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Ancient Macedonians
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The Macedonians (Makedónes) were an ancient tribe which inhabited the alluvial plain around the rivers Haliacmon and lower Axius, north of Mount Olympus in Greece. Historians generally agree that the ancient Macedonians, whether they originally spoke a Greek dialect or a distinct language, came to belong to the Koine Greek-speaking population in the Hellenistic period. Whether they were of ultimately Greek origin themselves or were later Hellenized continues to be debated by some scholars, but nearly all of them advocate that the ancient Macedonians were of Greek origin.
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The Macedonians (Makedónes) were an ancient tribe which inhabited the alluvial plain around the rivers Haliacmon and lower Axius, north of Mount Olympus in Greece. Historians generally agree that the ancient Macedonians, whether they originally spoke a Greek dialect or a distinct language, came to belong to the Koine Greek-speaking population in the Hellenistic period. Whether they were of ultimately Greek origin themselves or were later Hellenized continues to be debated by some scholars, but nearly all of them advocate that the ancient Macedonians were of Greek origin. The Macedonian royal family, known as the Argead dynasty, claimed Greek descent from Argos in the Peloponnese (thus the name Argead) and Macedonians competed in the ancient Olympic Games, an athletic event in which only men of Greek origin were allowed to participate.
Origins
Modern discussions
Some modern writers, such as Eugene N. Borza, argue that the ancient Macedonians underwent ethnogenesis synthesizing Greek as well as Thraco-Illyrian cultural elements. Other scholars, such as Nicholas Hammond, argue that the language of the ancient Macedonians was a pure but specific form of Greek until 4th century BC when it was eventually amalgamated with common Greek.
Regarding the Macedonians' geographic origins, one theory suggests that they occupied the mountainous area of Orestis, near present-day Kastoria, and the valley of the Haliacmon river, in the first millennium BC. From 8th century BC or early 7th century BC, Macedonians, in their struggle to found a kingdom migrated eastward whereby they subjugated and expelled the earlier Illyrian, Thracian and Paeonian inhabitants and other Greek tribes, or mingled with them.
In 19th century scholarship, it was argued that the Macedonians possibly had an Illyrian or Thracian rather than a Greek origin. Professor William Mitchell Ramsay considered the Macedonians as a tribe of Thrace, the land north-east of Greece, akin to the Thracians. George Rawlinson, stated that the Macedonians were a mixed race, not Paionians, Illyrians or Thracians, but of the three, closest with the Illyrians. Various "mixed" scenarios (e.g. Greco-Illyrian) have also been proposed.
Following the archaeological discoveries of the 20th century, numerous modern scholars now advocate the opinion that the ancient Macedonians were of Greek origin which to this day remains the most common concensus. Systematic excavations at Aiani since 1983 have brought to light finds that attest the existence of an organised city from the 2nd millennium BC to 100 BC. The excavations have unearthed the oldest pieces of black-and-white pottery, characteristic of the tribes of northwest Greece, discovered so far. Found with ?ycenaean sherds, they can be dated with certainty to the 14th century BC. The findings also include some of the oldest samples of writing in Macedonia, among them inscriptions bearing Greek names like T?µ?da (Themida). The inscriptions demonstrate that the society of Upper Macedonia spoke and wrote Greek before the 5th century BC.
Ancient sources
The pseudo-Hesiodic Catalogue of Women lists the mythical progenitor and eponymous ancestor of the Macedonians, Makednos, as a descendant of Deucalion's daughter Thyia and Zeus, thus excluding him from direct descent via Hellen. On the other hand, Hellanicus of Lesbos' later genealogy lists Makednos as the son of Aeolus and thus a grandson of Hellen.
Herodotus provides the chief traditions on the origins of the Macedonians, from whom he claims originate the Dorians, when he describes the history of the Lacedaemonians. He writes in the first book of his Histories that the Macedonians were a Greek tribe left behind during the great Dorian invasion: On the origins of the Macedonian Royalty, Herodotus holds a record about the youngest of three brothers from Argos, and how he, through his skill in accepting omens, tricked an oppressive monarch out of his kingdom. The story apparently describes the genealogical connection between the Macedonian royal house (or Macedonians in general) and legendary Greek heroes. This theory was fully accepted among the scholars of antiquity.
Herodotus mentions in other points of his work the Greek origin of the Macedonians, paralleling them with the Dorians:
Pausanias, in his work Description of Greece states that the Macedonians took part in the Amphictyonic League, which was an association of ancient Greek tribes formed to protect a specific temple or sacred place. In 356 BC when Phocians captured and sacked Delphi and a sacred war was declared against them, they were expelled from the league, and their two votes were given to Macedonians who had helped to defeat them.
Polybius, in his work The Histories, describes the treaty made between Hannibal and Philip V of Macedon, implying that Macedonians shared the same religion with the rest of Greeks:
Polybius relates the racial kinship between Aetolians, Achaeans and Macedonians in the speech of Lyciscus the Acarnanian addressing Cleonicus and Chlaeneas, the Aetolian envoys, at the assembly of Sparta:
During antiquity, the Greekness of the Macedonians was famously disputed by Demosthenes, the leader of the anti-Macedonian party in Athens and sworn enemy of Philip II. His words, often perceived as an effort to slander Philip, seem to be in disagreement with Herodotus' theories regarding the kinship between the Dorians and the Makednoi. However, modern historians such as Eugene N. Borza, revealed the Demosthenean corpus as simply a form of political rhetoric designed to formulate public policy or as just an insulting speech, according to Nicholas Hammond.
Titus Livius in his work The History of Rome says that Macedonians spoke the same language as that of Aetolians and Acarnanians, undoubtedly Greek tribes:
Atticisation in the 5th to 4th centuries
Macedon was heavily Atticised from the time of Alexander the Great. Moreover, there are indications that there were pan-Hellenic influences in the Macedonian kingdom as early as the 5th century BC. King Archelaus established the new capital at Pella, a festival in honor of Zeus at Dion, a city right next to Mt. Olympus, and welcomed southern Greek intellectuals into the kingdom. Athenian playwriters such as Euripides and Agathon and the famous painter Zeuxis all were influential in the early kingdom. Euripides wrote his last two tragedies at Archelaus' court.
Participation in Pan-Hellenic events
A passage in book five of Herodotus' Histories concerns the exclusion of Macedonians from panhellenic events such as the Ancient Olympic Games. In 504 or 500 BC, the Macedonian king Alexander I attempted to participate in the Olympic Games, and met with resistance by competitors, who regarded him as a non-Hellene. According to Herodotus, Alexander argued that his family was of ultimately Greek (Argive) descent, and Elean Hellanodikai determined that it is so. Other kings of Macedon like Archelaus I and Philip II also took part in the Games. A list of Macedonians competed in the Olympics:
Other Macedonian competitors recorded are Ptolemy I, Ptolemy II, Arsinoe, Berenike I, Berenike II, Etearchus, Molykos, Trygaius, Plaggon.
Additionally, a 5th century BC inscription found in royal tomb at Vergina shows evidence that Macedonian kings competed in Argive Heraean games. Amyntas III in 371 BC took also part in a Panhellenic congress, concerning Amphipolis. From the age of Perdiccas III 365 BC onwards, who served as Theorodokos, participation of Macedonian athletes in Panhellenic Games and festivals became common.
Language
Due to the fragmentary attestation various interpretations are possible. The tongue of the area's inhabitants prior to the 5th century BC is attested in some hundred words from various glosses, mainly those of Hesychius of Alexandria, 5th century, as well as placenames (toponyms), personal names (anthroponyms) and local inscriptions. The Koine Greek dialect was standardised as the language of formal discourse and official communication by the 4th century BC.
However, all inscriptions found within the boundaries of the kingdom of Macedon or the Empires of the Diadochi that can be ascribed to Macedonians prior to Roman conquest, are written in Attic, the Koine Greek and much more rarely in the Doric Greek dialect (see also Pella curse tablet).
See also
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