The Pindos Mountain Range
is the spine of mainland Greece, dominating Upper
Macedonia and inland Epiros. It's not the highest:
higher than the American Blue Ridge, but notably lower
than the American Rockies, never mind the European Alps.
Yet the sheer nature of its geography makes it daunting.
Good passes are few, and in winter, snow covers the
peaks, but the valleys aren't as cold as one might
expect. Ruggedness works against unification, so down to
Philip's day, the cantons of Upper Macedonia were
independent kingdoms with their own ruling families, and
Epiros was ruled by a council of different tribes in the
region, of which the Molossians (Myrtale-Olympias's
family) were foremost. Philip brought in the highlands
early in his reign, and by marrying Olympias, gained
Epiros first as an ally, and later virtually as a
dependency.
Aside from the formidable mountains, another features of
the highlands is the presence of several lakes, the
largest being the very deep Lake Ohrid (ancient
Lykhnidos). Similarly, the headwaters of the mightly
Haliakmon River are found in the southern highlands. The
headwaters of the Loudios and Axios Rivers are further
north (the Axios, modern Vardar, reaches up into the
Republic of Northern Macedonia). The abundance of water,
as well as pine-covered mountainsides, renders a
different landscape from the Greek south, or even Lower
Macedonia, and might explain the importance and
influence of women in these areas (and Illyria), where
survival demanded "all hands on deck."