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) 33. Since the Illyrian tribes were never distinguished for that original invention which imagined new gods and established new modes of worship; while, on the other hand, they readily adopted strange deities;(2105) we find among the Macedonians more traces of foreign than native religion. Certain deities which the Greeks compared with the Sileni they called Sauadæ,(2106) as the Illyrians called them Deuadæ;(2107) a native Macedonian god of health was named Darrhon;(2108) there was also a god called Deipatyrus among the neighbouring Stymphæans.(2109) The wide extension of the worship of Bacchus must be ascribed to the vicinity of, and early intercourse with Pieria: the Macetian women were celebrated as wild and raging Bacchantes.(2110) The worship of Zeus appears to have been early introduced among the Macedonians from mount Olympus.(2111) Hercules, the heroic progenitor of the royal family, was worshipped in their first residence at Edessa:(2112) he was called in Macedonia Aretus.(2113) The worship of Apollo, which was prevalent in Macedonia at an early period,(2114) probably was introduced from Pythium on mount Olympus:(2115) that of Pan, at Pella, was perhaps derived from the Pelasgians.(2116)