: “… it is said that in the past Orestis was ruled by Orest. Orest ran away after murdering his mother. As a result of Orest’s rule, the country which he ruled became known as Orestis and the city of Argos in Orestis was named after him.”
This citation, later exploited by various historians, was given as proof connecting Achaean (Eliniki) history with Macedonia. However if we want to be objective we need to take a closer look at this citation and ask the question; did Orest, Agamemnon’s son, ever stay in Macedonia?
According to legend, Orest was born in Mycenae in the Peloponnesus where his father Agamemnon was king. He had a happy childhood living with his parents until Agamemnon’s death after his return from Troy. As legend has it, Agamemnon was killed by his wife Clytemnestra and her lover Egist on the thirteenth day of gameleon (January) 1182 B.C. (Graves, 1990, 112m, 4) and was buried in Amikla near Sparta in Mycenae (Pausanias, II, 16, 5).
At that time Orest was only a boy of 10 to 12 years. His life was in danger but his sister Elektra, with the assistance of an old teacher of her father’s, saved him. Before his father’s death Orest spent some time with the shepherds in Laconia. Later he moved to Drisio, at the entrance of Parnas, and lived with his relative Strofi who had married Agamemnon’s sister. This is where he received the tragic news about his father’s death.
Eight years later, Orest, through Athens, returned to Mycenae with intent to murder his mother and her lover whom she had now married (Graves, 1990, 113 g). Again according to legend, from what we can gather, Orest remained in Laconia, Parnas and Athens from age 10 to 20. More precisely he spent the second decade of his life traveling along the route Mycenae – Laconia – Parnas - Athens- Mycenae.
His success in murdering his mother to revenge his father, landed Orest in trouble with the authorities. Being pursued by Erineite he took refuge in Delphi and later in Athens, Argos and again in Athens where he was ordered to bring the statue of the goddess Artemis from Taurida by the Black Sea in order to ransom himself. Making use of the shrewdness of his second sister Iphigenia, who was a priestess at the temple of the goddess Terutiska, he returned to Elada, accompanied by his sister, with the statue in hand.
After murdering king Egist (his mother’s lover), who by now had ruled for seven years, Orest seized power in Mycenae and in Argolia and ruled these regions to a ripe old age. He was ninety years old when he died as a refugee in Arcadia fleeing from the Dorians. Orest was buried in an unmarked grave in blacksmith Tegeia’s yard (Herodotus, I, 67, 68). Orest died during the time of the Achaean exodus from the Peloponnesus in 1104 B.C. and the Dorian migration.
To be continue
By Slave Nikolovski-Katin
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