region of Eordea was fully incorporated into Macedon under Philip II and later his successor Alexander. Two of the six generals of Alexander the Great, Ptolemy I Soter, founder of the Ptolemaic Kingdom, and Aristones are claimed to hail from Eordaia. Hellenistic period With the death of Alexander, his empire was divided and Macedon came under the control of Antigonus I. Macedon remained an important and powerful kingdom during both Wars of the Diadochi and later the Punic wars with Rome. There were many clashes during the long struggle between the Macedonians and the Romans who tried to enter the basin of Eordea and promote it into mainland Greece, but also because the area was a focal point as a secondary road passed through it. Macedon remained a force to be reckoned with until the Battle of Pydna (22 June 168 BC), in which the Roman general Aemilius Paulus defeated King Perseus of Macedon, ending the reign of the Antigonid dynasty over Macedonia. Roman period For the period of Roman times we have a lot of information from historians referring to the region of Ptolemais and Eordaia. The Roman Egnatia highway, which was detached from the main artery after leaving the Straits of the Key, led to present-day Kozani and then, through the Sarantaporos Strait, to Thessaly. In 395, Ptolemaida and all of Macedonia became part of the Eastern Roman Empire. Byzantine period At various times, Ptolemaida was part of the First Bulgarian Empire, Latin Empire, the Kingdom of Thessalonica, Second Bulgarian Empire, the Empire of Nicaea, the Despotate of Epirus and Serbian Empire. Ottoman period During the Ottoman period, Ptolemaida was called Kayılar, and it had two parts: Aşağı Kayılar and Yukarı Kayılar. Aşağı Kayılar was Bektaşi and Yukarı Kayılar was Rufai, Hanefi. Before 1360, large numbers of nomad shepherds, or Yörüks, from the district of Konya, in Asia Minor, had settled in Macedonia; their descendants were known as Konariotes. Further immigration from this region took place from time to time up to the middle of the 18th century. After the establishment of the feudal system in 1397, many of the Seljuk noble families came over from Asia Minor; their descendants may be recognized among the Beys or Muslim landowners around Kayılar. At the beginning of the 18th century, the Turkish population was quite considerable, but since that time until at least the early 20th century it continuously decreased.