According to some ancient writers, Caranus, the legendary founder of the Argead Dynasty, established the city of Edessa and made it the first capital of ancient Macedon. The city achieved certain prominence in the first centuries AD, being located on the Via Egnatia. From 27 BC to 268 AD it had its own mint.
Little is known about the fate of the city after 500 AD. The city disappears from the sources after mention in 692, and re-emerges only in the 11th century, in the account of the Bulgarian wars of Emperor Basil II by the chronicler John Skylitzes, with the Slavic name Vodena, commonly held to derive from the Slavic word for "water".
Due to its strategic location, controlling the Via Egnatia as it enters the Pindus mountains, the town was much fought over in the subsequent centuries. It was ruled by Normans, Byzantines and Serbs until it fell to the Ottoman war leader in 1385 along with the rest of Macedonia.
Little is known about the fate of the city after 500 AD. The city disappears from the sources after mention in 692, and re-emerges only in the 11th century, in the account of the Bulgarian wars of Emperor Basil II by the chronicler John Skylitzes, with the Slavic name Vodena, commonly held to derive from the Slavic word for "water".
Due to its strategic location, controlling the Via Egnatia as it enters the Pindus mountains, the town was much fought over in the subsequent centuries. It was ruled by Normans, Byzantines and Serbs until it fell to the Ottoman war leader in 1385 along with the rest of Macedonia.
Modern location: Edessa, Greece
(1)
Philip I
An
AE
unit
struck 244-249 AD
in
Edessa (Macedonia)
Obverse: laureate draped and cuirassed bust right from behind AV K MA IOVΛIOC ΦIΛIΠΠOC
Reverse: Roma seated on shield holding Victory (with wreath and palm) in her right hand and parazonium in left; Tyche behind is crowning Roma with wreath and holding cornucopia; EΔE_CCA_I_ΩN OMONOI / A
Diameter:
25 mm
Die Orientation: -
Weight: 7.79 g
Die Orientation: -
Weight: 7.79 g
No notes for this coin
Moushmov 6277 Plate XLIV 21
(2)
Tiberius
An
AE
unit
struck 14-29 AD
in
Edessa (Macedonia)
Obverse: TI KAISAR SEBASTOS / head of Tiberius right
Reverse: SEBASTH EDESSAIWN / head of Livia right.
Diameter:
-
Die Orientation: -
Weight: 6.38 g
Die Orientation: -
Weight: 6.38 g
No notes for this coin
RPC 1525. Varbanov 3582.