In the early Antiquity, this area, which is geographically connected to the course of Bregalnica River or antic Astibos, was part of Paeonia, colonized by the Paeonian tribe known as the Derrones.
At the commencement of the Peloponnesian war Sitalces entered into alliance with the Athenians, and in 429 BC he invaded Macedon (then ruled by Perdiccas II) with a vast army that included 150,000 warriors from independent Thracian tribes (such as the Dii) and Paeonian tribes (Agrianes, Laeaeans).