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Pella () was the capital of the Ancient Greece kingdom of Macedon from the 4th century BC up until the Roman conquest in 168 BC. Pella was the birthplace of Philip II in 382 BC, and his son Alexander the Great in 356 BC. It is located 1 km outside the modern town of Pella in Central Macedonia, Greece.
Pella was probably founded at the beginning of the 4th century BC by Archelaus I as the new capital of Macedon, supplanting Aigai, which still remained the burial place for the kings and the royal family. Pella quickly became the largest and richest city in Macedonia and flourished particularly under the rule of Cassander and Antigonus II.
In 168 BC the city was sacked by the Roman Republic during the Third Macedonian War and entered a long period of decline, its importance eclipsed by that of the nearby Thessaloniki, which became the capital of the Roman province of Macedonia.
Archelaus invited the painter Zeuxis, the greatest painter of the time, to decorate his palace. He also later hosted the poet Timotheus of Miletus and the Athenian playwright Euripides who finished his days there writing and producing Archelaus. Euripides' Bacchae was first staged here, about 408 BC. According to Xenophon, in the beginning of the 4th century BC Pella was the largest Macedonian city.Xenophon: Hellenica, 5.2.13 It was the birthplace and seats of Philip II, in 382 BC and of Alexander the Great, his son, in 356 BC. It was already a walled city in the time of Philip II and he made the city of great international importance.
It became the largest and richest city in Macedonia and flourished particularly under Cassander's rule who redesigned and expanded it. The reign of Antigonus most likely represented the height of the city's prosperity, as this is the period which has left the most archaeological remains. The famous poet Aratus died in Pella c. 240 BC.
Pella is further mentioned by Polybius and Livy as the capital of Philip V and of Perseus during the Macedonian Wars fought against the Roman Republic.
In 168 BC, it was sacked by the Ancient Rome, and its treasury transported to Rome. Livy reported how the city looked in 167 BC to Lucius Aemilius Paulus Macedonicus, the Roman who defeated Perseus at the Battle of Pydna:
Pella was declared capital of the 3rd administrative division of the Roman province of Macedonia, and was possibly the seat of the Roman governor. Activity continued to be vigorous until the early 1st century BC and, crossed by the Via Egnatia,Strabo VII, 323 Pella remained a significant point on the route between Dyrrachium and Thessaloniki.
In about 90 BC the city was destroyed by an earthquake; shops and workshops dating from the catastrophe have been found with remains of their merchandise, though the city was eventually rebuilt over its ruins. Cicero stayed there in 58 BC, though by then the provincial seat had already transferred to Thessalonica
Pella was promoted to a Roman Colony sometime between 45 and 30 BC and its currency was marked Colonia Iulia Augusta Pella. Augustus settled peasants there whose land he had usurped to give to his veterans.Dio Cassius LI, 4 But, unlike other Macedonian colonies such as Philippi, Dion, and Cassandreia, it never came under the jurisdiction of ius Italicum or Roman law. Four pairs of colonial magistrates ( duumvirs quinquennales) are known for this period.
The ruin of the city is described by Dio Chrysostom Or. 33.27 and Lucian though their accounts may be exaggerated, as the Roman city occupied the west of the original capital and coinage indicates prosperity.
Despite its decline, archaeology has shown that the southern part of the city near the lagoon continued to be occupied until the 4th century.
In about AD 180, Lucian of Samosata could describe it in passing as "now insignificant, with very few inhabitants". Lucian of Samosata: Alexander the false prophet, The Tertullian Project. It later temporarily bore the name Diocletianopolis. In the Byzantine period, the Roman site was occupied by a fortified village.
The site was explored by 19th-century voyagers including Holand, François Pouqueville, Félix de Beaujour, Cousinéry, Delacoulonche, Hahn, Gustave Glotz and Struck, based on the descriptions provided by Titus Livius. The first excavation was begun by G. Oikonomos in 1914–15. The modern systematic exploration of the site began in 1953 and work has continued since then uncovering significant parts of the extensive city.
In February 2006, a farmer accidentally uncovered the largest tomb ever found in Greece. The names of the noble Macedon family are still on inscriptions and painted sculptures and walls have survived. The tomb dates to the 2nd or 3rd century BC. Overall, archaeologists have uncovered 1,000 tombs at Pella since 2000, but these only represent an estimated 5% of those at the site. In 2009 43 graves containing rich and elaborate grave goods were found and in 2010 37 tombs dating from 650 to 280 BC were discovered containing rich ancient Macedonian artifacts ranging from ceramics to precious metals. One of the tombs was the final resting place of a warrior from the 6th century BC with a bronze helmet with a gold mouthplate, weapons and jewellery. (see picture)
Since 2011, much of the Palace of Pella has been excavated and from 2017 parts of it have been restored. It was opened to the public in December, 2025.
Many artefacts are displayed in the Archaeological Museum of Pella.
In pride of place in the centre of the city is the Agora, built in the last quarter of the 4th century BC and an architectural gem, unique in conception and size; it covered ~ 7 hectares or 10 city blocks. Pella is one of the first known cities to have had an extensive piped water supply to individual house and waste water disposal from most of the city.
The agora was surrounded by the shaded colonnades of , and streets of enclosed houses with frescoed walls round inner courtyards. The first trompe-l'œil wall murals imitating perspective views ever seen were on walls at Pella. There were Greek temple to Aphrodite, Cybele and Demeter. Pella's pebble-mosaic floors are famous: some reproduce Greek paintings; one shows a lion-griffin attacking a stag, a familiar motif also of Scythian art, another depicts Dionysus riding a leopard. These mosaics adorned the floors of rich houses, often named after their representations, Sideris A., "La représentation en réalité virtuelle de la Maison de Dionysos à Pella, créée par la Fondation du Monde Hellénique", in Descamps-Lequime S., Charatzopoulou K. (éds.), Au royaume d’Alexandre le Grand. La Macédoine antique. Catalogue of the exhibition in the Louvre museum, Paris 2011, pp. 682–683. particularly the Houses of Helen and Dionysus.
The south facade of the palace, towards the city, consisted of one large (at least 153 metres long) portico, constructed on a 2 m-high foundation. The relationship between the four principal complexes is defined by an interruption in the portico occupied by a triple Propylaea, 15 m high, which gave the palace an imposing monumental air when seen from the city below. Archaeologists have identified a palaestra and public bathing dating from the reign of Cassander.
The size of the complex indicates that, unlike the palace at Aigai, this was not only a royal residence or a grandiose monument but also a place of government which was required to accommodate a significant portion of the administrative apparatus of the kingdom.
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