The Agrianes (Ancient Greek: Ἀγρίανες, Agrianes or Ἀγρίαι Agriai) or Agrianians, were a tribe whose country was centered at Upper Strymon, in present-day central Western Bulgaria as well as southeasternmost Serbia, at the time situated north of the Dentheletae. Per Strabo the source of the river Strymon was within Agrianes' territory. In the times of Philip II of Macedon, the territory of the Agrianes was administered by Pella. They were crack javelin throwers and an elite unit of Alexander the Great's light infantry, who fought under the command of General Attalus. Etymology and tribal belonging Their name in Ancient Greek was Ἀγρίανες. The ethnonym is of Indo-European origin, it may have been derived from *agro- "field" (cf. Lat. ager, Grc. ἀγρός agros, Eng. acre). Irwin L. Merker considers it purely Hellenic, and lists certain Greek cognates such as the ethnonym of the Doric tribe Agraioi in Aetolia and the month Agrianos, which is found throughout the Dorian and Aeolian worlds. An early name of the Rhodopes was Achrida, which may also be a cognate. Pausanias described that Paeon, the eponymous ancestor of the Paionians (of whom Agrianes were members), was a brother of Epeius and Aetolus, the eponymous ancestors of the Epeians of Elis and the Aetolians respectively. Their place-name has several cognates in Greece such as Παιονίδαι (Paeonidai), a deme of the tribe Leontis in Attica. A place in the Argolid also has the same name. Herodotus described them as a Paeonian tribe, together with the Odomanti and Doberes in the vicinity of Pangaeum. Although the Agrianes, clearly fell within the Thracian sphere of influence, the only writer who describes them as Thracians is Theopompus. Geography Their country was centered at Upper Strymon, in present-day westernmost Bulgaria, and also held areas of southeasternmost Serbia, at the time situated north of the Dentheletae. In the times of Philip II, the territory of the Agrianes was administered by Pella. According to some Bulgarian researchers they inhabited an ethnocultural region known today as "Graovo", whose name probably derives from that of the Agrianes. Its location is in the central and eastern areas of modern-day Pernik Province. Military The peltasts raised from the Agrianes were the elite light infantry of the Macedonian army. They were often used to cover the right flank of the army in battle, being posted to the right of the Companion cavalry, a position of considerable honour. They were