Articles on Macedonia

[olvios]

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AN INTRODUCTION IN THE PROTOHISTORY OF SOUTHERN AND NORTHERN GREECE:
ON THE ACHAIANS AND MACEDONIANS
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Greetings everybody,

This post, shall endeavor to provide the members of this forum with
historically accurate information on Proto-Greek history, to the best
of the writer's ability.

I shall begin with explaining why have I chosen to use the above title
in this post.

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THE BATTLE OF PYDNA, 168 B.C., AND THE SUBJUGATION OF THE NORTHERN
GREEKS TO THE ROMANS
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The Roman Consul, Aemilius Paullus, [the subject of a Plutarch's Roman
Life, a brilliant strategist, and a somber, deeply religious,
virtuous and austere man], defeats the allied Greek army of the last
King Of Macedonia Perseus Philippou. Perseus' allies, included the
Epirotae [i.e. those Greeks from Epirus] and the Northern Illyrians.

[Encarta: 98 Desk Encyclopedia © & 1996-97 Microsoft Corporation.
All rights reserved. With additions by the translator.]

NOTES/ETYMOLOGY OF GREEK NAMES:

PERSEUS:
Perseus (mythology), in Greek mythology, son of the God Zeus and
Danae, daughter of King Acrisius of Argos, Pelloponesus.

FILLIPPOS/PHILIPPUS:
Greek, philos-friend, ippos-horse, thus Filippos-He who likes horses.

[Greek sources]

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THE NORTHERN GREEK REVOLT OF 148 B.C. LED BY ANDRISCUS
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Paullus [being the truly great man he was graciously] allowed
Macedonia to retain her independence, but the Greeks of Thessalia,
Macedonia and Thrace, being angry and upset at the Roman Occupation,
revolted under the leadership of a certain Macedonian known as
Andriscus, who claimed to be the son of the late King Perseus
Philippou.

This rebellion was however easily quelled by the Romans, and
Macedonia's independence was forfeited. Subsequently, Macedonia,
Epirus, Illyria, and Thessalia were fused together to become the
Roman Province Of Macedonia.

[Encarta: 98 Desk Encyclopedia © & 1996-97 Microsoft Corporation.
All rights reserved. With additions by the translator.]

NOTES/ETYMOLOGY OF GREEK NAMES:

ANDRISCUS: Greek, aner (andras)-man, iskos/iscus-diminutive, thus
"Andriskos"-little man.

[Greek sources]

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BATTLE OF LEUKOPETRA, ISTHMUS, 146 B.C.-THE SUBJUGATION OF THE
SOUTHERN GREEKS TO THE ROMANS:
---------------------------------------------------------------

The Roman Consul Leucius Mommius crushes the allied army of the
Achaean Confederacy. In the aftermath of the battle, the Roman
Senate decreed that the remainder of Greece (i.e. from Thessalia
southwards, but not inluding Thessalia), was to form another Roman
province, henceforth known as the Roman province of Achaia.

SUMMARY: The Romans did not name the remainder of Greece from
Thessaly southwards, "Provinincia Graeca" but instead "Achaia
Province" thus recognizing that the latter province did not encompass
all of the Greek territories. Similarly, they named Northern Greece,
("Boreia Ellas") "Macedonia" due to Macedonia's Imperial past.

[Source: A History of ancient times up to 30 B.C. (Istoria ton archaeon
chronon eos to 30 P.X.) by Michael Tiberius, Professor of Classical
Archaeology at the Aristotelian University of Thessalonica, Macedonia,
and Lambros Tsactsiras Professor Of Philology, at the University of
Athens. A publication of the "Organization for the publication of
educational books" under the Hellenic (Greek) Ministry of National
Education and Religious Affairs.]

NOTES/ETYMOLOGY OF GREEK NAMES:

Leucius: Greek, leucus/leukos-white, "white/of pale complexion".

ACHAIA: Homeric Name for Southern Greece, and the Southern Greeks.
Used by Homer, the famous early Greek poet who wrote the Iliad and
the Odyssea.


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CHAPTER I:

PROTO-GREEK (i.e. EARLY GREEK) HISTORY: AN INTRODUCTION
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Archaeological evidence and historical testimonies point out that
circa 2200-2100 B.C. the Greek-speaking tribes are found settled in
the general area of the Northern Pindus mountain range. These tribes,
are the same tribes that are believed to have unattached themselves
from the main body of the family of the Indo-European peoples during
the 5th millenium B.C., and have been subsequently scattered over the
area which is known today as Northern Greece [T.N.: i.e. historical
Macedonia].

In the first centuries of the 2nd millenium B.C., there arise three
main Greek-speaking groups.

a. The South-East Group (in the general area of North-western
Thessaly); the most characteristic tribe of that group were the
Ionians.

b. The Eastern Group (in the general area of Western Macedonia),
divided into two dialectic groups, namely & respectively, the Arcadic
and Aeolic.

c. The Western Group, where the most populous appears to be the tribe
of the Makednoi.

During the same time frame, the above Proto-Greek tribes,
chronologically led by the Ionians, start their gradual "descent"
towards the south. There, they shall come in contact with other Pro-
Greek [T.N.: -pro- here denotes more ancient than and/or before
than], known as the Creto-Islanders who have attained a high level of
culture.

Following on the tracks of the Ionians, the same route to the South
will be followed by the Eastern Tribes, which use the Aeolic dialect.
From these tribes, who include amongst others, the Achaians, the
Lapithae and the Minyae, the Mycenean civilization will be
established.

The Western Tribes, and most notably the Makednoi, will shortly
thereafter break-up. One of their tribal groups, will migrate towards
the Steraea Ellas and the Pelloponesus.

Another will settle in the area of Doris, where they will mix with
the local population, and will finally be named "the Dorians".

A third Makednoi tribal group will migrate to Thessaly, while the
fourth group, the Makedonians will prosper in the geographical area
of present-day West, South, and Central (Greek) Macedonia.

This fourth tribal group, the Makedonians, Greek-speaking like the
other three tribal groups, will choose not to migrate to the South,
but instead will remain for many centuries distanced from the rapid
cultural progress of their kinfolk tribes, who had benefited from
their contact with the advanced civilization of the Creto-Islanders.

THIS BRIEF INTRODUCTORY SUMMARY OF THE MIGRATION OF THE GREEK-
SPEAKING TRIBES FROM THE NORTH TO THE SOUTH, EXPLAINS THE REFERENCE
TO THE CLOSE TIES OF BLOOD BETWEEN THE DORIANS AND THE MAKEDONIANS
OFTEN ENCOUNTERED IN THE WORKS OF THE ANCIENT AUTHORS. ACTUALLY, THE
MAKEDONIANS ARE NOT DORIANS, BECAUSE AS WE HAVE SEEN ABOVE, THE
NAME "DORIAN" IS LESS ANCIENT THAN THE NAME "MAKEDONIAN" BUT RATHER,
THE DORIANS ARE MAKEDONIANS, SINCE BOTH TRIBES BELONG THE SAME
LANGUAGE GROUP, THAT OF THE MAKEDNOI, FROM WHOM THE DORIANS DETACHED
THEMSELVES IN ORDER TO MIGRATE TO THE SOUTH. [T.N. My capitals]

During the 8th Century B.C., the formerly distanced Makedonians,
slowly begin to surface to the forefront of history. In the 7th
Century B.C., the region of Orestiis (present-day Kastoria) is
mentioned by the ancient historians of the era as the seat of the
Makedonian Dynasty of the Argiadae and Temenidae. To make a side note
here, the name of the Makedonian Dynasty of the Argiadae gave to some
early historians the impression that those Makedonian Kings were
descended from Argos, Pelloponesus.

Today, many scientists believe that, that it is not from the
Pelloponesean Argos that the latter Argiadae Kings are desended, but
from Argos Oresticon (South of the modern city of Kastoria, Greece).
The documented existence of the name of Argos in the region of
Orestias, is another piece of evidence that underlines the common
ethnic and linguistic roots of both the Makedonians and the other
southern Greek tribes. Consequently, in both cases, the name of
"ARGOS" is an autochtonous name and not borrowed from elsewhere.

During the 7th and 6th Century B.C., the Makedonians move to the East
of Orestias, and subsequently settle in the provinces of Pieria,
Bottiaea (Bermion area), Aeordea (present-day Ptolemais) and Almopea
(present-day Aridaea). Next, they move past the River Axius, and
closely approach the borders of Chalcidici.

The older tribes who used to live there i.e. the Pelasgians etc., are
being repulsed and in some cases assimilated. In the meantime, the
relative isolation of the Makedonians from the Southern Greeks, has
already begun to be waived, through the founding of colonies in
Chalcidici, and the increased activity in sea-commerce. Thus, a rapid
cultural ascension is noted in Makedonia, which reaches its apogee in
the days of the Makedonian Kings, Amyntas, Philippos II, and
Alexander the Great.

The fact that the Makedonians were a part of the Greek world is hard
to be disputed today. The new archaeological discoveries along with
etymologycal analyses, as well as the unearthing of numerous new
ancient inscriptions -all without a single exeption Greek- featuring
a rich variety of Greek names, prove beyond the slightest shadow of
doubt that there is not even a brief discontinuance, neither
cultural, nor linguistic of the cultural unity of the Makedonians
with the rest of the Greeks.

To take a different view of the matter, the spread of the Hellenistic
culture, and of the Greek language, throughout the known world by
King Alexander the Great and his successors, is the most absolute
proof of this fact.

And each year, this fact is continuously proven and proven again, by
the new arhaeological findings, unearthed either during the extensive
excavations of Pella, or Vergina, or Dion, or Sindus, or in tenths of
less known locations, the most representative of which would be:
Boion, Kozane, Kastoria, Florina, Edessa, Aridaea, Cilcis, Kavala,
and last but by no means least, Thessalonica and Chalcidici.

Lastly, ending this chapter, I would like to add that Makedonia, was
the gateway Christianity used to spread the Gospel in Southern Greece.
Let us remember the vision Apostle Paul had one night in Troy, which
influenced to a large extent the future course European matters were
to take. Paul dreamt of an unknown Macedonian Man, who spoke to him
in Greek, saying: "Come to Macedonia and help us". [Acts 16, 8-9].

It is truly notworthy that, Paul addressing the Macedonians wrote his
epistles and preached in Greek.

[SOURCE: Hellenic (Greek) Ministry of National Education and Religious
Affairs, softcover, "Macedonia: A history and politics", Athinae,
1993, prologued by the Minister, translated into English by the
undersigned]

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CHAPTER II:

MACEDONIA: MYTHS, LEGENDS, AND HISTORICAL FACTS, AS PRESENTED BY
HERODOTUS, HESIOD, AND OTHER CLASSICAL GREEK AUTHORS.
[BRIEF FRAGMENTED EXCERPTS AND QUOTATIONS]
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"...According to Greek mythology, the ethnarch of the Macedonians,
was the son of Zeus and Aethra, daugther of Deukalion. His name
was "Makedon", and thus it was that his descendants came to be known
as "Makedonians".

"...Other Greek myths held that Makedon was the son, not grandson of
Deukalion, and a brother to Hellen, son of Deukalion."

"...The name Makedon in the Doric Dialect means, "he who is long"
or "he who is tall". [Greek, from Makos=Mekos, length]. Thus the
Macedonians are believed to have been tall and well built."

"...Yet another myth held that Makedon or Makednus, was the son of
Lycaon, King Of Arcadia, and a grandson of Pelasgus, who is said to
have been the first person who set foot on the Greek peninsula,
having sprung up from the ground."

"...Herodotus the Father Of History, writes that Macedonia was
inhabited by the Pelasgians, an Early Greek people. Homer, the early
Greek epic poet, makes numerous references to the Pelasgians in his
epics, numbering the traces that they have left behind of their
presence in Greece, like for instance the Pelasgic Walls of the Early
City of Athinae. Some claim that, the Pelasgians were autochthonous,
while other say that they were an Indo-European tribe that originated
in Northern Central Europe."

"...According to the local Macedonian myth, their first King was
Karanus, son of Temenos, the King Of Argos. Temenos, along with
Kresfontes and Aristodemus were the three Doric leaders who invaded
the Mycenean Pelloponesus, and smashed the Mycenean civilization.
Then they proceeded to divide the conquered territories between them,
with Kresfontes being given Messenia, Sparta and Laconia taken by
Aristodemus, and finally Temenos was given Argos. Following the death
of Temenos, the Princes argued about who should be king. One of them,
Feidon, managed to defeat his brothers in battle, and to usurp the
kingship. Karanos then, decided to find some other country where he
could be King. First, however he went to the Oracle of Delphi to ask
Pythias' advice. "You should find your kingdom there, were you will
find plenty of game and domestic animals, was her advice." Thus
Karanos and his entourage moved to the North, in search of suitable
land to establish his new kingdom. Finally, he discovered a green
valley, with a lot of game and goats, whereupon he thought that the
prophecy of Pythia had been fulfilled. Thus he built a city there,
which he named "AIGAE" [Greek: Aiga-goat]. [present day Vergina, a
site of substantial archaeological activity, as numerous important
findings have been unearthed."]

"...Another version of the same myth is presented in one of the
tragedies of Euripides, namely "ARCHELAUS"."

"...From the name of their capital, AIGAE [Greek: Aiga-goat], the
goat was one of their sacred symbols. This is attested by the
engraving of a goat, in many Macedonian coins."

"...A desendant of the Argian Dorians was thus the first King Of
Macedonia, according to the myth. But this myth, hides inside it, the
seed of truth, like almost every myth. All the subsequent Macedonian
Kings, believed that they were descended from the Dorians and Temenus.
And because the Dorians, were also known as the "Heraclidae" (i.e.
Herculeans) because they were said to be descended from the Hero
Heracles . Consequently, the MACEDONIANS WORSHIPPED HERACLES AS THEIR
ANCESTOR. He was their National Hero, a fact proven by the numerous
shrines and temples devoted to him, by the numerous inscriptions
found to refer to him, and finally, by his face which is found carved
in many objects and marbles. The coat of arms of King Philippus II,
found engraved on his shield at his tomb in Vergina, is Heracles' War
Club."

"...The name "Macedonia" is first mentioned by Herodotus, the Father
of History. Homer only refers to the Pelasgian tribes that used to
inhabit Macedonia, prior to the arrival of the Dorians/Macedonians.
Homer also mentions the NORTHERN NEIGHBOURS OF THE PELASGIANS, KNOWN
AS PAEONAE, AND THEIR KING, PYRRAICHMES WHO TOOK PART IN THE SIEGE OF
TROY."

NOTES/ETYMOLOGY OF GREEK NAMES:
[PYRRAICHMES: Greek, Pyrros=red, aichme=point of the sword, or
arrowhead.]

HISTORICAL SAYINGS OF MACEDONIANS:
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ALEXANDROS I, KING OF MACEDONIA:
--------------------------------

[Adressing the envoys of the King Of Persia]

"When you go back to whence you came, back to your King, tell him,
that you have been well received by a GREEK KING."

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ALEXANDROS I, KING OF MACEDONIA, 496 B.C.
-----------------------------------------

[Adressing the Hellanodicae, the officials of the Olympic Games]

"I came hither as a Greek, son of a Greek, to take part in the
Olympic Games"

[T.N.: At first he was denied participation as a non-Greek, but
he was able to produce evidence proving his Greek ancestry and was
thus allowed to take part in the Games; whereupon he won, and was
immortalized as an Olympionices. In his face, the whole Macedonian
\people were most officialy recognized to be Greek by the Achaeans.]

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DEMARATUS, CORINTHIAN STRATEGOS:
--------------------------------

[Adressing Alexander the Great, on the occassion of his being
proclaimed Marshal Of The Greeks, by the Pan-Greek conference
of Corinth.]

"At this moment, Greece and Macedonia feel jubilant delight",

whereupon Alexander replied:

"But you naive man, Macedonia belongs to Greece as well"

[ESTIN MEN OYN ELLAS KAI H MAKEDONIA]

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ALEXANDER THE GREAT:
---------------------

[Inscription found scribbled on all the loot Alexander send back to
the Oracle of Delphi to honour God Apollo]

ALEXANDROS FILIPPOU KAI OI ELLHNES, PLHN LAKEDAEMONION.

ALEXANDER SON OF PHILIPPUS, AND THE HELLENES (GREEKS) EXCEPT THE
SPARTANS.

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ALEXANDER II, KING OF MACEDONIA, 496 B.C.
-----------------------------------------

[Adressing the Allied Greek Army's representatives opposite the army
of Mardonius, acting Field Marshal of the Persian King Xerxes I, on
the eve of the Battle of Plataea]

"Because I am Greek too, and seeing your indesisiveness, I feared
that you may strike camp and run away, I came to tell you that the
morale of Mardonius' army is in it's lowest ebb, and I strongly urge
you to give battle tommorow when Mardonius least expects it."

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EPILOGUE:
---------

I could have proceeded to write tenths of pages more really, with
referrence to the ties between the Achaians and the Macedonians,
the Northern and Southern Greeks.

One last thing before I draw this letter to a close. If you have read
carefully all the above, you now probably understand why Mr. Steven
Pressfield named one of his Spartiate heroes "Alexander" in his book,
the "Gates Of Fire".

The Dorians and the Macedonians, kinfolk, brother people, were
Greece's very best. If it wasn't for them, Greece would have
certainly occupied subsantially less space in World History than she
does now.

I do sincerely hope that this post has been of assistance to all
scholars.

Very respectfully,

"AGESILAUS"

Lt. Cdr. Hellenic Navy
BSc, Nautical Science and Seamanship, Hellenic Naval Academy
BA, English Language and Literature, University Of Athens

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ESSAY EDITED BY:
----------------

HERR JORIT WINTJES, MA.

Lehrbeauftragter am Lehrstuhl fόr Alte Geschichte der Universitδt
Wόrzburg

[Lecturer at the Chair Of Ancient History of the University of
Wόrzburg]

Bayerische Julius-Maximilians-Universitδt Wόrzburg
Institut fόr Geschichte
Lehrstuhl fόr Alte Geschichte
Residenzplatz 2, Tor A,
97070 Wόrzburg, Deutchland

Bavarian Julius Maximilians University of Wurzburg
Institute Of History
Chair of Ancient History
Residenzplatz 2, Tor A,
97070 Wurzburg, Deutchland

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NOTES:
-------

I.

Herr Wintjes notes that in his view, it is also important
that there is no ancient source referring to the Macedonians
as true barbarians.

II.

Herr Wintjes also notes that, the impact of the predominately
Achaeo-Ionian expansion into the Western Mediterranean (erroneously
referred to as "colonization") should not be underestimated.
He proceeds to point out that, Latin literature is in it's entirety
a result of Greek cultural influence, mainly from the Southern
Italian Greek cities [Magna Grecia]. He then quotes the Augustan
Roman Historian Pompeius Trogus, who said:

QUOTE

"The Greeks brought culture and civilization to Gaul."

UNQUOTE

Herr Wintjes argues that although Pompeius Trogus was referring
to Massilia, his statement is true for Italy as well.

III.

Herr Wintjes notes his slight disagreement on some details with
regard to the Minoans and Myceneans.

--------------------------
DISCLAIMER (LEGAL STUFF):
--------------------------

SINCE I HATE TO TAKE CREDIT FOR OTHER PEOPLE'S WORK, I COULD
NOT PROBABLY STRESS ENOUGH THAT "CHAPTER I" OF THE ABOVE ESSAY WAS
NOT WRITTEN BY MYSELF BUT IT WAS AUTHORED BY A MULTI-NATIONAL TEAM
OF UNIVERSITY PROFESSORS OF HISTORY AND ARCHAEOLOGY, EACH ONE AN
INTERNATIONALLY ACCLAIMED AUHORITY ON ONE'S FIELD OF STUDY, UNDER
THE EMPLOY AND PATRONAGE OF THE HELLENIC (GREEK) MINISTRY OF NATIONAL
EDUCATION AND RELIGIOUS AFFAIRS, in 1993. I SIMPLY TRANSLATED A SMALL
PART OF THAT BOOK INTO ENGLISH.

VERY UNFORTUNATELY, THE MINISTRY HAS CHOSEN NOT TO MENTION THE NAMES
OF THOSE RESPECTED PROFESSORS WHO AUTHORED THE BOOK "MACEDONIA:
A HISTORY AND POLITICS" WHICH IS WHY, I IN TURN DID NOT MENTION
THEIR NAMES. IN CASE ANY OF THEM, OR AN ACADEMIC, OR A GREEK
PANEPISTIMIACOS HAPPENS TO READ THIS ESSAY, I DO SINCERELY APPOLOGIZE
FOR MY FAILURE TO DO SO, BUT PLEASE UNDERSTAND THAT I AM NOT TO BLAME.

YOU MAY NOTICE THAT THE QUOTATIONS FOUND IN MY ESSAY'S CHAPTER II
LACK REFERENCE SOURCES. I HAVE SIMPLY CHOSEN NOT TO MENTION THE
SOURCE FOR EVERY OF MY QUOTATIONS, SINCE I EXPLICITLY STATE IN
CHAPTER'S II TITLE THAT THESE ARE QUOTATIONS FROM HERODOTUS, HESIOD,
AND OTHER CLASSICAL GREEK AUTHORS. AGAIN MINE IS ONLY THE TRANSLATION.
AFTER ALL, THIS IS NOT A THESIS FOR A DEGREE IN HISTORY IS SOME
UNIVERSITY, BUT SIMPLY AN ESSAY WHICH ENDEAVORS TO PRESENT INTERESTING
INFORMATION FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE MEMBERS OF THIS FORUM.

[olvios]

The Pan-Macedonian Press
A Newsletter Published by the Pan-Macedonian Association of Ontario EST. 1960


Magnes and Macedon

The district of Macedonia took its name from Macedon the
son of Zeus and Thyia, Deucalion’s daughter, as Hesiod says:
‘And she conceived and bare to Zeus who delights in the
thunderbolt two sons, Magnes and Macedon, rejoicing in
horses, who dwell round about Pieria and Olympus.’(1)
(Hesiod, c.720 BC)


Magnhta Makhdona
Makedonia h cwra wnomasqh apo Makedonos tou
Dios kai Quias ths Deukaliwnos, ws fhsin Hsiodos:
h d’ upokusamenh Dii geinato terpikeraunw uie
duw Magnhta Makhdona Q’ ippiocarmhn, oi peri
Pierihn kai Olumpon dwmat enaion. (1)
(Hsiodos, c.720 BC)


‘Maketai’ from ‘Maketia’
Greek and Western history begins with Homer and Hesiod writing eternal
masterpieces c.720 BC. Homer and Hesiod wrote The Iliad, The Odyssey, The Theogony,
The Works and Days, and many more great western masterpieces. They recorded events
of their prehistoric world passed on through oral traditions. This prehistoric period is
known as the Bronze Age, the Heroic Age, the Mycenaean Age, and the Homeric Age.
From these great works of literature of Greek Mythology and Legend, the ancient and
modern historical record, and the archaeological record, much is known about the
Macedonians and their world. The Macedonians are ingrained in Greek mythology from
the earliest prehistoric times. The Macedonians lived in a traditional, free peasant,
egalitarian, warrior, patriarchal society that was grounded in transhumant pastoralism.
The Macedonians spoke one of the oldest Greek dialects, Aeolic Greek, the same dialect
of Homer and Hesiod. The nomenclature of people, places and descriptions is Greek and
original, many unique to Macedonia alone, formed with proper Greek roots.
The language of the Macedonians was not controversial in antiquity. Hesiod the poet and
recorder of Greek mythology tells us about Macedonia, the Macedonians, their background,
habitat and language in his cosmology of the Greek world. Hesiod, in his own time c.720 BC
casts the traditions of the people in his Greek world into the form of genealogies, in which
“eponymous ancestors of ethnic groups were related to one another,”(3) as summed up quite
well by Hammond. In simpler terms Hesiod determined the race and ancestry of the Greeks
by the separate Greek dialects of the period. Hesiod was writing of a period much earlier
than his own time, the first appearance of the Magnesians and Macedonians being about the
thirteenth century BC. The Iliad tells us that the Magnesians were placed ‘around Peneus and
the quivering foliage of Pelion’,(4) which is Magnesia or more commonly known as Thessaly.
In Hesiod's work Deucalion living in Thessaly had a son Hellen and daughter Thyia. Hesiod writes,
“And from Hellen the war-loving king sprang Dorus and Xuthus and Aeolus delighting in horses.”(5)
These three children of Hellen represent the three major Greek dialects, the Doric, Ionic, and
Aeolic in respective order. Hesiod then writes, “The district of Macedonia took its name from
Macedon the son of Zeus and Thyia, Deucalion’s daughter, as Hesiod says: And she conceived
and bare to Zeus who delights in the thunderbolt two sons, Magnes and Macedon, rejoicing in
horses, who dwell round about Pieria and Olympus.”(6) Hesiod makes Magnes and Macedon brothers,
sons of Zeus, and first cousins of the Hellenes because he regards them as speakers of a dialect
of the Greek language. Magnes fathered the Magnesians who settled south of Mt. Olympus in
Thessaly, becoming closer to the Classical Greek world. Macedon settled north of Mt. Olympus
in Macedonia, a far richer land, and fathered the Macedonians. Hesiod would not have made
Macedon and Magnes first cousins of Dorus, Xuthus and Aeolus, the founders of the three main
dialects of Greek speech if they were not Greek speakers. Modern archaeology and the historical
record have proven Hesiod correct. In Thessaly inscriptions of the Aeolic dialect recording names
and events have been found and placed in c.500 BC.(7) It follows then that Macedon being a brother
of Magnes spoke Aeolic Greek. This was corroborated by Hellanicus c.500 BC, a Greek historian and
contemporary of Herodotus, who visited the court of the Macedonian King and interacted with the
Macedonians during his stay. He changed Hesiod’s cosmology. He stated that Aeolus and Zeus fathered
Macedon, making Macedon a son and not a cousin of Aeolus, and a direct descendant of Hellen.(8)
Why did Hellanicus make this change? He recognized the strong Aeolic dialect which he was very
familiar with and concluded that Hesiod was not accurate enough when describing the cosmology
of the Greek world. Greek origins were indicated by dialects in Hesiod’s cosmology, which is
Greek Mythology, and Hellanicus’ observations as a historian needed to be expressed by Greek
traditional mythology. Hesiod’s mythology and the historical record must match in Hellanicus’ world.
Hellanicus clarified Hesiod’s work by adding greater detail about Greek origins. Hellanicus corroborates
Hesiod’s cosmology, there is no question that the Macedonian people were of Greek origin and Greek
speakers of the Aeolic dialect.

Macedonian names of people are predominantly original and formulated from Greek roots in very early
times. They are distinctly Greek in origin and original at the same time.(9) Names in Macedonia as distinctly
Greek with Greek roots can only be named by Greek speakers, the Macedonians. These names are also
original in form and do not borrow from Greece proper. The Macedonians, in their Macedonian(Aeolic)
dialect, called themselves ‘maketai’ and their land ‘maketia’, both of which are distinctly Greek in origin.
The ‘maketai’ from ‘maketia’ literally translates to ‘the highlanders from the highlands’. Their root
‘mak’ is very Greek, it is used in nouns, names and as an adjective. Homer in his Iliad and Odyssey, for
the first time in recorded History c.720 BC, uses the words ‘makednos’ and ‘makedne’, which means long
or tall. The Macedonians were tall, large, robust people similar in appearance to the Dorians, and the land,
Macedonia, was very high, mountainous and rugged. Thus the ‘mak’ root was used to describe the people
and the land itself. ‘Maketai’ is a pre-Hesiod, pre-Homeric earlier variant with the root ‘mak’.(10) It is
very similar to Hesiod’s language where ‘makednos’ is a Greek adjective and the noun version is ‘mekos’.
The Magnesians born of Magnes, brother of Macedon, also have a very distinguished root. The word ‘magnes’
has the same meaning as ‘makednos’ and ‘makros’, which are very similar to words with the root ‘mak’ in
them.(11) The Magnesians are also described as larger, stronger and taller, similar to the Macedonians and
Dorians. The Macedonians, Magnesians and Dorians have very much in common. All are described as big,
tall, strong and powerful people, and their names imply the same. Here are a few more modern examples
with roots ‘mak’ and ‘mag’; (in Greek : the meaning), (makrinos : far, distant), (makria : far off),
(makros : length), (makrus : long), (makrainw : make longer, grow taller), (in English : the meaning),
(macro : big, large, greater), macros : as in large computer commands, macro, pronounced mak-ro : as
a prefix for a variety of medical and scientific terms, i.e., macrocosm, macroeconomics, etc., a magnum
bottle of champagne, a magnum shotgun or a magnum bullet. There are numerous words throughout our
vocabulary and the vocabulary of many modern languages with ‘mak’ and ‘mag’, and even ‘meg’ and
‘mega’ a later derivative with similar meaning denoting many, big, powerful and great. From Hesiod’s
cosmology of the Greek world, Macedon and Magnes live on in modern nomenclature.
Place names are also original with proper Greek roots and meanings predominantly unique to Macedonia
formulated during the earliest times. Some of the most significant names
complement Hesiod’s cosmology of the Greek world.

‘Orestai’ describes mountain men and is a famous tribal name, with a connection to the Orestes region,
plain and town. ‘Orestai’ and ‘Oreitai’ are similarly used to describe the people as mountain men and
highlanders, having the same meaning as ‘maketai’.(12) Orestes is the homeland of the dominant Macedonian
tribe from Upper Macedonia, the Argead tribe, led by the original King Perdiccas c.700 BC. The Argead dynasty
produced King Philip and Megas Alexandros. Pieria is the plain of central Macedonia, and a mountain range,
in Hesiod’s cosmology, and translates into ‘the rich land’, describing the beauty of the region of woodlands,
rivers and fertile plains and valleys, the home of the Macedonians. On the Pierian plain there exists Aegae, a
very famous Macedonian city that became the capital of Macedonia where archaeological excavations have
unearthed the great burial sites of the Kings of Macedon. The name Aegae comes from a Greek root ‘aiges’,
which is the name for goats. Hammond points out that the word ‘aiges’ in itself is onomatopoeic(13); it
vocally sounds like goats crying when pronounced. The Macedonian Kingdom’s great wealth was tied to
transhumant pastorialism and the capital city of the Macedonians reflects that fact. The Macedonian Royals
have been buried here from c.650-350 BC. Professor Hammond in 1968, after studying the historical record
of ancient writers, believed and stated that Aegae was in fact modern Vergina, and was proven correct a
decade later. Professor Andronicos, in 1978, discovered the Royal Tombs of the Argead dynasty, the tomb
of King Philip and hundreds of other burials. Hundreds of inscriptions of Greek names have been uncovered
written in Aeolic Greek, all Macedonian and the great majority original to Macedonia. Many burials of
Macedonians in the pit graves of the middle and lower classes have revealed the same. Hesiod, Hellanicus
and others have been proven correct again. Original Greek names of people and places, unique to Macedonia,
in Greek and in the Aeolic dialect proves undisputedly that the Macedonians were Greek.
Greek Mythology, Legend, ancient and modern history and archaeology show that the Macedonians
were very successful transhumant pastoralists, living in a traditional, free peasant, egalitarian, warrior,
patriarchal society, and speaking Aeolic Greek. “The mountains belonged to the Magnetes and Macedones,
according to Hesiod, the area was exceptionally beautiful and rich, with fertile plains and valleys and
woodlands.”(14) The toughest warriors and patriarchs, living up to Mythology and Legend, fortitude and
endurance, never leaving that beautiful land. Hesiod’s cosmology of the Greek world still proves to be
correct. Who could ever imagine otherwise? ‘Maketai’ from ‘Maketia’, forever.


Written by Dimitrios Panopoulos

1,5,6 Evelyn-White, Hugh, Hesiod: The Homeric Hymns and Homerica. (Cambridge, 1970), p.157.
2 Evelyn-White, p. 156.
3,7,8,9,12 Hammond, Nicholas, The Macedonian State: The Origins Institutions and History. (Oxford,1989), p. 12-14.
4 Iliad 2.757
10,11Daskalakis, AP., The Hellenism of the Ancient Macedonians. (Athens, 1967) p. 12.
13 Hammond, p.4.
14 Hammond, Nicholas, The Miracle That Was Macedonia. (New York, 1991), p. 1.

This newsletter is published by the The Pan-Macedonian Association of Ontario, EST 1960, a not for
profit organization dedicated to the preservation of the historical record. If you enjoyed the reading
please let us and your member Association know. Get in touch and get involved. Your support is important.
You are encouraged to distribute freely, in whole, for educational purposes.

[olvios]

Frequently Asked Questions on Macedonia
Compiled by
Alexandros Gerbessiotis
(e-mail address: alex@endor.harvard.edu)
(c) Copyright 1992,1993 by Alexandros Gerbessiotis.
All rights reserved.
HTML Design and minor changes
by Christos Sideris
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The material presented here is based on various sources. These
sources are included at the end of this document or mentioned
when first used.
In cases we need to write text in Greek the following transli-
teration of the greek alphabet will be used:
abgdezhuiklmnjoprstyfxcv
ABGDEZHUIKLMNJOPRSTYFXCV
As an example AUHNAI is spelled A Theta Eta N A I
The term Macedonia is used to describe the geographic region that
evolved into the area called Macedonia in modern Greece. This
area seems to coincide with the area called Macedonia in ancient
times.
Republic of Skopje (or Skopje in short) and Skopjans are the
terms used to describe the ex-Socialist Republic of Yugoslavia
and the various ethnic groups living there (especially the ones
who call themselves "Macedonians"). With reference to ancient
times the lands of the Republic of Skopje were divided among
various tribes, the Bardanians in the north (including the area
where the city of Skopje is presently located), the Paeonians in
the south and the Illyrians in the west.
--------------------------------------------------------------------

Table of Contents
What were the borders of ancient Macedonia?
When did the first hellenic tribes reside in the area later
called by them Macedonia?
What is the meaning of the word 'Macedon'? References.
The Macedonian state until the end of the 6th century BC.
What were the relations of Macedonia with the other two Greek
Kingdoms of Thessaly and Epeiros?
What were the relations between the Macedonians and the Il-
lyrians?
What was the Macedonian form of government?
What did ancient Greek writers write about Macedonia?
"Hellas" and "Macedonia". When was the first time that the
word Hellas was used to describe the country inhabited by people
belonging to hellenic (greek) tribes?
Was the Macedonian tongue a greek dialect or not?
"ANEBOA MAKEDONISTI" ?
There is a reference in a work by Pausanias that may give
the impression that Macedonians, around 214-213BC, were speaking
a non-Greek language.
Did Demosthenes believe the Macedonians were barbarians?
Is there any reference by Demosthenes to an incident that
can lead us to conclude that he and his fellow Athenians be-
lieved that Macedonians indeed spoke a greek dialect?
Is it possible [ignoring historic evidence that shows that
this was not the case] that Macedonians had spoken a non-greek
language before 340BC and within a 10-20 year period every Ma-
cedonian was fluent in the attic dialect?
Who may have 'hellenized' ancient Macedonians, if we we as-
sume, despite proof for the contrary, that they were not a greek
tribe ?
Isocrates used the phrases "ALOFYLON TO GENOS", "OYX
OMOFYLOY GENOYS". Do they mean "of other tribe" or "of other
race"?
Skopjans accuse us Macedonians in Greece of changing the
names of our cities into Greek ones some time in the 20th century
instead of using the slavic names assigned to these cities since
"ancient" (sic) names. They claim that Edessa for example should
not be called so but VODEN instead, and Thessaloniki should be
called SOLUN.
Skopjans claim that when Slavs descended to the Balkan pen-
insula, in the 7th century AD, Macedonians vanished and there was
a kind of 'slavicization' of Macedonia which 'gave birth' to the
"Slavic-Macedononians" as Skopjans claim they are (at least some
of them), the supposedly deserved ancestors of ancient Macedoni-
ans. Are such claims true say up to 15th century AD?
Do the Skopjans have desires on Macedonia, Greece?
When did 'Macedonians' of the Skopjan type first appear?
What was the population distribution of Macedonia, the
Republic of Skopje, and parts of Bulgaria in the years of Otto-
man rule?
What is the nationality of the Vlachs?
Was the Bulgarian King Samuel of Skopjan nationality as some
Skopjans claimed he was?
What is the size of the Greek minority in the Republic of
Skopje.
Macedonia and the (Greek) War of Independence.
When was the first time the word ``Macedonia'' was defined
to include lands of the nowadays Rep. of Skopje?
What were the views of the Bulgarian Exarchate on the popu-
lation composition of Macedonia.
Did all the Greeks in Macedonia speak Greek only in the late
19th century?
What were the events that followed the Berlin Congress of
1878?
The Neuilly treaty of 1920.
Communism and Macedonia.
Bulgaria and Germany in World War II.
What are the intentions of the Communists still ruling
Skopje towards the region of modern-day Greece called Macedonia
since ancient times?
Skopjan claims on Greece (continued).
Why Skopjans use the term "Aegean macedonia"?
What do some Skopjans claim that the population composition
of Macedonia is?
Bulgarian statements on Skopje in the late fifties [after
the Tito-Stalin breakup].
Skopjan minority claims.
Are there any Slavs living in Greece? When the last few
Slavs left Greece? Are there any Slavophone living in Greece?
Where are they living? Who are they?
A brief history of the Bulgarian-origin terrorist group IMRO
(Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization ) founded one
hundred years ago (1893).
GENERAL REFERENCES

What were the borders of ancient Macedonia?
Thucydides (II 99) defined ancient Macedonia as the area extend-
ing to the east as far as the lands of mountain Paggaion, east
of river Strymon, to the south to the Thermaikos Bay, Chalcidice,
river Pineios (the border with Thessaly) and the Kambounia moun-
tains, to the north up to (including) the city of Pella, south of
the lands of Paeonians, and to the west to the mountains (Pindos,
Tymfe etc) that separate Macedonia from Epeiros and ancient Il-
lyria (today's Albania).
Macedonia, as defined by Thucydides, coincides with the region
of Macedonia of modern Greece minus some lands of the Chalcidice
prefecture.
In later dates the borders of the Macedonian State (that is, the
lands ruled by the Macedonian Kings) varied and depending on the
circumstances it extended westwards up to the Adriatic Sea,
eastwards up to river Evros and beyond, and to the north up to
the city of Lychnidon between the lakes of Brygies and Lyhnetis
[the translation of some Greek names into English may seem weird.
Blame me for this.]. References pointing to the borders of the
Macedonian state can be found in Strabo, VII.
The terms Macedonia and Macedonian State may seem analogous to
the terms Great Britain and British Empire.
Back to Top

When did the first hellenic tribes reside in the area later
called by them Macedonia?
The first hellenic tribes of Dorians and Achaeoi resided in Ma-
cedonia in prehistoric times, first in Emathia near mountain Ver-
mion and later expanded northwards and eastwards to cover the
lands outlined in Question 1. Herodotos mentioned that around
the 9th century BC the Macedonian State had the city of Aegae as
its capital and that either Caranos or Perdikkas was considered
the founder of the Macedonian dynasty.
[ Note: The ancient royal city of Aegae is located in modern
day Vergine in the Emathia prefecture of Greece. Excavations
which began in 1976 by the late Professor Manolis Andronikos re-
vealed that the site of the city was indeed located near Vergina
and not near Edessa as many archaeologists, Professor Andronikos
included, previously believed. It was Professor N. G. L. Ham-
mond who in 1968 first suggested that Vergina was the place to
look for Aegae, a belief peculiar even to himself at that time.
The first royal tombs in Vergina were excavated in 1976-1977 and
one of them is believed to belong to Philippos II, father of
Alexander the Great. ]
According to Herodotos, the Makednoi (Macedonians) who crossed
Doris and moved to Peloponnesos were later called Dorians. Since
the term Dorians is much more well known than the term Makednoi
we shall also use it to identify the latter people in the discus-
sion to follow.
The Dorians who formed the Macedonian state came in contact
with the local Pelasgic population whose size was much smaller
than the one residing at the sea shores and the islands of South-
ern Greece. It is for this reason that German Historian K. Bel-
loch considered the Macedonians the purest Greeks of any other
part of Greece (Gr. Geschichte, I, 1a, p92). The
Dorians(Makednoi) of Macedonia were larger in number than those
who moved southwards. This is because those who moved southwards
were reduced in number either due to attrition or to settlements
in the areas they visited along their movement to Southern
Greece.
Such a place of permanent residence for some Makednoi(Dorians)
was Doris. When these Dorians (known until then as Makednoi
only) moved to Peloponnesos they became known there as Dorians
(that is, the people [coming] from Doris).
Back to Top

What is the meaning of the word 'Macedon'? References.
The word Macedon (Gk: Makedvn) is very likely to come from the
greek word 'makednos' first mentioned in Homer's Odyssey (Od.
H106), and later by Herodotos, who called 'Makednon eunos' the
various Doric tribes among which he included the Macedonians
(Her. I.56, VIII.43).
The word 'Makednos' has the meaning of long, tall, and high-
lander. Some archaeologists believe that the Macedonians were
called so because they were tall. Nowadays the meaning of
'highlander' is more prevalent. This is because Macedonians used
to live early in prehistoric times in the mountains of Vermio in
Greece.
The greek words Macetia (Gk: MAKETIA) and Macetae (Gk: MAKETAI)
were also used in early times to identify Macedonia and the Ma-
cedonians.
The biblic Hettieim or Kitim and Kitiaioi originate from Maketia
and Maketai.
Hesiod in Theogonia, written in the middles of 8th century BC,
claimed that Makednos and Magnes who used to live in the lands
around mountain Olympos and Pieria were sons of Zeus and Thyias,
daughter of Deukalion. This suggests that the other Greeks of
that time believed that the Macedonians and Magnetes belonged to
the same tribe (a hellenic one).
Hellanikos, who lived at the time of Herodotos, considered Ma-
cedon son of Aeolos. Apollodoros considered Macedon son of Lykaon
and thus grandson of the king of Argos Pelasgos and Lykaon king
of Arcadians whose 50 sons became leaders of various greek
tribes. On the other hand Aelianos considered Lykaon, King of
Emathia and Pindos, son of Macedon.
Aeschylus, in Iketidai, had the king of Argos Pelasgos boasting
that his family was ruling the lands beyond Pindos and Dodoni
up to river Strymon (that is including Macedonia, the one part of
modern day Greece).
Back to Top

The Macedonian state until the end of the 6th century BC.
The Macedonians until the 6th century BC lived isolated from the
other Greeks a pastoral life known as transhumant pastoralism
moving their herds to the mountain pastures in the spring and to
the lowland pastures in the winter (see N. G. L. Hammond).
Their language was affected by the way of their life and was not
as linguistically developed as that of Athens. Macedonians built
their houses on hilltop and well-protected areas and retained the
lifestyle of the original Dorians possibly emphasized by the need
of intermittent wars needed to preserve their own existence.
A German historian and linguist, O. Hoffmann, considered Ma-
cedonians a greek tribe that first lived in the mountains of Pin-
dos then moved towards the lands of river Haliakmon and in some
unknown time towards the valley of river Axios.
The first contact between the Macedonians and other Greeks
(those of Chalcidice) occurred at the end of the 6th century BC
when Amyntas I, father of Alexander I, conquered Anthemounta in
Chalcidice. This contact terminates the isolationism of the Ma-
cedonian State and signifies a new era of participation in the
events taking place in the hellenic world by forging alliances
with various city-states, becoming an enemy of other ones, and
switching sides, as fit to the interests of the State.
There are some people who advocate the thesis that the Macedoni-
ans were not Greek. An English archaeologist, St. Casson, ob-
served that it was difficult to give a definition of what could
be considered 'hellenic'. If one, according to him, included in
such a definition everything found north or south of the
Korinthos bay (in Peloponnesos, Southern Greece) between the 10th
and 8th century BC, then Macedonia should be considered greek.
The people, according to Casson, living in Macedonia were using
the same jewels with those living in Sparta, Olympia, Delphoi,
Aegina, and Argos. This at least proves the close relations of
the people living in these areas in the first centuries of the
1st millenium BC.
The recent excavations in Vergina confirm the conclusions of Cas-
son for the remaining centuries.
Back to Top

What were the relations of Macedonia with the other two Greek
Kingdoms of Thessaly and Epeiros?
Epeiros, Macedonia and Thessaly were all inhabited by Greek
tribes. Epeiros, Macedonia and Thessaly had more in common than
any other Greek state. All three were kingdoms [monarchies], a
form of government highly disliked by the Greeks in the South
[Sparta being a sole exception had two kings]. For Epeiros and
Macedonia monarchy was the result of the pastoral life which
forced people to live in areas surrounded by mountains and be
isolated from the other Greeks.
Despite references by Thucydides that the Epeirotians were not
Greek, excavations in Epeiros in the 1950s proved such claims of
Thucydides to be totally untrue, since it can now be proved that
Molossians, Athamanians, Chaones and Thesprotians and other peo-
ple living in Epeiros [known collectively as Epeirotians] were
Greek, speaking Greek and writing in Greek throughout the life-
time of Thucydides and even before that according to the archaeo-
logical evidence found so far.
Ancient Greeks (Iliad P.234) believed that Dodoni in Epeiros was
the center of the Hellenic world and that the names Hellas and
Hellenes were first given to the people of Epeiros also called
Graecoi, the root of the English word 'Greek'. For more details
we refer to Aristotle's Meteorologica 352a, 34.
Macedonians were in close contacts with both the Thessalians and
the Epeirotians. Marriages among the members of the royal fami-
lies of the three kingdoms were common. Olympias, mother of Alex-
ander the Great, was a Molossian princess. Molossians believed
that the founder of their tribe was Neoptolemos son of homeric
Achilles. Macedonians and Epeirotians were many times allies in
wars against their common enemy, the Illyrians. Diodoros (XV 13)
mentioned that in a single battle following an Illyrian invasion
of Macedonia 15,000 Epeirotians were killed, a quite high
number, by the Greek standards of that time.
Back to Top

What were the relations between the Macedonians and the Il-
lyrians?
The Illyrians were Indoeuropeans and used to live in nowadays Al-
bania and the western-northwestern part of the Republic of
Skopje. They were not a greek tribe. Nowadays Albanians can be
considered descendants of the ancient Illyrians although many
other people lived in Illyria in various times (such as Greeks,
Latins, Germans, Slavs, and Turks). The modern albanian language
seems to have greek elements but these elements were most prob-
ably introduced in the older illyrian language during the hel-
lenistic and roman periods and later, in the byzantine times,
when Illyrians appeared to be speaking Greek.
Various authors have supported the thesis that Illyrians and Ma-
cedonians belonged to the same (non-greek) tribe and spoke the
same (non-greek) language. Given that it has been proved beyond
any reasonable doubt (see following questions) that the language
spoken by ancient Macedonians was a greek dialect such claims are
not true. An ancient writer Polyvios (XXVII 8,9) wrote that Ma-
cedonians were using translators in their contacts with the Il-
lyrians, which implies that they were not speaking the same
language.
Illyrians used to live up to the hellenistic and roman years a
primitive life raiding neighboring areas. Raids by Illyrians,
whenever they were able to cross the mountain passes, in Ma-
cedonia and Epeiros were frequent [See also Question 5]. In the
early 4th century BC, when the succession to the Macedonian
throne was problematic Illyrians invaded Macedonia and occupied
most of the lands of the Macedonian State. They were driven out
of the State only with the combined efforts of Macedonians,
Epeirotians, Thessalians and the settlers of Chalcidici.
Back to Top

What was the Macedonian form of government?
It was mentioned in a previous question that the Macedonian State
was a kingdom. The form of government reminded that found in
Iliad and Odyssey. The rule of the Macedonian king was not abso-
lute and his 'hetairoi', as the Macedonian soldiers were called,
were consulting the king sometimes quite vociferously. It was not
uncommon even for Alexander the Great to have to convince his Ma-
cedonian soldiers for his future actions and to request their ap-
proval. The institution of 'hetairoi' had its roots in Homer
(Iliad D 204, 532, E 663, Z 170,260) where the Myrmidon soldiers
of Achilles were called so.
Back to Top

What did ancient Greek writers write about Macedonia?
Aeschylus (Iketidai, 250) and Herodotus (V 22) believed that
Macedonians were Dorian Greeks. Herodotos claimed that the
Macedonians (called at that time Makednoi) who moved to Pelopon-
nesos from Doris were later called Dorians.
[The English translation of the works by Herodotus we use is due
to A. D. Godley and published by Harvard University Press
in the US, and Willian Heineman Ltd in Great Britain as part of
the Loeb Classical Library]
In Herodotus
Book I, 56 (page 53) it is mentioned "These races, Ionian and
Dorian, were the foremost in ancient time, the first a Pelasgian
and the second an Hellenic people. The Pelasgian stock has never
yet left its habitation, the Hellenic has wandered often and
afar. For in the days of king Deucalion it inhabited the land
of Phthia, then in the time of Dorus son of Hellen the country
called Histiaean, under Ossa and Olympus; driven by the Cadmeans
from this Histiaean country it settled about Pindus in the parts
called Macednian; thence again it migrated to Dryopia, and at
last came from Dryopia to Peloponnesos, where it took the name of
Dorian".
Elsewhere, VIII-43 (referring to the naval battle in Salamis)
Herodotos wrote
"The Peloponnesians that were with the fleet were, firstly, the
Lacedaemonians, with sixteen ships, and the Corinthians with the
same number of ships as at Atemisium; the Sicyonians furnished
fifteen, the Epidaurians ten, the Troezinians five, the people
of Hermione three; all these, except the people of Hermione were
of Dorian and Macedonian stock, and had last come from Erineus
and Pindus and the Dryopian region. The people of Hermione are
Dryopians, driven by Heracles and the Malians from the country
now called Doris.". In another passage Herodotos described how
the Macedonian state had been founded (VIII,136-138).
There is one passage in Thucydides that describees the Molossians
and other Epeirotian tribes among the 'barbarians'. It was
proved following the excavations in Epeiros in 1950-1960 that
the Molossians and other Epeirotian tribes were Greek, speaking
Greek, and writing in Greek well before Thucydides' time. Thus
Thucydides was wrong for these tribes. He was also wrong if he
claimed, as some translators allege, that Macedonians had not
been a greek tribe. Thucydides had also accused the Eurytanes,
another Greek tribe, of being barbarians for their bad and
improper use of the greek language and their aboriginal customs.
The misinterpreted passage of Thucydides is given below.
In Thucydides IV,124,1 (Loeb edition by C.F. Smith) the following
passage appeared.
"The total hellenic force was about three thousand; the cavalry
that went with them, Macedonians and Chalcidians, were all told
a little less than one thousand, and there was besides a great
multitude of barbarians".
[In Gk: "MAKEDONVN JYN XALKIDEYSIN OLIGVN ES XILIOYS, KAI ALLOS
OMILOS TVN BARBARVN POLYS"]
This passage is sometimes misinterpreted so that Macedonians and
Chalcidians for that matter appear to be considered barbarians
by Thucydides. That this is not so can follow from an analysis
of this passage. First, no one ever considered the Chalcidians,
whose number is added to that of Macedonians, barbarians. Second,
Thucydides distinguishes Macedonians and Chalcidians on the one
hand and barbarians on the other by using the adjective few
(Gk: OLIGVN) for the former and many for the latter (Gk:POLY).
These two adjective clearly indicate a contradistinction.
Euripides lived many years and died in Macedonia. Many of his
tragedies were written and played while he was in Macedonia.
This would have been impossible, had the Macedonians been
'barbarians' (non-Greek). This is because in one of these
tragedies, 'Iphigeneia in Aulis', the Greek superiority over
the barbarians is emphasized. The following epigram in memory of
Euripides which is attributed by some authors to Thucydides may
give us more light to the actual beliefs of the people of that
time (and possibly Thucydides)
"MNHMA MEN ELLAS APAS' EYRIPIDOU, OSTEA D' ISXEI
GH MAKEDVN, H GAR DEJATO TERMA BIOU".
In brief, Macedonia, the land that holds the bones of Euripides
is considered part of Greece.
Polyvios (VII 11,4, V 103,9, XVIII, XXXiV 7,13 , VII 9,1 IX 37,7)
clearly stated his belief that Macedonia was greek, part of
Greece, and considered Achaeans and Macedonians of the same race.
The same beliefs were shared by Strabo as well as Titus Livius,
to name a few other writers. It is also interesting to note that
Polyvios describing the Balkan Peninsula he says that it includes
Greece, Illyria and Thrace. One can thus deduce that he includes
Macedonia in Greece. Had he not done so, he could have listed her
separately.
Plutarchos(Flam. XI) describes Titus Contus Flamininus during the
Isthmia celebrations claimed that Macedonia prevented barbarian
barbarian attacks against Southern Greece.
Arrhianos' work is full of references to "Macedonia and the other
Greece".
Back to Top

"Hellas" and "Macedonia". When was the first time that the
word Hellas was used to describe the country inhabited by people
belonging to hellenic (greek) tribes?
Although the words Hellas and Hellen (and the other two English
equivalents Greece and Greek) have been used to describe the
country and the people of modern day Greece, their use in ancient
times differed in various periods of time.
The usage of these words to describe the various hellenic
tribes as a whole was unknown to the people of the Homeric poems.
In Iliad, the words Hellen (Gk: ELLHN) and Hellas (Gk: ELLAS) de-
fined a small greek tribe and the land inhabited by them in
Thessaly. (Iliad B' 683) "OI T' EIXON FUIHN HD' ELLADA KALLI-
GYNAIKA, MYRMIDONES DE KALEYNTO KAI ELLHNES KAI
AXAIOI". At some earlier line (B' 530) there is a reference to
the word "PANELLHNVN". This word since the time of Aristarchos
has been considered to be absent in the original poem and was ad-
ded at some later time.
Plutarchos (Lykourgos 6) wrote about the message brought from
Delphoi to Sparta by Lykourgos " DIOS (S)ELLANIOU KAI AUHNAS
(S)ELLANIAS IERON IDRYSAMENON...". Because of this reference, it
is believed that the words "Hellas" and "Hellen" became more
widely used after the dispersion of the Dorians. It is also pos-
sible that they were sacred words possibly related to the
(S)elles priests of the Dodonian Zeus.
[the parenthesized (S) is to mean that the S say in the word SEL-
LANIOY was later dropped from use thus giving ELLANIOY.]
The words Hellas and Hellen became more widely used some time in
the 8-7th century BC and in the 5th century BC we find the first
references of them to describe the lands and the Greek people
living south of river Peneios. In the 4th century BC and later
they were also used to describe the various hellenic (greek)
tribes as a whole. The passage from Herodotos (I,56), mentioned
in a previous Question indicated another use of these words, that
of distinguishing Ionian Greeks from Dorian Greek.
Since the Macedonians were pretty much isolated from the Greeks
of Southern Greece up to the early 5th century BC, the words
'Hellas' and 'Hellen' were not used by them to describe collec-
tively the lands of various hellenic tribes, as this was also
true for all the other greek tribes until the 8-7th century BC.
Hence when the Macedonians initiated contacts with other Greek
tribes they continued to use the word 'Macedonian' to describe
themselves instead of the collective 'Hellen(es)'. This is the
reason various authors (such as Isocrates, Philippos 154) use the
term "Hellenes" and "Macedonians" on the one hand and 'barbari-
ans" on the other to distinguish the greek tribes (of Macedoni-
ans and other Hellenes) from the non-greek ones (barbarians).
The intellectual Athenians of the 4th century gave yet another
definition for the word "Hellen" (Isocrates, Panegyrikos 50 ),
that of the person having an Athenian educational background,
"... the name 'Hellenes' suggests no longer the people but an in-
telligence, and that the title 'Hellenes' is applied rather to
those who share our [note: the 'our' refers to the Athenians]
culture than to those who share a common blood".
It is also believed (N.G.L. Hammond,page 6) that the distinction
made by authors of Macedonians and Hellenes differentiates only
the descendants of Hellen from the descendants of Thyia, as in
the genealogy provided by Hesiod. According to Hesiod, Deucalion
had a son Hellen and a daughter Thyia. The ancestors of Hellen
were Dorus, Xouthus (whose son was Ion) and Aeolus. Thyia had
two sons Magnes and Macedon. According to Hellanikos on the oth-
er hand, Macedon was a son of Aeolus.
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Was the Macedonian tongue a greek dialect or not?
Yes it was a greek (doric) dialect.
We shall break this discussion into two parts. The first one
consists of evidence found prior to the excavations in Vergina by
the late Professor Manolis Andronikos. The second one consists
of evidence found mainly since then. This evidence leads beyond
any doubt to the conclusion that the Macedonians spoke a greek
dialect which was basically a doric one, it borrowed words and
was influenced by the aeolic dialect spoken by the Thessalian
neighbours of Macedonians, and also borrowed few words of Phrygic
and Illyrian origin.
The Thessalian (aeolic) influence convinced some researchers that
the genealogy of Makedon given by Hellanikos (see Question 3) was
more accurate than that given by Hesiodos.
In the volume "Macedonia: 4000 years of Greek history and civili-
zation" Professor M. Sakellariou examined the words known to be
unique in the macedonian dialect of greek and related their root
to the roots of words of other Greek dialects. Summarizing, many
of the words that were previously considered of non-Greek origin
were also in (rare) use in other parts of Greece.
There have been made various claims that the Macedonians up to
some time in the 4th century BC used to speak a non-Greek
language and at that time (around 340BC) were 'hellenized' by the
Athenians and thus learned how to speak the attic dialect. These
claims can be easily proved to be totally false even if one uses
only pre-Vergina evidence.

Below we present various views on the topic.
(I) Pre-Vergina evidence.
Fr. Sturz (in "De Dialecto Macedonica et Alexandrina", 1808) con-
cluded that the Macedonian tongue was a greek doric dialect. Au-
gust Flick, O. Hoffmann, Otto Abel, and Karl Belloch, as well as
Georg Busolt, Fritz Geyer, Ulrich Wilcken, Helmuth Berve, Gustave
Glotz, P. Roussel, P Pouquet, A Jarde, R Cohen, J. Bury,, St.
Casson, W. Heurtley, D. Hogarth, J. de Waele, just to name a few
(non-Greek) historians and archaeologists, shared the same views.
On the other hand, there were some historians and writers such as
M. Vasmer (Revue du ministere d' instruction publique de Russie,
1908), P Kretschmer and Bulgarians G. Kazarow and Vlad. Georgiev
that rejected this thesis. Georgiev attempted to show that Ma-
cedonians were member of a Thracoillyrian nation thus speaking
illyrian, a non-greek language. That this was not the case was
shown in Question 6. G Weigand also shared the opinions of
these authors. G. Hatzidakes rejected these theses in various
texts and among them in "Zur Abstammung der alten Makedonier
(eine ethnologische Studie)". For more details we refer to
Daskalakis (page 104).
Coins found in Macedonia have inscriptions in greek and are dated
from the early 5th BC century. Such found coins are the following
ones.
i) An octadrachm of Alexander I (circa 478BC).
ii) Coins from the reign of Archelaos (413-399BC) and
Amyntas III (393-370BC).
iii) the ring of Sindos with the word Gk:'DVRON' (Gift)
dated around 480BC.
These coins are dated well before 340BC, the time of the alleged
"hellenization" of Macedonians.
Macedonians had their own month names. If one accepts the thesis
that Macedonian were 'hellenized' by the Athenians some time
around 340BC hen one can safely assume that these names must be
identical to those used by the Athenians. If not, they would show
the linguistic roots of the Macedonians prior to their alleged
who claimed that Dorians and Macedonians belonged to the same
tribe (Herodotos claimed that the Macedonians who descended to
southern Greece after crossing Doris became known as Dorians) and
thus Macedonians were a Greek tribe, the month names of Macedoni-
ans were Greek and were different from the ones used by the
Athenians. The list of these names used by the Macedonians and
the list of month names of the Lacedaemonians (who were Dorians)
have a common intersection, the names Artemisios and Apellaios.
Persians when first occupied Macedonia during their conquests in
Europe around 510-480BC described the people living in Macedonia
as "The Greeks wearing a shield-like hat" and who were non other
than the Macedonians themselves. This incident occurred long be-
fore the alleged "hellenization" of Macedonians.
It is believed that the worship of the 12 Olympian Gods had
started in Macedonia (as related to their place of ``residence''.
Mountain Olympos is located in Pieria and both these names are
Greek. It is claimed the magnificent view of Mt. Olympos when
viewed from Macedonia, while its view from the south (Thessaly)
is hindered by other mountains, inspired the Macedonians and
from the the other Greeks to consider this mountain the residence
of their Gods.
Athenian comedies used to make fun of the idioms and the di-
alects of other Greeks like those of Spartans, Boeoteans and of
course Macedonians. Some time in the 5th century BC a comedy en-
titled "Pausanias or Macedonians?" written by the Athenian
Strattis was played in Athens. In various parts of this comedy a
Macedonian explains how various words of the attic dialect are
called in the Macedonian dialect.
It can be inferred from these references that Macedonians spoke a
Doric greek dialect. In a work of the ancient writer Athenaios,
one can find samples of the work of Strattis. In an article writ-
ten by A. Koerte quoting Athenaios VII,323b we can find in that
comedy of Strattis the following conversation: "STRATTIS GOYN EN
MAKEDOSIN EROMENOU TINOS ATTIKOY VS AGNOOYNTOS TO ONOMA KAI
LEGONTOS: H SFYRAINA D' ESTI TIS;" FHSIN O ETEROS " KESTRAN MEN
YMMES VTTIKOI KIKLHSKETE".
In English (as it appeared in the article by M. Sakellariou) an
Athenian asks "sledfish, what do you mean?" and a Macedonian re-
plies "wha ye Attics ca' a hammer-fush, ma freen" i.e. in my own
words, which i hope do not change the meaning of this phrase
"what you Attics call a hammer-fush, (we call a) freen".
One can appreciate the value of the Macedonian's reply for the
object under discussion fi he does not forget that as is clear
from many passages in Aristophanes the attic comedians made their
non-Greeks speak broken Greek with an a mixture of barbarian
words (some of them imaginary) while Lacedaemonians, Boeotians,
Macedonians and other Greeks spoke their own dialects. The
Macedonian's reply is in good Greek with dialect (ymmes, sfyrai-
na) and archaizing elements (kiklhskete). Both YMMES and SFYRAINA
are not attic words but they are Greek. Therefore claims that
Athenians "hellenized" Macedonians seem to be baseless. It is
also noted that these words were used by the Macedonians some
time in the 5th century BC that is at least 50 years before their
alleged hellenization.
An ambassador from Macedonia speaking to the Aetolians in 200BC
observed that the Macedonians, the Aetolians and the Arkanians
all spoke the same language.
The expressions "aneboa makedonisti", "makedonisti th fvnh" have
been taken by opponents of the thesis that the Macedonians were
Greeks as indicating that their language differed from Greek. One
can claim that these formulation indicate a Greek dialect (cf [In
Greek] "aiolizein th fvnh", "attikizei", "attikisti",
"boivtiazein","dvrizein" etc).
To those who are more interested in the characteristics of the
dialect of Greek spoken by the Macedonians read the article by M.
Sakellariou in "Macedonia: 4000 years of Greek history and civil-
ization" are available on request. In general few words of non-
greek origin were used in the Macedonian dialect of greek an most
of these words were proper names. Some of them were names of
Egyptian deities worshipped in Macedonia after the 3rd century
BC. Even in the times of Herodotos (II 153, III 27, IV 155, VI
27) barbarian (non-greek) names were in use by Greeks. Strabo
VII 7,1 (C321) also mentioned various names of non-greek origin
such as KEKROPS (Greek: KEKROC) KODROS, AIKLOS (Gk: A.I.KLOS),
KOTHOS (Gk: KOUOS), DRYMAS (Gk: DRYMAS) KRINAKOS (Gk: KRINAKOS).
It should also be mentioned that many place-names in ancient Ma-
cedonia (and modern-day Macedonia of Greece) are of Greek origin
and of use in other areas of Greece as well. Such names are: Ar-
gos (Gk: ARGOS), also found in Thessaly and Peloponnesos.
Arnissa(Gk: ARNISSA) reminds of Arnen (Gk: ARNHN) of Thessaly
and Boeotia. Arethoussa (Gk: AREUOYSSA) also found in Ithaca,
Boeotia, Syracuses. Prasias a lake and a city name is also found
in Athens as PRASIAI, and many other ones (such as Oedomenae, Pe-
tra, Fila, Gortynia, Pynda etc).
Many other words of the Macedonian dialect are of ancient doric
origin such as [the macedonian-doric and attic equivalent names
are shown in Greek only]: santoria = svthria, zereuron = bereu-
ron , barauron xarvn = xairvn arkon = argos dvraj = uvraj danon =
uanon , uanatos kadaron = kauaron sarisa = dory (from the verb
sairv, sarvnv) etc. Some other words of the macedonian dialect
of greek can be traced back in the Homeric poems: amalos =
apalos indea = meshmbrian ( indion hmar) leykanih = laimos lisson
= omalon , leion (lygos = rabdos).
Fore more details see the work of Geyer Fr., where he showed
that the names of macedonian months and festivities although they
could not be found anywhere in classic Greece were archaic Greek
ones and showed the doric origin of the Macedonians.
The fact that Macedonians participated in various celebrations
like the Amphictyonies and the Phocica also show the belief of
themselves and the other Greeks in their origin. It is for these
reasons that Professor F. Papazoglou in "Historija Hellenizma",
Belgrade, 1967 claimed that Macedonians were Greeks, a claim also
supported by Heinz Kreissing in "Povijest Hellenizma", Zagreb,
1988.
Prof. Arnold Toynbee in "The Greeks and their Heritages", Oxford
University Press, 1981 also claimed that ancient Macedonians were
Greeks.
(II) Post-Vergina evidence.
The excavations in Vergina have brought to light many
tombs that buried ancient Macedonians. There are inscription on
these tombs with the names of the deceased person and those of
his/her progenitors. All names found so far have been Greek.
Given that some of these tombs are dated from the 350BC era,
one can conclude that by some time in late 5th century Macedoni-
-ans have been naming their children with Greek names. And si-
-nce contacts with the Athenians were rare to non-existent
at that time one can safely conclude that claims that Macedoni-
-ans were not Greeks and were only 'hellenized' in the 4th cen-
-tury BC are false.
Published information on the excavations in Vergina is
mostly in the form of papers submitted to various conferences.
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"ANEBOA MAKEDONISTI" ?
Those who claim that the Macedonians were not a Greek tribe con-
sidered this expression as evidence that the language of the Ma-
cedonians was a non-greek one. Previous questions (Question 10)
discussed the refutation of this thesis in more detail. A dis-
cussion of this phrase only will be dealt here. It is based on
that of the book by Daskalakis (see references).
The expression "ANEBOA MAKEDONISTI" was first found in the works
of Plutarchos (ALEXANDORS LI, 4) and that of the Latin Kurtius
Rufus. The phrase is found in the following passage [ In Greek:
"TVN DE SVMATOFYLAKVN ENOS, ARISTOFANOYS, FUASANTOS YFELESUAI,
KAI TVN ALLVN PERIEXONTVN KAI DEOMENVN, ANAPHDHSAS (cf Alexan-
dros) ANEBOA MAKEDONISTI KALVN TOYS YPASPISTAS (TOYTO D' HN SYM-
BOLO UORYBOU MEGALOU), KAI TON SALPIGKTHN EKELEYSE SAHMAINEIN,
KAI PYJ EPAISEN, VS DIATRIBONTA KAI MH BOYLOMENON..." ]
On the other hand Arrhianos, whose sources included lost works
of Alexander's co-fighters and eye witnesses, describing this ep-
isode that resulted in the death of Kleitos used the following
phrase: " ALEJANDROS DE EBOA ANAKALVN TOYS YPASPISTAS". No
reference to MAKEDONISTI appeared in Arrhianos' version of the
episode. This may lead to the conclusion that the word "MAKEDON-
ISTI" was somehow added at some later time, or the interpretation
that has been given to it by some translators was not the one in-
tended by Plutarchos. It is also noted that references to the
expression "Macedonia and the other Greece" are numerous in his
work.
In Plutarchos' rendition of the episode the distinction between
ANEBOA (called, shouted, roared) and KALVN (calling) is evident.
Given the explanatory statement "TOYTO D' HN SYMBOLO UORYBOY
MEGALOY" ('this was a sign of great noise') it can be concluded
that ANEBOA referred to some kind of password used by ALEXANDER
the Great to call his YPASPISTAS (sort of bodyguards) in cases of
emergencies only, that is why its use caused great disturbance.
The absence of MAKEDONISTI in Arrhianos' rendition seems to agree
with this interpretation. Let alone the fact that following this
incident Alexander talked to his YPASPISTAS in attic greek.
The expression "aneboa makedonisti", if this indeed appeared in
the original text, is no more different from other similar ex-
pression "aiolizein th fvnh", "attikizei", "attikisti",
"boivtiazein","dvrizein" which were used to denote various di-
alects of ancient greek.
A Latin writer Kurtius (other than the aforementioned Kurtius
Rufus) gave a description of this episode similar to that of Ar-
rhianos. No reference to MAKEDONISTI was made by him and he only
wrote "that Alexander ordered via a trumpet call his soldiers to
gather outside the royal tent".
There is another passage in the work of Kurtius Rufus describing
the trial of Filotas which is being used by proponents of the
thesis that the Macedonians spoke a non-greek language. Allegedly
Filotas during his trial used the attic dialect forcing Alexander
to accuse him of not using his(Filotas's) mother tongue (ma-
cedonian, supposedly a non-greek language). Subsequently, Alex-
ander also accused Filotas of being unwilling to learn how to
speak his mother tongue! This passage contains several contrad-
ictions notwithstanding the one that Filotas was not capable of
speaking his mother tongue. Alexander on the other hand, alleged-
ly accuses Filotas of detesting the macedonian dialect but ac-
cording to Filotas' reply this accusation is spelled by Alexander
in the attic rather than the macedonian dialect! This fact alone,
had this episode really happened, could have been used against
Alexander himself as a counter argument and accusation. It is
this reference to Alexander that made H. Bardon, publisher of
Rufus's works to wonder how it was possible for Alexander to
fall in such a contradiction and to accuse others of something
that he himself was fighting for.
Neither Arrhianos, who lived closer to the era this episode oc-
curred, nor Plutarchos present this incident mentioned in the
work of Kurtius Rufus. H. Bardon, French publisher of Rufus's
works (pub. Belles Lettres vol 1 page 201 note 1) commenting on
the alleged speech of Filotas said that Kurtius Rufus was accus-
tomed to rhetoric artifices and as a result historic truth suf-
fered in that part of his work. All in all it can be safely con-
cluded that this passage was more of a product of the rhetoric
talents of Rufus thus attributing to Filotas a speech Filotas
never gave rather than presenting the actual events. Writers who
lived well before Rufus and close to the time of the incident
were not aware of such a speech by Filotas
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There is a reference in a work by Pausanias that may give
the impression that Macedonians, around 214-213BC, were speaking
a non-Greek language.
Advocates of the thesis that the Macedonian spoke a non-greek
language claim that this language was spoken by them up to some
time in mid 4th century BC. At that time Macedonians within few
years were fully hellenized and since then they have been speak-
ing Greek.
[Long but relevant Parenthesis. Skip it if not interested:
Some of these advocates accept a Skopjan point of view that all
Macedonians perished and thus vanished when Slavs first appeared
in the Balkan peninsula in the 7th century AD. All of a sudden
these new Slavs became heir-apparents of the Macedonians, were
granted presumably by Marshall Tito the exclusive right to be
called 'Macedonians' and named the Bulgarian idiom also consist-
ing of Greek, Turkish, and Albanian words formed at least ~1000
years after their descent to the Balkans "the Macedonian
language".
Some of them, possibly all, claim that this Slavic origin
language was the language spoken by the Macedonians before their
alleged the Cyrillic alphabet was introduced to these and other
Slavs along with many greek words by two Macedonian(Greek) broth-
ers, Kontantinos (later called Cyril) and Methodios from Thes-
saloniki. It is quite interesting to know how these Macedonian
brothers escaped the fate of other fellow Macedonians and didn't
perish during the descent of Slavs in the Balkan peninsula, as
the advocates of Skopjans claimed that it had happened.]
According to Pausanias (Messenians IV 29, 1 ) the residents of
Messene a night around 214-213BC first thought that the Lacedae-
monians had attacked them. Later, by the arms and the voices,
realized that those who attacked them were soldiers led by king
Demetrios. Since at that time a Demetrios was King of Macedonia,
it was assumed that the attackers were Macedonians. Some authors
claimed that the 'voices' reference was to mean that the Ma-
cedonians (attackers) were speaking a non-greek language at that
time, an argument not accepted for the Macedonians of that time
by almost everyone.
Later on, it was realized that the Demetrios in question was not
the king of Macedonia, son of Philippos E', but Demetrios the
Pharian, an Illyrian, who was later killed during this campaign
against Messene.
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Did Demosthenes believe the Macedonians were barbarians?
No. Proponents of the thesis that Macedonians spoke a non-greek
language accept (usually...) that the Macedonian kings were
Greeks but were ruling non-Greek people. Given the evidence that
has been found in the past years from archaeological excavations
they have started claiming that the kings and the upper-class
had been Greek-speakers but the lower class was not.
Now to explain the "NO". One may claim that it should have been a
"YES" and they would point to the "To Philippos" speech of the
orator where he claimed that from these barbarian Macedonians one
could not even buy slaves. I will let Professor A. Holm in his
work "The history of Greece from its commencement to the close of
the independence of the Greek nation", translated from German,
London New York, Macmillan, 1894-1898, Volume III, page 206 to
explain this passage from the speech of Demosthenes:
"That the Greeks did not consider the Macedonians as barbarians
is proved involuntarily by Demosthenes (To Philippos 3, 31) where
he states that "OYD ANDRAPODON SPOYDAION HN PROTEROY" from
Macedonia, which stripped of its rhetoric means the Macedonians
did not provide the Greeks with slaves, the meaning of which of
course was that the Macedonians were not considered barbarians,
like the Thracians, Phrygians..."
Given this, the discussion below seems to be redundant.
Demosthenes, an Athenian orator and politician in various
speeches of his and most notably in Olynthiakos G' and later,
when it was very clear to him that the power of Athens was fading
away and Macedonia was the new power in the hellenic world, ac-
cused Philippos II of many things including that of being bar-
barian. This is not surprising for Demosthenes who spent his
whole life advocating the superiority of Athens over the other
hellenic states, even if that required that some Greek city-
states were to be destroyed or to suffer for Athens to remain the
leader of Greece [See, For the Megalopolitans,5].
In his Third Olynthiakos, 16, Dmeosthenes wrote "Is he (Philip-
pos) not our enemy? Are not our possessions in his hands? Is he
not a barbarian? Is he not anything that you choose to call him?
In God's name, when we have let everything go, when we have all
but put everything into his hands, shall we then inquire at large
who is responsible for it all?" There are no explicit accusations
of Macedonians as a whole of being so (barbarians). Given that
such an assertion against Philippos is shared by noone and given
so many references in antiquity to his descent [Herodotos, Thu-
cydides, Isocrates, Hesiodos, Hellanikos] in various texts any
other discussion on this question seems pointless. In one trans-
lation of this speech by John Edwin Santys in "The first Philip-
pic and the Olynthiacs of Demosthenes", Macmillan and Co, the
translator commented on this passage Argos [Herodotos VIII 137,
IX 45, Thucydides II 99,2, V 80,2] and one of Philip's ances-
tors, Alexander A', had as a Greek been allowed to compete at
the Olympic games [Herodotos V 22]. Demosthenes, however, in his
hatred of Philip, never acknowledges his Greek descent. ... of
breath as he gasps out this final and comprehensive phrase of vi-
tuperation. In such a spasmodic utterance no one need be
surprised either at the presence of hiatus or at the concurrence
of several short syllables". Those who believe that this phrase
of Demosthenes is not a term of abuse but truth are those who be-
lieve that President-elect Clinton is indeed 'Bozo' as Presint
Bush claimed, which I doubt that even President Bush believes.
There is also another reason that this accusation against Philip-
pos on behalf of Demosthenes was more of a figure of speech than
anything else.
Demosthenes's mother (or his maternal grandmother) was a Skythi-
an, a non-Greek anf thus a non-Athenian. Had his accusation been
taken seriously we could have been accused and for a good reason
of being a barbarian himself.
In fact Aeschines (On the Embassy, 78) expressed this opinion by
saying ".... KAI TAYTA, V DHMOSUENES, EK TVN NOMADVN SKYUVN TO
PROS MHTROS VN GENOS", that is, "you, Demosthenes, a descendant
through your mother of the nomad Skythians" as well as (Against
Ctesiphon, 172) "TA D' APO THS MHTROS [DHMOSUENHS] SKYUHS, BAR-
BAROS, ELLHNIZVN TH FVNH" that is, "and by his mother's side
[Demosthenes is] a Scythian, a Greek speaking Barbarian", and
earlier in that passage Aeschines accused Demothenes of being a
slanderer "EJ' HS YMIN O PERIERGOS KAI SYKOFANTHS [DEMOSTHENES]
GEGENHTAI". [Some authors believe that Kleovouli, mother of
Demosthenes, was daughter of Gylon who settled in Crimaea and
married a Scythian woman.]
Let alone the fact that Demosthenes, an 'honorable' Athenian ci-
tizen, was bribed later by the Persians (barbarians) to write
speeches against Philippos and at the same time was also accus-
ing Philippos of bribing Athenians and various Athenians of being
bribed by Philippos. Demosthenes would also look very silly
since another Athenian, Isocrates, in, To Philippos,108 wrote
considered Philippos an Hellen and urged him to unite all Hel-
lenes and lead them in a war against the Barbarians.
In one of his speeches, On the Embassy 305, Demosthenes in his
effort to accuse orator Aeschines of inconsistent and possibly
traitorous behavior accused Aeschines of calling Philippos 'bar-
barian' and 'devil'. In his Third Philippic, 31, Demosthenes ac-
cused Philippos of being "he is a pestilent Macedonian, from
whose country it used not to be possible to buy even a slave of
any value" [There were no slave in the Macedonian state as op-
posed to other greek city-states]. On the other hand in the Third
Olynthiac Demosthenes commended the Athenians on extracting
10,000 talents from Macedonia and bringing them into the Acropo-
lis many years earlier, in the fifth century BC.
Accusations by Aeschines on the past and present behavior of
Demosthenes such as of inflicting wounds on himself and bringing
suit for malicious assault, (in Against Ctesiphon, 212), of
becoming a teacher in order to extract large amounts of money
from his pupils (in Against Timarchus, 171), of taking money
from his clients for writing speeches to be delivered in court
and then revealing the contents of these speeches to their op-
ponents (in On the Embassy, 165), of belittling young Alexander
by claiming that he would prove incompetent and would never stir
out of Macedonia (Against Ctesiphon 160), of later seeking favor
from Alexander (same,162), of his insincerity and cowardice
(against Ctesiphon 150-152), are omitted.
The following remark made by an ancient writer commenting on
Demosthenes's accusation of Philippos (Olynthiakos G' 16) being a
barbarian highlights the beliefs of all other Greeks as well as
the real beliefs of Demosthenes: "YBRISAI TOYTON (meaning FILIP-
PON DEMOSUENHS) BOYLOMENOS KALEIN BARBARON, EPEI <EI> TO ALHUES
SKOPHSEI, EYRHSEI AYTON ELLHNAN ARGEION KAI APO HRAKLEOYS TO
GENOS KATAGOMENON, VS PANTES OI ISTORIKOI MARTYROYSIN...". In
short the accusation on behalf of Demosthenes was just a slander
since every historian at that time knew that Philippos was Greek
in descent.
Back to Top

Is there any reference by Demosthenes to an incident that
can lead us to conclude that he and his fellow Athenians be-
lieved that Macedonians indeed spoke a greek dialect?
Yes. Demosthenes in a speech of his (in Greek: PERI THS
PARAPRESBEIAS[On the Embassy?] 197,229) described an incident in
which Frynonas, an Athenian, while traveling to Olympia had his
luggage taken by Macedonian soldiers. Frynonas acted later as an
Athenian ambassador to Philippos II. Philippos II ordered his
soldiers to return the taken property to Frynonans and apologized
for his soldiers not knowing that that time was a period of re-
ligious festivities. Had the Macedonian soldiers not spoken a
greek dialect Philippos II would have used that as an excuse,
Demosthenes would have been very keen to pointing this out in his
speech, and taken up with great delight, as we may guess, the op-
portunity to accuse not only Philippos but also his soldiers of
barbarian behavior. Nevertheless, he didn't do that because he
knew that the Macedonians spoke a greek dialect.
No lack of understanding between the Macedonians and the Atheni-
ans at that time (at the time that the alleged "hellenization" of
Macedonians was about to begin) has been reported in any ancient
text.
Demosthenes, as an ambassador of Athens visited Macedonia twice.
This happened before his now famous (or infamous) speeches
against Philippos. During his two visits and afterwards never
complained of Macedonians being "barbarians", or speaking a non-
greek language. On the contrary we was dazzled by the riches of
the palace of Philippos in Pella.
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Is it possible [ignoring historic evidence that shows that
this was not the case] that Macedonians had spoken a non-greek
language before 340BC and within a 10-20 year period every Ma-
cedonian was fluent in the attic dialect?
The answer is no, unless one sites as an example the races in
Star Trek: The Next Generation (Trademark by Paramount Pictures)
who are all fluent in English no matter how alien or young or
French for that matter are:-)
Arrhianos presented many instances of Alexander the Great talking
to his fellow Macedonian soldiers in greek(attic) and not say,
in their supposedly non-greek mother tongue. Wouldn't his sol-
diers feel more comfortable in their mother tongue (a supposedly
non greek one)?
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Who may have 'hellenized' ancient Macedonians, if we we as-
sume, despite proof for the contrary, that they were not a greek
tribe ?
This is a question that noone could give an answer. Assuming
that ancient Macedonians were not speaking Greek the large number
of doric and thus non-attic words found in their spoken language,
let alone place-names, month-names, attributes to Gods and
Godesses, festival names etc seem to zero the probability that
Athenians were the ones who hellenized them. The large number of
archaic greek words not used by other Greeks of that time pre-
clude any other greek city-state or kingdom of the classic times
to be responsible for that alleged 'hellenization'. Remembering
the not so friendly relations between the Macedonians and the
Athenians, the vastness of the Macedonian kingdom as opposed to
that of the city state of Athens, and its population -Macedonians
were able to form sizeable armies, by Greek standards- it is
highly unlikely that any other Greek state or Athens could have
undertaken such an enormous task and had it completed in a 10-20
year period.
On the other hand, Alexander A' when he initiated his otherwise
brief contacts with the Greeks in the South he was able to talk
to them in Greek fluently. If Macedonians were to be hellenised
in the 4th century BC there would have been no way for Alexander
A' to speak greek. If he and his family were the only Greek
speakers in Macedonia it would have been highly unlikely that he
and his family had retained the ability to speak Greek fluently.
One of the tragedies Euripides first presented in Macedonia was
Ihpigeneia in Aulis and Ekavi. In Iphigeneia (1400) and Ekavi
(1199) "OYPOT' AN FILON / TO BARBARON GENOIT' AN ELLHSIN GENOS /
OYD AN DYNAITO", the greek superiority over the Barbarians was
highlighted. It would have been be too dangerous for him to ex-
press such opinions to a non-greek audience (if Macedonians were
not Greek and spoke a non-Greek language). Let alone the fact
that the language of his tragedies was Greek.
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Isocrates used the phrases "ALOFYLON TO GENOS", "OYX
OMOFYLOY GENOYS". Do they mean "of other tribe" or "of other
race"?
We discussed in previous paragraphs the various interpretations
of the word Hellen (Greek) in various times in antiquity. The
word Hellen used to describe in homeric times the people living
in some place (the Myrmidones in Thessaly) and later (possibly)
those living in Epeiros if one believes that the Selloi of
Epeiros, also called Graecoi, were later became known as Hel-
lenes. Only in the 8-7th century BC was the word Hellen used to
describe as a whole various Greek (hellenic) tribes. Since at
that time Macedonians were in constant wars with the Illyrians an
other non-greek tribes and had little contacts with the other
Greek tribes in the South the term Hellenes with its new meaning
was not familiar to them.
Thus distinction between Hellenes and Macedonians used by writers
at that time (who nevertheless had no doubt of the Greekness of
the Macedonians) shouldn't be a ssource of false claims. The fol-
lowing excerpt of Isocrates' speech highlights this.
(Isocrates. Philip. 154): " HN GAR TAYTA PRATTHS, APANTES SOI
XARIN EJOYSI, OI MEN ELLHNES YPER VN AN EY PASXVSI, MAKEDONES D'
HN BASILIKVS ALLA MH TYRANNIKVS AYTVN EPISTATHS, TO DE TVN ALLVN
GENOS, HN DIA SE BARBARIKHS DESPOTEIAS APALLAGENTES ELLHNIKHS
EPIMELEIAS TYXVSIN"
Although Isocrates distinguished Hellenes from Macedonians by in-
cluding in the first term the at that time accepted interpreta-
tion of "the greek tribes living south of river Peneios", he
nevertheless believed that the the people who got rid of the
"BARBARIKHS DESPOTEIAS" (barbarian rule) with the assistance of
Macedonians are now ruled and taken care of ("ELLHNIKHS EP-
IMELEIAS TYXVSIN") by people (Macedo