Ancient Macedonians

Ancient Macedonians
The expansion of ancient Macedon up to the death of King Philip II (r. 359–336 BC).

The Macedonians (Greek: Μακεδόνες, Makedónes) originated from inhabitants of the northeastern part of the Greek peninsula, in the alluvial plain around the rivers Haliacmon and lower Axios. Generally described as an ancient Greek people,[1] they gradually expanded from their homeland along the Haliacmon valley on the northern edge of the Greek world, absorbing various neighbouring tribes during this process (primarily Thracian and Illyrian).[2][3] Although composed of various clans, the Kingdom of Macedon, established around the 8th century BC, is mostly associated with the Argeads, both the name of the ruling dynasty and of the tribe named after it. Traditionally ruled by independent families, the Macedonians seem to have accepted Argead rule by the time of King Alexander I (r. 498–454 BC). Under King Philip II (r. 359–336 BC), they are credited with numerous military innovations which led to the exploits of Alexander the Great, the establishment of several realms from the Diadochi, and the inauguration of Hellenistic civilization.

Contents

Early history

The expansion of the Macedonian kingdom has been described as a three-staged process. As a "frontier" kingdom on the border of the Greek world and "Barbarian" Europe, the Macedonians first subjugated their immediate neighbours to the north (various Illyrian and Thracian tribes) before turning against the states of southern and central Greece. Macedonia was then able to lead a largely Hellenic military force against their primary objective – the conquest of Persia – which they achieved with remarkable ease.[4]

Prehistoric "Homeland"

The position of the Balkan tribes, prior to the Macedonian expansion, according to Hammond.

In Greek mythology, Makedon is the eponymous hero of Macedonia and is mentioned in Hesiod’s Catalogue of Women. The first historical attestation of the Macedonians occurs in the works of Herodotus during the mid-5th century BC. The Macedonians are absent in Homer’s Catalogue of Ships. In fact, the term "Macedonia" itself appears late. The Iliad states that, upon leaving Olympus, Hera journeyed via Pieria and Emathia before reaching Athos.[5] This is later re-iterated by Strabo in his Geography.[6]

In his A History of Macedonia, Nicholas G. L. Hammond reconstructed the earliest phases of Macedonian history, based on his interpretation of later literary accounts and archaeological excavations in the region of Macedonia. His work remains a point of reference for all scholars engaging in the subject.[7]

According to Hammond, the Macedonians are missing from early Macedonian historical accounts because they had been living in the Orestian highlands since before the Dark Ages, possibly having originated from the same (proto-Greek) population pool that produced other Greek peoples.[8][9] The Macedonian tribes subsequently moved down from Orestis in the upper Haliacmon to the Pierian highlands in the lower Heliacmon due to pressure from the Orestae, a related tribe who had migrated to Orestis from Pelagonia.[10] In their new Pierian home, north of Olympus, the Macedonian tribes mingled with the "Dorians-to-be". This might account for traditions which placed the eponymous founder, Macedon, "round Pieria and Olympus".[11] Certain traditions placed the Dorian homeland in the Pindus mountain range in western Thessaly, whilst Herodotus pushed this further north to the Macedonian Pindus, and "were called, as an ethnos, Mаκεδνόν".[12][13]

A different, southern homeland theory also exists in traditional historiography. By placing the Dorian "homeland" in Phthiotis, and citing the traditions of fraternity between Makedon and Magnetes, Arnold Joseph Toynbee has argued that the Makedones migrated north to Macedonia from central Greece.[14]

Temenids and Argeads

The Macedonian expansion is said to have been led by the Temenid ruling dynasty. Herodotus recounts that Perdiccas, the founder of the dynasty, was descended from the Heraclid Temenos.[15] He left Argos with his two older brothers (Aeropus and Gayanes) and arrived, via Illyria, to Lebaea, a city in Upper Macedonia (which certain scholars have attempted to connect with the villages Alebea or Velvedos).[16] Here, the brothers served as humble shepherds for a local ruler. After a vision, the brothers fled to another region in Macedonia, near the Midas Gardens by the foot of Mount Bermion, and then set about subjugating the rest of Macedonia.[17] Thucydides seems to echo Herodotus's account, making it probable that the story was disseminated by the Macedonian court,[18] i.e. it accounts the belief the Macedonians themselves had about the origin of their kingdom, if not an actual memory of this beginning.[19] Later historians modified the dynastic traditions by introducing variously Caranus or Archelaus as the founding Temenid kings.

The entrance to the "Great Tumulus" Museum at Vergina.

The earliest sources, Herodotus and Thucydides, called the royal family Temenidae. It is only in later sources that the term "Argeadae" was introduced (e.g. Strabo, Appian, Pausanias). However, Appian suggests that the term Argeadae referred to a leading Macedonian tribe rather than the name of the ruling dynasty.[20] The origin of the name "Argeadae" is itself unclear. The most common connection, as propounded by Herodotus, is with Peloponessian Argos.[21] Appian, rather, connects it with Orestian Argos.[22] Another tradition suggests the name was adopted after Caranus moved Macedonia's capital from Edessa to Agea, thus appropriating the name of the city for its citizens.[23] A figure, Argeas, is mentioned in the Iliad, raising the possibility that the Macedonian kings (like many other Mediterranean populations) derived their genealogy from Trojan War heroes.[19]

Taking Herodotus's lineage account as the most trustworthy, Appian recalls that, after Perdiccas, six successive heirs ruled: Argeus, Philip, Aeropus, Alcetas, Amyntas and Alexander.[24] Amyntas I ruled at the time of the Persian invasion of Paeonia.[25] However, Alexander I is the first truly historic figure. Based on this line of succession, and an estimated 25 to 30-year average ruling period, the beginnings of the Macedonian dynasty have thus been traditionally dated to 750 BC.[26] Hammond upholds the traditional view that the Temenidae did, in fact, arrive from the Peloponnese and took charge of Macedonian leadership, possibly usurping rule from a native "Argead" dynasty with Illyrian help.[17] However, other scholars doubt the veracity of their Peloponnesian origins. For example, Hatzopoulos takes Appian's testimony to suggest that the royal lineage imposed itself onto the tribes of the Middle Heliacmon from Argos Orestikon,[16] whilst Borza suggested that the Argeads were a family of notables hailing from Vergina itself.[27]

Expansion from the Core

Both Strabo and Thucydides recount that Emathia and Pieria were mostly occupied by Thracians (Pierians, Paeonians) and Bottiaeans, as well as certain Illyrian and Epirote tribes,[28] whilst Herodotus relates that the Bryges were co-habitants with the Macedonians prior to their bulk migrating to Asia Minor.[29]

If there was indeed a group of ethnically definable Macedonian tribes living in the Pierian highlands prior to their expansion, the first conquest was of the Pierian piedmont and coastal plain, including Vergina,[30] possibly launching their expansion from a base by Mount Bermion, as mentioned by Herodotus.[31]

Thucydides describes the Macedonian expansion specifically as a process of conquest led by the Argeadae:[32]

"But the country along the sea which is now called Macedonia, was first acquired and made a kingdom by Alexander [I], father of Perdiccas [II] and his forefathers, who were originally Temenidae from Argos. They defeated and expelled from Pieria the Pierians...and also expelled the Bottiaeans from Bottiaea...they acquired as well a narrow strip of Paeonia extending along the Axios river from the interior to Pella and the sea. Beyond the Axios they possess the territory as far as the Strymon called Mygdonia, having driven out the Edoni. Moreover, they expelled from the district now called Eordaea the Eordi...The Macedonians also made themselves rulers of certain places...namely Anthemus, Grestonia, and a large part of Macedonia proper."

Thucydides's account gives a geographical overview of Macedonian possessions at the time of Alexander I’s rule. To reconstruct a chronology of the expansion by Alexander I's predecessors is more difficult, but generally, three stages have been proposed from Thucydides's reading. The initial and most important conquest was of Pieria and Bottiaei, including Pydna and Dium followed by a second stage which consolidated rule in Pieria, Bottiaea, captured Methone and Pella, and extended rule over Eordaea and Almopia. By Hammond's reckoning, the third stage occurred some time after 550 BC, whereby the Macedonians wrested control over Mygdonia, Edonia, lower Paeonia, Bisaltia and Crestonia.[33] However, the second stage might have occurred as late as 520 BC;[34] and the third stage probably did not occur until after 479 BC, whereby the Macedonians capitalized on the weakened Paeonian state after the Persian withdrawal.[35]

Whatever the case, Thucydides's description of the Macedonian state relays the accumulated territorial extent by the rule of Perdiccas II, Alexander I’s son. Hammond has contended that the early stages of Macedonian expansion were particularly militaristic, expunging populations, or at least subduing them, from a large and varied area.[36] It has been hypothesized that the cause of Macedonian expansion was demographic pressure. Given that pastoralism and highland living could not support a very concentrated settlement density, pastoralist tribes often searched for more arable lowlands suitable for agriculture.[37]

Ethnogenesis scenario

More recently, scholars have questioned the traditionalist perspective first set in place by Hammond, highlighting several inconsistencies.[38] Instead, an alternative model of state and ethnos formation, promulgated by an alliance of regional elites, has recently been postulated, which re-dates the creation of Macedonian kingdom to the 6th century BCE.[39] For example, direct literary, archaeological and linguistic evidence is lacking to support Hammond's contention that a distinct Macedonian ethnos had existed in the Haliacmon valley since the Bronze Age. Rather, his interpretation has been criticized as a "conjectural reconstruction" from what appears during later, historical times.[40]

Similarly, the historicity of migration, conquest and population expulsion have also been called into question. Thucydides's account of the forced expulsion of the Pierians and Bottiaeans could have been formed on the basis of his perceived similarity of names of the Pierians and Bottiaeans living in the Strymon valley with the names of regions in Macedonia; whereas his account of Eordean extermination was formulated precisely because such toponymic correspondences are lacking.[35] Likewise, the Argead conquest of Macedonia may be viewed as a commonly used literary topos in classical Macedonian rhetoric: tales of migration served to create complex genealogical connections between trans-regional ruling elites, whilst at the same time used by the ruling dynasty to legitimize their rule, heroicize mythical ancestors, and distance themselves from their subjects.[19][41]

An atrium with a pebble-mosaic paving in Pella, the Macedonian capital.

Conflict was a historical reality in the early Macedonian kingdom and pastoralist traditions allowed the potential for population mobility (Greek archaeologists have found that some of the passes linking the Macedonian highlands with the valley regions have been used for thousands of years). However, the archaeological evidence does not point to any significant disruptions between the Iron Age and Hellenistic periods in Macedonia. The general continuity of material culture,[42] settlement sites,[43] and pre-Greek onosmaticon[44] mitigate against the traditional "ethnic cleansing" account of early Macedonian expansion.

The process of state formation in Macedonia was in many ways analogous to its neighbours in Epirus, Illyria, Thrace, and Thessaly, whereby regional elites could mobilize disparate communities for the purpose of organizing land and resources. Local notables were often based in urban-like settlements, although contemporary historians often did not recognize them as poleis (because they were not self-ruled but under the rule of a "King").[45] From the mid-6th century, there appears a series of exceptionally rich burials throughout the region – in Trebenista, Vergina, Sindos, Agia Paraskevi, Pella-Archontiko, Aiani, Gevgelija, Amphipolis – sharing a similar burial rite and grave accompaniments, interpreted to represent the rise of a new regional ruling class sharing a common ideology, customs and even religious beliefs.[39] A common geography, mode of existence, and defensive interests might have necessitated the creation of a political confederacy amongst otherwise ethno-linguistically diverse communities; which led to the consolidation of a new, "Macedonian", ethnic identity.[39][46]

The traditional view that Macedonia housed un-urbanized ethne in constant conflict is thus slowly changing, bridging the cultural gap between southern Epirus and the north Aegean region. Hatzopoulos's studies on Macedonian institutions have lent support to the hypothesis of Macedonian state formation occurring via an "integration" of regional elites which were based in city-like centres, including the Argeadae at Vergina, and the Paeonian/Edonian peoples in Sindos, Ichnai and Pella, as well as the mixed Macedonian-"Barbarian" colonies in the Thermaic Gulf and western Chlakidike.[47] The Temenidae became overall leaders of a new Macedonian state due to the diplomatic proficiency of Alexander I and the logistic centrality of Vergina itself. It has been suggested that a breakdown in traditional "Balkan" tribal traditions associated with adaptation of certain "Aegean" socio-political institutions created a climate of institutional flexibility in a vast, resource-rich land.[48] Non-Argead centres increasingly became "dependent allies", allowing the Argeads to gradually extract a more secure control over the lower and eastern territories of Macedonia.[47] However, this control was only really consolidated by Phillip II.[49]

Culture

The Golden Larnax, at the Museum of Vergina, which contains the possible remains of King Philip II (r. 359–336 BC).

Macedonia possessed a distinct material culture by the Early Iron Age.[50] Typically "Balkan" burial, ornamental, and ceramic forms were used for most of the Iron Age.[51] These features suggest broad cultural affinities and organizational structures analogous with Thracian, Epirote, and Illyrian regions.[52][53] This, however, did not necessarily symbolize a sharing of common identity or political allegiance.[54] Toward the latter 6th century BC, Macedonia became more open to Greek influences from the south, although a small but detectable amount of interaction with the south had been present since late Mycenaean times.[55] By the 5th century BC, Macedonia was a part of the "Greek cultural milieu", possessing many cultural traits typical of the southern Greek city-states.[56] Classical Greek objects and customs were appropriated selectively and utilized in peculiarly "Macedonian" ways.[57]

Economy

The inhabitants of Upper Macedonia led a way of life which differed little from their neighbors in Epirus and Illyris, engaging in seasonal transhumance supplemented by agriculture. In these mountainous regions, upland sites served as important focal points for local communities, so-called "tribal centers". In these difficult terrains, competition for resources often precipitated inter-tribal conflict and raiding forays into the comparatively richer lowland settlements of coastal Macedonia and Thessaly.[58] Despite the remoteness of the upper Macedonian highlands, excavations at Aiani since 1983 have brought to light finds attesting to the presence of social organization since the 2nd millennium BC. The excavations have unearthed the oldest pieces of black-and-white pottery, characteristic of the tribes of northwest Greece, discovered so far.[59] Found with Μycenaean sherds, they can be dated with certainty to the 14th century BC.[59][60][61] The findings also include some of the oldest samples of writing in Macedonia, among them inscriptions bearing Greek names like Θέμιδα (Themida). The inscriptions demonstrate that Hellenism in Upper Macedonia was at a high economic, artistic, and cultural level by the 6th century BC, overturning the notion that Upper Macedonia was culturally and socially isolated from the rest of ancient Greece.[59]

By contrast, the alluvial plains of Lower Macedonia and Pelagonia favored the development of a native aristocracy with a wealth which at times surpassed the classical Greek poleis.[62] There was a comparative abundance of natural resources, such as timber and minerals. Exploitation of mineral mines helped catalyze coinage in Macedonia from the 5th century BC, developing under southern Greek, Thracian and Persian influences.[63] In contrast with classical Greek poleis, the Macedonians generally possessed very few slaves.[64]

During the Late Bronze Age (circa 15th century BC), the ancient Macedonians developed distinct matt-painted wares that evolved from Middle Helladic pottery traditions originating in central and southern Greece.[61][65] The Macedonians continued to utilize an individualized form of material culture (albeit showing analogies in ceramic, ornamental and burial forms with the so-called Lausitz culture between 1200–900 BC) and that of the Glasinac culture after circa 900 BC.[66] Whilst some of these influences persisted beyond the 6th century BC,[67][68] a more ubiquitous presence of items of an Aegean-Mediterranean character is observed from the latter 6th century BC,[69] as Greece recovered from its "Dark Ages". The avenues by which southern Greek impulses penetrated Macedonia were via trade with north Aegean colonies such as Methone and those in the Chalcidice, neighbouring Thessaly, and from the Ionic colonies Asia Minor. Later, Ionic influences were supplanted by those of Athenian provenance. Thus, by the latter 6th century local elites were able to acquire "exotic" Aegean items such as Athenian red figure pottery, fine tablewares, olive oil and wine amphorae, fine ceramic perfume flasks, glass, marble and precious metal ornaments; which would serve as status symbols.[70] By the 5th century BC, they become rather widespread; not only in Macedonia, but also in much of the central Balkans.[71]

Macedonian settlements bear a strong continuity dating back to the Bronze Age. While settlement numbers appeared to drop in central and southern Greece after 1000 BC, there is a dramatic increase in Macedonia, keeping traditionally used house construction techniques.[72] These settlements seemed to have developed on raised promontories near river flood plains, and are called tells (Greek: τύμβοι). They are particularly focused in western Macedonia (between Florina and Lake Vergiotis, the upper and middle Heliacmon River, and down to Bottiaea). The other focus is in eastern Macedonia, on either side of the Axius and in the Chalcidice.[73] Urbanization was encouraged and controlled by Macedonian kings. Whilst a comparatively meager number of Macedonians lived in the few native Macedonian cities (e.g. Aegeae, Pella, Dion), urbanization increased by the 4th century BC as Greek colonies were conquered and integrated into Macedonia, or new towns were founded (such as Philippi, Thessalonike and Alexandropolis). These towns possessed typical Greek urban infrastructural features, such as gymnasia, temples and theaters.

Society

The "Lion Hunting Mosaic", from Pella. Hunting was a favored pastime of the ancient Macedonians.

Macedonian society was dominated by aristocratic families whose main source of wealth and prestige was their herds of horses and cattle. In this respect, Macedonia was similar to Thessaly and Thrace.[53] However, unlike Thessaly, Macedonia was ruled by an monarchy from its earliest history until the Roman conquest in 167 BC. The nature of the kingship, however, remains debated. One viewpoint sees it as an autocracy, whereby the king held absolute power. Any other position of authority, including the army, was appointed at the whim of the king himself. The other, "constitutionalist", position argues that there was an evolution from a society of many minor "kings", each of equal authority, to a sovereign military state whereby an army of citizen soldiers supported a central king against a rival class of nobility.[74] Kingship was hereditary along the main male line, however, whether this was of a primogeniture nature remains to be established. The situation was further complicated by the fact that Macedonian kings were notoriously polygamist, sometimes resulting in sibling rivalry and even fratricide.

An important aspect of Macedonian social life were court symposia, which were characterized by heavy drinking (of apparently unmixed wine), feasting, and general debauchery. Symposia had several functions, amongst which was providing relief from the hardship of battle and marching. Symposia were Greek traditions since Homeric times, providing a venue for interaction amongst Macedonian elites. An ethos of egalitarianism surrounded symposia, allowing all male elites to express ideas and concerns, although built-up rivalries and excessive drinking often led to quarrels, fighting and even murder. The degree of extravagance and propensity for violence set Macedonian symposia apart from classical Greek symposia.[75] Like symposia, hunting was another focus of elite activity, and it remained popular throughout Macedonia’s history. Although the Macedonians created their own athletic games and, after the late 4th century, non-royal Macedonians competed and became victors in the Olympic Games[56] and other athletic events such as the Argive Heraean games, athletics were a less favored pastime compared to hunting.[76]

Nevertheless, Alexander the Great sponsored athletic contests for his men; along with other facets of cultural life, such as philosophy and theatre, which increasingly incorporated Macedonia into the Greek world. Atticization was seen as early as King Archelaus's reign, who welcomed southern Greek intellectuals into the kingdom. Athenian playwrights such as Euripides and Agathon and the famous painter Zeuxis, all were influential in the early kingdom. Euripides wrote his last two tragedies at Archelaus's court.[77]

Religion

Ancient Dion was a center of the worship of Zeus and the most important spiritual sanctuary of the Ancient Macedonians.
Entrance to the tomb of King Philip II (r. 359–336 BC).

The ancient Macedonians worshipped the Olympic Pantheon, especially Zeus, Artemis, Heracles and Dionysus. Evidence of this worship is attested from the beginning of the 4th century BC onwards, as there exists little evidence regarding Macedonian religious practices from earlier times.[78] From an early period, Zeus was the single most important deity in the Macedonian pantheon.[78] Macedon, the mythical ancestor of the Macedonians, was held to be a son of Zeus, and Zeus features prominently in Macedonian coinage.[78] The most important center of worship of Zeus was at Dion in Pieria, the spiritual center of the Macedonians, where beginning in 400 BC King Archelaus established an annual festival in honor of Zeus featuring lavish sacrifices and athletic contests.[78] Worship of Zeus's son Heracles was also prominent, with coins featuring Heracles appear from the 5th century BC onwards.[78] This was in large part because the Argead kings of Macedon traced their lineage to Heracles, making sacrifices to him in the Macedonian capitals of Vergina and Pella.[78] Numerous votive reliefs and dedications also attest to the importance of the worship of Artemis.[79] Artemis was often depicted as a huntress and served as a tutelary goddess for young girls entering the coming-of-age process, much as Heracles Cynagidas (Hunter) did for young men who had completed it.[79] By contrast, some deities popular elsewhere in the Greek world, notably Poseidon and Hephaistos, were largely ignored by the Macedonians.[78]

Other deities worshipped by the ancient Macedonians were part of a local pantheon: Thaulos (god of war equated with Ares), Gyga (later equated with Athena), Gozoria (goddess of hunting equated with Artemis), Zeirene (goddess of love equated with Aphrodite), Xandos (god of light), Totoës (god of sleep), Darron (god of healing), Aretos (local version of Heracles), Bedu (from Edessa; god of water or air), the Echédorides (nymphs), the Arantides (possibly the Furies), the Sauadai (water spirits or demons identified with the Satyrs), Pasikraia (a goddess attested in Macedonia and Thessaly), and Sabazius-Dionysus (a Thracian god).[80] A notable influence on Macedonian religious life and worship was neighboring Thessaly; the two regions shared many similar cultural institutions.[81] The Macedonians also worshiped non-Greek gods, such as the "Thracian rider", Orpheus and Bendis, and other Balkan cult figures. They were tolerant of, and open to incorporating, foreign religious influences, such as the sun-cult worship of the Paeonians.[3] By the 4th century BC, there had been a significant fusion of Macedonian and common Greek religious identity,[82] but Macedonia was nevertheless characterized by an unusually diverse religious life.[3] This diversity even extended to the belief in magic, as attested by curse tablets. It was a not an insignificant, but secret aspect of Greek cultural practice.[83]

A notable feature of Macedonian culture was the ostentatious burials reserved for its rulers.[84] The Macedonian elite chose to construct lavish tombs at time of death rather than construct temples during life.[84] Such traditions had been practiced throughout Greece and the central-west Balkans since the Bronze Age, and Macedonian burials contain items similar to those at Mycenae (burial with weapons, gold "death masks", etc).[85] From the 6th century, Macedonian burials became particularly lavish, displaying a rich variety of Greek imports, reflecting the incorporation of Macedonia into a wider economic and political network centred on the Aegean city-states. Burials contained a repertoire of jewelery and ornaments of unprecedented wealth and artistic style. This zenith of Macedonian "warrior burial" style drew close parallels with sites in south-central Illyria and western Thrace, creating a koinon of elite burials.[86] Lavish warrior burials had been discontinued in southern and central Greece from the 7th century onwards, where offerings at sanctuaries and the erection of temples instead became the norm.[87] From the 6th century BC, cremation replaced the traditional inhumation rite for elite Macedonians.[39] One of the most lavish tombs is one dated to the 4th century at Vergina, believed to be that of Phillip II. It contains extravagant grave goods, highly sophisticated artwork depicting hunting scenes and Greek cultic figures, and a vast array of weaponry.[88] This demonstrates a continuing tradition of the "warrior society" rather than a focus on religious piety and "technology of the intellect" which had become paramount facets of central Greek society in the classical period.[87]

Language

For administrative and political purposes, Attic Greek seems to have operated as a lingua franca amongst the ethno-linguistically diverse communities of Macedonia and the north Aegean region, creating a diglossic linguistic area.[89] Attic Greek was standardized as the language of the court, formal discourse and diplomacy from at least the time of Archelaus at the end of the 5th century BC.[90] Attic was further spread by Macedonia's conquests.[91] Although Macedonian continued to be spoken well into Antigonid times,[92] Attic became the prevalent oral dialect not only in Macedonia, but throughout the Macedonian-ruled Hellenistic world.[93]

Attempts to classify Ancient Macedonian are made difficult by the paucity of surviving Ancient Macedonian texts, as it was a primarily oral language and most archeological inscriptions indicate that there was no dominant written language in Macedonia other than Attic, and later Koine Greek.[94] Classification attempts are based on a vocabulary of 150-200 words and 200 personal names assembled mainly from the 5th century lexicon of Hesychius of Alexandria, as well as a few fragmentary surviving inscriptions, coins, and the occasional passage in ancient sources.[94] Most of the vocabulary is regular Greek, with tendencies toward Doric Greek and Aeolic Greek; on the other hand, there can be found some Illyrian and Thracian elements.[94][95] The Pella curse tablet, which was found in 1986 at Pella and dates to the mid-4th century BC or slightly earlier,[96] is believed to be the only substantial attested text in Macedonian. The language of the tablet is a harsh but a distinctly recognizable form of Northwest Greek: the tablet, therefore, has been used to support the argument that ancient Macedonian was a Northwest Greek dialect,[97][98] whilst Hatzopoulos's analysis revealed some tendencies toward the Aeolic Greek dialect.[95] Macedonian onomastics paint a similar picture, most personal names being recognizably Greek (e.g. Alexandros, Philippos, Dionysios, Apollonios, Demetrios), with some dating back to Homeric (e.g. Ptolemaeos) or even Mycenean times, though here too there can be found the occasional non-Greek name (e.g. "Bithys").[94] Nevertheless, a definitive conclusion eludes the linguistic community.[99] On the one hand, Macedonian shares close structural and lexical affinity with the "proper" Greek dialects (especially Northwest Greek and Thessalian)[100][101][102] The majority of the words are Greek, although some of these could represent loans or cognate forms.[103][104] On the other hand, a number of phonological, lexical and onomastic features also set Macedonian apart.[104][105] These latter features, possibly representing traces of a substratal language, occur in what are considered to be particularly conservative systems of the language.[106]

Several hypotheses have consequently been proposed as to the overall "position" of Macedonian, but all broadly see it either as a peripheral Greek dialect, a separate yet related language (see Hellenic languages),[104][107][108] or even a hybridized idiom.[109][110][111] Drawing on the similarities between Macedonian, Greek and Brygian, several scholars suggest that they formed an Indo-European macro-dialectical group[112][113] which split before circa 14th-13th century BCE (i.e. prior to the appearance of the main Greek dialects).[114] The same data has been analyzed in alternative manner, which sees the formation of the main Greek dialects as a later convergence of related but distinct groups. Macedonian did not fully participate in this process, making its ultimate position difficult to define other than being a contiguous, related 'minor' language.[115]

Another stream of evidence is metalinguistics and the question of mutual intelligibility. The available literary evidence cannot provide detail as to the exact nature of Macedonian, however, it does suggest that Macedonian and Greek were sufficiently different to pose communication difficulties between Greek and Macedonian contingents, even necessitating the use of interpreters as late as the time of Alexander the Great.[116][117][118] Based on this evidence, Papazoglou has argued that, by definition, Macedonian could not have been a Greek dialect.[119] Nevertheless, Edward Anson points out that "whatever may be meant by stray allusions to spoken 'Macedonian', all surviving epigraphical evidence from grave markers to public inscriptions is in Greek".[120]

Identity

The Vergina Sun has been proposed as a symbol of ancient Macedonia or of the Argead dynasty by archeologists.

During the Archaic period, regional tribes fused together into a larger unit of Macedonians, and the army functioned as the most effective social institution of creating a common Macedonian identity with the kings as supreme commanders.[121] Nevertheless, Anson argues that the term "Macedonian" was used to refer to all the inhabitants of the region.[122]

Most ancient sources on the Macedonians come from outside of Macedonia.[123] According to Eugene N. Borza, most of these sources are either ill-informed, hostile, or both, making the Macedonians one of the "silent" peoples of the ancient Mediterranean.[124] Moreover, most ancient sources tend to focus on the deeds of Macedonian kings in connection with political and military events such as the Peloponnesian War, and evidence on the ethnic identity of Macedonians of lower social status is highly fragmentary and unsatisfactory from the Archaic to the Hellenistic period.[125]

How the Macedonians related to their neighbors is complicated by the fact that, both Hellenic and Macedonian identities were "extremely complex and fluid social constructions"[82] "constantly subject to negotiation and renegotiation in an ongoing political process."[126] Yet, a glimpse of the nature of the Macedonians' relationship with southern Greeks may be gleaned from the available literary sources.[127] Most of the literary evidence tends to come from later sources focusing on the campaigns of Alexander the Great rather than on Macedonia itself, while most contemporary evidence on Philip tends to be Athenian and hostile.[128] For Macedonia before Philip, historians have to rely on archeological inscriptions and material remains, a few fragments from historians whose work is now lost, the occasional passing mention in Herodotus and Thucydides, and "universal histories" from the Roman era.[128]

There was an "evolving view" of the Macedonians as seen by the Greek poleis.[129] By and large, the Macedonians were not seen as "true Hellenes" until after the death of Alexander the Great, and throughout the Classical era, most Greeks distinguished themselves from Macedonians.[130][131] The gulf between Macedonians and Greeks was only bridged when both parties found themselves threatened by a new, western "barbarian" – Rome.[131] As Danforth summarizes: "It is with the emergence of Rome as a common enemy in the west that the Macedonians came to be regarded as 'northern Greeks'. This is precisely the period during which ancient authors, such as Polybius and Strabo, did refer to the ancient Macedonians as Greeks."[126] The reasons for such an evolution remain subject to debate: that is, whether the repeated denial of Macedonian Hellenicity during the Classical era represented a true ethnic distinction between Macedonians and southern Greeks,[132] a cultural "otherness" between the archaic institutions of the Macedonians and those of the poleis, and/or political animosity between ideologically oppositional regimens.[133] Indeed, much of the ambiguity about the Macedonians' ethnic identity, and sharp contrast between "Macedonians" and "Greeks" comes from a small group of patriotic Athenian orators and historians.[134] As a point of comparison, Engels suggests the Greekness of the Epirotes, who led a similarly 'archaic' life as the Macedonians, never drew a sharp discussion as with the Macedonians, perhaps because the Epirotes, unlike the Macedonians, never attempted to achieve hegemony over all of Greece.[134] Whatever the case, the degree of antipathy between Macedonians and Greeks was of different quality than that seen amongst other Greek states with a long-term history of mutual animosity (e.g. Sparta and Athens).[135]

The identity of the Argeads is generally examined separately from the Macedonian ethnos as a whole. The earliest version of the Temenid foundation myth was circulated by Alexander I, via Herodotus, during his apparent appearance at the Olympic Games.[136] Despite protests from some competitors, the Hellanodikai ("Judges of the Greeks") accepted Alexander’s Greek genealogy, as did Herodotus himself, and later Thucydides. In accepting his Greek credentials, the judges were either moved by the evidence itself, or did so out of political considerations - as reward for services to Hellas. The historicity of Alexander I’s participation in the Olympics has been doubted by some scholars (Alexander’s name does not appear in any list of Olympic victors), who see the story as a piece of propaganda engineered by the Argeads and spread by Herodotus.[137] Moreover, that there were protests from other competitors suggests that the supposed Argive genealogy of the Argeads "was far from mainstream knowledge";[138] and the appellation "Philhelene" was "surely not an appellation that could be given to an actual Greek".[138][139] Whatever the case, "what mattered was the Alexander had played the geneaological game a la grecque and played it well".[140]

The emphasis on the Heraklean ancestry of the Argeads served to heroicize the royal family and to provide a sacred genealogy which established a "divine right to rule" over their subjects.[141] The Macedonian royal family, like those of Epirus, emphasized "blood and kinship in order to construct for themselves a heroic genealogy that sometimes also functioned as a Hellenic genealogy."[142]

Macedonian stater featuring Alexander the Great and the goddess Athena on the obverse

Although most contemporary Greek writers accepted the Argeads as Greek, they nevertheless expressed an air of ambiguity about them (specifically their monarchic institutions and their background of Persian alliance) often portraying them as a potential "barbarian" threat to Greece.[143] For example, the late 5th century sophist, Thrasymachus of Chalcedon, objected "we Greeks are enslaved to the barbarian Archelaus" (Fragment 2).[144] The issue of Macedonian Hellenicity, and that of their royal house, was particularly pertinent in the 4th century BCE, around the politics of invading Persia. Demosthenes viewed Macedonia's monarchy to be incongruous with an Athenian-led Pan-Hellenic alliance. He thus castigated Philip II for being "neither Greek nor a remote relative of the Greeks, nor even a respectable barbarian, but one of those cursed Macedonians..."[145] This was obvious political slander, but "the orator clearly could not do this, if his audience was likely to regard his claim as nonsense: it could not be said of a Theban, or even a Thessalian".[146] On the other hand, Isocrates believed that only Macedonia was capable of leading a war against Persia, thus felt compelled to uphold that Phillip was a "bona fide" Hellene by discussing his Argead and Heraclean heritage.[147]

With regard to how the Macedonian ethnos as a whole was regarded by the Greeks, the earliest reference comes from Hesiod's Catalogue of Women. The eponymous Makedon, and his brother Magnes, are made sons of Zeus and Thyia, daughter of Deucalion.[11] Descent form Zeus did not make one a Greek, but having been fathered by Hellen himself did. Thus, although Engels interpreted that Hesiod counted the Macedonians as Greeks, Hall stipulates that "according to strict genealogical logic, [this] excludes the population that bears [Macedon’s] name from the ranks of the Hellenes".[148] Later writers also deny Macedon a Hellenic lineage: Apollodorus (3.8.1) makes him a son of Lycaon, son of earth-born Pelasgus, whilst Pseudo–Scymnos (6.22) makes him born directly from the earth.[149] Hellanicus, on the other hand, produced a genealogy which made Makedon the son of Aeolus, thus implying that the Macedonians were Greeks, mostly related to the Aeolians.[150]

These early writers and their formulation of genealogical relationships demonstrate that, prior to the 5th century, Greekness was defined on an ethnic basis and legitimized by tracing descent from eponymous Hellen.[151] Subsequently, cultural considerations assumed greater importance.

Thucydides and Herodotus regarded the Macedonians either as northern Greeks, barbarians, or an intermediate group between "pure" Greeks and barbarians.[134] For Herodotus, Hellenicity and ethnicity were firmly bounded and culturally determined categories. In his Histories, Herodotus recalls a reliable tradition whereby the Dorians were formed by a fusion of Macedonian and other Greek tribes,[152] suggesting that Macedonians were Greeks.[153] In other sections of his work, however, Herodotus implies that the Macedonians are not Greek: in 5.20.4, he calls King Amyntas an aner Hellen Makedon hyparchos, or "a Greek who ruled over Macedonians",[134] and in 7.130.3 where Herodotus tells that the Thessalians were the "first of the Greeks" to submit to Xerxes.[154]

Thucydides's classification of "barbarian" versus "Greek" operated on an relative rather than absolute basis. That is, Thucydides did not perceive Greeks and barbarians as mutually exclusive categories, rather opposite poles on a linear spectrum. He placed the Macedonians on his cultural continuum closer to barbarians than Hellenes,[155] or perhaps an intermediate category between Greeks and non–Greeks.[125] For example, he distinguishes between three groups fighting in the Peloponnesian War: The Greeks (including Peloponnesians), the barbarian Illyrians, and the Macedonians.[125] In recounting Brasidas's expedition to Lyncus, he juxtaposes the Macedonian cavalry with "the rest of the huge barbarian throng".[156] Whilst this calls them barbarians by association, more explicit is his recounting of Brasidas's speech where he tells his Peloponnesian troops to dispel fear of fighting against "barbarians: because they had already fought against Macedonians".[157]

Ancient geographers differed in their views on the size of Macedonia and on the ethnicity of the Macedonians.[158] While most ancient geographers did not include the core territories of the Macedonian kingdom in their definition of Greece, the reasons are unknown. For example, Strabo says that while "Macedonia is of course part of Greece, yet now, since I am following the nature and shape of the places geographically, I have chosen to classify it apart from the rest of Greece".[158] While he speaks of the "Macedonians and the other Greeks", Pausanias did not include Macedonia in Hellas as indicated in Book 10 of his Description of Greece.[158]

The Persians referred to the Macedonians as "Yaunã Takabara" ("Greeks with hats that look like shields").

As noted above, Isocrates defended Philip's Greek origins, but was not inclined to think the same of his people: "He (Perdiccas I) left the Greek world alone completely, but he desired to hold the kingship in Macedonia; for he understood that Greeks are not accustomed to submit themselves to monarchy whereas others are incapable of living their lives without domination of this sort...for he alone of the Greeks deemed it fit to rule over an ethnically unrelated population."[159] Nevertheless, Philip named the federation of Greek states he created with Macedon at its head (nowadays referred to as the League of Corinth) as simply "The Hellenes" (i.e. Greeks), and the Macedonians were moreover granted two seats in the exclusively Greek Great Amphictyonic League in 346 BC when the Phocians were expelled; although Badian sees it as a personal honor awarded to Phillip, and not to the Macedonian people as a whole.[138]

With Philip's conquest of Greece, Greeks and Macedonians both enjoyed privileges at the royal court, and there was no social distinction amongst his court hetairoi, although Philip's armies were only ever led by Macedonians. The process of Greek and Macedonian syncretism culminated during the reign of Alexander the Great, and he even allowed Greeks to command his armies. However, there was also some persisting antagonism between Macedonians and Greeks lasting into Antgonid times.[160] Some "Greeks" continued to push against their Macedonian overlords throughout the Hellenistic era.[161] They rejoiced on the death of Phillip II;[162] and they revolted against Alexander's Antigonid successors, which the Greeks called, revealingly, the Hellenic War.[163] However, whilst Pan-Hellenic sloganeering was used by Greeks against Antigonid dominance, it was also used by Macedonians themselves to drum up popular support throughout Greece.

After the 3rd century BC, and especially in Roman times, the Macedonians were consistently regarded as Greeks.[164] For example, Polybius has the Acarnanian Lyciscus tell the Spartans that they are "of the same tribe" as the Achaeans and the Macedonians.[165] Livy, in his History of Rome, states that the Macedonians, Aetolians and Acarnanians were "all men of the same language".[166] Similar opinions are shared also by Arrian and Strabo (7.7.1).

The Persians referred to both Greeks and Macedonians as Yauna ("Ionians", their term for "Greeks"), though they distinguished the "Yauna by the sea and across the sea" from the Yaunã Takabara or "Greeks with hats that look like shields", possibly referring to the Macedonian kausia hat.[167] According to another interpretation, the Persians used such terms in a geographical rather than ethnic sense. That is, Yauna, and its various attributes, possibly referred to regions lying north and west of Asia Minor; and could have included Phrygians, Mysians, Aeolians, Thracians, and Paionians in addition to Greeks.[168] In Hellenistic times, most Egyptians and Syrians included the Macedonians among the larger category of "Greeks" without hesitations, as the Persians had done earlier.[167]

While there is a general consensus among contemporary scholars that the ancient Macedonians were of Greek stock,[1] some specialist literature notes that Greeks of the classical period often doubted the Hellenic lineage of Macedonians. Some scholars interpret this as evidence that the Macedonians were not Hellenes but were gradually accepted as such.[126][131] Others, such as Ian Worthington, argue that "...not much need to be said about the Greekness of ancient Macedonia: it is undeniable",[169] explaining the apparent animosity between Macedonians and Greeks as "political". One recent ethnological essay by Jonathan M. Hall has highlighted that the issue of Macedonian identity has, in the past, been "phrased in anachronistic terms conditioned by the vocabulary of nationalism and the modern nation-state". Hall adds: "to ask whether the Macedonians "really were" Greek or not in antiquity is ultimately a redundant question given the shifting semantics of Greekness between the 6th and 4th centuries BC. What cannot be denied, however, is that the cultural commodification of Hellenic identity that emerged in the 4th century might have remained a provincial artifact, confined to the Balkan peninsula, had it not been for the Macedonians."[170]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Joint Association of Classical Teachers 1984, pp. 50–51; Errington 1990, pp. 3–4; Fine 1983, pp. 607–608; Hall 2000, p. 64; Hammond 2001, p. 11; Jones 2001, p. 21; Osborne 2004, p. 127; Hammond 1989, pp. 12–13; Hammond 1993, p. 97; Starr 1991, pp. 260, 367; Toynbee 1981, p. 67; Worthington 2008, pp. 8, 219; Chamoux 2002, p. 8; Cawkwell 1978, p. 22; Perlman 1973, p. 78; Hamilton 1974, Chapter 2: The Macedonian Homeland, p. 23; Bryant 1996, p. 306; O'Brien 1994, p. 25.
  2. ^ Trudgill 2002, p. 125; Theodossiev 2000, pp. 175–209.
  3. ^ a b c Roisman & Worthington 2010, Chapter 21: Paul Christesen and Sarah C. Murray, "Macedonian Religion", p. 428.
  4. ^ Kristinsson 2010, p. 79: "Both these empires [Macedonian and Roman] originated on the edges of the Greek world and were heavily influenced by Greek civilization even to the point of copying the Greek phalanx but developing it according to their own preferences...As the Macedonians became infused with Greek civilization they developed a larger and stronger state than any in Greece proper...The Macedonians only became important players in the Greek system after they had used what they had learned from the Greeks to expand into barbarian Europe."
  5. ^ Homer. Iliad, 14.226.
  6. ^ Strabo. Geography, 7 (Fragment 2): "What is now Macedonia was in earlier times called Emathia. Macedonia took its name from Macedon, an early ruler..."
  7. ^ Hatzopoulos 1996, p. 105; Errington 1990, pp. 7–9; Borza 1982, p. 8.
  8. ^ Borza 1992, p. 84: "The Macedonians themselves may have originated from the same population pool that produced other Greek peoples."
  9. ^ Vanderpool 1982, Eugene N. Borza, "Athenians, Macedonians, and the Origins of the Macedonian Royal House", p. 7.
  10. ^ On pages 433-434 of "The Position of the Macedonian Dialect", A. Panayotou describes the geographical delimitations of ancient Macedon as encompassing the region from Mount Pindus to the Nestos River, and from Thessaly to Paeonia (the area occupied by the kingdom of Philip II, corresponding in most respects with the Roman province of the same name).
  11. ^ a b Hesiod. Catalogue of Women, Fragment 7.
  12. ^ Herodotus. Histories, 1.56.3, 8.43.1; Hammond & Griffith 1972, pp. 430–440.
  13. ^ This was but one of several traditions regarding the "Dorian homeland" variously placing it in Phthiotis, Dryopis, Erineos, etc. For the formation of Dorian ethnicity, and its traditions, see chapters 3 and 4 of Johnathan Hall's Ethnic Identity in Greek Antiquity.
  14. ^ Toynbee 1969, Chapter 3: "What was the Ancestral Language of the Makedones?", pp. 66–77.
  15. ^ Herodotus. Histories, 8.137.8.
  16. ^ a b Hatzopoulos 1999.
  17. ^ a b Hammond & Griffith 1972, pp. 433–434.
  18. ^ Roisman & Worthington 2010, Chapter 7: Slawomir Sprawski, "The Early Temenid Kings to Alexander I", pp. 127-128.
  19. ^ a b c Roisman & Worthington 2010, Chapter 7: Slawomir Sprawski, "The Early Temenid Kings to Alexander I", p. 129.
  20. ^ Appian. Roman History, 11.63.333; Roisman & Worthington 2010, Chapter 7: Slawomir Sprawski, "The Early Temenid Kings to Alexander I", p. 130.
  21. ^ Herodotus. Histories, 5.22.
  22. ^ Appian. Roman History, 11.63.333.
  23. ^ Justin. Historiarum Philippicarum, 7.1.10.
  24. ^ Herodotus. Histories, 8.139.
  25. ^ Herodotus. Histories, 5.17.1-2.
  26. ^ Hammond & Griffith 1972, p. 433; Roisman & Worthington 2010, Chapter 7: Slawomir Sprawski, "The Early Temenid Kings to Alexander I", p. 130.
  27. ^ Borza 1992, p. 82.
  28. ^ Hammond & Griffith 1979, p. 434.
  29. ^ Herodotus. Histories, 7.73, 8.138.
  30. ^ Hammond & Griffith 1972, p. 434; Borza 1992, p. 78.
  31. ^ Hammond & Griffith 1972, p. 434.
  32. ^ Thucydides. History of the Peloponnesian War, 2.99.
  33. ^ Hammond & Griffith 1972, pp. 437–438.
  34. ^ Borza 1992, p. 87.
  35. ^ a b Roisman & Worthington 2010, Chapter 7: Slawomir Sprawski, "The Early Temenid Kings to Alexander I", p. 133.
  36. ^ Hammond & Griffith 1979, p. 438.
  37. ^ Borza 1992, pp. 79–80.
  38. ^ Roisman & Worthington 2010, Chapter 16: Zosia Archibald, "Macedonia and Thrace", p. 329.
  39. ^ a b c d Roisman & Worthington 2010, Chapter 7: Slawomir Sprawski, "The Early Temenid Kings to Alexander I", p. 134.
  40. ^ Borza 1992, p. 70.
  41. ^ Hall 2002, pp. 70–73.
  42. ^ Snodgrass 2000, p. 163: "Altogether, the graves of Macedonia, like their contents, are best explained by the durability of the non-Greek cultural element here, in which the phenomena of Greek influence – the Protogeometric pottery, and perhaps the rare cremations at Vergina – are fleeting."
  43. ^ Brock & Hodkinson 2000, Chapter 12: Zosia Halina Archibald, "Space, Hierarchy, and Community in Archaic and Classical Macedonia, Thessaly, and Thrace", pp. 222-224.
  44. ^ Hornblower, Matthews & Fraser 2000, Miltiade Hatzopoulos, ""L'histoire par les noms" in Macedonia", p. 112.
  45. ^ Brock & Hodkinson 2000, Chapter 12: Zosia Halina Archibald, "Space, Hierarchy, and Community in Archaic and Classical Macedonia, Thessaly, and Thrace", p. 215.
  46. ^ Roisman & Worthington 2010, Chapter 4: Carol G. Thomas, "The Physical Kingdom", p. 74.
  47. ^ a b Hatzopoulos 1999, p. 464.
  48. ^ Butler 2008, pp. 222–223.
  49. ^ Butler 2008, p. 223.
  50. ^ Whitley 2007, p. 253: "Ethnicity and culture are not the same, and however the ancient Macedonians viewed themselves, Macedonian material culture had little in common with that of central Greece. Differences are apparent from a very early date."
  51. ^ Whitley 2007, p. 253: "The inhabitants at these sites continued to use a style of 'Balkan' pottery that has little in common with Greek painted wares throughout the Archaic period..."
  52. ^ Brock & Hodkinson 2000, Chapter 13: J. K. Davies, "A Wholly Non-Aristotelian Universe: The Molossians as Ethnos, State, and Monarchy", p. 251.
  53. ^ a b Brock & Hodkinson 2000, Chapter 12: Zosia Halina Archibald, "Space, Hierarchy, and Community in Archaic and Classical Macedonia, Thessaly, and Thrace", p. 213.
  54. ^ Whitley 2007, p. 233.
  55. ^ Lemos 2002, p. 207.
  56. ^ a b Roisman & Worthington 2010, Chapter 1: Edward M. Anson, "Why Study Ancient Macedonia and What this Companion is About", p. 19.
  57. ^ Whitley 2007, p. 254: "But, if Macedonians were beginning to make use of some central Greek objects, they were otherwise sticking to their peculiar Macedonian ways."
  58. ^ Boardman 1982, [Part III: The Balkans and the Aegean] Chapter 15: N. G. L. Hammond, "Illyris, Epirus and Macedonia in the Early Iron Age", pp. 621-624.
  59. ^ a b c "Encyclopedia Britannica - Hellenism in Macedonia". http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic-art/260307/84137/Ancient-artifacts-that-have-been-discovered-in-Aiani-prove-that#default. 
  60. ^ Iordanidis, Garcia-Guinea & Karamitrou-Mentessidi 2007, pp. 1796–1807.
  61. ^ a b Karamitrou-Mentessidi 2007.
  62. ^ Brock & Hodkinson 2000, Chapter 12: Zosia Halina Archibald, "Space, Hierarchy, and Community in Archaic and Classical Macedonia, Thessaly, and Thrace", p. 212.
  63. ^ Roisman & Worthington 2010, Chapter 1: Edward M. Anson, "Why Study Ancient Macedonia and What this Companion is About", p. 8.
  64. ^ Roisman & Worthington 2010, Chapter 5: Johannes Engels, "Macedonians and Greeks", p. 92.
  65. ^ Horejs 2007.
  66. ^ Hammond & Griffith 1972, pp. 420–426; Snodgrass 2000, p. 257.
  67. ^ Snodgrass 2000, p. 253: "The early Iron Age period of use of the Vergina cemetery must have lasted, on any view, for three centuries at the very least. Yet over this period it shows a quite astonishing consistency in metalwork."
  68. ^ Snodgrass 2000, p. 163: "Altogether the graves of Macedonia, like their contents, are best explained by the durability of the non-Greek cultural element here, in which the phenomena of Greek influence - the Protogeometric pottery, and perhaps the rare cremations at Vergina - are fleeting."
  69. ^ Boardman 1982, [Part III: The Balkans and the Aegean] Chapter 15: N. G. L. Hammond, "Illyris, Epirus and Macedonia in the Early Iron Age", pp. 644-650.
  70. ^ Brock & Hodkinson 2000, Chapter 12: Zosia Halina Archibald, "Space, Hierarchy, and Community in Archaic and Classical Macedonia, Thessaly, and Thrace", p. 217.
  71. ^ Wilkes 1995, pp. 104–107.
  72. ^ Whitley 2007, p. 243.
  73. ^ Brock & Hodkinson 2000, Chapter 12: Zosia Halina Archibald, "Space, Hierarchy, and Community in Archaic and Classical Macedonia, Thessaly, and Thrace", pp. 223-224.
  74. ^ Roisman & Worthington 2010, Chapter 18: Carol J. King, "Macedonian Kingship and Other Political Institutions", pp. 374-375.
  75. ^ Roisman & Worthington 2010, Chapter 19: Noriko Sawada, "Social Customs and Institutions: Aspects of Macedonian Elite Society", pp. 392-408.
  76. ^ Roisman & Worthington 2010, Chapter 19: Noriko Sawada, "Social Customs and Institutions: Aspects of Macedonian Elite Society", p. 403.
  77. ^ Euripides, Iphigenia.
  78. ^ a b c d e f g Roisman & Worthington 2010, Chapter 21: Paul Christesen and Sarah C. Murray, "Macedonian Religion", p. 430.
  79. ^ a b Roisman & Worthington 2010, Chapter 21: Paul Christesen and Sarah C. Murray, "Macedonian Religion", p. 431.
  80. ^ Cook, Adcock & Charlesworth 1928, pp. 197–198; Sakellariou 1992, p. 60.
  81. ^ Roisman & Worthington 2010, Chapter 15: Denver Graninger, "Macedonia and Thessaly", pp. 323-324.
  82. ^ a b Roisman & Worthington 2010, Chapter 5: Johannes Engels, "Macedonians and Greeks", p. 97.
  83. ^ Roisman & Worthington 2010, Chapter 21: Paul Christesen and Sarah C. Murray, "Macedonian Religion", p. 434.
  84. ^ a b Roisman & Worthington 2010, Chapter 21: Paul Christesen and Sarah C. Murray, "Macedonian Religion", p. 429.
  85. ^ Whitley 2007, pp. 254.
  86. ^ Fisher & Wees 1998, p. 51; Roisman & Worthington 2010, Chapter 16: Zosia Archibald, "Macedonia and Thrace", p. 340.
  87. ^ a b Whitley 2007, pp. 254–255.
  88. ^ Roisman & Worthington 2010, Chapter 21: Paul Christesen and Sarah C. Murray, "Macedonian Religion", pp. 439-440.
  89. ^ There were Dorian and Euboean colonies, as well as tribal ethne speaking Greek, Illyrian, Thracian, Paeonian, Brygian, etc.
  90. ^ Borza 1992, p. 92
  91. ^ Christidēs, Arapopoulou & Chritē 2007, Chapter 6: A. Panayotou, "The Position of the Macedonian Dialect", p. 433.
  92. ^ Roisman & Worthington 2010, Chapter 5: Johannes Engels, "Macedonians and Greeks", p. 96.
  93. ^ Malkin 2001, Chapter 6: Jonathan M. Hall, "Contested Ethnicities: Perceptions of Macedonia within Evolving Definitions of Greek Identity", p. 161.
  94. ^ a b c d Roisman & Worthington 2010, Chapter 5: Johannes Engels, "Macedonians and Greeks", p. 94
  95. ^ a b Borza 1992, p. 93.
  96. ^ Voutiras 1998, p. 25.
  97. ^ Masson & Dubois 2000, p. 292: "...<<Macedonian Language>> de l'Oxford Classical Dictionary, 1996, p. 906: <<Macedonian may be seen as a Greek dialect, characterized by its marginal position and by local pronunciation (like Βερενίκα for Φερενίκα etc.)>>."
  98. ^ Masson 1996, "Macedonian Language", pp. 905-906.
  99. ^ Hall 2002, p. 116. Jonathan Hall warns against making over-arching conclusions based on one inscription. Either way, "the finite limitations of the graphic system conceal a far greater diversity of oral idioms.
  100. ^ Christidēs, Arapopoulou & Chritē 2007, Chapter 6: A. Panayotou, "The Position of the Macedonian Dialect", pp. 431–433.
  101. ^ Hornblower, Matthews & Fraser 2000, Miltiade Hatzopoulos, ""L'histoire par les noms" in Macedonia", p. 111.
  102. ^ It is a difficult exercise to distinguish between words which are truly common between Macedonian and Greek from cognates and loanwords.
  103. ^ Boardman 1982, Chapter 20c: R. A. Crossland, "Linguistic Problems of the Balkan Area in Late Prehistoric and Early Classical Periods", p. 846.
  104. ^ a b c Woodard 2008b, p. 11: "If such sets are rightly analyzed as cognates, the Macedonian language departs conspicuously from Greek in showing voiced unaspirated rather than voiceless aspirated reflexes of the earlier Indo-European voiced aspirated stops."
  105. ^ Boardman 1982, Chapter 20c: R. A. Crossland, "Linguistic Problems of the Balkan Area in Late Prehistoric and Early Classical Periods", pp. 846–847.
  106. ^ Personal names, names of gods and months, and phonological features. Refer to: Christidēs, Arapopoulou & Chritē 2007, Chapter 6: A. Panayotou, "The Position of the Macedonian Dialect", pp. 438-439.
  107. ^ Finkelberg 2005, p. 121: "Thus Macedonian, for example, does not share with Greek at least one of the features identifying the unique idiom of the latter, namely, the devoicing of the IE voiced aspirates."
  108. ^ Malkin 2001, Chapter 6: Jonathan M. Hall, "Contested Ethnicities: Perceptions of Macedonia within Evolving Definitions of Greek Identity", pp. 163–165.
  109. ^ Hornblower, Matthews & Fraser 2000, Miltiade Hatzopoulos, ""L'histoire par les noms" in Macedonia", p. 115.
  110. ^ Christidēs, Arapopoulou & Chritē 2007, Chapter 6: A. Panayotou, "The Position of the Macedonian Dialect", p. 439: "It might be simpler to assume that the names manifesting this feature are substratum relics of a tribe which was linguistically assimilated by the Macedonians..."
  111. ^ Specifically, a hybridized language incorporating Brygian, Northwest Greek and Thessalian.
  112. ^ Papazoglou 1977, pp. 65–83.
  113. ^ Woodard 2008a, Chapter 8: Claude Brixhe, "Phrygian", p. 72.
  114. ^ Georgiev 1981, pp. 170, 360.
  115. ^ Garrett 1999, pp. 146–156.
  116. ^ Malkin 2001, Chapter 6: Jonathan M. Hall, "Contested Ethnicities: Perceptions of Macedonia within Evolving Definitions of Greek Identity", pp. 161-163.
  117. ^ Borza 1999, pp. 42–43: "Macedonian and Greek were sufficiently different as late as the time of Alexander the Great as to require interpreters and cause ancient writers to note differences."
  118. ^ Barr-Sharrar & Borza 1982, E. Badian, "Greeks and Macedonians", p. 41: "The suggestion is surely that Macedonian was the language of the infantry and that Greek was a difficult, indeed a foreign, tongue to them."
  119. ^ Papazoglou 2000, pp. 771–777.
  120. ^ Roisman & Worthington 2010, Chapter 1: Edward Anson, "Why study the Ancient Macedonians", p. 20.
  121. ^ Roisman & Worthington 2010, Chapter 5: Johannes Engels, "Macedonians and Greeks", pp. 88, 91.
  122. ^ Anson 1984, pp. 67–68.
  123. ^ Roisman & Worthington 2010, Chapter 2: P. J. Rhodes, "The Literary and Epigraphic Evidence to the Roman Conquest", p. 23.
  124. ^ Borza 1992, p. 5.
  125. ^ a b c Roisman & Worthington 2010, Chapter 5: Johannes Engels, "Macedonians and Greeks", p. 85.
  126. ^ a b c Danforth 1997, p. 169.
  127. ^ Barr-Sharrar & Borza 1982, E. Badian, "Greeks and Macedonians", p. 33.
  128. ^ a b Roisman & Worthington 2010, Chapter 1: Edward M. Anson, "Why Study Ancient Macedonia and What this Companion is About", p. 7.
  129. ^ Roisman & Worthington 2010, Chapter 1: Edward M. Anson, "Why Study Ancient Macedonia and What this Companion is About", p. 16.
  130. ^ Roisman & Worthington 2010, Chapter 1: Edward M. Anson, "Why Study Ancient Macedonia and What this Companion is About", p. 16: "Macedonians were not commonly seen as true Greeks before or during the reigns of Philip or Alexander. Throughout the Classical Age most 'Greeks' acknowledged a distinction between themselves and the Macedonians."
  131. ^ a b c Barr-Sharrar & Borza 1982, E. Badian, "Greeks and Macedonians", p. 47.
  132. ^ Barr-Sharrar & Borza 1982, E. Badian, "Greeks and Macedonians", passim.
  133. ^ Hatzopoulos 2002; Castelnuovo 2002, Christiane Sourvinou-Inwood, "Greek Perceptions of Ethnicity and the Ethnicity of the Macedonians", pp. 173-203.
  134. ^ a b c d Roisman & Worthington 2010, Chapter 5: Johannes Engels, "Macedonians and Greeks", p. 84.
  135. ^ Borza 1992, p. 96.
  136. ^ Herodotus. Histories, 5.22; Roisman & Worthington 2010, Chapter 5: Johannes Engels, "Macedonians and Greeks", pp. 92-93.
  137. ^ Roisman & Worthington 2010, Chapter 6: Sulochana R. Asirvatham, "Perspectives on the Macedonians from Greece, Rome, and Beyond", p. 101.
  138. ^ a b c Barr-Sharrar & Borza 1982, E. Badian, "Greeks and Macedonians", p. 34.
  139. ^ Roisman & Worthington 2010, Chapter 5: Johannes Engels, "Macedonians and Greeks", p. 93.
  140. ^ Hall 2002, p. 156.
  141. ^ Malkin 2001, Chapter 6: Jonathan M. Hall, "Contested Ethnicities: Perceptions of Macedonia within Evolving Definitions of Greek Identity", p. 169; Roisman & Worthington 2010, Chapter 5: Johannes Engels, "Macedonians and Greeks", p. 91.
  142. ^ Malkin 1998, p. 140.
  143. ^ Roisman & Worthington 2010, Chapter 6: Sulochana R. Asirvatham, "Perspectives on the Macedonians from Greece, Rome, and Beyond", p. 103.
  144. ^ Malkin 2001, Chapter 6: Jonathan M. Hall, "Contested Ethnicities: Perceptions of Macedonia within Evolving Definitions of Greek Identity", p. 160.
  145. ^ Demosthenes. Third Philippic, 9.31.
  146. ^ Barr-Sharrar & Borza 1982, E. Badian, "Greeks and Macedonians", p. 42.
  147. ^ Isocrates. Philippus, 32-34 and 76-77; Malkin 2001, Chapter 6: Jonathan M. Hall, "Contested Ethnicities: Perceptions of Macedonia within Evolving Definitions of Greek Identity", pp. 159-160.
  148. ^ Hall 2002, p. 165; Malkin 2001, Chapter 6: Jonathan M. Hall, "Contested Ethnicities: Perceptions of Macedonia within Evolving Definitions of Greek Identity", p. 169.
  149. ^ Malkin 2001, Chapter 6: Jonathan M. Hall, "Contested Ethnicities: Perceptions of Macedonia within Evolving Definitions of Greek Identity", p. 169.
  150. ^ Hall 2002, p. 165.
  151. ^ Malkin 2001, Chapter 6: Jonathan M. Hall, "Contested Ethnicities: Perceptions of Macedonia within Evolving Definitions of Greek Identity", p. 170.
  152. ^ Herodotus. Histories, 1.56.3, 8.43.
  153. ^ Hammond & Griffith 1972, pp. 429–430. Hammond states that Pelagonia might have been initially called Argestia.
  154. ^ Malkin 2001, Chapter 6: Jonathan M. Hall, "Contested Ethnicities: Perceptions of Macedonia within Evolving Definitions of Greek Identity", p. 171.
  155. ^ Malkin 2001, Chapter 6: Jonathan M. Hall, "Contested Ethnicities: Perceptions of Macedonia within Evolving Definitions of Greek Identity", pp. 171-172.
  156. ^ Thucydides. History of the Peloponnesian War, 4.124.1.
  157. ^ Thucydides. History of the Peloponnesian War, 4.126.3; Malkin 2001, Chapter 6: Jonathan M. Hall, "Contested Ethnicities: Perceptions of Macedonia within Evolving Definitions of Greek Identity", p. 160.
  158. ^ a b c Roisman & Worthington 2010, Chapter 5: Johannes Engels, p. 88.
  159. ^ Isocrates. Philippos, 107-108; Malkin 2001, Chapter 6: Jonathan M. Hall, "Contested Ethnicities: Perceptions of Macedonia within Evolving Definitions of Greek Identity", p. 169.
  160. ^ Barr-Sharrar & Borza 1982, E. Badian, "Greeks and Macedonians", p. 43.
  161. ^ Roisman & Worthington 2010, Chapter 6: Sulochana R. Asirvatham, "Perspectives on the Macedonians from Greece, Rome, and Beyond", p. 104.
  162. ^ Diodorus Siculus. Historical Library, 17.3.
  163. ^ IG 2 448.58-50, SIG 317.6-19.
  164. ^ Roisman & Worthington 2010, Chapter 1: Edward M. Anson, "Why Study Ancient Macedonia and What this Companion is About", p. 18: "By the second century the literary evidence suggests that the Macedonians and their southern neighbours saw themselves and each other as Greeks."
  165. ^ Polybius. The Histories, 9.37.
  166. ^ Livy. History of Rome, 31.29.15.
  167. ^ a b Roisman & Worthington 2010, Chapter 5: Johannes Engels, "Macedonians and Greeks", p. 87.
  168. ^ Kinzl 2010, Robert Rollinger, "The Eastern Mediterranean and Beyond", p. 205.
  169. ^ Worthington 2008.
  170. ^ Malkin 2001, Chapter 6: Jonathan M. Hall, "Contested Ethnicities: Perceptions of Macedonia within Evolving Definitions of Greek Identity", p. 172.

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