The name Macedonia (Greek:Μακεδονία,Makedonía) comes from theethnonymΜακεδόνες (Makedónes), which itself is derived from theancient Greek adjectiveμακεδνός (makednós), meaning "tall, slim", also the name of a people related to theDorians (Herodotus), and possibly descriptive ofAncient Macedonians.[11] It is most likelycognate with the adjectiveμακρός (makrós), meaning "long" or "tall" inAncient Greek.[11] The name is believed to have originally meant either "highlanders", "the tall ones", or "high grown men".[note 1] LinguistRobert S. P. Beekes claims that both terms are ofPre-Greek substrate origin and cannot be explained in terms ofIndo-European morphology,[12] however Filip De Decker rejects Beekesʼ arguments as insufficient.[13]
Although initially a Persian vassal, AlexanderI of Macedon fostered friendly diplomatic relations with his former Greek enemies, the Athenian andSpartan-led coalition of Greek city-states.[28] His successorPerdiccasII (r. 454–413 BC) led the Macedonians to war in four separate conflicts against Athens, leader of theDelian League, while incursions by the Thracian rulerSitalces of theOdrysian kingdom threatened Macedonia'sterritorial integrity in the northeast.[29] The Athenian statesmanPericles promoted colonization of theStrymon River near the Kingdom of Macedonia, where the colonial city ofAmphipolis was founded in 437/436BC so that it could provide Athens with a steady supply of silver and gold as well astimber andpitch to support theAthenian navy.[30] Initially Perdiccas II did not take any action and might have even welcomed the Athenians, as the Thracians were foes to both of them.[31] This changed due to an Athenian alliance with a brother and cousin of PerdiccasII who had rebelled against him.[31] Thus, two separate wars were fought against Athens between 433 and 431BC.[31] The Macedonian king retaliated by promoting the rebellion of Athens' allies inChalcidice and subsequently won over the strategic city ofPotidaea.[32] After capturing the Macedonian citiesTherma andBeroea, Athens besieged Potidaea but failed to overcome it; Therma was returned to Macedonia and much of Chalcidice to Athens in apeace treaty brokered by Sitalces, who provided Athens with military aid in exchange for acquiring new Thracian allies.[33]
PerdiccasII sidedwith Sparta in thePeloponnesian War (431–404 BC) between Athens and Sparta, and in 429 BC Athens retaliated by persuading Sitalces to invade Macedonia, but he was forced to retreat owing to a shortage of provisions in winter.[34] In 424 BC,Arrhabaeus, a local ruler ofLynkestis in Upper Macedonia, rebelled against hisoverlord Perdiccas, and the Spartans agreed to help in putting down the revolt.[35] At theBattle of Lyncestis the Macedonians panicked and fled before the fighting began, enraging the Spartan generalBrasidas, whose soldiers looted the unattended Macedonianbaggage train.[36] Perdiccas then changed sides and supported Athens, and he was able to put down Arrhabaeus's revolt.[37]
Brasidas died in 422 BC, the year Athens and Sparta struck an accord, thePeace of Nicias, that freed Macedonia from its obligations as an Athenian ally.[38] Following the 418BCBattle of Mantinea, the victorious Spartans formed an alliance withArgos, a military pact PerdiccasII was keen to join given the threat of Spartan allies remaining in Chalcidice.[39] When Argos suddenly switched sides as a pro-Atheniandemocracy, the Athenian navy was able to form ablockade against Macedonianseaports and invade Chalcidice in 417BC.[40] PerdiccasII sued for peace in 414BC, forming an alliance with Athens that was continued by his son and successorArchelausI (r. 413–399 BC).[41] Athens then provided naval support to ArchelausI in the 410BC Macedonian siege ofPydna, in exchange for timber and naval equipment.[42]
Although Archelaus I was faced with some internal revolts and had to fend off an invasion of Illyrians led bySirras of Lynkestis, he was able to project Macedonian power into Thessaly where he sent military aid to his allies.[43] Although he retained Aigai as a ceremonial and religious center, ArchelausI moved thecapital of the kingdom north toPella, which was then positioned by a lake with a river connecting it to theAegean Sea.[44] He improved Macedonia'scurrency by mintingcoins with ahigher silver content as well as issuing separatecopper coinage.[45] His royal court attracted the presence of well-known intellectuals such as the AthenianplaywrightEuripides.[46] When ArchelausI was assassinated (perhaps following ahomosexual love affair withroyal pages at his court), the kingdom was plunged into chaos, in an era lasting from 399 to 393BC that included the reign of four different monarchs:Orestes, son of ArchelausI;AeropusII, uncle,regent, and murderer of Orestes;Pausanias, son of AeropusII; andAmyntasII, who was married to the youngest daughter of ArchelausI.[47] Very little is known about this turbulent period; it came to an end whenAmyntasIII (r. 393–370 BC), son of Arrhidaeus and grandson of AmyntasI, killed Pausanias and claimed the Macedonian throne.[48]
Amyntas III was forced to flee his kingdom in either 393 or 383BC (based on conflicting accounts), owing to a massive invasion by theIllyrians led byBardylis.[note 4] Thepretender to the throneArgaeus ruled in his absence, yet AmyntasIII eventually returned to his kingdom with the aid of Thessalian allies.[49] AmyntasIII was also nearly overthrown by the forces of the Chalcidian city ofOlynthos, but with the aid ofTeleutias, brother of the Spartan kingAgesilaus II, the Macedonians forced Olynthos to surrender and dissolve theirChalcidian League in 379BC.[50]
Alexander II (r. 370–368 BC), son ofEurydiceI and AmyntasIII, succeeded his father and immediately invaded Thessaly to wage war against thetagus (supreme Thessalian military leader)Alexander of Pherae, capturing the city ofLarissa.[51] The Thessalians, desiring to remove both AlexanderII and Alexander of Pherae as theiroverlords, appealed toPelopidas ofThebes for aid; he succeeded in recapturing Larissa and, in the peace agreement arranged with Macedonia, received aristocratichostages including AlexanderII's brother and future kingPhilipII (r. 359–336 BC).[52] When Alexander was assassinated by his brother-in-lawPtolemy of Aloros, the latter acted as an overbearing regent forPerdiccasIII (r. 368–359 BC), younger brother of AlexanderII, who eventually had Ptolemy executed when reaching theage of majority in 365BC.[53] The remainder of Perdiccas III's reign was marked by political stability and financial recovery.[54] However, an Athenian invasion led byTimotheus, son ofConon, managed to captureMethone and Pydna, and an Illyrian invasion led by Bardylis succeeded in killing PerdiccasIII and 4,000 Macedonian troops in battle.[55]
Map of the Kingdom of Macedon at the death ofPhilipII in 336BC (light blue), with the original territory that existed in 431BC (red outline), anddependent states (yellow)
Philip II was twenty-four years old when he acceded to the throne in 359BC.[56] Through the use of deft diplomacy, he was able to convince the Thracians underBerisades to cease their support ofPausanias, a pretender to the throne, and the Athenians to halt their support ofanother pretender.[57] He achieved these by bribing the Thracians and theirPaeonian allies and establishing a treaty with Athens that relinquished his claims to Amphipolis.[58] He was also able to make peace with the Illyrians whohad threatened his borders.[59]
Philip II spent his initial years radically transforming theMacedonian army. A reform of its organization, equipment, and training, including the introduction of theMacedonian phalanx armed withlong pikes (i.e. thesarissa), proved immediately successful when tested against his Illyrian and Paeonian enemies.[60] Confusing accounts in ancient sources have led modern scholars to debate how much PhilipII's royal predecessors may have contributed to these reforms and the extent to which his ideas were influenced by hisadolescent years of captivity in Thebes as a political hostage during theTheban hegemony, especially after meeting with the generalEpaminondas.[61]
The Macedonians, like the other Greeks, traditionally practicedmonogamy, but PhilipII practicedpolygamy and married seven wives withperhaps only one that did not involve the loyalty of his aristocratic subjects or new allies.[note 5] His first marriages were toPhila of Elimeia of the Upper Macedonian aristocracy as well as the Illyrian princessAudata to ensure a marriage alliance.[62] To establish an alliance with Larissa in Thessaly, he married the Thessalian noblewomanPhilinna in 358BC, who bore him a son who would later rule asPhilip III Arrhidaeus (r. 323–317 BC).[63] In 357BC, he marriedOlympias to secure an alliance withArybbas, theKing of Epirus and theMolossians. This marriage would bear a son who would later rule as AlexanderIII (better known asAlexander the Great) and claim descent from the legendaryAchilles by way of hisdynastic heritage from Epirus.[64] It is unclear whether or not the Achaemenid Persian kings influenced PhilipII's practice of polygamy, although his predecessor AmyntasIII had three sons with a possible second wife Gygaea: Archelaus, Arrhidaeus, andMenelaus.[65] PhilipII had Archelaus put to death in 359BC, while PhilipII's other two half brothers fled to Olynthos, serving as acasus belli for theOlynthian War (349–348BC) against the Chalcidian League.[66]
While Athens was preoccupied with theSocial War (357–355 BC), PhilipII retook Amphipolis from them in 357BC and the following year recaptured Pydna and Potidaea, the latter of which he handed over to the Chalcidian League as promised in a treaty.[67] In 356BC, he tookCrenides, refounding it asPhilippi, while his generalParmenion defeated the Illyrian kingGrabos II of theGrabaei.[68] During the 355–354BC siege of Methone, PhilipII lost his right eye to an arrow wound, but managed to capture the city and treated the inhabitants cordially, unlike the Potidaeans, who had been enslaved.[note 6]
Philip II then involved Macedonia in theThird Sacred War (356–346BC). It began whenPhocis captured and plundered the temple ofApollo atDelphi instead of submitting unpaid fines, causing theAmphictyonic League to declare war on Phocis and acivil war among the members of theThessalian League aligned with either Phocis or Thebes.[69] PhilipII's initial campaign againstPherae in Thessaly in 353BC at the behest of Larissa ended in two disastrous defeats by the Phocian generalOnomarchus.[note 7] PhilipII in turn defeated Onomarchus in 352BC at theBattle of Crocus Field, which led to PhilipII's election as leader (archon) of the Thessalian League, provided him a seat on the Amphictyonic Council, and allowed for a marriage alliance with Pherae by weddingNicesipolis, niece of the tyrantJason of Pherae.[70]
Philip II had some early involvement with the Achaemenid Empire, especially by supportingsatraps and mercenaries who rebelled against the central authority of the Achaemenid king. The satrap ofHellespontine PhrygiaArtabazos II, who was in rebellion againstArtaxerxes III, was able to take refuge as an exile at the Macedonian court from 352 to 342 BC. He was accompanied in exile by his family and by his mercenary generalMemnon of Rhodes.[71][72]Barsine, daughter of Artabazos, and future wife of Alexander the Great, grew up at the Macedonian court.[72]
After campaigning against the Thracian rulerCersobleptes, in 349BC, PhilipII began his war against the Chalcidian League, which had been reestablished in 375BC following a temporary disbandment.[73] Despite an Athenian intervention byCharidemus,[74] Olynthos was captured by PhilipII in 348BC, and its inhabitants weresold into slavery, including someAthenian citizens.[75] The Athenians, especially in a series of speeches byDemosthenes known as theOlynthiacs, were unsuccessful in persuading their allies to counterattack and in 346BC concluded a treaty with Macedoniaknown as the Peace ofPhilocrates.[76] The treaty stipulated that Athens would relinquish claims to Macedonian coastal territories, the Chalcidice, and Amphipolis in return for the release of the enslaved Athenians as well as guarantees that PhilipII would not attack Athenian settlements in theThracian Chersonese.[77] Meanwhile, Phocis andThermopylae were captured by Macedonian forces, theDelphic temple robbers were executed, and PhilipII was awarded the two Phocian seats on the Amphictyonic Council and the position ofmaster of ceremonies over thePythian Games.[78] Athens initially opposed his membership on the council and refused to attend the games in protest, but they eventually accepted these conditions, perhaps after some persuasion by Demosthenes in his orationOn the Peace.[79]
Over the next few years, Philip II reformed local governments in Thessaly, campaigned against the Illyrian rulerPleuratus I, deposed Arybbas inEpirus in favor of his brother-in-lawAlexanderI (through PhilipII's marriage to Olympias), and defeated Cersebleptes in Thrace. This allowed him to extend Macedonian control over theHellespont in anticipation of an invasion intoAchaemenid Anatolia.[81] In 342BC, PhilipII conquereda Thracian city in what is nowBulgaria and renamed itPhilippopolis (modernPlovdiv).[82] War broke out with Athens in 340BC while PhilipII was engaged in two ultimately unsuccessful sieges ofPerinthus andByzantion, followed by a successful campaign against the Scythians along theDanube and Macedonia's involvement in theFourth Sacred War againstAmphissa in 339BC.[83] Thebes ejected a Macedonian garrison fromNicaea (near Thermopylae), leading Thebes to join Athens,Megara, Corinth,Achaea, andEuboea in a final confrontation against Macedonia at theBattle of Chaeronea in 338BC.[84] After the Macedonian victory at Chaeronea, PhilipII installed anoligarchy in Thebes, yet was lenient toward Athens, wishing to utilize their navy in a planned invasion of the Achaemenid Empire.[85] He was then chiefly responsible for the formation of theLeague of Corinth that included the major Greek city-states except Sparta. Despite the Kingdom of Macedonia's official exclusion from the league, in 337BC, PhilipII was elected as the leader (hegemon) of its council (synedrion) and thecommander-in-chief (strategosautokrator) of a forthcoming campaign to invade the Achaemenid Empire.[86] Philip's plan to punish the Persians for the suffering of the Greeks and to liberate the Greek cities of Asia Minor[87] as well as perhaps the panhellenic fear of another Persian invasion of Greece, contributed to his decision to invade the Achaemenid Empire.[88] The Persians offered aid to Perinthus and Byzantion in 341–340BC, highlighting Macedonia's strategic need to secure Thrace and the Aegean Sea against increasing Achaemenid encroachment, as the Persian kingArtaxerxes III further consolidated his control over satrapies inwestern Anatolia.[89] The latter region, yielding far more wealth and valuable resources than the Balkans, was also coveted by the Macedonian king for its sheer economic potential.[90]
When Philip II marriedCleopatra Eurydice, niece of generalAttalus, talk of providing new potential heirs at the wedding feast infuriated PhilipII's son Alexander, a veteran of the Battle of Chaeronea, and his mother Olympias.[91] They fled together to Epirus before Alexander was recalled to Pella by PhilipII.[91] When PhilipII arranged a marriage between his son Arrhidaeus andAda of Caria, daughter ofPixodarus, the Persian satrap ofCaria, Alexander intervened and proposed to marry Ada instead. PhilipII then cancelled the wedding altogether and exiled Alexander's advisorsPtolemy,Nearchus, andHarpalus.[92] To reconcile with Olympias, PhilipII had their daughterCleopatra marry Olympias' brother (and Cleopatra's uncle) AlexanderI of Epirus, but PhilipII was assassinated by his bodyguard,Pausanias of Orestis, during their wedding feast and succeeded by Alexander in 336BC.[93]
Modern scholars have argued over the possible role ofAlexanderIII "the Great" and his mother Olympias in the assassination of PhilipII, noting the latter's choice to exclude Alexander from his planned invasion of Asia, choosing instead for him to act as regent of Greece and deputyhegemon of the League of Corinth, and the potential bearing of another male heir between PhilipII and his new wife, Cleopatra Eurydice.[note 8] AlexanderIII (r. 336–323 BC) was immediately proclaimed king byan assembly of the army and leading aristocrats, chief among them beingAntipater and Parmenion.[94] By the end of his reign and military career in 323BC, Alexander would rule over an empire consisting ofmainland Greece,Asia Minor, theLevant,ancient Egypt,Mesopotamia,Persia, and much ofCentral andSouth Asia (i.e. modernPakistan).[95] Among his first acts was the burial of his father at Aigai.[96] The members of the League of Corinth revolted at the news of PhilipII's death, but were soon quelled by military force alongside persuasive diplomacy, electing Alexander ashegemon of the league to carry out the planned invasion of Achaemenid Persia.[97]
In 335 BC, Alexanderfought against the Thracian tribe of theTriballi atHaemus Mons and along theDanube, forcing their surrender onPeuce Island.[98] Shortly thereafter, the Illyrian chieftainCleitus, son ofBardylis, threatened to attack Macedonia with the aid ofGlaucias, king of theTaulantii, but Alexander took the initiative andbesieged the Illyrians atPelion (in modernAlbania).[99] When Thebes had once again revolted from the League of Corinth and was besieging the Macedonian garrison in theCadmea, Alexander left the Illyrian front and marched to Thebes, which heplaced under siege.[100] After breaching the walls, Alexander's forces killed 6,000 Thebans, took 30,000 inhabitants asprisoners of war, and burned the city to the ground as a warning that convinced all other Greek states except Sparta not to challenge Alexander again.[101]
Throughout his military career, Alexander won every battle that he personally commanded.[102] His first victory against the Persians in Asia Minor at theBattle of the Granicus in 334BC used a small cavalry contingent as a distraction to allow his infantry to cross the river followed by acavalry charge from hiscompanion cavalry.[103] Alexander led the cavalry charge at theBattle of Issus in 333BC, forcing the Persian kingDarius III and his army to flee.[103] DariusIII, despite having superior numbers, was again forced to flee theBattle of Gaugamela in 331BC.[103] The Persian king was later captured and executed by his own satrap ofBactria and kinsman,Bessus, in 330BC. The Macedonian king subsequently hunted down and executed Bessus in what is nowAfghanistan, securing the region ofSogdia in the process.[104] At the 326BCBattle of the Hydaspes (modern-dayPunjab), when thewar elephants ofKing Porus of thePauravas threatened Alexander's troops, he had them form open ranks to surround the elephants and dislodge their handlers by using theirsarissa pikes.[105] When his Macedonian troops threatenedmutiny in 324BC atOpis,Babylonia (near modernBaghdad,Iraq), Alexander offered Macedonian military titles and greater responsibilities to Persian officers and units instead, forcing his troops to seek forgiveness at a staged banquet of reconciliation between Persians and Macedonians.[106]
TheStag Hunt Mosaic, c.300BC, fromPella; the figure on the right is possiblyAlexander the Great due to the date of themosaic along with the depicted upsweep of his centrally-parted hair (anastole); the figure on the left wielding a double-edged axe (associated withHephaistos) is perhapsHephaestion, one of Alexander's loyal companions.
Alexander perhaps undercut his own rule by demonstrating signs ofmegalomania.[107] While utilizing effective propaganda such as the cutting of theGordian Knot, he also attempted to portray himself as aliving god and son of Zeus following his visit to theoracle atSiwah in theLibyan Desert (in modern-day Egypt) in 331BC.[108] His attempt in 327BC to have his men prostrate before him inBactra in an act ofproskynesis borrowed from the Persian kings was rejected as religious blasphemy by his Macedonian and Greek subjects after his court historianCallisthenes refused to perform this ritual.[107] When Alexander had Parmenion murdered atEcbatana (near modernHamadan,Iran) in 330BC, this was "symptomatic of the growing gulf between the king's interests and those of his country and people", according to Errington.[109] His murder ofCleitus the Black in 328BC is described as "vengeful and reckless" by Dawn L. Gilley and Ian Worthington.[110] Continuing the polygamous habits of his father, Alexander encouraged his men to marry native women in Asia, leading by example when he wedRoxana, a Sogdian princess of Bactria.[111] He then marriedStateira II, eldest daughter of DariusIII, andParysatis II, youngest daughter ofArtaxerxes III, at theSusa weddings in 324BC.[112]
Meanwhile, in Greece, theSpartan kingAgis III attempted to lead a rebellion of the Greeks against Macedonia.[113] He was defeated in 331BC at theBattle of Megalopolis by Antipater, who was serving as regent of Macedonia and deputyhegemon of the League of Corinth in Alexander's stead.[note 9] Before Antipater embarked on his campaign in thePeloponnese, Memnon, the governor of Thrace, was dissuaded from rebellion by use of diplomacy.[114] Antipater deferred the punishment of Sparta to the League of Corinth headed by Alexander, who ultimately pardoned the Spartans on the condition that they submit fifty nobles as hostages.[115] Antipater's hegemony was somewhat unpopular in Greece due to his practice (perhaps by order of Alexander) of exiling malcontents and garrisoning cities with Macedonian troops, yet in 330BC, Alexander declared that thetyrannies installed in Greece were to be abolished and Greek freedom was to be restored.[116]
WhenAlexander the Great died atBabylon in 323BC, his mother Olympias immediately accused Antipater and his faction of poisoning him, although there is no evidence to confirm this.[117] With no officialheir apparent, the Macedonian military command split, with one side proclaiming Alexander's half-brother PhilipIII Arrhidaeus (r. 323–317 BC) as king and the other siding with the infant son of Alexander and Roxana,AlexanderIV (r. 323–309 BC).[118] Except for the Euboeans and Boeotians, the Greeks also immediately rose up in a rebellion against Antipater known as theLamian War (323–322BC).[119] When Antipater was defeated at the 323BCBattle of Thermopylae, he fled toLamia where he was besieged by the Athenian commanderLeosthenes. A Macedonian army led byLeonnatus rescued Antipater by lifting the siege.[120] Antipater defeated the rebellion, yet his death in 319BC left a power vacuum wherein the two proclaimed kings of Macedonia became pawns ina power struggle between thediadochi, the former generals of Alexander's army.[121]
Acouncil of the army convened in Babylon immediately after Alexander's death, naming PhilipIII as king and thechiliarchPerdiccas as his regent.[122] Antipater,Antigonus Monophthalmus,Craterus, and Ptolemy formed a coalition against Perdiccas in a civil war initiated by Ptolemy'sseizure of the hearse of Alexander the Great.[123] Perdiccas was assassinated in 321BC by his own officers during a failed campaign in Egypt against Ptolemy, where his march along theNile River resulted in the drowning of 2,000 of his men.[124] AlthoughEumenes of Cardia managed to kill Craterus in battle, this had little to no effect on the outcome of the 321BCPartition of Triparadisus inSyria where the victorious coalition settled the issue of a new regency and territorial rights.[125] Antipater was appointed as regent over the two kings. Before Antipater died in 319BC, he named the staunch Argead loyalistPolyperchon as his successor, passing over his own sonCassander and ignoring the right of the king to choose a new regent (since PhilipIII was considered mentally unstable), in effect bypassing the council of the army as well.[126]
Forming an alliance with Ptolemy, Antigonus, andLysimachus, Cassander had his officerNicanor capture theMunichia fortress of Athens' port townPiraeus in defiance of Polyperchon's decree that Greek cities should be free of Macedonian garrisons, sparking theSecond War of the Diadochi (319–315BC).[127] Given a string of military failures by Polyperchon, in 317BC, PhilipIII, by way of his politically engaged wifeEurydice II of Macedon, officially replaced him as regent with Cassander.[128] Afterwards, Polyperchon desperately sought the aid of Olympias in Epirus.[128] A joint force of Epirotes, Aetolians, and Polyperchon's troops invaded Macedonia and forced the surrender of PhilipIII and Eurydice's army, allowing Olympias to execute the king and force his queen to commit suicide.[129] Olympias then had Nicanor and dozens of other Macedonian nobles killed, but by the spring of 316BC, Cassander had defeated her forces, captured her, and placed her on trial for murder before sentencing her to death.[130]
Cassander married Philip II's daughterThessalonike and briefly extended Macedonian control into Illyria as far asEpidamnos (modernDurrës, Albania). By 313BC, it was retaken by the Illyrian kingGlaucias of Taulantii.[131] By 316BC, Antigonus had taken the territory of Eumenes and managed to ejectSeleucus Nicator from his Babylonian satrapy, leading Cassander, Ptolemy, and Lysimachus to issue a joint ultimatum to Antigonus in 315BC for him to surrender various territories in Asia.[10] Antigonus promptly allied with Polyperchon, now based in Corinth, and issued an ultimatum of his own to Cassander, charging him with murder for executing Olympias and demanding that he hand over the royal family, King AlexanderIV and thequeen mother Roxana.[132] The conflict that followed lasted until the winter of 312/311BC, when a new peace settlement recognized Cassander as general of Europe, Antigonus as "first in Asia", Ptolemy as general of Egypt, and Lysimachus as general of Thrace.[133] Cassander had AlexanderIV and Roxana put to death in the winter of 311/310BC, and between 306 and 305BC thediadochi were declared kings of their respective territories.[134]
Cassander died in 297 BC, and his sickly sonPhilipIV died the same year, succeeded by Cassander's other sonsAlexander V of Macedon (r. 297–294 BC) andAntipater II of Macedon (r. 297–294 BC), with their motherThessalonike of Macedon acting as regent.[137] While Demetrius fought against the Antipatrid forces in Greece, AntipaterII killed his own mother to obtain power.[137] His desperate brother AlexanderV then requested aid fromPyrrhus of Epirus (r. 297–272 BC),[137] who had fought alongside Demetrius at the Battle of Ipsus, but was sent to Egypt as a hostage as part of an agreement between Demetrius and PtolemyI.[138] In exchange for defeating the forces of AntipaterII and forcing him to flee to the court of Lysimachus in Thrace, Pyrrhus was awarded the westernmost portions of the Macedonian kingdom.[139] Demetrius had his nephew AlexanderV assassinated and was then proclaimed king of Macedonia, but his subjects protested against his aloof, Eastern-styleautocracy.[137]
War broke out between Pyrrhus and Demetrius in 290BC whenLanassa, wife of Pyrrhus, daughter ofAgathocles of Syracuse, left him for Demetrius and offered him herdowry ofCorcyra.[140] The war dragged on until 288BC, when Demetrius lost the support ofthe Macedonians and fled the country. Macedonia was then divided between Pyrrhus and Lysimachus, the former takingwestern Macedonia and the latter eastern Macedonia.[140] By 286BC, Lysimachus had expelled Pyrrhus and his forces from Macedonia.[note 10] In 282BC, a new war erupted between SeleucusI and Lysimachus; the latter was killed in theBattle of Corupedion, allowing SeleucusI to take control of Thrace and Macedonia.[141] In two dramatic reversals of fortune, SeleucusI was assassinated in 281BC by his officerPtolemy Keraunos, son of PtolemyI and grandson of Antipater, who was then proclaimed king of Macedonia before being killed in battle in 279BC byCeltic invaders in theGallic invasion of Greece.[142] The Macedonian army proclaimed the generalSosthenes of Macedon as king, although he apparently refused the title.[143] After defeating theGallic rulerBolgios and driving out the raiding party ofBrennus, Sosthenes died and left a chaotic situation in Macedonia.[144] The Gallic invaders ravaged Macedonia untilAntigonus Gonatas, son of Demetrius, defeated them in Thrace at the 277BCBattle of Lysimachia and was then proclaimed kingAntigonus II of Macedon (r. 277–274, 272–239 BC).[145]
In 280 BC, Pyrrhus embarked on a campaign inMagna Graecia (i.e.southern Italy) against theRoman Republic known as thePyrrhic War, followed by hisinvasion of Sicily.[146] Ptolemy Keraunos secured his position on the Macedonian throne by giving Pyrrhus five thousand soldiers and twentywar elephants for this endeavor.[138] Pyrrhus returned to Epirus in 275BC after the ultimate failure of both campaigns, which contributed to therise of Rome becauseGreek cities in southern Italy such asTarentum now became Roman allies.[146] Pyrrhus invaded Macedonia in 274BC, defeating the largely mercenary army of AntigonusII at the 274BCBattle of Aous and driving him out of Macedonia, forcing him to seek refuge with his naval fleet in the Aegean.[147]
Pyrrhus lost much of his support among the Macedonians in 273BC when his unruly Gallic mercenaries plundered the royal cemetery of Aigai.[148] Pyrrhus pursued AntigonusII in the Peloponnese, yet AntigonusII was ultimately able to recapture Macedonia.[149] Pyrrhus was killed while besiegingArgos in 272BC, allowing AntigonusII to reclaim the rest of Greece.[150] He then restored the Argead dynastic graves at Aigai and annexed theKingdom of Paeonia.[151]
TheAetolian League hampered AntigonusII's control overcentral Greece, and the formation of theAchaean League in 251BC pushed Macedonian forces out of much of the Peloponnese and at times incorporated Athens and Sparta.[152] While the Seleucid Empire aligned with Antigonid Macedonia against Ptolemaic Egypt during theSyrian Wars, the Ptolemaic navy heavily disrupted AntigonusII's efforts to control mainland Greece.[153] With the aid of the Ptolemaic navy, the Athenian statesmanChremonides led a revolt against Macedonian authority known as theChremonidean War (267–261BC).[154] By 265BC, Athens was surrounded and besieged by AntigonusII's forces, and a Ptolemaic fleet was defeated in theBattle of Cos. Athens finally surrendered in 261BC.[155] After Macedonia formed an alliance with the Seleucid rulerAntiochus II, a peace settlement between AntigonusII andPtolemy II Philadelphus of Egypt was finally struck in 255BC.[156]
In 251 BC,Aratus of Sicyon led a rebellion against AntigonusII, and in 250BC, PtolemyII declared his support for the self-proclaimed KingAlexander of Corinth.[158] Although Alexander died in 246BC and Antigonus was able to score a naval victory against the Ptolemiesat Andros, the Macedonians lost theAcrocorinth to the forces of Aratus in 243BC, followed by the induction of Corinth into the Achaean League.[159] AntigonusII made peace with the Achaean League in 240BC, ceding the territories that he had lost in Greece.[160] AntigonusII died in 239BC and was succeeded by his sonDemetrius II of Macedon (r. 239–229 BC). Seeking an alliance with Macedonia to defend against the Aetolians, thequeen mother and regent of Epirus,Olympias II, offered her daughterPhthia of Macedon to DemetriusII in marriage. Demetrius II accepted her proposal, but he damaged relations with the Seleucids by divorcingStratonice of Macedon.[161] Although the Aetolians formed an alliance with the Achaean League as a result, DemetriusII was able to invade Boeotia and capture it from the Aetolians by 236BC.[157]
The Achaean League managed to captureMegalopolis in 235BC, and by the end of DemetriusII's reign most of the Peloponnese except Argos was taken from the Macedonians.[162] DemetriusII also lost an allyin Epirus when themonarchy was toppled in arepublican revolution.[163] DemetriusII enlisted the aid of theIllyrian kingAgron to defendAcarnania against Aetolia, and in 229BC, they managed to defeat the combined navies of the Aetolian and Achaean Leagues at theBattle of Paxos.[163] Another Illyrian ruler,Longarus of theDardanian Kingdom, invaded Macedonia and defeated an army of DemetriusII shortly before his death in 229BC.[164] Although his young sonPhilip immediately inherited the throne, his regentAntigonus III Doson (r. 229–221 BC), nephew of AntigonusII, was proclaimed king by the army, with Philip as his heir, following a string of military victories against the Illyrians in the north and the Aetolians in Thessaly.[165]
Aratus sent an embassy to Antigonus III in 226BC seeking an unexpected alliance now that the reformist kingCleomenes III of Sparta was threatening the rest of Greece in theCleomenean War (229–222BC).[166] In exchange for military aid, AntigonusIII demanded the return of Corinth to Macedonian control, which Aratus finally agreed to in 225BC.[167] In 224BC, AntigonusIII's forces tookArcadia from Sparta. After forming a Hellenic league in the same vein as PhilipII's League of Corinth, he managed to defeat Sparta at theBattle of Sellasia in 222BC.[168] Sparta was occupied by a foreign power for the first time in its history, restoring Macedonia's position as the leading power in Greece.[169] Antigonus died a year later, perhaps fromtuberculosis, leaving behind a strongHellenistic kingdom for his successor PhilipV.[170]
In 215 BC, at the height of theSecond Punic War with theCarthaginian Empire,Roman authorities intercepted a ship off theCalabrian coast holding a Macedonian envoy and a Carthaginian ambassador in possession of a treaty composed byHannibal declaring an alliance with PhilipV.[175]The treaty stipulated thatCarthage had the sole right to negotiate the terms of Rome's hypothetical surrender and promised mutual aid if a resurgent Rome should seek revenge against either Macedonia or Carthage.[176] Although the Macedonians were perhaps only interested in safeguarding their newly conquered territories in Illyria,[177] the Romans were nevertheless able to thwart whatever grand ambitions PhilipV had for the Adriatic region during theFirst Macedonian War (214–205BC). In 214BC, Rome positioned anaval fleet atOricus, which was assaulted along withApollonia by Macedonian forces.[178] When the Macedonians capturedLissus in 212BC, theRoman Senate responded by inciting the Aetolian League, Sparta,Elis,Messenia, andAttalus I (r. 241–197 BC) ofPergamon to wage war against PhilipV, keeping him occupied and away from Italy.[179]
The Aetolian League concluded apeace agreement with PhilipV in 206BC, and theRoman Republic negotiated theTreaty of Phoenice in 205BC, ending the war and allowing the Macedonians to retain some captured settlements in Illyria.[180] Although the Romans rejected an Aetolian request in 202BC for Rome to declare war on Macedonia once again, the Roman Senate gave serious consideration to the similar offer made by Pergamon and its allyRhodes in 201BC.[181] These states were concerned about PhilipV's alliance withAntiochus III the Great of the Seleucid Empire, which invaded the war-weary and financially exhausted Ptolemaic Empire in theFifth Syrian War (202–195BC) as PhilipV captured Ptolemaic settlements in the Aegean Sea.[182] Although Rome's envoys played a critical role in convincing Athens to join the anti-Macedonian alliance with Pergamon and Rhodes in 200BC, thecomitia centuriata (people's assembly) rejected the Roman Senate's proposal for a declaration of war on Macedonia.[183] Meanwhile, PhilipV conquered territories in theHellespont andBosporus as well as PtolemaicSamos, which led Rhodes toform an alliance with Pergamon,Byzantium,Cyzicus, andChios against Macedonia.[184] Despite PhilipV's nominal alliance with the Seleucid king, he lost the navalBattle of Chios in 201BC and was blockaded atBargylia by the Rhodian and Pergamene navies.[185]
While Philip V was busy fighting Rome's Greek allies, Rome viewed this as an opportunity to punish this former ally of Hannibal with a war that they hoped would supply a victory and require few resources.[note 12] The Roman Senate demanded that PhilipV cease hostilities against neighboring Greek powers and defer to an international arbitration committee for settling grievances.[186] When thecomitia centuriata finally voted in approval of the Roman Senate's declaration of war in 200BC and handed theirultimatum to PhilipV, demanding that atribunal assess the damages owed to Rhodes and Pergamon, the Macedonian king rejected it. This marked the beginning of theSecond Macedonian War (200–197BC), withPublius Sulpicius Galba Maximus spearheadingmilitary operations in Apollonia.[187]
The Macedonians successfully defended their territory for roughly two years,[188] but theRoman consulTitus Quinctius Flamininus managed to expel PhilipV from Macedonia in 198BC, forcing his men to take refuge in Thessaly.[189] When the Achaean League switched their loyalties from Macedonia to Rome, the Macedonian king sued for peace, but the terms offered were considered too stringent, and so the war continued.[189] In June 197BC, the Macedonians were defeated at theBattle of Cynoscephalae.[190] Rome then ratified a treaty that forced Macedonia to relinquish control of much of its Greek possessions outside of Macedonia proper, if only to act as a buffer against Illyrian and Thracian incursions into Greece.[191] Although some Greeks suspected Roman intentions of supplanting Macedonia as the new hegemonic power in Greece, Flaminius announced at theIsthmian Games of 196BC that Rome intended to preserve Greekliberty by leaving behind no garrisons and by not exactingtribute of any kind.[192] His promise was delayed by negotiations with the Spartan kingNabis, who had meanwhile captured Argos, yet Roman forces evacuated Greece in 194BC.[193]
Encouraged by the Aetolian League and their calls to liberate Greece from the Romans, theSeleucid king AntiochusIII landed with his army atDemetrias, Thessaly, in 192BC, and was electedstrategos by the Aetolians.[194] Macedonia, the Achaean League, and other Greek city-states maintained their alliance with Rome.[195] The Romansdefeated the Seleucids in the 191BCBattle of Thermopylae as well as theBattle of Magnesia in 190BC, forcing the Seleucids to pay awar indemnity, dismantle most of its navy, and abandon its claims to any territories north or west of theTaurus Mountains in the 188BCTreaty of Apamea.[196] With Rome's acceptance, PhilipV was able to capture some cities in central Greece in 191–189BC that had been allied to AntiochusIII, while Rhodes andEumenes II (r. 197–159 BC) of Pergamon gained territories in Asia Minor.[197]
Failing to please all sides in various territorial disputes, the Roman Senate decided in 184/183BC to force PhilipV to abandonAenus andMaronea, since these had been declared free cities in the Treaty of Apamea.[note 13] This assuaged the fear of EumenesII that Macedonia could pose a threat to his lands in the Hellespont.[198]Perseus of Macedon (r. 179–168 BC) succeeded PhilipV and executedhis brother Demetrius, who had been favored by the Romans but was charged by Perseus withhigh treason.[199] Perseus then attempted to form marriage alliances withPrusias II of Bithynia andSeleucus IV Philopator of the Seleucid Empire, along with renewed relations with Rhodes that greatly unsettled EumenesII.[200] Although EumenesII attempted to undermine these diplomatic relationships, Perseus fostered an alliance with theBoeotian League, extended his authority into Illyriaand Thrace, and in 174BC, won the role of managing the Temple of Apollo at Delphi as a member of theAmphictyonic Council.[201]
At the head ofMacedonia's government wasthe king (basileus).[note 15] From at least the reign of PhilipII, the king was assisted by theroyal pages (basilikoi paides), bodyguards (somatophylakes), companions (hetairoi), friends (philoi), an assembly that included members of the military, and (during the Hellenistic period)magistrates.[209] Evidence is lacking regarding the extent to which each of these groups shared authority with the king or if their existence had a basis in a formal constitutional framework.[note 16] Before the reign of PhilipII, the only institution supported by textual evidence is the monarchy.[note 17]
Kingship and the royal court
The earliest known government of ancient Macedonia was that of itsmonarchy, lasting until 167BC when it was abolished by the Romans.[210] The Macedonian hereditary monarchy existed since at least the time ofArchaic Greece, with Homeric aristocratic roots inMycenaean Greece.[211] Thucydides wrote that in previous ages, Macedonia was divided into small tribal regions, each having its ownpetty king, the tribes ofLower Macedonia eventually coalescing under one great king who exercised power as anoverlord over the lesser kings ofUpper Macedonia.[17] The direct line offather-to-son succession was broken after the assassination ofOrestes of Macedon in 396BC (allegedly by hisregent and successorAeropus II of Macedon), clouding the issue of whetherprimogeniture was the established custom or if there was a constitutional right for an assembly of the army orof the people to choose another king.[212] It is unclear if the male offspring of Macedonian queens orconsorts were always preferred over others given the accession ofArchelaus I of Macedon, son ofPerdiccas II of Macedon and aslave woman, although Archelaus succeeded the throne after murdering his father's designatedheir apparent.[213]
It is known that Macedonian kings before PhilipII upheld the privileges and carried out the responsibilities of hosting foreign diplomats, determining the kingdom's foreign policies, and negotiating alliances with foreign powers.[214] After the Greek victory atSalamis in 480BC, the Persian commanderMardonius hadAlexander I of Macedon sent to Athens as a chief envoy to orchestrate an alliance between the Achaemenid Empire andAthens. The decision to send Alexander was based on hismarriage alliance with a noble Persian house and his previous formal relationship with the city-state of Athens.[214] With their ownership of natural resources including gold, silver, timber, androyal land, the early Macedonian kings were also capable ofbribing foreign and domestic parties with impressive gifts.[215]
Little is known about thejudicial system of ancient Macedonia except that the king acted as thechief judge of the kingdom.[216] The Macedonian kings were alsosupreme commanders of the military.[note 18] PhilipII was also highly regarded for his acts of piety in serving as thehigh priest of the nation. He performed dailyritual sacrifices and ledreligious festivals.[217] Alexander imitated various aspects of his father's reign, such as granting land and gifts to loyal aristocratic followers,[217] but lost some core support among them for adopting some of the trappings of an Eastern, Persian monarch, a "lord and master" as Carol J. King suggests, instead of a "comrade-in-arms" as was the traditional relationship of Macedonian kings with their companions.[218] Alexander's father, PhilipII, was perhaps influenced by Persian traditions when he adopted institutions similar to those found in the Achaemenid realm, such as having aroyal secretary, royal archive, royal pages, and a seatedthrone.[219]
Theroyal pages were adolescent boys and young menconscripted from aristocratic households and serving the kings of Macedonia perhaps from the reign of PhilipII onward, although more solid evidence dates to the reign of Alexander the Great.[note 19] Royal pages played no direct role in high politics and were conscripted as a means to introduce them to political life.[220] After a period of training and service, pages were expected to become members of the king's companions and personal retinue.[221] During their training, pages were expected to guard the king as he slept, supply him with horses, aid him in mounting his horse, accompany him on royal hunts, and serve him duringsymposia (i.e. formal drinking parties).[222] Although there is little evidence for royal pages in the Antigonid period, it is known that some of them fled withPerseus of Macedon toSamothrace followinghis defeat by the Romans in 168BC.[223]
Bodyguards
Royal bodyguards served as the closest members to the king at court and on the battlefield.[220] They were split into two categories: theagema of thehypaspistai, a type of ancientspecial forces usually numbering in the hundreds, and a smaller group of men handpicked by the king either for their individual merits or to honor the noble families to which they belonged.[220] Therefore, the bodyguards, limited in number and forming the king's inner circle, were not always responsible for protecting the king's life on and off the battlefield; their title and office was more a mark of distinction, perhaps used to quell rivalries between aristocratic houses.[220]
The companions, including the elitecompanion cavalry andpezhetairoi infantry, represented a substantially larger group than the king's bodyguards.[note 20] The most trusted or highest ranking companions formed a council that served as an advisory body to the king.[224] A small amount of evidence suggests the existence of an assembly of the army during times of war and apeople's assembly during times of peace.[note 21]
Members of the council had the right to speak freely, and although there is no direct evidence that they voted on affairs of state, it is clear that the king was at least occasionally pressured to agree to their demands.[225] The assembly was apparently given the right to judge cases ofhigh treason andassign punishments for them, such as when Alexander the Great acted asprosecutor in the trial and conviction of three alleged conspirators in his father's assassination plot (while many otherswere acquitted).[226] However, there is perhaps insufficient evidence to allow a conclusion that councils and assemblies were regularly upheld or constitutionally grounded, or that their decisions were always heeded by the king.[227] At the death of Alexander the Great, the companionsimmediately formed a council to assume control of his empire, but it was soon destabilized byopen rivalry and conflict betweenits members.[228] The army also usedmutiny as a tool to achieve political ends.[note 22]
Magistrates, the commonwealth, local government, and allied states
Antigonid Macedonian kings relied on various regional officials to conduct affairs of state.[229] This included high-ranking municipal officials, such as the militarystrategos and thepolitarch, i.e. the elected governor (archon) of a large city (polis), as well as the politico-religious office of theepistates.[note 23] No evidence exists about the personal backgrounds of these officials, although they may have been chosen among the same group of aristocraticphiloi andhetairoi who filled vacancies for army officers.[216]
Inancient Athens, theAthenian democracy was restored on three separate occasions following the initial conquest of the city by Antipater in 322BC.[230] When it fell repeatedly under Macedonian rule it was governed by a Macedonian-imposedoligarchy composed of the wealthiest members of the city-state.[note 24] Other city-states were handled quite differently and were allowed a greater degree ofautonomy.[231] After PhilipII conquered Amphipolis in 357BC, the city was allowed to retain itsdemocracy, including its constitution,popular assembly,city council (boule), and yearlyelections for new officials, but a Macedonian garrison was housed within the city walls along with a Macedonian royal commissioner (epistates) to monitor the city's political affairs.[232]Philippi, the city founded by PhilipII, was the only other city in the Macedoniancommonwealth that had a democratic government with popular assemblies, since the assembly (ecclesia) ofThessaloniki seems to have had only a passive function in practice.[233] Some cities also maintained their own municipalrevenues.[231] The Macedonian king and central government administered the revenues generated bytemples andpriesthoods.[234]
Within theMacedonian commonwealth, some evidence from the 3rd centuryBC indicates that foreign relations were handled by the central government. Although individual Macedonian cities nominally participated inPanhellenic events as independent entities, in reality, the granting ofasylia (inviolability,diplomatic immunity, and theright of asylum atsanctuaries) to certain cities was handled directly by the king.[235] Likewise, the city-states within contemporary Greekkoina (i.e.,federations of city-states, thesympoliteia) obeyed the federal decreesvoted on collectively by the members of their league.[note 25] In city-states belonging to a league or commonwealth, the granting ofproxenia (i.e. the hosting of foreign ambassadors) was usually a right shared by local and central authorities.[236] Abundant evidence exists for the granting ofproxenia as being the soleprerogative of central authorities in the neighboringEpirote League, and some evidence suggests the same arrangement in the Macedonian commonwealth.[237] City-states that wereallied with Macedonia issued their own decrees regardingproxenia.[238] Foreign leagues also formed alliances with the Macedonian kings, such as when theCretan League signed treaties withDemetrius II Aetolicus andAntigonus III Doson ensuring enlistment of Cretan mercenaries into the Macedonian army, and electedPhilip V of Macedon as honorary protector (prostates) of the league.[239]
The basic structure of theAncient Macedonian army was the division between the companion cavalry (hetairoi) and the foot companions (pezhetairoi), augmented by various allied troops, foreign levied soldiers, and mercenaries.[240] The foot companions existed perhaps since the reign ofAlexander I of Macedon.[241] Macedonian cavalry, wearingmuscled cuirasses, became renowned in Greece during and after their involvement in thePeloponnesian War, at times siding with either Athens or Sparta.[242] Macedonian infantry in this period consisted of poorly trained shepherds and farmers, while the cavalry was composed of noblemen.[243] As evidenced by early 4th century BC artwork, there was a pronounced Spartan influence on the Macedonian army before PhilipII.[244] Nicholas Viktor Sekunda states that at the beginning of PhilipII's reign in 359BC, the Macedonian army consisted of 10,000 infantry and 600 cavalry,[245] yet Malcolm Errington cautions that these figures cited by ancient authors should be treated with some skepticism.[246]
After spending years as a political hostage in Thebes, PhilipII sought to imitate the Greek example ofmartial exercises and the issuing ofstandard equipment for citizen soldiery, and succeeded in transforming the Macedonian army from a levied force of unprofessional farmers into a well-trained,professional army.[247] PhilipII adopted some of themilitary tactics of his enemies, such as theembolon (flying wedge) cavalry formation of theScythians.[248] His infantry wieldedpeltai shields that replaced the earlieraspis-style shields, were equipped withprotective helmets,greaves, and eithercuirassesbreastplates orkotthybos stomach bands, and armed withsarissapikes anddaggers as secondary weapons.[note 26] The elitehypaspistai infantry, composed of handpicked men from the ranks of thepezhetairoi, were formed during the reign of PhilipII and saw continued use during the reign of Alexander the Great.[249] PhilipII was also responsible for the establishment of the royal bodyguards (somatophylakes).[250]
The only Macedonian cavalry units attested under Alexander were the companion cavalry,[250] yet he formed ahipparchia (i.e. unit of a few hundred horsemen) of companion cavalry composed entirely of ethnicPersians while campaigning in Asia.[254] When marching his forces into Asia, Alexander brought 1,800 cavalrymen from Macedonia, 1,800cavalrymen from Thessaly, 600 cavalrymen from the rest of Greece, and 900prodromoi cavalry fromThrace.[255] Antipater was able to quickly raise a force of 600 native Macedonian cavalry to fight in theLamian War when it began in 323BC.[255] The most elite members of Alexander'shypaspistai were designated as theagema, and a new term forhypaspistai emerged after theBattle of Gaugamela in 331BC: theargyraspides (silver shields).[256] The latter continued to serve after the reign of Alexander the Great and may have been of Asian origin.[note 27] Overall, his pike-wielding phalanx infantry numbered some 12,000 men, 3,000 of which were elitehypaspistai and 9,000 of which werepezhetairoi.[note 28] Alexander continued the use of Cretan archers and introduced native Macedonian archers into the army.[257] After the Battle of Gaugamela, archers of West Asian backgrounds became commonplace.[257]
The Macedonian army continued to evolve under theAntigonid dynasty. It is uncertain how many men were appointed assomatophylakes, which numbered eight men at the end of Alexander the Great's reign, while thehypaspistai seem to have morphed into assistants of thesomatophylakes.[note 29] At theBattle of Cynoscephalae in 197BC, the Macedonians commanded some 16,000 phalanx pikemen.[258] Alexander the Great's royal squadron of companion cavalry contained 800 men, the same number of cavalrymen in the sacred squadron (Latin:sacra ala;Greek:hiera ile) commanded byPhilip V of Macedon during theSocial War of 219BC.[259] The regular Macedonian cavalry numbered 3,000 at Callinicus, which was separate from the sacred squadron and royal cavalry.[259] While Macedonian cavalry of the 4th century BC had fought without shields, the use of shields by cavalry was adopted from theCeltic invaders of the 270s BC who settled inGalatia, central Anatolia.[260]
Thanks tocontemporary inscriptions from Amphipolis and Greia dated 218 and 181BC, respectively, historians have been able to partially piece together the organization of the Antigonid army under PhilipV.[note 30] From at least the time ofAntigonus III Doson, the most elite Antigonid-period infantry were thepeltasts, lighter and more maneuverable soldiers wieldingpeltaijavelins, swords, and a smaller bronze shield thanMacedonian phalanx pikemen, although they sometimes served in that capacity.[note 31] Among the peltasts, roughly 2,000 men were selected to serve in the eliteagemavanguard, with other peltasts numbering roughly 3,000.[261] The number of peltasts varied over time, perhaps never more than 5,000 men.[note 32] They fought alongside the phalanx pikemen, divided now intochalkaspides (bronze shield) andleukaspides (white shield) regiments.[262]
In the three royal tombs atVergina, professional painters decorated the walls with a mythological scene ofHades abductingPersephone and royal hunting scenes, while lavishgrave goods includingweapons, armor, drinking vessels, and personal items were housed with the dead, whose boneswere burned beforeburial in golden coffins.[273] Some grave goods and decorations were common in other Macedonian tombs, yet some items found at Vergina were distinctly tied to royalty, including adiadem, luxurious goods, and arms and armor.[274] Scholars have debated about the identity of the tomb occupants sincethe discovery of their remains in 1977–1978,[275] and recent research and forensic examination have concluded that at least one of the persons buried was PhilipII.[note 37] Located near Tomb1 are the above-ground ruins of aheroon, a shrine forcult worship of the dead.[276] In 2014, the ancient MacedonianKasta Tomb was discovered outside of Amphipolis and is the largest ancient tomb found in Greece (as of 2017).[277]
Young Macedonian men were typically expected to engage inhunting and martial combat as a by-product of theirtranshumance lifestyle of herdinglivestock such as goats and sheep, whilehorse breeding and raisingcattle were other common pursuits.[278] Some Macedonians engaged in farming, often withirrigation,land reclamation, andhorticulture activities supported by the Macedonian state.[note 38] The Macedonian economy and state finances were mainly supported bylogging and bymining valuableminerals such as copper, iron, gold, and silver.[279] The conversion of these raw materials into finished products and the sale of those products encouraged the growth of urban centers and a gradual shift away from the traditional rustic Macedonian lifestyle during the course of the 5thcenturyBC.[280]
The Macedonian king was anautocratic figure at the head of both government and society, with arguably unlimited authority to handle affairs of state and public policy, but he was also the leader of a very personal regime with close relationships or connections to hishetairoi, the core of the Macedonianaristocracy.[281] These aristocrats were second only to the king in terms of power and privilege, filling the ranks of his administration and serving as commanding officers in the military.[282] It was in the more bureaucratic regimes of theHellenistic kingdoms that succeeded Alexander the Great's empire where greatersocial mobility for members of society seeking to join the aristocracy could be found, especially in Ptolemaic Egypt.[283] Although governed by a king and martial aristocracy, Macedonia seems to have lacked the widespreaduse of slaves seen in contemporaneous Greek states.[284]
By the reign ofArchelausI in the 5th century BC, the ancient Macedonian elite was importing customs and artistic traditions from other regions of Greece while retaining more archaic, perhapsHomeric, funerary rites connected with thesymposium that were typified by items such as the decorative metalkraters that held the ashes of deceased Macedonian nobility in their tombs.[285] Among these is the large bronzeDerveni Krater from a 4th-centuryBC tomb of Thessaloniki, decorated with scenes of the Greek godDionysus andhis entourage and belonging to an aristocrat who had had a military career.[286] Macedonianmetalwork usually followedAthenian styles of vase shapes from the 6thcenturyBC onward, with drinking vessels, jewellery, containers, crowns,diadems, andcoins among the many metal objects found in Macedonian tombs.[287]
Surviving Macedonian painted artwork includesfrescoes andmurals, but also decoration onsculpted artwork such asstatues andreliefs. For instance, trace colors still exist on thebas-reliefs of the late 4th-century BCAlexander Sarcophagus.[289] Macedonian paintings have allowed historians to investigate the clothing fashions as well as military gear worn by theancient Macedonians.[290] Aside from metalwork and painting,mosaics are another significant form of surviving Macedonian artwork.[287] TheStag Hunt Mosaic of Pella, with its three-dimensional qualities and illusionist style, show clear influence from painted artwork and wider Hellenistic art trends, although the rustic theme of hunting was tailored to Macedonian tastes.[291] The similar Lion Hunt Mosaic of Pella illustrates either a scene of Alexander the Great with his companionCraterus, or simply a conventional illustration of the royal diversion of hunting.[291] Mosaics with mythological themes include scenes of Dionysus riding a panther andHelen of Troy being abducted byTheseus, the latter of which employs illusionist qualities and realistic shading similar to Macedonian paintings.[291] Common themes of Macedonian paintings and mosaics include warfare, hunting, and aggressive masculine sexuality (i.e. abduction of women for rape or marriage); these subjects are at times combined within a single work and perhaps indicate a metaphorical connection.[note 39]
Philip II was assassinated in 336 BC at the theatre ofAigai, amid games and spectacles celebrating the marriage of his daughterCleopatra.[292] Alexander the Great was allegedly a great admirer of both theatre and music.[293] He was especially fond of theplays byClassical AtheniantragediansAeschylus,Sophocles, andEuripides, whose works formed part of a properGreek education for his new eastern subjects alongside studies in the Greek language, including theepics ofHomer.[294] While he and his army were stationed atTyre (in modern-day Lebanon), Alexander had his generals act as judges not only for athletic contests but also for stage performances of Greek tragedies.[295] The contemporaneous famous actorsThessalus and Athenodorus performed at the event.[note 40]
When Alexander I of Macedon petitioned to compete in thefoot race of the ancient Olympic Games, the event organizers at first denied his request, explaining that only Greeks were allowed to compete. However, AlexanderI produced proof of an Argead royalgenealogy showing ancientArgiveTemenid lineage, a move that ultimately convinced the OlympicHellanodikai authorities of his Greek descent and ability to compete.[303] By the end of the 5thcenturyBC, the Macedonian king ArchelausI was crowned with theolive wreath at bothOlympia andDelphi (in thePythian Games) for winningchariot racing contests.[304] PhilipII allegedly heard of the Olympic victory of his horse (in either an individualhorse race or chariot race) on the same day his son Alexander the Great was born, on either 19 or 20July 356BC.[305] Non-royal Macedonians also competed in and won various Olympic contests by the 4th century BC.[306] In addition to literary contests, Alexander the Great stagedcompetitions for music and athletics across his empire.[294]
Ancient Macedonia produced only a few fine foods or beverages that were highly appreciated elsewhere in the Greek world, includingeels from theStrymonian Gulf and specialwine produced inChalcidice.[308] The earliest known use of flat bread as a plate for meat was made in Macedonia during the 3rdcenturyBC, which perhaps influenced the latertrencher bread ofmedieval Europe.[308]Cattle andgoats were consumed, although there was no notice of Macedonian mountaincheeses in literature until theMiddle Ages.[308] The comedic playwrightMenander wrote that Macedonian dining habits penetratedAthenian high society; for instance, the introduction of meats into thedessert course of a meal.[309] The Macedonians also most likely introducedmattye to Athenian cuisine, a dish usually made of chicken or other spiced, salted, and sauced meats servedduring the wine course.[310] This particular dish was derided and connected with licentiousness and drunkenness in a play by the Athenian comic poetAlexis about the declining morals of Athenians in the age ofDemetrius I of Macedon.[311]
Thesymposium in the Macedonian and wider Greek realm was a banquet for the nobility and privileged class, an occasion for feasting, drinking, entertainment, and sometimesphilosophical discussion.[312] Thehetairoi, leading members of the Macedonianaristocracy, were expected to attend such feasts with their king.[282] They were also expected to accompany him on royal hunts for the acquisition ofgame meat as well as for sport.[282]
Terracotta statues depictingancient Macedonians wearing thekausia, a headgear that led thePersians to refer to the Macedonians as "Yaunã Takabara" ("Greeks with hats that look like shields").[313]
Ancient authors and modern scholars alike disagree about the precise ethnic identity of the ancient Macedonians. The predominant viewpoint supports that the Macedonians were "truly Greeks" who had just retained a more archaic lifestyle than those living in southern parts of Greece.[314]Ernst Badian notes however that nearly all surviving references to antagonisms and differences between Greeks and Macedonians exist in the written speeches ofArrian, who lived at the time of theRoman Empire, when any notion of an ethnic disparity between Macedonians and other Greeks was incomprehensible.[315] Hatzopoulos argues that there was no real ethnic difference between Macedonians and the other Greeks, only a political distinction contrived after the creation of theLeague of Corinth in 337BC (which was led by Macedonia through the league's electedhegemon PhilipII, when he was not a member of the league itself);[note 43]N. G. L. Hammond asserts that ancient views differentiating Macedonia's ethnic identity from the rest of the Greek-speaking world should be seen as an expression of conflict between two different political systems: the democratic system of the city-states (e.g. Athens) versus the monarchy (Macedonia).[316] Other academics who concur that the difference between the Macedonians and Greeks was a political rather than a true ethnic discrepancy include Michael B. Sakellariou,[317] Malcolm Errington,[note 44] and Craige B. Champion.[note 45]
Anson argues that some Hellenic authors expressed complex or even ever-changing and ambiguous ideas about the exact ethnic identity of the Macedonians, who were considered by some as barbarians and others as semi-Greek or fully Greek.[note 46] Roger D. Woodard asserts that in addition to persisting uncertainty in modern times about the proper classification of the Macedonian language and its relation to Greek, ancient authors also presented conflicting ideas about the Macedonians.[note 47]Simon Hornblower argues on the Greek identity of the Macedonians, taking into consideration their origin, language, cults and customs related to ancient Greek traditions.[318] Any preconceived ethnic differences between Greeks and Macedonians faded by 148BC soon after theRoman conquest of Macedonia and thenthe rest of Greece with the defeat of theAchaean League by theRoman Republic at theBattle of Corinth (146 BC).[319]
Macedonian architecture, although utilizing a mixture of different forms and styles from the rest of Greece, did not represent a unique or diverging style from otherancient Greek architecture.[291] Among theclassical orders, Macedonian architects favored theIonic order, especially in theperistyle courtyards of private homes.[321] There are several surviving examples, albeit in ruins, of Macedonian palatial architecture, including apalace at the site of the capital Pella, the summer residence ofVergina near the old capital Aigai, and the royal residence atDemetrias near modernVolos.[321] At Vergina, the ruins of three largebanquet halls with marble-tiled floors (covered in the debris ofroof tiles) with floor plan dimensions measuring roughly 16.7 x 17.6 m (54.8 x 57.7 ft) demonstrate perhaps the earliest examples of monumentaltriangular roof trusses, if dated before the reign ofAntigonus II Gonatas or even the onset of the Hellenistic period.[322] Later Macedonian architecture also featuredarches andvaults.[323] The palaces of both Vergina and Demetrias had walls made of sundriedbricks, while the latter palace had four cornertowers around a central courtyard in the manner of a fortified residence fit for a king or at least a military governor.[321]
By the Hellenistic period, it became common for Greek states to finance the development and proliferation of ever more powerfultorsion siege engines,naval ships, and standardized designs forarms and armor.[326] Under PhilipII and Alexander the Great, improvements were made tosiege artillery such as bolt-shootingballistae andsiege engines such as huge rollingsiege towers.[327] E.W.Marsden and M.Y.Treister contend that the Macedonian rulersAntigonus I Monophthalmus and his successorDemetrius I of Macedon had the most powerful siege artillery of the Hellenistic world at the end of the 4thcenturyBC.[328]The siege ofSalamis, Cyprus, in 306BC necessitated the building of large siege engines and drafting of craftsmen from parts ofWest Asia.[329] The siege tower commissioned by DemetriusI for the MacedonianSiege of Rhodes (305–304 BC) and defended by over three thousand soldiers was built at a height of ninestories.[330] It had a base of 4,300 square feet (399 square metres), eight wheels that were steered in either direction by pivots, three sides covered in iron plates to protect them from fire, and mechanically opened windows (shielded with wool-stuffed leather curtains to soften the blow of ballistae rounds) of different sizes to accommodate the firing of missiles ranging from arrows to larger bolts.[330]
During the siege ofEchinus byPhilip V of Macedon in 211BC, the besiegers builttunnels to protect the soldiers andsappers as they went back and forth from the camp to the siege works. These included two siege towers connected by a makeshiftwickerworkcurtain wall mounted with stone-shooting ballistae, and sheds to protect the approach of thebattering ram.[331] Despite the early reputation of Macedon as a leader in siege technology,Alexandria inPtolemaic Egypt became the center for technological improvements to thecatapult by the 3rdcenturyBC, as evidenced by the writings ofPhilo of Alexandria.[329]
Although perhaps not as prolific as other areas of Greece in regards to technological innovations, there are some inventions that may have originated in Macedonia aside from siege engines and artillery. Therotary-operatedolive press for producingolive oil may have been invented in ancient Macedonia or another part of Greece, or even as far east as theLevant orAnatolia.[332]Mold-pressed glass first appeared in Macedonia in the 4thcenturyBC (although it could have simultaneously existed in the Achaemenid Empire); the first known clear, translucent glass pieces of the Greek world have been discovered in Macedonia andRhodes and date to the second half of the 4thcenturyBC.[333] Greek technical andscientific literature began withClassical Athens in the 5thcenturyBC, while the major production centers for technical innovation and texts during the Hellenistic period wereAlexandria,Rhodes, andPergamon.[334]
After the defeat ofPerseus atPydna in 168BC, theRoman Senate allowed the reopening of iron and copper mines, but forbade the mining of gold and silver by the four newly established autonomousclient states that replaced the monarchy in Macedonia.[343] The law may originally have been conceived by the Senate due to the fear that material wealth gained from gold and silver mining operations would allow the Macedonians to fund an armed rebellion.[344] The Romans were perhaps also concerned with stemminginflation caused by an increasedmoney supply from Macedonian silver mining.[345] The Macedonians continued minting silver coins between 167 and 148BC (i.e. just before the establishment of theRoman province of Macedonia), and when the Romans lifted the ban on Macedonian silver mining in 158BC it may simply have reflected the local reality of this illicit practice continuing regardless of the Senate's decree.[346]
The reigns of Philip II and Alexander the Great witnessed the demise of Classical Greece and the birth of Hellenistic civilization, following thespread of Greek culture to theNear East during and after Alexander's conquests.[347] Macedonians then migrated to Egypt and parts of Asia, but the intensivecolonization of foreign lands sapped the available manpower in Macedonia proper, weakening the kingdom in its fight with other Hellenistic powers and contributing to its downfall and conquest by the Romans.[348] However, the diffusion of Greek culture and language cemented by Alexander's conquests in West Asia and North Africa served as a "precondition" for thelater Roman expansion into these territories andentire basis for theByzantine Empire, according to Errington.[349]
The ethnic Macedonian rulers of the Ptolemaic and Seleucid successor states accepted men from all over the Greek world as theirhetairoi companions and did not foster a national identity like the Antigonids.[350] Modern scholarship has focused on how these Hellenistic successor kingdoms were influenced more by their Macedonian origins than Eastern or southern Greek traditions.[351] WhileSpartan society remained mostly insular and Athens continued placingstrict limitations on acquiring citizenship, thecosmopolitan Hellenistic cities of Asia and northeastern Africa bore a greater resemblance to Macedonian cities and contained a mixture of subjects including natives, Greek and Macedonian colonists, and Greek-speaking Hellenized Easterners, many of whom were the product of intermarriage between Greeks and native populations.[352]
Thedeification of Macedonian monarchs perhaps began with the death of PhilipII, but it was his son Alexander the Great who unambiguously claimed to be aliving god.[note 48] Following his visit to theoracle ofDidyma in 334BC that suggested his divinity, Alexander traveled to theOracle ofZeus Ammon—theGreek equivalent of the EgyptianAmun-Ra—at theSiwa Oasis of theLibyan Desert in 332BC to confirm hisdivine status.[note 49] Although the Ptolemaic and Seleucid empiresmaintained ancestral cults and deified their rulers, kings were not worshiped in the Kingdom of Macedonia.[353] While Zeus Ammon was known to the Greeks prior to Alexander's reign, particularly at theGreek colony ofCyrene, Libya, Alexander was the first Macedonian monarch to patronizeEgyptian,Persian, andBabylonian priesthoods and deities, strengthening the fusion ofNear Eastern and Greek religious beliefs.[354] After his reign, thecult of Isis gradually spread throughout the Hellenistic andRoman world, while beliefs in the Egyptian godSarapis were thoroughly Hellenized by the Ptolemaic rulers of Egypt before the spread of his cult to Macedonia and the Aegean region.[355] The German historianJohann Gustav Droysen argued that the conquests of Alexander the Great and creation of the Hellenistic world allowed for the growth andestablishment of Christianity in the Roman era.[356]
^Engels 2010, p. 89;Borza 1995, p. 114;Eugene N. Borza writes that the "highlanders" or "Makedones" of the mountainous regions of western Macedonia are derived from northwest Greek stock; they were akin to those who at an earlier time may have migrated south to become the historical "Dorians".
^Olbrycht 2010, pp. 342–343;Sprawski 2010, pp. 131, 134;Errington 1990, pp. 8–9. Errington is skeptical that at this pointAmyntas I of Macedon offered any submission as a vassal at all, at most a token one. He also mentions how the Macedonian king pursued his own course of action, such as inviting the exiled AtheniantyrantHippias to take refuge atAnthemous in 506BC.
^Roisman 2010, pp. 158–159; see alsoErrington 1990, p. 30 for further details; the Greek historianDiodorus Siculus provided a seemingly conflicting account about Illyrian invasions occurring in 393BC and 383BC, which may have been representative of a single invasion led by the Illyrian kingBardylis.
^Müller 2010, pp. 169–170, 179. Müller is skeptical about the claims ofPlutarch andAthenaeus that PhilipII of Macedon marriedCleopatra Eurydice of Macedon, a younger woman, purely out of love or due to his ownmidlife crisis. Cleopatra was the daughter of the generalAttalus, who along with his father-in-lawParmenion were given command posts inAsia Minor (modernTurkey) soon after this wedding. Müller also suspects that this marriage was one of political convenience meant to ensure the loyalty of an influential Macedonian noble house.
^Müller 2010, pp. 171–172;Buckler 1989, pp. 63, 176–181;Cawkwell 1978, pp. 185–187. Cawkwell contrarily provides the date of this siege as 354–353 BC.
^Eckstein 2010, pp. 229–230; see alsoErrington 1990, pp. 186–189 for further details. Errington is skeptical that Philip V at this point had any intentions of invading southern Italy via Illyria once the latter was secured, deeming his plans to be "more modest",Errington 1990, p. 189.
^Bringmann 2007, pp. 86–87. Errington 1990, pp. 202–203: "Roman desire for revenge and private hopes of famous victories were probably the decisive reasons for the outbreak of the war."
^Bringmann 2007, pp. 98–99; see alsoEckstein 2010, p. 242, who says that "Rome ... as the sole remaining superpower ... would not accept Macedonia as a peer competitor or equal." Klaus Bringmann asserts that negotiations with Macedonia were completely ignored due to Rome's "political calculation" that the Macedonian kingdom had to be destroyed to ensure the elimination of the "supposed source of all the difficulties which Rome was having in the Greek world".
^Written evidence about Macedonian governmental institutions made beforePhilip II of Macedon's reign is both rare and non-Macedonian in origin. The main sources of early Macedonian historiography are the works ofHerodotus,Thucydides,Diodorus Siculus, andJustin. Contemporary accounts given by those such asDemosthenes were often hostile and unreliable; evenAristotle, who lived in Macedonia, provides us with terse accounts of its governing institutions.Polybius was a contemporary historian who wrote about Macedonia; later historians includeLivy,Quintus Curtius Rufus,Plutarch, andArrian. The works of these historians affirm Macedonia'shereditary monarchy and basic institutions, yet it remains unclear if there was an establishedconstitution for Macedonian government. See:King 2010, pp. 373–374. However,N. G. L. Hammond andF. W. Walbank write with apparent certainty and conviction when describing the Macedonian constitutional government restrictingthe king and involving apopular assembly of the army. See:Hammond & Walbank 2001, pp. 12–13. The main textual primary sources for the organization ofMacedonia's military as it existed under Alexander the Great include Arrian, Curtis, Diodorus, and Plutarch; modern historians rely mostly on Polybius andLivy for understanding detailed aspects ofthe Antigonid-period military. On this,Sekunda 2010, pp. 446–447 writes: "... to this we can add the evidence provided by two magnificent archaeological monuments, the 'Alexander Sarcophagus' in particular and the 'Alexander Mosaic'... In the case of theAntigonid army ... valuable additional details are occasionally supplied byDiodorus andPlutarch, and by a series of inscriptions preserving sections of two sets of army regulations issued byPhilip V."
^King 2010, p. 375. In 1931 Friedrich Granier was the first to propose that by the time of Philip II's reign, Macedonia had a constitutional government with laws that delegated rights andcustomary privileges to certain groups, especially to its citizen soldiers, although the majority of evidence for the army's alleged right toappoint a new king and judge cases oftreason stems from the reign ofAlexander III of Macedon. SeeGranier 1931, pp. 4–28, 48–57 andKing 2010, pp. 374–375. Pietro De Francisci was the first to refute Granier's ideas and advance the theory that the Macedonian government was anautocracy ruled by the whim of the monarch, although this issue of kingship and governance is still unresolved in academia. See:de Francisci 1948, pp. 345–435 as well asKing 2010, p. 375 andErrington 1990, p. 220 for further details.
^King 2010, p. 382. The ranks of the companions were greatly increased during the reign of Philip II when he expanded this institution to includeUpper Macedonian aristocrats as well as Greeks. See:Sawada 2010, p. 404.
^King 2010, p. 384: the first recorded instance dates to 359 BC, when Philip II called together assemblies to address them with a speech and raise their morale following the death ofPerdiccas III of Macedon in battle against theIllyrians.
^King 2010, p. 390. Although these were highly influential members of local and regional government, Carol J. King asserts that they were not collectively powerful enough to formally challenge the authority of the Macedonian king or his right to rule.
^Amemiya 2007, pp. 11–12: underAntipater's oligarchy, the lower value in terms of property for acceptable members of the oligarchy was 2,000drachma.Athenian democracy was restored briefly after Antipater's death in 319 BC, yet his sonCassander reconquered the city, which came under the regency ofDemetrius of Phalerum. Demetrius lowered the property limit for oligarchic members to 1,000drachma, yet by 307 BC he was exiled from the city anddirect democracy was restored.Demetrius I of Macedon reconquered Athens in 295 BC, yet democracy was once again restored in 287 BC with the aid ofPtolemy I of Egypt.Antigonus II Gonatas, son of Demetrius I, reconquered Athens in 260 BC, followed by a succession of Macedonian kings ruling over Athens until theRoman Republic conquered both Macedonia and thenmainland Greece by 146 BC.
^According to Sekunda, Philip II's infantry were eventually equipped with heavier armor such as cuirasses, since theThird Philippic ofDemosthenes in 341 BC described them ashoplites instead of lighterpeltasts:Sekunda 2010, pp. 449–450; see alsoErrington 1990, p. 238 for further details. However, Errington argues that breastplates were not worn by thephalanxpikemen of either Philip II or Philip V's reigns (during which sufficient evidence exists). Instead, he claims that breastplates were worn only bymilitary officers, while pikemen wore thekotthybos stomach bands along with their helmets and greaves, wielding a daggers as secondary weapons along with their shields. SeeErrington 1990, p. 241.
^Sekunda 2010, p. 459;Errington 1990, p. 245: "Other developments in Macedonian army organization are evident afterAlexander. One is the evolution of thehypaspistai from an elite unit to a form ofmilitary police orbodyguard underPhilip V; the only thing the two functions had in common was the particular closeness to the king."
^Sekunda 2010, pp. 460–461; for the evolution of Macedonian military titles, such as its command bytetrarchai officers assisted bygrammateis (i.e. secretaries or clerks), seeErrington 1990, pp. 242–243.
^Sekunda 2010, pp. 461–462; Errington 1990, p. 245: "The other development, which happened at the latest underDoson, was the formation and training of a special unit ofpeltastai separate from thephalanx. This unit operated as a form ofroyal guard similar in function to the earlierhypaspistai."
^Hatzopoulos 2011a, p. 44;Woodard 2010, p. 9; see alsoAustin 2006, p. 4 for further details. Edward M. Anson contends that the nativespoken language of the Macedonians was a dialect of Greek and that in the roughly 6,300 Macedonian-period inscriptions discovered by archaeologists about 99% were written in the Greek language, using theGreek alphabet.Anson 2010, p. 17, n. 57, n. 58.
^Hatzopoulos 2011a, p. 44;Engels 2010, pp. 94–95;Woodard 2010, pp. 9–10. Hatzopoulos 2011a, pp. 43–45 states that the native language of the ancient Macedonians as preserved in the rare documents written in a language other thanKoine Greek also betray a slightphonetic influence from the languages of the original inhabitants of the region who wereassimilated or expelled by the invading Macedonians; Hatzopoulos also asserts that little is known about these languages aside fromPhrygian spoken by theBryges who migrated toAnatolia. Errington 1990, pp. 3–4 affirms that the Macedonian language was merely a dialect of Greek that usedloanwords fromThracian andIllyrian languages, which "does not surprise modernphilologists" but ultimately provided Macedonia's political enemies with the "proof" they needed to level the charge that Macedonians were not Greek.
^Woodard 2004, pp. 12–14; Hamp, Eric; Adams, Douglas (2013). "The Expansion of the Indo-European LanguagesArchived 2014-02-22 at theWayback Machine",Sino-Platonic Papers, vol 239. Accessed 16 January 2017. Joseph 2001: "Ancient Greek is generally taken to be the only representative (though note the existence of different dialects) of the Greek or Hellenic branch of Indo-European. There is some dispute as to whether Ancient Macedonian (the native language of Philip and Alexander), if it has any special affinity to Greek at all, is a dialect within Greek (see below) or a sibling language to all the known Ancient Greek dialects. If the latter view is correct, then Macedonian and Greek would be the two subbranches of a group within Indo-European which could more properly be called Hellenic." Georgiev 1966, pp. 285–297: ancient Macedonian is closely related to Greek, and Macedonian and Greek are descended from a common Greek-Macedonian idiom that was spoken till about the second half of the 3rd millennium BC.
^For instance,Cleopatra VII Philopator, the last active ruler of the Ptolemaic dynasty in Egypt, spoke Koine Greek as a first language and by her reign (51–30 BC) or some time before it the Macedonian language was no longer used. SeeJones 2006, pp. 33–34.
^The actor Athenodorus performed despite risking a fine for being absent from the simultaneousDionysia festival of Athens where he was scheduled to perform (a fine that hispatron Alexander agreed to pay). SeeWorthington 2014, pp. 185–186 for details.
^Hatzopoulos 2011b, pp. 69–71. Hatzopoulos stresses the fact that Macedonians and other peoples such as theEpirotes andCypriots, despite speaking a Greek dialect, worshiping in Greek cults, engaging in Panhellenic games, and upholding traditional Greek institutions, nevertheless occasionally had their territories excluded from contemporary geographic definitions of "Hellas" and were even considered barbarians by some. See:Hatzopoulos 2011b, pp. 52, 71–72; Johannes Engels comes to a similar conclusion about the comparison between Macedonians andEpirotes, saying that the "Greekness" of the Epirotes, despite them not being considered as refined as southern Greeks, never came into question. Engels suggests this perhaps because the Epirotes did not try to dominate the Greek world asPhilip II of Macedon had done. See:Engels 2010, pp. 83–84.
^Errington 1990, pp. 3–4. Errington 1994, p. 4: "Ancient allegations that the Macedonians were non-Greek all had their origin in Athens at the time of the struggle with PhilipII. Then as now, political struggle created the prejudice. The oratorAeschines once even found it necessary, to counteract the prejudice vigorously fomented by his opponents, to defend Philip on this issue and describe him at a meeting of the Athenian Popular Assembly as being 'entirely Greek'.Demosthenes' allegations were lent an appearance of credibility by the fact, apparent to every observer, that the life-style of the Macedonians, being determined by specific geographical and historical conditions, was different to that of a Greek city-state. This alien way of life was, however, common to western Greeks of Epirus, Akarnania and Aitolia, as well as to the Macedonians, and their fundamental Greek nationality was never doubted. Only as a consequence of the political disagreement with Macedonia was the issue raised at all."
^Champion 2004, p. 41: "Demosthenes could drop the barbarian category altogether in advocating an Athenian alliance with the Great King against a power that ranked below any so-called barbarian people, the Macedonians. In the case ofAeschines, PhilipII could be 'a barbarian due for the vengeance of God', but after the orator's embassy to Pella in 346, he became a 'thorough Greek', devoted to Athens. It all depended upon one's immediate political orientation with Macedonia, which many Greeks instinctively scorned, was always infused with deep-seated ambivalence."
^Anson 2010, pp. 14–17; this was manifested in the differentmythological genealogies concocted for the Macedonian people, withHesiod'sCatalogue of Women claiming that the Macedonians descended fromMacedon, son ofZeus andThyia, and was therefore a nephew ofHellen, progenitor of the Greeks. See:Anson 2010, p. 16;Rhodes 2010, p. 24. By the end of the 5th century BC,Hellanicus of Lesbos asserted Macedon was the son ofAeolus, the latter a son of Hellen and ancestor of theAeolians, one of the majortribes of the Greeks. As well as belonging to tribal groups such as the Aeolians,Dorians,Achaeans, andIonians, Anson also stresses the fact that some Greeks even distinguished their ethnic identities based on thepolis (i.e. city-state) they originally came from. See:Anson 2010, p. 15.
^For instance,Demosthenes when labeling PhilipII of Macedon as a barbarian whereasPolybius called Greeks and Macedonians ashomophylos (i.e. part of the same race orkin). See:Woodard 2010, pp. 9–10; Johannes Engels also discusses this ambiguity in ancient sources:Engels 2010, pp. 83–89.
^Worthington 2012, p. 319;Worthington 2014, pp. 180–183. After the priest andOracle ofZeus Ammon at theSiwa Oasis convinced him that PhilipII was merely his mortal father and Zeus his actual father, Alexander began styling himself as the 'Son of Zeus', which brought him into contention with some of his Greek subjects who adamantly believed that living men could not be immortals. SeeWorthington 2012, p. 319 andWorthington 2014, pp. 182–183 for details.
^Taagepera, Rein (1979). "Size and Duration of Empires: Growth-Decline Curves, 600 B.C. to 600 A.D.".Social Science History.3 (3/4): 121.doi:10.2307/1170959.JSTOR1170959.
^De Decker, Filip (2016). "An Etymological Case Study On The And Vocabulary In Robert Beekes's New Etymological Dictionary Of Greek: M".Studia Linguistica Universitatis Iagellonicae Cracoviensis.133 (2).doi:10.4467/20834624SL.16.006.5152.
^Davis Hanson, Victor (2010).Makers of Ancient Strategy: From the Persian Wars to the Fall of Rome. Princeton University Press. p. 119.ISBN978-0-691-13790-2.Afterwards he [Alexander] revived his father's League of Corinth, and with it his plan for a pan-Hellenic invasion of Asia to punish the Persians for the suffering of the Greeks, especially the Athenians, in the Greco-Persian Wars and to liberate the Greek cities of Asia Minor.
^Anson 2010, pp. 17–18; see alsoChristesen & Murray 2010, pp. 428–445 for ways in which Macedonian religious beliefs diverged from mainstream Greek polytheism, although the latter was hardly "monolithic" throughout the Classical Greek and Hellenistic world and Macedonians were "linguistically and culturally Greek" according to Christesen and Murray.Christesen & Murray 2010, pp. 428–429.
^Badian 1982, p. 51, n. 72; Johannes Engels comes to a similar conclusion. See:Engels 2010, p. 82.
^Hammond, N.G.L. (1997).The Genius of Alexander the Great. The University of North Carolina Press. p. 11.ISBN978-0-8078-2350-7.The other part of the Greek-speaking world extended from Pelagonia in the north to Macedonia in the south. It was occupied by several tribal states, which were constantly at war against Illyrians, Paeonians and Thracians. Each state had its own monarchy. Special prestige attached to the Lyncestae whose royal family, the Bacchiadae claimed descent from Heracles, and to the Macedonians, whose royal family had a similar ancestry. [...] In the opinion of the city-states these tribal states were backward and unworthy of the Greek name, although they spoke dialects of the Greek language. According to Aristotle, monarchy was the mark of people too stupid to govern themselves.
^Simon Hornblower (2016). "2: Greek Identity in the Archaic and Classical Periods". In Zacharia, Katerina (ed.).Hellenisms: Culture, Identity, and Ethnicity from Antiquity to Modernity. Routledge. p. 58.ISBN978-0-7546-6525-0.The question "Were the Macedonians Greeks?" perhaps needs to be chopped up further. The Macedonian kings emerge as Greeks by criterion one, namely shared blood, and personal names indicate that Macedonians generally moved north from Greece. The kings, the elite, and the generality of the Macedonians were Greeks by criteria two and three, that is, religion and language. Macedonian customs (criterion four) were in certain respects unlike those of a normal apart, perhaps, from the institutions which I have characterized as feudal. The crude one-word answer to the question has to be "yes."
Anson, Edward M. (2010). "Why Study Ancient Macedonia and What This Companion is About". In Roisman, Joseph; Worthington, Ian (eds.).A Companion to Ancient Macedonia. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell. pp. 3–20.ISBN978-1-4051-7936-2.
Asirvatham, Sulochana R. (2010). "Perspectives on the Macedonians from Greece, Rome, and Beyond". In Roisman, Joseph; Worthington, Ian (eds.).A Companion to Ancient Macedonia. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell. pp. 99–124.ISBN978-1-4051-7936-2.
Christesen, Paul; Murray, Sarah C. (2010)."Macedonian Religion". In Roisman, Joseph; Worthington, Ian (eds.).A Companion to Ancient Macedonia. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell. pp. 428–445.ISBN978-1-4051-7936-2.
Georgiev, Vladimir (July 1966). "The Genesis of the Balkan Peoples".The Slavonic and East European Review.44 (103). The Modern Humanities Research Association and University College London, School of Slavonic and East European Studies:285–297.JSTOR4205776.
Olbrycht, Marck Jan (2010)."Macedonia and Persia". In Roisman, Joseph; Worthington, Ian (eds.).A Companion to Ancient Macedonia. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell. pp. 342–370.ISBN978-1-4051-7936-2.
Renault, Mary (2001) [1975].The Nature of Alexander the Great. New York: Penguin.ISBN978-0-14-139076-5.
Rhodes, P. J. (2010). "The Literary and Epigraphic Evidence to the Roman Conquest". In Roisman, Joseph; Worthington, Ian (eds.).A Companion to Ancient Macedonia. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell. pp. 23–40.ISBN978-1-4051-7936-2.
Sakellariou, Michael B. (1983)."Inhabitants". In Michael B. Sakellariou (ed.).Macedonia: 4000 Years of Greek History and Civilization. Athens: Ekdotike Athenon S.A. pp. 44–63.
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Thomas, Carol G. (2010)."The Physical Kingdom". In Roisman, Joseph; Worthington, Ian (eds.).A Companion to Ancient Macedonia. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell. pp. 65–80.ISBN978-1-4051-7936-2.
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