Ancient Quotes on the Macedonians as Distinct Nation

The ancient Greek, Roman, and Jewish historians, geographers, and orators, speak
of the Macedonians as distinct nation, separate from their Greek, Thracian, and
Illyrian neighbors. They are clear that Macedonia was never part of Greece and
that the Macedonians conquered Greece, Thrace, and Illyria, and kept the Greeks,
Thracians, and Illyrians enslaved, until Rome defeated the Macedonian armies an
d turned the country into its first province in 168 BC. The assertion of those m
odern historians that propagate that the Macedonians "were Greeks" which have "u
nited" Greece, is absurd and is completely unsupported by the words of the ancie
nts who clearly considered Greece subjected by the Macedonian foreigners. The Ma
cedonians garrisoned the Greek cities (like the Thracian and Illyrian cities) to
enforce their occupation, and later used the Greeks (along with equal numbers o
f the Thracians and Illyrians) for their conquest of Persia.

1) Diodorus
12) Plutarch
2) Justin
13) Livy
3) Arrian
14) Polybius
4) Curtius Rufus
15) Thracymachus
5) Thucydides
16) Herodotus
6) Isocrates
17) Demosthenes
7) Ephoros
18) Josephus
8) Ptolemy
19) Strabo
9) Pausanias

20) Dionysius Periegetes

10) Medius of Larisa
21) Pseudo-Scylax
11) Pseudo-Herodotus
22) Dionysius son of Kalliphon
The ancient Greeks did not regard the Macedonians as Greeks, nor the Macedonians
regarded themselves to be Greek. They were proud of their Macedonian nationalit
y and way of life, and looked down upon the Greeks and with contempt. The Greeks
called them barbarians, along with the Persians, Illyrians, and Thracians, a la
bel that they attributed to all non-Greeks who neither spoke nor understood the
Greek language. Alexander's Macedonian Army was not a "Greek army" as some moder
n writers have erroneously claimed, nor the Macedonian conquest of Asia was a "G
reek conquest". The fact is that not one ancient writer has called the Macedonia
n empire "Greek" or the Macedonian army and conquest "Greek", but specifically M
acedonian. When Rome clashed with Macedonia, the Macedonians were ordered by the
Romans to evacuate from the whole of Greece and withdraw to Macedonia. They wer
e hated by the Greeks ever since Philip II defeated the Greeks at Chaeronea in 3
38 BC and brought Greece to its kneel, and the Greeks fought fiercely, first on
the side of the Persians and later on the side of the Romans to expel the Macedo
nians from their country. Too late would they realize that the Macedonian occupa
tion would only be replaced by the Roman. In between the Greeks fought many unsu
ccessful wars against the Macedonians to drive them out of Greece, among which t
he Lamian War is the most famous. It should be noted that the Lamian War was tri
ggered by the death of Alexander the Great, which encouraged the Greeks to rebel
.
The purpose of this page is to provide the reader with the actual quotes of the
ancient Greek, Roman, and Jewish historians, geographers, and orators that speak
of the above assertions, and show that the ancient Macedonians were not Greeks
(as the modern Greeks claim today) but a distinct nation. The reader is cautione
d that these ancient quotes are not found at the Greek Internet pages which prop
agate that the Macedonians "were Greek". Since these overwhelming quotes confirm
the fact that the ancient Macedonians were not Greek, the Greek Internet pages
purposely avoid them, as they have no way of explaining them. But to the ancient
peoples and to the ancient authors the distinctive ethnicity of the Macedonians
was not a matter for debate - it was simply a fact.
http://www.historyofmacedonia.org/AncientMacedonia/AncientEvidence.html
Diodorus Siculus
Ancient Greek Historian
The ancient Greek historian Diodorus wrote much of the history of Macedonia from
the times of Philip II and Alexander the Great up to the last Macedonian king P
erseus. In his writings, Diodorus is clear that the ancient Macedonians were a d
istinct nation, not related to any of the Balkan peoples (Greeks, Thracians, and
Illyrians). The below 40 quotes from his books XVII, XVIII, XIX, XX, XXII, XXVI
II, XXIX, XXXI, and XXXII are indeed an overwhelming proof of that:
[1] For even Greeks
Thespians, Plataeans and Orchomenians, and some other hostil
e to the Thebans who had joined the king (of the Macedonians) in the campaign. 1
7.13.5.

[2] For many days the king lay helpless under his treatment, and the Greeks who
had been settled in Bactria and Sogdiana, who had long borne unhappily their soj
ourn among peoples of another race and now received word that the king has died
of his wounds, revolted against the Macedonians. They formed a band of 3000 men
and underwent great hardship on their homeward route. Later they were massacred
by the Macedonians after Alexander s death. 17.99.5-6.
[3] The Macedonians and Alexander backed Coragus because he was one of them whil
e the Greeks favored Dioxippus. 17.100.4.
[4] Then the Macedonian (Coragus) poised his long lance and charged, but the Gre
ek (Dioxippus), when he came within reach, struck the spear with his club and sh
uttered it. After these two defeats, Coragus was reduced to continuing the battl
e with sword, but as he reached for it, the other leaped upon him and seized his
swordhand with his left, while with his right hand the Greek upset the Macedoni
an s balance and made him lose his footing. 17.100.6-7
[5] He (Alexander the Great) was plainly disappointed at the defeat of the Maced
onian. Dioxippus released his fallen opponent, and left the field winner of the
resounding victory and bedecked with ribands by his compatriots, as having broug
ht a common glory to all Greeks. 17.101.1-2.
[6] From Europe, the Greek cities AND the Macedonians also sent embassies, as we
ll as the Illyrians and most of those who dwell about the Adriatic Sea, the Thra
cian peoples and even those of their neighbors the Gauls, whose people became kn
own then first in the Greek world. 17.113.2.
[7] When Perdiccas heard of the revolt of the Greeks, he drew by lot from the Ma
cedonians 3000 infantry and 800 horsemen. 18.7.3
[8] They (the Greeks) had more then 20000 foot soldiers and 3000 horse. 18.7.2.
3000 of these 23000 Greeks were led by a "traitor" who "left his allies without
warning and withdrew to e certain hill, taking his 3000 men". 18.7.6.
[9] When oaths to this effect had been sworn and the Greeks were interspersed am
ong the Macedonians, Pithon was greatly pleased, seeing that the affair was prog
ressing according to his intentions; but the Macedonians remembering the orders
of Perdiccas and having no regard for the oaths that had been sworn, broke faith
with the Greeks. Setting upon them unexpectedly and catching them off their gro
und, they shot them all down with javelins and seized their possessions as plund
er. Pithon then, cheated of his hopes, came back with the Macedonians to Perdicc
as. 18.7.8-9
[10] When Alexander died a short time thereafter and left no sons as successors
to the kingdom, the Athenians ventured to assert their liberty (from Macedonia)
and to claim the leadership of the Greeks. 18.9.1
[11] When the Aetolians listened to him gladly they gave him 7000 soldiers, he s
ent to the Locrians and the Phocians and the other neighboring peoples and urged
them to assist their freedom and rid Greece of the Macedonian despotism. 18.9.5
.
[12] The decree of the Assembly of Athens: "people should assume responsibility
for the common freedom of the Greeks and liberate the cities that were subject t
o (Macedonian) garrisons; that they should prepare 40 quadriremes and 200 trirem
es (ships); that all Athenians up to age of 40 should be enrolled; that three tr
ibes should guard Attica, and that the other seven should be ready for campaign
beyond the frontier; that envoys should be sent to visit the Greek cities and te
ll them that formerly the Athenian people, convinced that all Greece was the com

mon fatherland of the Greeks, had fought by see against those (Macedonian) barba
rians who had invaded Greece to enslave her, and that now too Athens believed it
necessary to risk lives and money and ships in defense of the common safety of
the Greeks." 18.10.1-3.
[13] Of the rest of the Greeks, some were well disposed toward the Macedonians,
others remained neutral. 18.11.1
[14] A few of the Illyrians and the Thracians joined the alliance (with the Gree
ks) because of their hatred of the Macedonians. 18.11.1-2
[15] As soon as, however, as he learned of the movement concerted against him by
the Greeks, he left Sippas as general of Macedonia, giving him a significant ar
my and bidding him enlist as many men as possible, while he himself, taking 1300
0 Macedonians and 600 horsemen, set out from Macedonia to Thessaly (into Greece)
. 18.12.2
[16] Now that this great force had been added to the Athenians, the Greeks, who
far outnumbered the Macedonians, were successful. 18.12.4
[17] As the Macedonians defended themselves stoutly, many of the Greeks who push
ed on rashly were killed. 18.12.1-2
[18] Antiphilus, the Greek commander, having defeated the Macedonians in a glori
ous battle played a waiting game, remaining in Thessaly and watching for the ene
my to move. The affairs of the Greeks were thus in thriving condition, but since
the Macedonians had command of the sea, the Athenians made ready other ships 18.
15.7-8.
[19] Then after such a combat I have described, the battle was broken off, as th
e scales of victory swung in favour of the Macedonians. More then 500 of the Gre
eks were killed in the battle, and 130 of the Macedonians. 18.17.5
[20] The commandant of the garrison of that city, Archelaus, who was a Macedonia
n by RACE, welcomed Attalus and surrendered the city to him 18.37.3-4.
[21] Seleucus and Pithon again tried to persuade the Macedonians to remove Eumen
es from his command and to cease preferring against their own interests a man wh
o was a foreigner and who had killed very many Macedonians. 19.13.1
[22] Peucestes (Macedonian commander) had 10000 Persian archers and slingers, 30
00 men of every origin equipped for service in the Macedonian array, 600 Greek a
nd Thracian cavalry and more then 400 Persian horsemen. 19.14.5.
[23] Although the risk involved in all these circumstances was clear, nonetheles
s she decided to remain there, hoping that many Greeks AND Macedonians would com
e to her aid by sea. 19.35.6.
[24] Then, after making a truce with the other Boeotians and leaving Eupolemus a
s general for Greece, he went into Macedonia, for he was apprehensive of the ene
my s crossings. 19.77.5-6
[25] In this year Antigonus ordered his general Ptolemaeus into Greece to set th
e Greeks free 19.77.2
[26] Ptolemaeus, the general of Antigonus, had been placed in charge of affairs
thoughout Greece; 19.87.3 (not in Macedonia).
[27] This was the situation in Asia and in Greece AND Macedonia. 19.105.4

[28] And first he planned to establish order in the affairs of Greece

and then g
o on against Macedonia itself if Cassander did not march against him. 20.102.1
[29] While these held office, Cassander, king of the Macedonians, on seeing that
the power of the Greeks was increasing and that the whole war was directed agai
nst Macedonia, became much alarmed about the future. 20.106.1-2
[30] Demetrius was followed by 1500 horsemen, not less then 8000 Macedonian foot
-soldiers, mercenaries to the number of 15000, 2500 from the cities throughout G
reece. 20.110.4
[30] The utmost spirit or rivalry was not lacking on either side, for the Macedo
nians were bent on saving their ships, while the Siceliotes wished not only to b
e regarded as victors over the Carthaginians and the barbarians of Italy, but al
so to show themselves in the Greek arena as more then a match for the Macedonian
s, whose spears had subjected both Asia and Europe. 21.2.2
[31] Brennus, the king of the Gauls invaded Macedonia and engaged in battle. Hav
ing in this conflict lost many man .. as lacking sufficient strength when later
he advanced into Greece and to the oracle of Delphi which he wished to plunder.
22.9.1-2
[33] A native of Terentum, Heracleides was a man of surprising wickedness, who h
ad transformed Philip from a victorious king into a harsh and godless tyrant, an
d had thereby incurred the deep hatred of all Macedonians AND Greeks. 28.9.2
[34] Flamininus held that Philip (the Macedonian king) must completely evacuate
Greece, which should thereafter be ungarrisoned and autonomous. 28.11.1
[35] To this Flamininus replied that there was no need of arbitration whom he ha
wronged; furthermore he himself was under orders from the Senate to liberate Gr
eece (from Macedonia). 28.11.3-4
[36] When the news of settlement reached him, Flamininus summoned the leading me
n of all Greece, and convoking an assembly repeated to them Rome s good services t
o the Greeks. 28.13.2 (Macedonians excluded from the leading men of Greece)
[37] In defense of the settlement made with Nabis he (Flamininus) pointed out th
at the Romans had done what was in their power, and that in accordance with the
declared policy of the Roman people all the inhabitants of Greece were now free
(of Macedonia), ungarrisoned, and most important of all, governed by their own l
aws. 28.13.3
[38] Philip threatens the Greek Thessalians: "They were not aware, he said, that
the Macedonian sun had not yet altogether set." 29.16.1-2
[39] He said, namely, that after seeing the sun rise as he was about to begin tr
ansporting his army from Italy to Greece five day later he arrived in Macedonia.
31-11.2-4
[40] Having as his accomplice a certain harpist named Nicolaus, a Macedonian by
birth 32.15.9
----------------------------------------------------------Justin
Roman Historian
"It came to pass, that during the absence of exertion on the part of the Greeks,
the name of the Macedonians, previously mean and obscure, rose into notice; and
Philip, who bad been kept three years as a hostage at Thebes, and had been imbu

ed with the virtues of Epaminondas and Pelopidas, imposed power of Macedonia, li

ke a yoke of bondage, upon the necks of Greece and Asia" [6.9].
"Philip assigned the number of troops to be furnished by each state and only the
King of Macedonia will be the commander of their forces. Weather Macedonia was
attacked or was in a war with any other power, the Greek troops assigned by Phil
ip had to support the Macedonian army and serve under him as their general. It's
obvious that Philip had Persia in mind and knew that this is the point that obl
igated the Greeks to serve his dream of conquering that empire. The Macedonian
army, which will have the exclusive status, was to be supported by the Greek arm
y and by the armies of the adjacent conquered nations" [9.5.5-8].
"Antipater was appointed governor of Macedonia and Greece" [13.4.5]
"After the death of Pyrrhus there were great warlike commotions not only in Mace
donia, but in Asia and Greece" [26.1.1]
-----------------------------------------------------------Arrian
Ancient Greek Historian
The Campaigns of Alexander
[1] "Destiny had decreed that Macedon should wrest the sovereignty of Asia from
Persia, as Persia once had wrested it from the Medes, and the Medes, in turn, fr
om the Assyrians." [p. 111]
[2] "Our enemies are Medes and Persians, men who for centuries have lived soft a
nd luxurious lives; we of Macedon for generations past have been trained in the
hard school of danger and war. Above all, we are free men, and they are slaves."
[p.112]
[3] "When received the report that Alexander was moving forward to the attack, h
e sent some 30,000 mounted troops and 20,000 light infantry across the river Pin
arus, to give himself a chance of getting the main body of his army into positio
n without molestation. His dispositions were as follows:
in the van of his heavy infantry were his 30,000 Greek mercenaries, facing the M
acedonian infantry, with some 60,000 Persian heavy infantry- known as Kardakes."
[p.114]
[4] [Book II - Battle of Issus] "Darius' Greeks fought to thrust the Macedonians
back into the water and save the day for their left wing, already in retreat, w
hile the Macedonians, in their turn, with Alexander's triumph plain before their
eyes, were determined to equal his success and not forfeit the proud title of i
nvincible, hitherto universally bestowed upon them. The fight was further embitt
ered by the old racial rivalry of Greek and Macedonian." [p.119]
[5] "The cavalry action which ensued was desperate enough, and the Persians brok
e only when they knew that the Greek mercenaries were being cut and destroyed by
the Macedonian infantry." [p.119-20]
[6] "The same painstaking attention to details is evident in administrative matt
ers. Appointments of governors are duly mentioned, and throughout his book Arria
n is careful to give the father's name in the case of Macedonians, e.g. Ptolemy
son of Lagus, and in the case of Greeks their city of origin." [p.25]
[7] "In the spring of 334 Alexander set out from Macedonia, leaving Antipater wi
th 12,000 infantry and 1,500 cavalry to defend the homeland and to keep watch on
the Greek states." [p.34]
[8] "The backbone of the infantry was the Macedonian heavy infantry, the 'Foot C

ompanions', organized on territorial basis in six battalions (taxeis) of about 1

,500 men each. In place of the nine-foot spear carried by the Greek hoplite, the
Macedonian infantryman was armed with a pike or sarissa about 13 or 14 feet lon
g, which required both hands to wield it. The light circular shield was slung on
the left shoulder, and was smaller than that carried by the Greek hoplite which
demanded the use of the left arm. Both, Greek and Macedonian infantry wore grea
ves and a helmet, but it is possible that the Macedonians did not wear a breastp
late. The phalanx (a heavy infantry), like all the Macedonian troops had been br
ought by Philip to a remarkable standard of training and discipline." [p.35]
[9] Modern Greeks, have used this particular passage as evidence of Alexander's
greekness. Alexander sent to Athens, as an offering to the goddess Athena, 300 f
ull suits of Persian armor, with the following inscription:
"Alexander, son of Philip, and the Greeks (except the Lacedaemonians) dedicate t
hese spoils, taken from the Persians who dwell in Asia." [p.76]
J.R. Hamilton, Associate professor of Classics and Ancient History from the Univ
ersity of Auckland, New Zealand, writes: 'In view of the small part that the Gre
eks had played in the battle the inscription (with its omission of any mention o
f the Macedonians) must be regarded as propaganda designed for his Greek allies.
Alexander does not fail to stress the absence of the Spartans.'
[10] Alexander's rationale as to why he would not like to engage the Persian fle
et in a battle:
"In the first place, it was to rush blindly into a naval engagement against grea
tly superior forces, and with an untrained fleet against highly trained Cyprian
and Phoenician crews; the sea, morever, was a tricky thing - one could not trust
it, and he was not going to risk making a present to the Persians of all the sk
ill and courage of his men; as to defeat, it would be very serious indeed and wo
uld affect profoundly the general attitude to the war in its early stages, above
all by encouraging the Greeks to revolt the moment they got news of a Persian s
uccess at sea." [p.80]
[11] Alexander speaking to his officers: ".......But let me remind you: Through
your courage and endurance you have gained possession of Ionia, the Hellespont,
both Phrygias, Cappadocia, Paphlagonia, Lydia, Caria, Lycia, Pamphylia, Phoenici
a and Egypt; the Greek part of Libya is now yours, together with much of Arabia,
lowland Syria, Mesopotamia, Babylon, and Susia;........." [p.292]
[12] Alexander addressing his troops: With all that accomplished, why do you hes
itate to extend the power of Macedon - your power- to the Hyphasis and the tribe
s on the other side? [p.293] Arrian, book 5.
[13] Alexander continues to address his troops: "Gentlemen of Macedon, and you m
y friends and allies, this must not be. Stand firm; for well you know that hards
hip and danger are the price of glory, and that sweet is the savour of a life of
courage and of deathless renown beyond the grave." [p.294]
[14] Alexander continues to speak to his Macedonians and allies: "Come, then; ad
d the rest of Asia to what you already possess - a small addition to the great s
um of your conquests. What great or noble work could we ourselves have achieved
had we thought it enough, living at ease in Macedon, merely to guard our homes,
excepting no burden beyond checking the encroachment of the Thracians on our bor
ders, or the Illyrians and Triballians, or perhaps such Greeks as might prove a
menace to our comfort." [p.294] Arrian, Book 5.
-----------------------------------------------------------Quintus Curtius Rufus

Roman Historian
The History of Alexander - Translation by John Yardley - Penguin Classics
[1] "Alexander meanwhile dealt swiftly with the unrest in Greece - not only did
the Athenians rejoice at Philip s death, but the Aetolians, the Thebans, as well a
s Spartans and the Peloponnesians, were ready to throw off the Macedonian yoke.
(Diod. 17.3.3-5) - and he marched south into Thessaly, demanding the loyalty of
its people in the name of their common ancestors, Achilles (Justin 11.3.1-2; cf.
Diod. 17.4.1). And with speed and diplomacy Alexander brought the Thebans and A
thenians into submission (Diod. 17.4.4-6) [p.20]
[The "unrest in Greece" encompasses all the city-states in Greece. These city-st
ates were ready to throw off the Macedonian yoke. Here we have a clear delineati
on between Greek city-states, who were the conquered party, and Macedonia, the c
onqueror. This quote in a very unambiguous way illustrates how pitiful and ridic
ulous is the modern Greeks position when they claim, or equate, Macedonia as bein
g one of, or the same as, the Greek city states. "Thebans and Athenians into sub
mission" means one thing: Greece was won by the spear; it was a war of conquest.
Therefore, modern Greeks position that Alexander "united" the Greek city-states,
rests on euphemistic foundation, and as such, has no validity with historical j
ustice. Bottom line is, that there was no "unification" of the Greek states by A
lexander or his father Philip II. When one "unifies" one does not force submissi
on of the subjects. When one unifies, there is no "yoke" to be thrown off.]
[2] "It was decided to raze the city to the ground as a lesson to all Greek stat
es which contemplated rebellion." [p.21] [Point of interest: "as a lesson to all
Greek states". This statement indicates that Macedonia was not, and could not b
e included in Greece, for Macedonia was the one "giving" the lesson.]
[3] "Alexander also referred to his father, Philip, conqueror of Athenians, and
recalled to their minds the recent conquest of Boeotia and the annihilation of i
ts best known city." [p.41]
[4] Alexander, in a letter, responds to Darius: "His Majesty Alexander to Darius
: Greetings. The Darius whose name you have assumed wrought utter destruction up
on the Greek inhabitants of the Hellespontine coast and upon the Greek colonies
of Ionia, and then crossed the sea with a mighty army, bringing the war to Maced
onia and Greece." [p.50-1] [Alexander here himself clearly separates Greece from
Macedonia]
[5] "From here the Macedonians crossed to Mitylene which had been recently seize
d by the Athenian Chares, and was now held by him with a garrison of Persians, 2
,000 strong. Unable to withstand the siege, Chares surrendered the city on condi
tion that he be allowed to leave in safety, after which he made for Imbros. The
Macedonians spared those who surrender." [p.63]
["Athenian" Chares with 2,000 of Persian soldiers fighting against Alexander s Mac
edonians. Another example of Greeks fighting against Macedonia. If this was a wa
r to revenge Greece from Persia, Greeks would have not have fighting on the side
of the Persians against the Macedonians. The truth is that they hated the Maced
onians more for conquering Greece, then they did the Persians.]
[6] "There is a report that, after the king had completed the Macedonian custom
of marking out the circular boundary for the future city-walls with barley-meal,
flocks of birds flew down and fed on the barley. Many regarded this as unfavora
ble omen, but the verdict of the seers was that the city would have a large immi
grant population and would provide the means of livelihood to many countries." [
p.69] [The Macedonians had their own distinct customs]
[7] "As it happened, Alexander had been sent from Macedonia a present of Macedon
ian clothes and a large quantity of purple material." [p.97] [Macedonian clothes

, and purple material. (Macedonian customs 2) Macedonians dressed differently th

an the Greeks. One very peculiar feature being the kautsia, the well known Maced
onian hat.]
[8] "...but the king s conscience would not permit him to leave his men unburied,
for by Macedonian convention there is hardly any duty in military life as bindin
g as burial of one s dead." [p.100]
[9] Inflamed with greed for kingship, Bessus and Nabarzanes now decided to carry
out the plan they had long been hatching. [The plot to kill Darius the III.] "I
f, as they feared, Alexander rejected their treacherous overtures, they would mu
rder Darius and head for Bactria with the troops of their own people. However, o
pen arrest of Darius was impossible because the Persians, many thousands strong
would come to the aid of their king, and the loyalty of the Greeks also caused a
pprehension." [p.111] [The Greeks remained loyal to Persia and against Alexander
and his Macedonians to the end]
[9] Patron, the Greek commander, speaks with Darius: "Your Majesty", said Patron
, "we few are all that remain of 50,000 Greeks. We were all with you in your mor
e fortunate days, and in your present situation we remain as we were when you we
re prospering, ready to make for and to accept as our country and our home any l
ands you choose. We and you have been drawn together both by your prosperity and
your adversity. By this inviolable loyalty of ours I beg and beseech you: pitch
your tent in our area of the camp and let us be your bodyguards. We have left G
reece behind; for us there is no Bactria; our hopes rest entirely in you - I wis
h that were true of the others also! Further talk serves no purpose. As a foreig
ner born of another race I should not be asking for the responsibility of guardi
ng your person if I thought anyone else could do it." [p.112-13]
[50,000 strong Greeks were with Darius fighting the Macedonians, while Alexander
took only 7,000 Greeks next to his Macedonians which served as "hostages" and "
were potential trouble makers", (Green) which he got rid of only when he learned
that the rebellion in Greece against the Macedonian occupation forces there was
suppressed (Badian, Borza). The fact that 50,000 Greeks were fighting Alexander s
Macedonians shows clearly that their loyalty and their numerical superiority li
es with Darius and his Persians, not with Alexander and his Macedonians. As Pete
r Green puts it: "if this was a Greek conquest where were the Greek troops?" Ale
xander s conquest can not therefore be at all a Greek conquest, but simply a Maced
onian conquest.]
[10] "Men! If you consider the scale of our achievements, your longing for peace
and your weariness of brilliant campaigns are not at all surprising. Let me pas
s over the Illyrians, the Triballians, Boeotia, Thrace, Sparta, the Aecheans, th
e Peloponnese - all of them subdued under my direct leadership or by campaigns c
onducted under my orders of instructions." [p.121-22]
[The Greeks of Boeotia, Sparta, Aechea, Peloponnese - "all of them subdued"; Ale
xander himself cleraly considers Greece subdued, not united]
[11] "In capital cases it was a long-established Macedonian practice for the kin
g to conduct the trial while the army (or the commons in peace-time) acted as ju
ry, and the position of the king counted for nothing unless his influence had be
en substantial prior to the trial." [p.135] [Another Macedonian custom]
[12] Alexander speaks: "The Macedonians are going to judge your case," he said.
"Please state whether you will use your native language before them."
Philotas: "Besides the Macedonians, there are many present who, I think, will fi
nd what I am going to say easier to understand if I use the language you yoursel
f have been using, your purpose, I believe, being only to enable more people to

understand you."
Then the king said: "Do you see how offensive Philotas find even his native lang
uage? He alone feels an aversion to learning it. But let him speak as he pleases
- only remember he as contemptuous of our way of life as he is of our language.
" [p.138]
[This is again Alexander himself clearly separates the Macedonian as an independ
ent language and the Macedonian way of life, from the Greek language and the Gre
ek way of life which Philotas had referred to be the diplomatic language in the
Macedonian court]
[13] "The general feeling was that Philotas should be stoned to death according
to Macedonian customs, but Hephaestion, Craterus, and Coenus declared that tortu
re should be employed to force the truth out of him, and those who had advocated
other punishment went over to their view." [p.142] [Another Macedonian custom]
[14] "What they feared was the Macedonian law which provided the death penalty a
lso for relatives of people who had plotted against the king." [p.143]
[15] "While Alexander was in stationary camp here, reports arrived from Greece o
f the insurrection of the Peloponnesians and the Laconians." [Alexander learns a
bout the revolt of the Greeks against the Macedonians]
[16] "Roxane s father was transported with unexpected delight when he heard Alexan
der s words, and the king, in the heat of passion, ordered bread to be brought, in
accordance with their traditions, for this was the most sacred symbol of betrot
hal among the Macedonians." [p.187] [Another Macedonian custom]
[17] [Alexander attempts to appropriate divine honours to himself] "He wished to
be believed, not just called, the son of Jupiter, as if it were possible for hi
m to have as much control over men s minds as their tongues, and to give orders fo
r the Macedonians to follow the Persian customs in doing homage to him by prostr
ating themselves on the ground. To feed this desire of his there was no lack of
pernicious flattery - over the course of royalty, whose power is often subverted
by adulation than by an enemy. Nor were the Macedonians to blame for this, for
none of them could bear the slightest deviation from tradition; rather it was th
e Greeks, whose corrupt ways had also debased the profession of the liberal arts
." [p.187-8] [Macedonian traditions, this passage above, without any ambiguity,
strongly implies that the ancient Macedonians were distinct ethnic group of peop
le markedly differed from the Greeks.]
[18] "Accordingly, one festive day, Alexander had a sumptuous banquet organized
so that he could invite not only his principle friends among the Macedonians and
Greeks but also the enemy nobility." [p.188] [Greeks and Macedonians clearly se
parated]
[19] [The trial of Hermolaus] "As for you Callisthenes, the only person to think
you a man (because you are an assassin), I know why you want him brought forwar
d. It is so that the insult which sometimes uttered against me and sometimes hea
rd from him can be repeated by his lips before this gathering. Were he a Macedon
ian I would have introduced him here along with you - a teacher truly worth of h
is pupil. As it is, he is an Olynthian and does not enjoy the same rights." [p.1
95]
[Calisthenes could not be brought in front of the army (the jury), because he wa
s a Greek and not a Macedonian. Callisthenes ethnicity is of primary significance
here. Similarly, Eumenes ethnicity was the primary determining factor in the fin
al outcome. It is also suggested in Plutarch Eum. 3.1, where Eumenes expresses h
is belief that, being a foreigner, he had no right to take sides in the dispute

which broke out among the Macedonians over the succession to Alexander after the
latter s death. Furthermore, in Diodoros narrative 19.13.1 Seleucos urges Eumenes
fficers and men to desert him because he is a foreigner, who, furthermore, has k
illed many Macedonians. The wealth of evidence supporting the fact that ancient
Macedonians were a separate ethnos from the Greeks is overwhelming. Eumenes and
Callisthenes, being foreigners, foreign born individuals - Greeks, did not stand
a chance among the Macedonians. At the end, their Greek ethnicity cost them the
ir lives.]
[20] [Alexander speaks to his Macedonians] "Where is that shout of yours that sh
ows your enthusiasm? Where that characteristic look of my Macedonians?" [p.217]
[21] "Starting with Macedonia, I now have power over Greece; I have brought Thra
ce and the Illyrians under my control; rule the Triballi and the Maedi. I have A
sia in my possession from the Hellespont to the Red Sea." [p.227]
[22] At a banquet prepared by Alexander for the ambassadors of certain tribes fr
om India, among the invited guest present was the Macedonian Horratas and the Gr
eek boxer named Dioxippus. Now at the feast the Macedonian Horratas who was alre
ady drunk, began to make insulting comments to Dioxippus and to challenge him, i
f he were a man, to fight a duel. Dioxippus agreed and the two men fought rather
short fight with Dioxippus emerging a victor. A huge crowd of soldiers, includi
ng the Greeks, supported Dioxippus. "The outcome of the show dismayed Alexander,
as well as the Macedonian soldiers, especially since the barbarians had been pr
esent, for he feared that a mockery had been made of the celebrated Macedonian v
alour." [p.229]
[23] "But destiny was already bringing civil war upon the Macedonian nation." [p
.254]
[24] "The customary purification of the soldiers by the Macedonian kings involve
d cutting a bitch in two and throwing down her entrails on the left and right at
the far end of the plain into which the army was to be led. Then all the soldie
rs would stand within that area, cavalry in one spot, phalanx in another." [p.25
5] [Another Macedonian custom]
The difference between ancient Macedonians and the ancient Greeks is obvious. It
is not a matter for debate. Language, customs, traditions and the every-day sol
dier s behavior, all point to two distinct and separate ethnic groups. In short, t
he ancient Macedonians were simply that
Macedonians, and the Greeks were foreign
people next to them.
-----------------------------------------------------------Thucydides
Greek Commander and Historian
[1] The modern Greeks claim that the ancient Macedonians were Greek based on the
below passage of Thucydides:
"The country by the sea which is now called Macedonia... Alexander, the father o
f Perdiccas, and his forefathers, who were originally Temenidae from Argos" (Thu
cydides 2.99,3)
That this myth does not prove that the Macedonians were Greek I offer the extens
ive study conducted by the Macedonian specialist, Professor Eugene Borza. Analyz
ing the Temenidae myth transmitted by Herodotus and Thucydides, in details in tw
o Chapters, Eugene Borza - In the Shadow of Olympus p.82-83 gives the following
conclusion:
a) "It is clear that the analysis of our earliest-and sole-source cannot produce
a consistent and satisfactory sequence of events. My own view is that there is

some underlying veracity to the Mt. Vermion reference (as evidenced by the Phryg
ian connections), that among the Makedones a family of Vermion background emerge
d as pre-eminent, but that the Argive context is mythic, perhaps a bit of fifthcentury B.C. propaganda (as I argue in the next chapter). To deny such fables an
d attribute them to contemporary Macedonian propaganda may appear minimalistic.
But given the historical milieu in which such stories were spawned and then ador
ned, the denial of myth seems prudent.
b) The Temenidae in Macedon are an invention of the Macedonians themselves, inte
nded in part to give credence to Alexander I's claims of Hellenic ancestry, atta
ched to and modifying some half-buried progenitor stories that had for a long ti
me existed among the Macedonians concerning their own origins. The revised versi
on was transmitted without criticism or comment by Herodotus. Thucydides (2-99.3
; 5.80.2) acquired the Argive lineage tale from Herodotus, or from Macedonian-in
fluenced sources, and transmitted it. His is not an independent version. [There
is no hard evidence (pace Hammond, HM i: 4) that Thucydides ever visited Macedon
ia, but it makes no difference; Thucydides is reflecting the official version of
things.] What emerged in the fifth century is a Macedonian-inspired tale of Arg
ive origins for the Argead house, an account that can probably be traced to its
source, Alexander I (for which see Chapter 5 below). The Temenidae must disappea
r from history, making superfluous all discussion of them as historical figures.
c) There were further embellishments to the myth of the early royal family. In t
he last decade of the fifth century B.C. Euripides came to reside in Macedon at
the court of King Archelaus, thereby contributing a new stage to the evolution o
f the Macedonian creation-myth. Euripides' play honoring his patron, Archelaus,
probably adorned the basic story, replacing Perdiccas with an Archelaus as the d
escendant of Temenus-no doubt to the delight of his royal host. Delphic oracles
were introduced, and the founder's tale was extended by the introduction of Cara
nus (Doric for "head" or "ruler"). In the early fourth century, new early kings
were added during the political rivalry among three branches of the Argeadae fol
lowing the death of King Archelaus in 399, another example of the Macedonian pre
dilection to rewrite history to support a contemporary political necessity. The
story continued to be passed through the hands of local Macedonian historians in
the fourth century B. C., and by Roman times it was widely known in a number of
versions. Nothing in this later period can be traced back earlier than Euripide
s' revision of the Herodotean tradition. The notion that Alexander I or one of h
is predecessors obtained a Delphic oracle to confirm the Macedonian tie with Arg
os has no evidence to support it. Had such an oracle existed we can be confident
that Alexander, eager to confirm his Hellenic heritage, would have exploited it
, and that Herodotus, who delighted in oracles, would have mentioned it. In the
end what is important is not whether Argive Greeks founded the Macedonian royal
house but that at least some Macedonian kings wanted it so".
d) Borza also mentiones that the "two advocates of the Argos-Macedon link are Ha
mmond, HM, vol. 2, ch. I, and Daskalakis, Hellenism, Pt. 3, both of whom support
the notion of a Temenid origin for the Macedonian royal house", however, we hav
e seen above that both of them were corrected with the extensive evidence that B
orza carefully reviewed. We have already seen that both Daskalakis and Hammond w
ere incorrect on many matters on the ethnicity of the Ancient Macedonians, there
fore it should come to no surprise that their now outdated and poor in evidence
material can not be used to claim a Greek identity to the ancient Macedonians. C
lick here for Daskalakis and Hammond.
[2]Thucydides however, did not consider the Macedonians to be Greek, despite the
above myth which wasn t his original work but it as we saw was only transmitted b
y him.Here Thucydides clearly separates the Macedonians from the Greeks (Hellene
s):
"In all there were about three thousand Hellenic heavy infantry, accompanied by

all the Macedonian cavalry with the Chalcidians, near one thousand strong, besid
es an immense crowd of barbarians." (Thucydides 4.124)
Borza comments: "The use of barbaros [barbarians] is problematic, although it wo
uld appear that he normally includes at least some of the Macedonians in this ca
tegory. See 4.125.3 and Gomme, Comm. Thuc.,3:613,615 and 616 on Thuc. 4.124.1, 1
26.3 and 126.5 respectively. In the Shadow of Olympus p 152.
"Both Herodotus and Thucydides describe the Macedonians as foreigners, a distinc
t people living outside of the frontiers of the Greek city-states"
Eugene Borza,
In the Shadow of Olympus p. 96
----------------------------------------------------------Isocrates
Ancient Greek Writer
To Philip
[1] "The feeling of being peoples of nonkindred race existed on both side" refer
ring to Isocrates' statement. Earnst Badian
[2] Isocrates letter to Philip II where he, Isocrates refers to Philip "as one wh
o has been blessed with untrammeled freedom to consider Hellas your fatherland"
Green calls this a "rhetorical hyperbole". "Indeed, taken as a whole the Address
to Philip must have caused its recipient considerable sardonic amusement". [p.
49] "Its ethnic conceit was only equaled by its naivety" [p.49] Peter Green
[3] "And though Philip did not give a fig for Panhellenism as an idea, he at onc
e saw how it could be turned into highly effective camouflage (a notion which hi
s son subsequently took over ready-made). Isocrates had, unwittingly, supplied h
im with the propaganda-line he needed. From now on he merely had to clothe his M
acedonian ambitions in a suitable Panhellenic dress." [p.50] Peter Green
[4] "This was the Panhellenic crusade preached by Isocrates, and as such the kin
g s propaganda section continued - for the time being - to present it. No one, so
far as we know, was tactless enough to ask the obvious question: if this was a P
anhellenic crusade, where were the Greek troops? [p. 157] Green
[5] "Isocrates never for an instant thought of a politically unified state under
Philip's leadership. It is simply the internal unification of Hellas which he c
alls on Philip to bring about." [p.37] [Macedonia specifically excluded from Gre
ece] Wilken
Note: Macedonians were not Hellene, and Macedonia was never a member of the Hell
enic League, a league that encompassed and "united" all the Greek city-states. I
socrates expanded the term Hellene to include, no racial descent, but mode of th
ought, and those who partook of Attic culture, rather than those who had a commo
n descent were called Hellene. He saw the true Hellene only in the Greek educate
d in the Attic model. He did not regard the barbarians of Attic education as Hel
lenes.
[6] "When Philip read the book, the insistence of his descent from Heracles must
have been welcome to him; for in his policy he had to stress this mythical deri
vation, as the types of Heracles on his coins show. But on the other hand he mus
t have smiled at the naivete shown by Isocrates." [p.36] Wilken
[7] Isocrates must have taken this strong realist for an idealist, such as he wa
s himself, if he believed that Philip would draw his sword for the beaux yeux of
the Greeks." [p.36] Wilken
[8] "When Isocrates in this treatise makes so much of Heracles as Philip's ances
tor, this was meant not merely for Philip, but for the Greek public as well." [p
.35] Wilken

[9] "At the end of his speech, Isocrates, summarizing the programme which he was
proposing to Philip, advised him to be a benefector to the Greeks, a king to th
e Macedonians, and to the barbarians not a master, but a chief." [p.106] PIERRE
JOUGUET Alexander the Great and the Hellenistic World
[10] [On Macedonian ethnicity] So little do the Macedonians seem to have belonge
d to the Hellenic community at the beginning, that they did not take part in the
great Games of Greece, and when the Kings of Macedon were admitted to them, it
was not as Macedonians, but as Heraclids. Isocrates, in the 'Philip' praises the
m for not having imposed their kingship on the Hellenes, to whom the kingship is
always oppressive, and for having gone among foreigners to establish it. He, th
erefore, did not regard the Macedonians as Greeks." [p.68] PIERRE JOUGUET Alexan
der the Great and the Hellenistic World
[11] "In the Panegyricus he [Isocrates] had urged an understanding between Spart
a and Athens, so that the Greeks might unite in a common expedition against the
Persian empire. Nothing of that sort was any longer thinkable. But the policy of
which he now had such high hopes offered a surprisingly simple solution for the
distressing problem that lay heavily on all minds the problem of what was to be
the ultimate relationship between Greece and the new power in the north (Macedo
nia)." [p.152] WERNER JAEGER Demosthenes
[12] "But for Isocrates that was no obstacle. He had long since come to recogniz
e the impossibility of resisting Macedonia, and he was only trying to find the l
east humiliating way to express the unavoidable submission of all the Greeks to
the will of Philip. Here again he found the solution in a scheme for Macedonian
hegemony over Greece. For it seems as if Philip's appearance in this role would
be most effective way to mitigate his becoming so dominant a factor in Greek his
tory; moreover, it ought to silence all Greek prejudices against the culturally
and ethnically alien character of the Macedonians." [p.153] WERNER JAEGER
[13] "With the help of the role that Isocrates had assigned to him, he had the a
stuteness to let his cold-blooded policy for the extension of Macedonian power t
ake on the eyes of the Greeks the appearance of a work of liberation for Hellas.
What he most needed at this moment was not force but shrewd propaganda; and nob
ody lent himself to this purpose so effectively as the old Isocrates, venerable
and disinterested, who offered his services of his own free will." [p.155] WERNE
R JAEGER
[14] "Looking far beyond the actualities of the Greek world, hopelessly split as
under as it was, he (Isocrates) had envisaged a united nation led by the Macedon
ian king." [p.172] WERNER JAEGER
[15] "Quite apart, however, from any theoretical doubts whether the nationalisti
c movement of modern times, which seeks to combine in a single state all the ind
ividuals of a single folk, can properly be compared with the Greek idea of Panhe
llenism, scholars have failed to notice that after the unfortunate Peace of Phil
ocrates Demosthenes' whole policy was an unparalleled fight for national unifica
tion. In this period he deliberately threw off the constrains of the politician
concerned exclusively with Athenian interests, and devoted himself to a task mor
e lofty than any Greek statesman before him had ever projected or indeed could h
ave projected. In this respect he is quite comparable to Isocrates; but an impor
tant point of contrast still remains. The difference is simply that Demosthenes
did not think of this "unification" as a more or less voluntary submission to th
e will of the conqueror; on the contrary, he demanded a unanimous uprising of al
l the Greeks against the Macedonian foe." [p.172] WERNER JAEGER
[16] "His Panhellenism was the outgrowth of a resolute will for national self-as
sertiveness, deliberately opposed to the national self-surrender called for by I

socrates - for that was what Isocrates' program had really meant, despite its be
ing expressed romantically as a plan for a Persian war under Macedonian leadersh
ip." [p.172-3] WERNER JAEGER
[17] The first resolution passed by Synedrion at Corinth was the declaration of
war against Persia. "The difference was that this war of conquest, which was pas
sionately described as a war of vengeance, was not looked upon as a means of uni
ting the Greeks, as Isocrates would have had it, but was merely an instrument of
Macedonian imperialism." [p.192] WERNER JAEGER
[18] "For the six years or more that follow, Philip's life, alas! is withdrawn,
except at rare intervals, from our knowledge. Alas, indeed! for these are the ye
ars in which his men at arms marched, the first foreigners since history has beg
un, into the Peloponnese, and he himself besieged and took cities on the Adriati
c, and led his spearmen up to, or even beyond, the Danube; years, too, in which
his final ambition took shape, 'for it was coming to be his desire to be designa
ted Captain- General of Hellas, and to wage the War against the Persians'." (p.9
7) David Hogarth
[Please visit "Green" and "Isocrates' Letter to Philip" (345), for further enlig
htenment] Notice also the usage of quotes by David Hogarth, regarding Philip's d
esire to be Captain-General of Hellas.]
[19] "The dispute of modern scholars over the racial stock of the Macedonians ha
ve led to many interesting suggestions. This is especially true of the philologi
cal analysis of the remains of the Macedonian language by O. Hoffmann in his Mak
edonen etc. Cf. the latest general survey of the controversy in F. Geyer and his
chapter on prehistory. But even if the Macedonians did have some Greek blood- a
s well as Illyrian- in their veins, whether originally or by later admixture, th
is would not justify us in considering them on a par with the Greeks in point of
race or in using this as historical excuse for legitimizing the claims of this
bellicose peasant folk to lord it over cousins in the south of the Balkan penins
ula so far ahead of them in culture. It is likewise incorrect to assertthat this
is the only way in which we can understand the role of the Macedonian conquest
in Hellenizing the Orient. But we can neglect this problem here, as our chief in
terest lies in discovering what the Greeks themselves felt and thought. And here
we need not cite Demosthenes' well-known statements; for Isocrates himself, the
very man who heralds the idea of Macedonian leadership in Hellas, designates th
e people of Macedonia as members of an alien race in Phil.108. He purposely avoi
ds the word barbaroibut this word is one that inevitably finds a place for itsel
f in the Greek struggle for national independence and expresses the views of eve
ry true Hellene. Even Isocrates would not care to have the Greeks ruled by the M
acedonian people: it is only the king of Macedonia, Philip, who is to be the new
leader; and the orator tries to give ethnological proof of Philip's qualificati
ons for this task by the device of showing that he is no son of his people but,
like the rest of his dynasty, a scion of Heracles, and therefore of Greek blood.
" [p.249] WERNER JAEGER
[Point of Interest]
(a) Macedonians cannot be considered as Greeks even if they had some Greek blood
in their veins.
(b) Macedonia's conquest of the Orient should not be contingent upon Greek cultu
re.
(c) Isocrates places the Macedonians with alien races and hitherto, outside the
Hellenic world.
(d) Isocrates takes care of this "alien race" not to be seen as leaders of Greec

e. He isolates their king Philip as not of the same race as the people over whic
h he governs.
Note: The speech On the Chersonese was, to be sure, delivered in a specifically
Athenian emergency; but the interest of the Greeks as a whole is never left out
of sight. The Third Philippic is entirely dedicated to the danger that threatens
all Greece. Similarly, when the past and future are compared, it is the whole o
f Hellas that is considered, not Athens alone.
--------------------------------------------------------Ephoros
The ancient Greek historians and geographers from the classical and the post-cla
ssical period, Ephoros, Pseudo-Skylax, Dionysius son of Kalliphon, and Dionysius
Periegetes, all put the northern borders of Greece at the line from the Ambraci
an Gulf in the west to the Peneios River to the east, thus excluding Macedonia f
rom Greece.
Michael Sakellariou, Macedonia: 4000 years of Greek History. p.50.
------------------------------------------------------------Ptolemy of Alexandria
Ancient Geographer
Ptolemy of Alexandria is an author of a great geographical work in which he prod
uced maps of various ancient countries in Europe, Asia, and Africa. His map of
Macedonia is clearly separated from Greece, Illyria, and Thrace. He also produce
d a map of Albania which in ancient times was in Asia, parallel to the map of Il
lyria in Europe, which makes it clear that the Albanians and the Illyrians had a
lways been two separate nations.
----------------------------------------------------------Pausanias
Greek Historian
"Leosthenes at the head of the Athenians and the united Greeks defeated the Mace
donians in Boeotia and again outside Thermopylae forced them into Lamia" [1.1.3]
.
"I have already said in my history of Attica that the defeat at Chaeronea was a
disaster for all the Greeks" [9.6.5].
"After the death of Alexander, when the Greeks had raised a second war against t
he Macedonians, the Messenians took part, as I have shown earlier in my account
of Attica" [4.28.3].
"When Philip the son of Amyntas would not let Greece alone, the Eleans, weakened
by civil strife, joined the Macedonian alliance, but they could not bring thems
elves to fight against the Greeks at Chaeronea. They joined Philip's attack on t
he Lacedaemonians because of their old hatred of that people, but on the death o
f Alexander they fought on the side of the Greeks against Antipater and the Mace
donians" [5.4.9].
"When Philip, the son of Demetrius, reached men's estate, and Antigonus without
reluctance handed over the sovereignty of the Macedonians, he struck fear into t
he hearts of all the Greeks. He copied Philip, the son of Amyntas" [7.7.5].
-----------------------------------------------------Medeius of Larisa
Greek Companion in the Macedonian Army

Medeius of Larisa was one of the Greeks accompanying Alexander the Great in Asia
. According to him the Thessalians are the most northerly of the Greeks , thus exc
luding the Macedonians as non-Greeks since they live north of Thessaly.
--------------------------------------------------------Pseudo-Herodotus
Greek Historian
Pseudo-Herodotus in Peri Politeias (34-37) calls the Macedonians barbarians and
distinguishes them from the Greeks.
--------------------------------------------------------Plutarch
Ancient Greek Historian
The Age of Alexander
[1] "Alexander was born on the sixth day of the month Hecatombaeon, which the Ma
cedonians call Lous, the same day on which the temple of Artemis at Ephesus was
burned down." [p.254] [Macedonians had a their own distinct calendar]
[2] Alexander was only twenty years old when he inherited his kingdom, which at
the moment was beset by formidable jealousies and feuds, and external dangers on
every side. The neighboring barbarian tribes were eager to throw off the Macedo
nian yoke and longed for the rule of their native kings: As for the Greek states
, although Philip had defeated them in battle, he had not had time to subdue the
m or accustomed them to his authority. Alexander's Macedonian advisers feared th
at a crisis was at hand and urged the young king to leave the Greek states to th
eir own devices and refrain from using any force against them. [p.263] [Alexande
r chose the opposite course] Plutarch never said that Philip "united" the Greeks
, but he states that Philip "defeated" them in battle.
[3] Alexander returns from the campaigns at the Danube, north of Macedon. When t
he news reached him that the Thebans had revolted and were being supported by th
e Athenians, he immediately marched south through the pass of Thermopylae. 'Demo
sthenes', he said, 'call me a boy while I was in Illyria and among the Triballi,
and a youth when I was marching through Thessaly; I will show him I am a man by
the time I reach the walls of Athens.' [p.264]
[4] "Thebans countered by demanding the surrender of Philotas and Antipater and
appealing to all who wished to liberate Greece to range themselves on their side
, and at this Alexander ordered his troops to prepare for battle." [p.264] [The
ones who want to liberate Greece against the Macedonian troops]
[5] Alexander asks a women, who was being taken captive, who she was, she replie
d: 'I am the sister of Theogenes who commanded our army against your father, Phi
lip, and fell at Chaeronea fighting for the liberty of Greece.' [p.265]
[6] There is a story that on one occasion when a large company had been invited
to dine with the king, Callisthenes (Alexander's biographer) was called upon, as
the cup passed to him, to speak in praise of the Macedonians. This theme he han
dled so eloquently that the guests rose to applaud and threw their garlands at h
im. At this Alexander quoted Euripides' line from the Bacchae On noble subjects
all men can speak well. 'But now', he went on, 'show us the power of your eloque
ncy by criticizing the Macedonians so that they can recognize their shortcomings
and improve themselves.' Callisthenes then turned to the other side of the pict
ure and delivered a long list of home truths about the Macedonians, pointing out
that the rise of Philip's power had been brought about by the division among th
e rest of the Greeks, and quoting the verse Once civil strife has begun, even sc
oundrels may find themselves honoured. The speech earned him the implacable hatr
ed of the Macedonians, and Alexander that it was not his eloquence that Callisth

enes had demonstrated, but his ill will towards them. [p.311]
[7] Alexander's letter to Antipater in which he includes Callisthenes in the gen
eral accusation, he writes: 'The youths were stoned to death by the Macedonians,
but as far as the sophist I shall punish him myself, and I shall not forget tho
se who sent him to me, or the others who give shelter in their cities to those w
ho plot against my life.' In those words, at least, he plainly reveals his hosti
lity to Aristotle in whose house Callisthenes had been brought up, since he was
a son of Hero, who was Aristotle's niece.' [p.133]
[8] Cassander's fear of Alexander 'In general, we are told, this fear was implan
ted so deeply and took such hold of Cassander's mind that even many years later,
when he had become king of Macedonia and master of Greece, and was walking abou
t one day looking at the sculpture at Delphi, the mere sight of a statue of Alex
ander struck him with horror, so that he sguddered and trembled in every limb, h
is head swam, and he could scarcely regain control of himself.' [p.331]
[9] 'It was Asclepiades, the son of Hipparchus, who first brought the news of Al
exander's death to Athens. When it was made public, Demades urged the people not
to believe it: If Alexander were really dead, he declared, the stench of the co
rpse would have filled the whole world long before.' [p.237] [This is how much t
he ancient Greeks hated Alexander]
[10] Lamian War 323-322 is also known as the "Hellenic War" by its protagonists.
The Greeks, the Hellenes, were fighting the Macedonians led by Antipater at Lam
ia.
[11] [Modern day Greeks would like to dispatch off Demosthenes castigations of P
hilip II as political rhetoric, and yet Demosthenes was twice appointed to lead
the war effort of Athens against Macedonia. He, Demosthenes, said of Philip that
Philip was not Greek, nor related to Greeks but comes from Macedonia where a pe
rson could not even buy a decent slave. 'Soon after his death the people of Athe
ns paid him fitting honours by erecting his statue in bronze, and by decreeing t
hat the eldest member of his family should be maintained in the prytaneum at the
public expense. On the base of his statue was carved his famous inscription: 'I
f only your strength had been equal, Demosthenes, to your wisdom Never would Gre
ece have been ruled by a Macedonian Ares' [p.216]
[12] "While Demosthenes was still in exile, Alexander died in Babylon, and the G
reek states combined yet again to form a league against Macedon. Demosthenes att
ached himself to the Athenian convoys, and threw all his energies into helping t
hem incite the various states to attack the Macedonians and drive them out of Gr
eece." [p.212]
[13] The news of Philip's death reached Athens. Demosthenes appeared in public d
ressed in magnificent attire and wearing a garland on his head, although his dau
ghter had died only six days before. Aeshines states: "For my part I cannot say
that the Athenians did themselves any credit in putting on garlands and offering
sacrifices to celebrate the death of a king who, when he was the conqueror and
they the conquered had treated them with such tolerance and humanity. Far apart
from provoking the anger of the gods, it was a contemptible action to make Phili
p a citizen of Athens and pay him honours while he was alive, and then, as soon
as he has fallen by another's hand, to be besides themselves with joy, tremple o
n his body, and sing paeans of victory, as though they themselves have accomplis
hed some great feat of arms." [p.207]
[14] "Next when Macedonia was at war with the citizens of Byzantium and Perinthu
s, Demosthenes persuaded the Athenians to lay aside their grievances and forget
the wrongs they had suffered from these peoples in the Social War and to dispatc
h a force which succeeded in relieving both cities. After this he set off on a d

iplomatic mission, which was designed to kindle the spirit of resistance to Phil
ip and which took him all over Greece. Finally he succeeded in uniting almost al
l the states into a confederation against Philip." [p.202]
[15] "The maladies and defects in the Greek scene of the fourth century were not
hard to find. But its great and overriding merit is summed up in the word 'free
dom.' With allowance made for the infinite variety promoted by so many independe
nt governments, Greece was still broadly speaking a free country. This freedom w
as threatened and in the end extinguished by the coming of the great Macedonians
." [p.8] [In Plutarch The Age of Alexander, noted by J.T.Griffith]
[16] "What better can we say about jealousies, and that league and conspiracy of
the Greeks for their own mischief, which arrested fortune in full career, and t
urned back arms that were already uplifted against the barbarians to be used aga
inst themselves, and recall into Greece the war which had been banished out of h
er? I by no means assent to Demaratus of Corinth, who said that those Greeks los
t a great satisfaction that did not live to see Alexander sit on the throne of D
arius. That sight should rather have drawn tears from them, when they considered
that they have left the glory to Alexander and the Macedonians, whilst they spe
nt all their own great commanders in playing them against each other in the fiel
ds of Leuctra, Coronea, Corinth, and Arcadia." [Plutarch "Lives" vol.2 The Dryde
n Translation. Edited and Revised by Arthur Hugh Clough p.50]
--------------------------------------------------------Livy
Roman Historian
"Such were the activities of the Romans and of Philip on land during that summer
. At the beginning of the same summer, the fleet, commanded by the legate Lucius
Apustius, left Corcyra, rounded Cape Malea, and joined King Attalus of Scyllaeu
m, in the region of Hermoine. Hitherto the resentment of the Athenian community
against Philip had been kept in check by fear; but now, with the hope of assista
nce ready at hand, they gave free rein to their anger. There is never any lack a
t Athenian tongues ready and willing to stir up the passion of the common people
; this kind of oratory is nurtured by the applause of the mob in all free commun
ities; but this is especially true of Athens, where eloquence has the greatest i
nfluence. The popular assembly immediately carried a proposal that all statues o
f Philip and all portraits of him, with their inscriptions, and also those of hi
s ancestors of either sex, should be removed and destroyed; that all feast-days,
rites, and priesthoods instituted in honour of Philip or his ancestors should b
e deprived of sanctity; that even the sites of any memorials or inscriptions in
his honour should be held accursed, and that it should not be lawful thereafter
to decide to set up or dedicate on those sites any of those things which might l
awfully be set up or dedicated on an undefiled site; that whenever the priests o
f the people offered prayer on behalf of the Athenian people and their allies, t
heir armies and navies, they should on every occasion HEAP CURSES and execration
s on Philip, his family and his realm, his forces on land and sea, AND THE WHOLE
RACE AND NAME OF THE MACEDONIANS."
There was appended to this decree a provision that if anyone afterwards should b
ring forward a proposal tending to bring on Philip disgrace or dishonour then th
e Athenian people would pass it in its entirety; whereas if anyone should by wor
d or deed seek to counter his disgrace, or to enhance his honour, the killing of
such a person would be lawful homicide. A final clause provided that all the de
crees formerly passed against the Pisistratidae should be observed in regard to
Philip. This was the Athenians' war against Philip, a war of words, written or s
poken, for that is where their only strength lies." [Livy's book XXXI.44]
The most pressing point, the one that screams for recognition, is the call for t
he Athenian people to (a) "heap curses and execrations on Philip, his family and
his realm, his forces on land and sea, and the whole race and name of the Maced

onians, and (b) whereas if anyone should by word or deed seek to counter his dis
grace, or to enhance his honour, the killing of such a person would be lawful ho
micide.
In conclusion one must remember the following:
(a) The ancient Greeks regarded the ancient Macedonians as foreigners.
(b) They regarded the ancient Macedonians as people of different race.
(c) They regarded the ancient Macedonians as barbarians, as people who enslaved
the Greeks.
(d) This episode describes the situation in Athens around 200 B.C.
(e) It should constantly be born in mind the intensity of the hate expressed tow
ards the conqueror from the north - the Macedonians. If anyone in as much as utt
er a one positive word for Philip, then this person should be killed, and the ki
lling of that person would be taken as lawful homicide. These feelings were mutu
al by the way.
(f) The suggestion by some authors (marginal lot, anyway) that these two dissimi
lar people "blended together" in some aspects of their culture becomes much hard
er to accept, and therefore, is rejected based such credible evidence.
It is apparent that ancient Greeks did not consider the ancient Macedonians as G
reeks. Modern Greeks' assertion that ancient Macedonians were Greeks is constant
ly undermined by the view of the ancients. The fact remains that ancient Macedon
ians were just that - Macedonians.
----------------------------------------------------------Polybius
Greek Statesman and Historian. [c 200-118 B.C.]
The Rise of the Roman Empire
"The fact is that we can obtain no more than an impression of a whole from a par
t, but certainly neither a thorough knowledge nor an accurate understanding. We
must conclude then that specialized studies or monographs contribute very little
to our grasp of the whole and our conviction of its truth. On the contrary, it
is only by combining and comparing the various parts of the whole with one anoth
er and noting their resemblances and their differences that we shall arrive at a
comprehensive view, and thus encompass both the practical benefits and the plea
sure that the reading of history affords." [p 45]
[How true, indeed. By combining and comparing various statements from the ancien
t authors can we arrive to the truest picture of the ancients themselves. Let th
em speak of themselves, and let their true sentiments flood the pages uncorrupte
d and free of any biased and preconceived prejudices. Only then, can we assess t
he magnitude of their purity of soul, and the passion for their national aspirat
ions.]
[1] Polibius reports on the speech made by Agelaus of Naupactus at the first con
ference in the presence of the King and the allies. He spoke as follows:
"I therefore beg you all to be on your guard against this danger, and I appeal e
specially to King Philip. [Macedonian king Philip V] For you the safest policy,
instead of wearing down the Greeks and making them an easy prey for the invader,
is to take care of them as you would of your own body, and to protect every pro
vince of Greece as you would if it were a part of your own dominions. If you fol
low this policy, the Greeks will be your friends and your faithful allies in cas
e of attack, and foreigners will be the less inclined to plot against your thron

e, because they will be discouraged by the loyalty of the Greeks towards you." [
p .300] book 5.104
Points of Interest: Clear distinction between Greece (to protect every province
of Greece) and Macedonia (as you would if it were a part of your own dominions).
Furthermore, the Macedonians were still wearing down the Greeks even into the t
imes of Philip V.
[2] [Book XVIII, 1] Philip V from Macedon invites Flamininus (Roman commander) t
o explain what he, Philip, should do to have peace:
"The Roman general replied that his duty dictated an answer which was both simpl
e and clear. He demanded that Philip should withdraw from the whole of Greece, r
estore to each of the states the prisoners and deserters he was holding, hand ov
er to the Romans the region of Illyria which he had seized after the treaty that
had been made in Epirus, and so on...."
[Point of interest: "Philip should withdraw from the whole of Greece," Flamininu
s, the Roman general, clearly separates Macedonia from Greece, and demands from
the Macedonin king to withdraw from Greece into his own Macedonia.]
[3] (Book XVIII. 3) A man named Alexander of Isus, who had the reputation of bei
ng both an experienced statesman and an able orator, rose to speak:
'Why,' he asked Philip V, 'had he sold into slavery the people of Cius, which wa
s also a member of the Aetolian League, when he himself was on friendly terms wi
th the Aetolians?'
[Philip sells the people of Cius into slavery. Cuis' population was not a Macedo
nian population. Philip's action underlines one fundamental fact: Greece was a c
onquered territory, and Greek cities were dispensable.]
[4] (Book XVIII. 5) Philip V from Macedon responds to the Greek and Roman demand
s:
"But what is most outrageous of all is that they should attempt to put themselve
s on the same footing as the Romans and demand that the Macedonians should withd
raw from the whole of Greece. To use such language is arrogant enough in the fir
st place, but while we may endure this from the Romans, it is quite intolerable
coming from the Aetolians. In any case,' he continued, 'what is this Greece whic
h you demand that I should evacuate, and how do you define Greece? Certainly mos
t of the Aetolians themselves are not Greeks! The countries of the Agraae, the A
podotea, and the Aphilochians cannot be regarded as Greek. So do you allow me to
remain in those territories."
From the above encounters we infer: They, the Greeks, would like to see him, Kin
g Philip V from Macedon, leave Greece and go to his own kingdom in Macedonia, an
d by the strongest implication, we concur that:
(a) Ancient Greeks did not regard the ancient Macedonians as their kinsmen.
(b) Ancient Macedonians did not regard the Greeks as their own people.
(c) Ancient Macedonians had conquered the Greek states.
(d) Ancient Macedonians had enslaved the Greeks and sold them as slaves.
(e) Macedonia was not a Greek land.
[5]

"For there can be no doubt that by their indefatigable energy and daring they

raised Macedonia from the status of a petty kingdom to that of the greatest and
most glorious monarchy in the world. And apart what was accomplished during Phi
lip's lifetime, the successes that were achieved by Alexander after his father's
death won for them a reputation for valour which has been universally recognize
d by posterity.".... [Polybius: The Rise of the Roman Empire, published by Pengu
in Classics, Book VIII.9 page 371.]
As with his predecessors, other ancient authors, Polybius clearly separates the
ancient Macedonians from the ancient Greeks. As a matter of fact, the ethnic dif
ference between these two people was not a matter for discussion - it was an acc
omplished fact.
-------------------------------------------------------Thrasymachus
On Behalf of the Lariasaeans
"Shell we being Greeks, be slaves to Archelaus, a barbarian?"
This line the Greek Thrasymachus attributed to the Macedonian king Archelaus who
occupied Greek land with his Macedonian army. Since the ancient Greeks stereoty
ped and called all non-Greeks barbarian, it is clear that Thrasymachus does not
consider neither the Macedonian king nor his nation to be Greek, but foreigners
to the ancient Greek world. The modern Greeks, however, would like to claim the
ancient Macedonians as Greek. Here is what Professor Borza (a Macedonian special
ist and expert on the ethnicity of the Macedonians) had written on that matter:
The modern Greek writer Daskalakis (Hellenism, 234) contended that Thrasymachus
was not referring to barbarians in a usual sense. The passage, he argued, should
be taken "in its rhetorical slant of a difference between advanced and backward
s Greeks in an intellectual sense." This is strained and unconvincing. [Eugene B
orza. In the Shadow of Olympus. p.165]
Borza can not be more right. The Greeks clearly called all non-Greeks barbarians
. Based on the Daskalakis's logic, are we now supposed to think that the Persian
s (which the Greeks also called barbarians) are some kind of backward Greeks in
an intellectual sense? The Thracians too? However, we do not see the modern Gree
k authors claim that. The lesson is clear: Daskalakis's argument can not be true
and it only proves to what extend the modern Greek writers would go to make the
Macedonians Greek and even rewrite the feelings of the ancient Greeks during th
at process.
---------------------------------------------------Herodotus
Ancient Greek Writer
The modern Greek position relies on Herodotus' support for their quest to make t
he ancient Macedonians Greek. Herodotus, being one of the foremost biographer in
antiquity who lived in Greece at the time when the Macedonian king Alexander I
was in power, is said to have visited the Macedonian Kingdom and supposedly, pro
fited from this excursion, wrote several short passages about the Macedonians. W
hat did he say, and to what extent can these passages be taken as evidence for t
he alleged 'greekness' of the ancient Macedonians, will be briefly presented for
your adjudication.
Herodotus describes the episode with the Persian envoys, who apparently visited
Macedon when Alexander I's father Amyntas was in power, and how Alexander I succ
eeded in 'taking care of the Persians' by murdering all of them and removing the
ir luggage and carriages. When the Persians attempted to trace the lost envoys,
Alexander I cleverly succeeded in manipulating the Persians by giving his own si
ster Gygaea as a wife to the Persian commander Bubares. Here Herodotus writes:
"I happen to know, and I will demonstrate in a subsequent chapter of this histor

y, that these descendants of Perdiccas are, as they themselves claim, of Greek n

ationality. This was, moreover, recognized by the managers of the Olympic games,
on the occasion when Alexander wished to compete and his Greek competitors trie
d to exclude him on the ground that foreigners were not allowed to take part. Al
exander, however, proved his Argive descent, and so was accepted as a Greek and
allowed to enter for the foot-race. He came in equal first." book 5. 22.
First, notice that it is not Herodotus that says that the Macedonian kings were
of Greek nationality, but the Macedonian kings as they themselves claim. Now, le
t us peruse the modern literature and see if we can shed some light on this part
icular passage from Herodotus which is so 'dear' to all Greek presenters, and on
e that occupies the central position of their otherwise feeble defense.
[1] Eugene Borza In The Shadow of Olympus p. 112 writes:
"Herodotus' story is fraught with too many difficulties to make sense of it. For
example, either (1) Alexander lost the run-off for his dead heat, which is why
his name doez not appear in the victor lists; or (2) he won the run-off, althoug
h Herodotus does not tell us this; or (3) it remained a dead heat, which is impo
ssible in light Olympic practice; or (4) it was a special race, in which case it
is unlikely that his fellow competitors would have protested Alexander's presen
ce; or (5) Alexander never competed at Olympia. It is best to abandon this story
, which belongs in the category of the tale of Alexander at Plataea. In their co
mmentaries on these passages Macan and How and Wells long ago recognized that th
e Olympic Games story was based on family legend (Hdt. 5.22: "as the descendants
of Perdiccas themselves say [autoi legousi]"), weak proofs of their Hellenic de
scent. Moreover, the Olympic Games tale is twice removed: Herodotus heard from t
he Argeadea (perhaps from Alexander himself) that the king had told something to
the judges, but we do not know what those proofs were."
"The theme of the Olympic and Plataea incidents are the same: "I am Alexander, a
Greek" which seems to be the main point. The more credible accounts of Alexande
r at Tempe and at Athens do not pursue this theme; they state Alexander's activi
ties without embellishment or appeal to prohellenism. Moreover, the insistence t
hat Alexander is a Greek, and descendant from Greeks, rubs against the spirit of
Herodotus 7.130, who speaks of the Thessalians as the first Greeks to come unde
r Persian submission--a perfect opportunity for Herodotus to point out that the
Macedonians were a non Greek race ruled over by Greek kings, something he nowher
e mentions."
"In sum, it would appear that Olympia and Plataea incidents---when taken togethe
r with the tale of the ill--fated Persian embassy to Amyntas' court in which Ale
xander proclaims the Greek descent of the royal house--are part of Alexander's o
wn attempts to integrate himself into the Greek community during the postwar per
iod. They should be discarded both because they are propaganda and because they
invite suspicion on the general grounds outlined above."
In support of his position Borza brings forward many interesting questions. He a
sks:
"Why is it that no Spartan or Athenian or Argive felt constrained to prove to th
e others that he and his family were Helenes? But Macedonian kings seem hard put
to argue in behalf of their Hellenic ancestry in the fifth century B.C., and th
at circumstance is telling. Even if one were to accept that all the Herodotian s
tories about Alexander were true, why did the Greeks, who normally were knowledg
eable about matters of ethnic kinship, not already know that the Macedonian mona
rchy was Greek? But--following Herodotus--the stade- race competitors at Olympia
thought the Macedonian was a foreigner (Hdt. 5.22: barbaros) Second, for his ef
fort on behalf of the Greek cause against the Persians Alexander is known as "Ph
ilhellene". Now this is kind of odd to call a Greek a "friend of the Greeks". "T

his title", writes Borza, "is normally reserved for non-Greeks".

Borza concludes: "It is prudent to reject the stories of the ill--fated Persian
embassy to Amyntas's court, Alexander's midnight ride at Plataea, and his partic
ipation in the Olympic Games as tales derived from Alexander himself (or from so
me official court version of things)."
[2] Peter Green - Classical Bearings p.157
"All Herodotus in fact says is that Alexander himself demonstrated his Argive an
cestry (in itself a highly dubious genealogical claim), and was thus adjudged a
Greek---against angry opposition, be it noted, from the stewards of the Games Ev
en if, with professor N.G.L. Hammond, we accept this ethnic certification at fac
e value, it tells us, as he makes plain, nothing whatsoever about Macedonians ge
nerally. Alexander's dynasty, if Greek, he writes, regarded itself as Macedonian
only by right of rule, as a branch of the Hanoverian house has come to 'regard
itself as English'. On top of which, Philip II's son Alexander had an Epirote mo
ther, which compounds the problem from yet another ethnic angle."
[3] Ernst Badian - Studies in the History of Art Vol 10: Macedonia and Greece in
Late Classical Early Hellenistic Times:
"We have no way of judging the authenticity of either the claim or the evidence
that went with it, but it is clear that at the time the decision was not easy. T
here were outraged protests from the other competitors, who rejected Alexander I
as a barbarian--which proves, at least, that the Temenid descent and the royal
genealogy had hitherto been an isoteric item of knowledge. However, the Hellanod
ikai decided to accept it--whether moved by the evidence or by political conside
rations, we again cannot tell. In view of the time and circumstances in which th
e claim first appears and the objections it encountered, modern scholars have of
ten suspected that it was largely spun out of fortuitous resemblance of the name
of the Argead clan to city of Argos; with this given, the descent (of course) c
ould not be less than royal, i.e., Temenid."
Badian, like Borza, believes that Alexander I "invented the story (in its detail
s a common type of myth) of how he had fought against his father's Persian conne
ction by having the Persian ambassadors murdered, and that it was only in order
to hush this up and save the royal family's lives that the marriage of his siste
r to a Persian had been arranged."
Badian sums it up:"As a matter of fact, there is reason to think that at least s
ome even among Alexander I's friends and supporters had regarded the Olympic dec
ision as political rather than factual--as a reward for services to the Hellenic
cause rather than as prompted by genuine belief in the evidence he had adduced.
We find him described in the lexicographers, who go back to fourth-century sour
ces, as "Philhellene",--surely not an appellation that could be given to an actu
al Greek."
I would like to offer another episode, reported by Herodotus, which clearly indi
cates that ancient Greeks did not regard the ancient Macedonians as brethren. Ep
isodes like this stand in sharp contrast to today's claims propagated by modern
Greeks. The Persian armies were ready and poised to strike Greece. Greek allies
were assembled and prepared to defend their nation. Mardonius, the Persian comma
nder, sends Alexander I to Athens with a message. On his arrival to Athens as Ma
rdonius' ambassador Alexander spoke to the Athenians urging them to accept the t
erms offered by Mardonius. In Sparta, the news that Alexander brought message fr
om the Great King, caused great consternation. Sparta feared that an alliance be
tween Athens and Persia was in the making. She, then, quickly rushed an envoy to
Athens herself. As it happened, Alexander I and the Spartan envoy had their aud
ience at the same time.When Alexander I was done the Spartan envoy s spoke in th

eir turn: "Do not let Alexander's smooth-sounding version of Mardonius' proposal
s seduce you; he does only what one might expect of him--a despot himself, of co
urse he collaborates with a despot. But such conduct is not for you - at least,
not if you are wise; for surely you know that in foreigners there is neither tru
th nor trust." (Hdt. 8.142) [Please note the reference to Alexander I as a forei
gner who is neither truthful nor trustworthy.]
Then, the Athenians gave answer to Alexander I. Among the other things, they tol
d Alexander that they, the Athenians, will never make peace with Mardonius, and
will oppose him 'unremittingly'. As to Alexander I' advice and urgings that they
accept the terms offered by Mardonius they said:
"Never come to us again with a proposal like this, and never think you are doing
us good service when you urge us to a course which is outrageous - for it would
be a pity if you were to suffer some hurt at the hands of the Athenians, when y
ou are our friend and benefector." (Hdt. 8.143)
To the Spartan envoys they said the following: "No doubt it was natural that the
Lacedaemonians should dread the of our making terms with Persia; none the less
it shows a poor estimate of the spirit of Athens. There is not so much gold nor
land so fair that we would take for pay to join the common enemy and bring Greec
e into subjection. There are many compelling reasons against our doing so, even
if we wished: the first and greatest is the burning of the temples and images of
our gods - now ashes and rubble. It is our bounded duty to avenge this desecrat
ion with all our might - not to clasp the hand that wrought it. Again there is t
he Greek nation - the community of blood and language, temples and rituals, and
our common customs; if Athens were to betray all this, it would not be well done
. We, would have you know, if you did not know it already, that so long as a sin
gle Athenians remains alive we will make no peace with Xerxes." (Hdt. 8.144)
Conclusion
Among the Greeks there exist a common bond, a community of blood and language, t
emples and rituals and common customs. This expressed kinship between the Greek
allies is evident and it stands in stark contrast against the references used to
wards the Macedonians who were addressed as foreigners. We have seen that Herodo
tus (7.130) speaks of the Thessalians as the first Greeks to come under Persian
submission (although the Persians entered Macedonia first), and here using his o
wn words, he clearly exclude the Macedonians from the Greeks. We are therefore,
left with the conclusion that Herodotus did not consider the Macedonians as Gree
ks. "Both Herodotus and Thucydides describe the Macedonians as foreigners, a dis
tinct people living outside of the frontiers of the Greek city-states"
Eugene Bo
rza, In the Shadow of Olympus p. 96.
--------------------------------------------------------Demosthenes
Greek Orator
"... not only no Greek, nor related to the Greeks, but not even a barbarian from
any place that can be named with honors, but a pestilent knave from Macedonia,
whence it was never yet possible to buy a decent slave" - Demosthenes, Third Phi
lippic, 31. The famous words that this Greek orator from Athens used to describe
the Macedonian king Philip II, the father of Alexander the Great, prior to Phil
ip s conquest of Greece.
We know for a fact that the ancient Greeks stereotyped and called all non-Greeks
barbarians. These included the Persians, the Thracians, Illyrians, Macedonians,
etc. The modern Greeks however, claim that Philip was Greek, and that Demosthen
es called him "not only no Greek, nor related to the Greeks" and "barbarian", on
lyin "rhetorical context", which was aroused by the political anger that existed
between Macedonia and the Greeks states on the south, although it is very clear

from Demosthenes s words that he regards the Macedonians and their king Philip II
as non-Greeks. This modern Greek position is easily debunked, however, when we
consider the following two points:
a.
If the Macedonians were Greeks but still called barbarians and nor relat
ed to the Greeks, why is then no other Greek tribe called barbarians and nor rel
ated to the Greeks in "rhetorical context"? There were many examples when that c
ould have happened, it s enough to point to the long Peloponesian War, or any of t
he many constant wars between the Greek states. Yet no Spartan, Athenian, Theban
, Epirote, was ever called non-Greek or barbarian during any of these political
and war conflicts! Not ONCE!
b.
We know for a fact that the ancient Greeks also called the Persians barb
arians. Are we suppose to say now, based on the modern Greek "logic", that the P
ersians were too a Greek tribe, but they were called non-Greeks only in "rhetori
cal context"?
The lesson is clear. The ancient Greeks called all non-Greeks barbarians, and th
e modern Greek argument can simply not be true, and is quite frankly ridiculous.
It does however, prove to what extend the modern Greek writers would go to make
the Macedonians forcefully Greek, steel the Macedonian history, and even rewrit
e the feelings of the ancient Greeks during that process.
Now lets see some credible evidence:
[1] Alexander returns from the campaigns at the Danube, north of Macedon. When t
he news reached him that the Thebans had revolted and were being supported by th
e Athenians, he immediately marched south through the pass of Thermopylae. 'Demo
sthenes', he said, 'call me a boy while I was in Illyria and among the Triballi,
and a youth when I was marching through Thessaly; I will show him I am a man by
the time I reach the walls of Athens.' [p.264] Plutarch The Age of Alexander
[2] [Modern day Greeks would like to dispatch off Demosthenes castigations of Ph
ilip II as political rhetoric, and yet Demosthenes was twice appointed to lead t
he war effort of Athens against Macedonia. He, Demosthenes, said of Philip that
Philip was not Greek, nor related to Greeks but comes from Macedonia where a per
son could not even buy a decent slave. 'Soon after his death the people of Athen
s paid him fitting honours by errecting his statue in bronze, and by decreeing t
hat the eldest member of his family should be maintained in the prytaneum at the
public expense. On the base of his statue was carved his famous inscription: 'I
f only your strength had been equal, Demosthenes, to your wisdom Never would Gre
ece have been ruled by a Macedonian Ares' [p.216] Plutarch
[3] "While Demosthenes was still in exile, Alexander died in Babylon, and the Gr
eek states combined yet again to form a league against Macedon. Demosthenes atta
ched himself to the Athenian convoys, and threw all his energies into helping th
em incite the various states to attack the Macedonians and drive them out of Gre
ece." [p.212] Plutarch
[4] The news of Philip's death reached Athens. Demosthenes appeared in public dr
essed in magnificent attire and wearing a garland on his head, although his daug
hter had died only six days before. Aeshines states:
"For my part I cannot say that the Athenians did themselves any credit in puting
on garlands and offering sucrifices to celebrate the death of a king who, when
he was the conqueror and they the conquered had treated them with such tolerance
and humanity. Far apart from provoking the anger of the gods, it was a contempt
ible action to make Philip a citizen of Athens and pay him honours while he was
alive, and then, as soon as he has fallen by another's hand, to be besides thems
elves with joy, tremple on his body, and sing paeans of victory, as though they

themselves have accomplished some great feat of arms." [p.207] Plutarch

[5] "Next when Macedonia was at war with the citizens of Byzantium and Perinthus
, Demosthenes persuaded the Athenians to lay aside their grievances and forget t
he wrongs they had suffered from these peolples in the Social War and to dispatc
h a force which succeeded in relieving both cities. After this he set off on a d
iplomatic mission, which was designed to kindle the spirit of resistance to Phil
ip and which took him all over Greece. Finally he succeeded in uniting almost al
l the states into a confederation against Philip." [p.202] Plutarch
[6] On Demosthenes' tirades about Macedonians: "... we are concerned only with s
entiment, which is itself historical fact and must be taken seriously as such. I
n these tirades we find not only the Hellenic descent of Macedonian people (whic
h few seriously accepted) totally denied, but even that of the king." Ernst Badi
an
All quotes below taken from WERNER JAEGER s Demosthenes
Here, in these excerpts from Jeager's book, you will find Demosthenes' hatred fo
r Macedon not only readily displayed and exercised, but its Hellenic descent cat
egorically excluded and implicitly denied. The fact that some modern authors asc
ribe Hellenic affinity to the ancient Macedonians should come to no great surpri
se because of the impact left by Johan Gustav Droysen on early nineteenth-centur
y historian where Macedon is depicted as a natural "unifier" of the Greek city-s
tates, the same role played by Prussia and Savoy in German and Italian unificati
on in the nineteenth century. "On this false analogy the whole of Greek history
was now boldly reconstructed as a necessary process of development leading quite
naturally to a single goal: unification of the Greek nation under Macedonian le
adership".
Demosthenes and most of his contemporaries did not see it that way; to them the
leadership of Macedon was seen as the 'death of Greek political liberty' Some pe
ople dismiss Demosthenes' outbursts as a political rhetoric, others hold his pol
itical abuse of Philip from Macedon as historical facts, undeniably blunt and tr
uthful. His sentiments are, in this case, fundamental historical documents, whic
h testify to the simmering hate and contempt for the Macedonian conqueror. The h
ands of the sculptor are being replaced by his sharply cutting tongue. At the en
d the features emerge to the surface unpretentiously clear and aggressive. Demos
thenes unlike Isocrates does not mask his national ideals with "Panhellenistic u
nion" against the Persians, but boldly and aggressively calls his Hellenic natio
n to an uprising against the barbarian from the north -the Kingdom of Macedon an
d its king Philip.
Demosthenes' cries and pleas are not intended for his beloved Athens only, but t
o every liberty loving Hellene, and even the Persians, Greece s centuries-old enem
y. He calls on the Persians to join the Hellenes in the war against Macedon, and
at the same time he warns them that if they leave the Greeks in the lurch, they
would be next Philip's victim. As destiny would have it, Demosthenes was right.
Here is the proof:
[7] "On the Symmories, namely, that Demosthenes originally stood close to a grou
p of politicians who were vigorously combating the radical democratic influence;
indeed, it is only to this degree that he can be said to have come from any one
party at all. It is true that in later years, when he is coming to grips with t
he danger of Macedonia's foreign yoke, he naturally appeals to the lofty ideal o
f Greek liberty." [p.93]
[8] "It is not until Demosthenes is fighting the "tyranny" of the Macedonian con
queror that the idea of liberty takes on its true color for him and becomes sign
ificant as a great national good." [p.93]

[9] "Even then this watchword of "liberty" serves solely to promote his (Demosth
enes' foreign policy; but by that time it has really become an essential factor
in his envisagement of the world about him, in which Greece and Macedonia are po
lar opposites, irreconcilable morally, spiritually, intellectually." [p.93-4]
[10] "Thereupon all Thessaly submitted to him of its own accord. He was acclaime
d as a deliverer and named commander-in-chief of the Thessalian confederacy. He
would have marched at once into central Greece as a conquering hero and would pr
obably have brought the war to an end there with a single blow, had not the Athe
nians and Spartans bestirred themselves to send auxiliary troops to Thermopylae,
thus shutting against him this gateway to Hellas." [p.114]
[11] "In the Panegyricus he [Isocrates] had urged an understanding between Spart
a and Athens, so that the Greeks might unite in a common expedition against the
Persian empire. Nothing of that sort was any longer thinkable. But the policy of
which he now had such high hopes offered a surprisingly simple solution for the
distressing problem that lay heavily on all minds the problem of what was to be
the ultimate relationship between Greece and the new power in the north." [p.15
2]
[12] "If Philip was not to remain a permanent menace to the Greek world from out
side, it was necessary to get him positively involved in the fate of Hellas; for
he could not be eluded. Of course in the view of any of the Greek states of the
period, this problem was comparable to that of squaring the circle." [p.152]
[13] "But for Isocrates that was no obstacle. He had long since come to recogniz
e the impossibility of resisting Macedonia, and he was only trying to find the l
east humiliating way to express the unavoidable submission of all the Greeks to
the will of Philip. Here again he found the solution in a scheme for Macedonian
hegemony over Greece. For it seems as if Philip's appearance in this role would
be most effective way to mitigate his becoming so dominant a factor in Greek his
tory; moreover, it ought to silence all Greek prejudices against the culturally
and ethnically alien character of the Macedonians." [p.153]
[14] "With the help of the role that Isocrates had assigned to him, he had the a
stuteness to let his cold-blooded policy for the extension of Macedonian power t
ake on the eyes of the Greeks the appearance of a work of liberation for Hellas.
What he most needed at this moment was not force but shrewd propaganda; and nob
ody lent himself to this purpose so effectively as the old Isocrates, venerable
and disinterested, who offered his services of his own free will." [p.155]
[15] "Philip now had the problem of compelling the Athenians to recognize the De
lphic resolutions aimed against Phocis; and he sent ambassadors to Athens, where
strong opposition prevailed. However, with the Macedonian army only a few day's
march from the Attic border and in good fighting trim, Athens was quite defense
less, and even Demosthenes advised submission." [p.157]
[16] "When Demosthenes draws up his list of Philip's transgressions, it includes
his offense against the whole of Greece, not merely those against Athens; and D
emosthenes' charge of unbecoming remissness is aimed at all the Greeks equallytheir irresolution, and their failure to perceive their common cause." [p.171]
[17] "Therefore he (Demosthenes) urges them to send embassies everywhere to call
the Greeks together--to assemble them, teach them, and exhort them; but the par
amount need is to take the necessary steps themselves and thus perform their dut
y." [p.171]
[18] "In this appeal to the whole Greek world Demosthenes reached a decisive tur
ning point in his political thought................He was still thoroughly roote

d in Athens's governmental traditions, never overstepping the bounds of her clas

sical balance-of-power policy for the interior of Greece. But the appearance of
the mighty new enemy from beyond the Greek frontier now forced him to take a dif
ferent track." [p.171-2]
[19] "Looking far beyond the actualities of the Greek world, hopelessly split as
under as it was, he (Isocrates) had envisaged a united nation led by the Macedon
ian king." [p.172]
[20] "Quite apart, however, from any theoretical doubts whether the nationalisti
c movement of modern times, which seeks to combine in a single state all the ind
ividuals of a single folk, can properly be compared with the Greek idea of Panhe
llenism, scholars have failed to notice that after the unfortunate Peace of Phil
ocrates Demosthenes' whole policy was an unparalleled fight for national unifica
tion. In this period he deliberately threw off the constrains of the politician
concerned exclusively with Athenian interests, and devoted himself to a task mor
e lofty than any Greek statesman before him had ever projected or indeed could h
ave projected. In this respect he is quite comparable to Isocrates; but an impor
tant point of contrast still remains. The difference is simply that Demosthenes
did not think of this "unification" as a more or less voluntary submission to th
e will of the conqueror; on the contrary, he demanded a unanimous uprising of al
l the Greeks against the Macedonian foe." [p.172]
[21] "His Panhellenism was the outgrowth of a resolute will for national self-as
sertiveness, deliberately opposed to the national self-surrender called for by I
socrates - for that was what Isocrates' program had really meant, despite its be
ing expressed romantically as a plan for a Persian war under Macedonian leadersh
ip." [p.172-3]
[22] "As the success of his appeal was to show, he was correct in his estimate o
f the actual political prospects of a really national uprising now that direct h
ostile pressure was felt. Since the days of the Persian wars Hellas had at no ti
me been seriously endangered from without." [p.173]
[23] "The foe and the emergency [Macedon and
and if the Greeks still had a spark of their
fate that was now overtaking them could not
Philippic is one mighty avowal of this brand
ly Demosthenes' achievement." [p.173]

its king Philip] had now appeared;

fathers' sense of independence, the
but bring them together. The Third
of Panhellenism; and this is entire

[24] "The task that confronted Demosthenes demanded utterly gigantic powers of i
mprovisation; for the Greek people had not been making preparedness an end in it
self for years as the enemy had done, and they also found it hard to adjust them
selves spiritually to their new situation. In the Third Philippic Demosthenes' p
rime effort was to break down this spiritual resistance, and everything hinged o
n his success." [p.174]
[Greek
Greeks
n kin?
Greeks

people on one side, and the enemy on the other. Were Macedonians seen as
by the ancient Greeks? Did the Greeks have the enemy from within their ow
Were there some Greeks who were making preparations for a war, and other
who were not? It is a clear no, since the Macedonians were not Greek]

[25] "Demosthenes speaks of embassies to be sent to the Peloponnesus, to Rhodes

and Chios, and even to the king of Persia, to call for resistance against the co
nqueror." [p.177]
[Point of
with them
One needs
when they

Interest] Greeks were sending embassies to the king of Persia to ally

against the conqueror from the north - Macedonia and its king Philip.
not be a scholar to see through the lies propagated by today's Greeks
claim that Macedonia was a part of Greece and Philip was their king. "

It is an illusion to think that ancient Macedonians were Greeks". [Karagatsis a Greek writer]
[26] Demosthenes' call for a national uprising was slowly gaining strength; Cori
nth and Achaea went over to the Athenian side, Messenia, Arcadia and Argos were
won over and lined themselves behind the program. In March of the year 340 the t
reaty was formerly concluded at Athens. Even Athens and Thebes reconciled and jo
ined his national program. "The true greatness of these achievements -- achievem
ents for which the citizens of Athens honored Demosthenes with a golden crown at
the Dionysia of 340 - was rightly appreciated by the ancient historians." [p.17
8]
[27] "If the Persian leaves us in the lurch and anything should happen to us, no
thing will hinder Philip from attacking the Persian king." [Fourth Philippic] [p
.181]
[28] "For historians of the old school, Greek history ended when the Greek state
s lost their political liberty; they looked upon it as a closed story, mounting
to a heroic finish at Chaeronea." [p.188]
[29] "For if any non-Greek power, whether Persian or Macedonian, were to achieve
world dominion, the typical form of the Greek state would suffer death and dest
ruction." [p.188]
[30] "Anyone who had assured himself that Macedonian hegemony would lead to the
inner unification of the Greeks, was bound to be disappointed. Philip surrounded
Athens with four Macedonian garrisons placed at respectful distances, and left
everything else to his supporters and agents in the cities." [p.191]
[31] The first resolution passed by Synedrion at Corinth was the declaration of
war against Persia. "The difference was that this war of conquest, which was pas
sionately described as a war of vengeance, was not looked upon as a means of uni
ting the Greeks, as Isocrates would have had it, but was merely an instrument of
Macedonian imperialism." [p.192]
[32] "But although the Greek people thus came to
e as pioneers of culture and, to that degree, as
pire, politically they had simply dropped out of
if Philip abstained from formally making Hellas
ks were themselves aware of this." [p.192]

play a uniquely influential rol

inheritors of the Macedonian em
the ranks of free peoples, even
a Macedonian province. The Gree

[35] "Outwardly, the "autonomous" city-states kept their relations with Macedoni
a on a fairly strict level of rectitude. Inwardly, the time was one of dull pres
sure and smoldering distrust, flaring up to a bright flame at the least sign of
any tremor or weakness in Macedonia's alien rule - for that is how her surveilla
nce was generally regarded. This excruciating state of affairs continued as long
as any hope remained. Only when the last ray of hope was exctinguished and the
last uprising had met disaster, did quiet finally settle down upon Greece -- the
quiet of the graveyard." [p.192]
[36] (Aeschines attempt to triumph over Demosthenes for the last and final round
backfires with Demosthenes' heroics in "The Crown". Demosthenes at the end rece
ived the crown.) "But though Athens was powerless against the might of her Maced
onian conqueror, she retained her independence of judgment and declared that no
history could confute Demosthenes." [p.196]
[37] "Then when Alexander suddenly died in the flower of his age, and Greece ros
e again for the last time, Demosthenes offered his services and returned to Athe
ns. But after winning a few brilliant successes, the Greeks lost their admirable
commander Leosthenes on the field of battle; and his successors was slain at Cr

annon on the anniversary of Chaeronea; the Athenians then capitulated, and, unde
r pressure of threats from Macedonia, suffered themselves to condemn to death th
e leader of the "revolt"." [p.196]
Demosthenes died from a dose of poison on the island of Calauria, in the altar o
f Poseidon. Forty years later Athens honored him for eternity. Such was the dest
iny of a man whose ideals were his people, his country and their liberty. When m
odern Greeks dismiss him (in order to divert the stinging truth of his oratory)
as a mere politician and his arousing oratory against Macedonia and the Macedoni
an conqueror as a political rhetoric, they, the modern Greeks, denounce the true
Greek spirit, devoid of which, they, themselves, are.
[38] "The dispute of modern scholars over the racial stock of the Macedonians ha
ve led to many interesting suggestions. This is especially true of the philologi
cal analysis of the remains of the Macedonian language by O. Hoffmann in his Mak
edonen etc. Cf. the latest general survey of the controversy in F. Geyer and his
chapter on prehistory. But even if the Macedonians did have some Greek blood- a
s well as Illyrian- in their veins, whether originally or by later admixture, th
is would not justify us in considering them on a par with the Greeks in point of
race or in using this as historical excuse for legitimizing the claims of this
bellicose peasant folk to lord it over cousins in the south of the Balkan penins
ula so far ahead of them in culture. It is likewise incorrect to assertthat this
is the only way in which we can understand the role of the Macedonian conquest
in Hellenizing the Orient. But we can neglect this problem here, as our chief in
terest lies in discovering what the Greeks themselves felt and thought. And here
we need not cite Demosthenes' well-known statements; for Isocrates himself, the
very man who heralds the idea of Macedonian leadership in Hellas, designates th
e people of Macedonia as members of an alien race in Phil.108. He purposely avoi
ds the word barbaroibut this word is one that inevitably finds a place for itsel
f in the Greek struggle for national independence and expresses the views of eve
ry true Hellene. Even Isocrates would not care to have the Greeks ruled by the M
acedonian people: it is only the king of Macedonia, Philip, who is to be the new
leader; and the orator tries to give ethnological proof of Philip's qualificati
ons for this task by the device of showing that he is no son of his people but,
like the rest of his dynasty, a scion of Heracles, and therefore of Greek blood.
" [p.249]
[Point of Interest]
(a) Macedonians cannot be considered as Greeks even if they had some Greek blood
in their veins.
(b) Macedonia's conquest of the Orient should not be contingent upon Greek cultu
re.
(c) Isocrates places the Macedonians with alien races and hitherto, outside the
Hellenic world.
(d) Isocrates takes care of this "alien race" not to be seen as leaders of Greec
e. He isolates their king Philip as not of the same race as the people over whic
h he governs.
Note: The speech On the Chersonese was, to be sure, delivered in a specifically
Athenian emergency; but the interest of the Greeks as a whole is never left out
of sight. The Third Philippic is entirely dedicated to the danger that threatens
all of Greece. Similarly, when the past and future are compared, it is the whol
e of Hellas that is considered, not Athens alone.
Once again, it is not surprising that Jeager places the ancient Macedonians outs
ide the Greek ethnic world. Fact is that when an author follows the writings of

the ancient biographers it is almost impossible for anybody to come to a differe

nt conclusion.
---------------------------------------------------------Josephus
Ancient Jewish Historian
"Greeks and Macedonians that dwelt there" [Antiquities,13.5.11]
" and gave them privileges equal to those of the Macedonians and Greeks, who were
the inhabitants [Antiquities, 12.3.1]
" how much harder is to the Greeks, who were esteemed the noblest of all people un
der sun? These, although they inhabit a large country, are in subjection to six
bundles of Roman rods. It is the same case with the Macedonians, who have juste
r reason to claim their liberty then you have." [Wars, 2.16.4]
"These Egyptians, therefore, were the authors of these troubles, who not having
the constancy of Macedonians, nor the prudence of Greeks, indulged all of them t
he evil manners of the Egyptians" [Against Apion, 2.6.]
-----------------------------------------------------Strabo
Roman Historian
"The Thessalians in particular wore long robes, probably because they of all the
Greeks lived in the most northerly and coldest region" [11.14.12].
As Macedonia is located north of Thessaly it is obviously not a part of Greece,
nor the Macedonians were Greeks, for the most northerly Greeks were already the
Thessalians.
--------------------------------------------------------Dionysius Periegetes
The ancient Greek historians and geographers from the classical and the post-cla
ssical period, Ephoros, Pseudo-Skylax, Dionysius son of Kalliphon, and Dionysius
Periegetes, all put the northern borders of Greece at the line from the Ambraci
an Gulf in the west to the Peneios River to the east, thus excluding Macedonia f
rom Greece.
Michael Sakellariou, Macedonia: 4000 years of Greek History. p.50.
--------------------------------------------------------Pseudo-Skylax
The ancient Greek historians and geographers from the classical and the post-cla
ssical period, Ephoros, Pseudo-Skylax, Dionysius son of Kalliphon, and Dionysius
Periegetes, all put the northern borders of Greece at the line from the Ambraci
an Gulf in the west to the Peneios River to the east, thus excluding Macedonia f
rom Greece.
Michael Sakellariou, Macedonia: 4000 years of Greek History. p.50.
------------------------------------------------------Dionysius son of Kalliphon
The ancient Greek historians and geographers from the classical and the post-cla
ssical period, Ephoros, Pseudo-Skylax, Dionysius son of Kalliphon, and Dionysius
Periegetes, all put the northern borders of Greece at the line from the Ambraci
an Gulf in the west to the Peneios River to the east, thus excluding Macedonia f

rom Greece.
Michael Sakellariou, Macedonia: 4000 years of Greek History. p.50.
http://www.historyofmacedonia.org/AncientMacedonia/AncientEvidence.html