Argead Macedonia

""En Filipo II y el Arte de la Guerra tendremos la oportunidad de conocer en profundidad a uno de los más grandes reyes de la antigua Macedonia. Gracias a su habilidad como estratega, diplomático, político y soldado, heredó un reino pobre, débil y acosado por innumerables enemigos y lo transformó en el más poderoso de toda Grecia.

A lo largo de sus páginas podremos conocer la historia del reino Macedonio, desde sus orígenes míticos hasta la formación de un imperio, de la mano del que, a la postre, se convertiría en el padre del mítico Alejandro Magno y en el forjador de un nuevo ejército que cambiaria el devenir de la guerra en la Antigüedad. Filipo II fue el creador de la falange macedonia, formación que se demostraría como inigualable en el campo de batalla y que reportaría incontables victorias sobre poderosos enemigos, como los ilirios, los tesalios, los tracios, los beocios o los atenienses. Pero no sólo eso, logró integrar en el campo de batalla a la infantería y a la caballería para emplearlos en nuevas formaciones tácticas: armó a sus soldados con las míticas sarissas y apreció como pocos las posibilidades militares que la maquinaria de guerra podía proporcionarle, siendo el mecenas de numerosos avances en este campo. Soñó con conquistar el Imperio persa, cuando ya había logrado lo que nadie antes fue capaz: el control de Grecia.

Sólo la muerte le arrebató esa hazaña, pero sentó las bases de lo que más tarde conseguiría su propio hijo. Su figura levantó tanto odios como pasiones; se le conocía como mujeriego y bebedor, pero también por su habilidad para la oratoria, por sus astucia, determinación y valor. Siempre luchó en primera línea junto a sus soldados y nunca permitió que éstos le llamaran rey, sino solo "General".

The death of Perdiccas, son of Orontes, during his invasion of Egypt is a fact hardly understandable, so that we can find different explanations for this event. The main goal of this paper is to establish a connection between Perdiccas' death and the importance, meaning of rivers and its crossing for the ancient Macedonians. Indeed, rivers were related to kingship. This fact is reflected in its relationship with kings of the Balkan geographical area (Polyaen. 4.12.3). Thus, we can find passages in which some of most important mythical characters were begotten by a god-river (Asteropaios, Rhesus, Orpheus, etc). Besides, sometimes even the majesty comes from the river, because the kings were crowned into the river or near one (App. Syr. 56; Justin 15. 4.2-7). In fact, the founder of the Argead royal house, Perdiccas I, became king after being saved by a river (Hdt. 8. 138). The strong connection between kings and rivers can be perceived during the crossing, because the Macedonian monarchs, especially Alexander the Great, were responsible of this act. In other words, a true king was able to protect his soldiers during the crossing, given his close link with the water. Perdiccas son of Orontes wanted to become king, therefore the disaster of Nile could be understood like ordeal which showed the will of the river. Perdiccas was not considered a true king, while Ptolemy should become one. "Mirar el río hecho de tiempo y agua y recordar que el tiempo es otro río, saber que nos perdemos como el río y que los rostros pasan como el agua". J. L. Borges, Arte poética.

The immemorial timeworn creation myths of the world, of the Supreme Creator-God from the sky, the Great Mother-Goddess of the Earth, the birth of the young Sun-God, myths of the Moon that gets to the earth and turns into a cow, conception of the months as divine creatures, etc., gave us the notion of the beginning of the time, the emergence of the order from the chaos, which have central role in each nation collective conscience. In that unknown epoch when the ancestors of the Macedonians were still united with the mythological Belasgians (lat. Pelasgians), they were worshipers of the primordial gods of nature, animals and woods, members of the ancient Aryan Pantheon. These primordial myths have deep roots that stretch back to the prehistoric times. They have survived numerous conquerors and influences of various religions, showing sturdy vitality, which is engraved deeply into the subconscious collective memory and traditions of the people.

Овој труд претставува фрагмент од историскиот дел на докторската дисертација на Ранко Младеноски со наслов „Ликот на Александар Македонски како интерактивен код на културите во македонската книжевност“ што беше одбранет на Филолошкиот факултет „Блаже Конески“ во Скопје во 2010 година. Заради актуелноста на темата кај нас и тоа не само во потесните научни кругови ами и во пошироката јавност, се објавува овој историски фрагмент од докторатот и тоа во автентичната форма како што беше финализиран во 2010 година. На почетокот од трудот се појаснува дека многубројните дилеми и отворени прашања поврзани со историјата на античка Македонија веќе долго време се тема за полемизирање меѓу историчарите. Основните проблемски прашања за кои се полемизира се, пред сè, етничката припадност на античките Македонци, припадноста или неприпадноста на античките Македонци кон хеленскиот свет, карактерот на походот на Александар III Македонски во Азија (дали тој поход е македонски или хеленски), посебноста на античката македонска култура, јазикот и „писмото“ на античките Македонци, чиј е Александар Македонски (на денешните Македонци или, пак, на денешните Грци), односно кој е денешен наследник (автентичен) на античките Македонци и слично. Во трудот, всушност, е понуден еден панорамски преглед на пишувањата за ваквите дилеми и направен е обид, колку што е можно тоа, да се разјаснат некои од наведените прашања. Треба да се потенцира дека овој дел во докторската дисертација беше потребен како вовед во главната тема, а тоа е ликот на Александар Македонски како интерактивен код на културите во македонската книжевност. Во заклучокот од трудот се нагласува фактот дека историјата како наука досега открила голем број автентични податоци за збиднувањата во и во врска со античка Македонија, а тие секако и натаму ќе се надградуваат со текот на времето што е пред нас.

This paper seeks to bring Cleopatra, 7th and final wife of Philip II of Macedon, out of the shadows by decoupling her murder from the assassination of Philip and thereby answering two interrelated questions: (1) why were Cleopatra and Attalus allowed to live after Philip’s assassination, if, as our sources seem to indicate, Alexander the Great feared them as rivals and threats, and (2) given Alexander’s concerns, why did Olympias, and not Alexander, murder Cleopatra? The paper re-evaluates the relative chronology of events, explores factional politics from both during and before Philip’s reign, and concludes that postulating a ‘weak’ Alexander, who hoped himself to marry his father's widow, might explain Cleopatra's survival beyond Philip's murder.

Olympias of Epirus is one of the main characters in the history of the emergency of Macedonia as an international power with Philip II and Alexander. Nevertheless, despite the many books, papers and studies that had been improving our knowledge about Argead Macedonia in times of the great Macedonian conquerors, the historians of the XIXth and XXth centuries treated Olympias in the same terms of the ancient sources. This uncritical perspective denotes a clear tendency and aims to reproduce gender stereotypes that comes to our own days.

The dearth of accurately datable documents from the time (323–c. 275 BCE) of Alexander the Great’s Successors (also known as the Diadochi or Diadochoi) has contributed to uncertainty regarding the dating of key events from this time.  In attempting to explain these inconsistencies, recent scholarship has focused on various different chronologies, some of which are described as “high” and “low.”  It would seem that particular importance would be assigned to the date of the end of the reign of Alexander IV, Alexander the Great’s lone legitimate heir.  However, little scholarly attention has been paid to the possible date of this very important transition that marked the end of the Macedonian Argead Dynasty.  The current article attempts a thorough investigation of this event by examining remaining historical accounts and surviving contemporary government documents along with epigraphical evidence and archaeological discoveries.  This information is then utilized in an attempt to arrive at a more precise date for the end of Alexander IV’s reign and the end of the satrapies ruling in his name

The Iconography of Macedonian queens from Macedon (5th and 4th century B.C.) to the Hellenistic kingdoms. Roots, associations, developments, later tradition. Hera the queen of Olymp, the representations of the Macedonian queens (Euridice, Olympias etc.) and the veiled brides (veiled peplophoroi), as useful iconographic tools that help to identify the statues of the Hellenistic queens.

Course Description: This course offers an introduction to the history of ancient Greece from the Bronze Age to the end of the Hellenistic Age (roughly the 16 th to the 1 st centuries BCE), drawing on both source materials and modern works. This is a student-driven seminar based on readings, presentations, and in-class discussions on the societal, religious, and political developments of the Greek world in antiquity. Students will become familiar with the Bronze, Archaic, Classical, Hellenistic, and early Roman periods of Greek history. The foundation of this course is the geopolitical history of the expanding Greek world; however, students also will engage the importance of ancient Greek culture, literature, religion, art, and gender roles. Through the investigation of texts, architecture, and archaeology, students will gain an appreciation of not just the ruling classes of the ancient Greek world, but also of the daily lives of normal Greeks and Hellenized native peoples. This will be a reading seminar course driven primarily by student participation. It will focus mostly on modern studies but also will feature a wide array of literary and archaeological source materials. Students will investigate historiographical arguments, lead class discussions, and prepare presentations.

This paper focuses on the figure of Alexander the Great in a set of Macedonian folk traditions circulating in Northern Greece in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The Macedonian Alexander-folk traditions represent a peculiar set among the other Hellenic folk accounts, because they convey chiefly the idea of familiarity with the hero, who seems to be still living and influencing the people’s everyday life. This bond – almost a mutual ownership between Alexander and the Macedonians – is in fact constantly highlighted by the choice of the themes treated, such as the attribution of monuments to the great conqueror and the use of his historical and mythical persona to explain local customs, features of the landscape, or toponyms. Moreover, (pseudo-)aetiologies, etymologies, and/or descriptions of facts of local interest populate these narratives which, according to their content and purpose, are here grouped into two main categories, geographical and aetiological, and into two subcategories, geographico-aetiological and aetiologico-mythological. The aim here is confined to the discussion, the categorisation, and the translation into English of the Macedonian Alexander-traditions; I hope that this paper will make this notable and lively material accessible to a wider public and help the preservation of its memory.

An epigraphical survey (with digital mapping component) of Greece and Magna Graecia reveals a pattern as to where Hephais-based names appear, up through the second century BCE. Spelled with an /eta/, these names are almost exclusively Attic-Ionian, while Haphēs-based names, spelled with an alpha, are Doric-Aeolian, and much fewer in number. There is virtually no overlap, except at the Panhellenic site of Delphi, and in a few colonies around the Black Sea. Furthermore, cult for the god Hephaistos-long recognized as a non-Greek borrowing-was popular primarily in Attic-Ionian and "Pelasgian" regions, precisely the same areas where we find Hephais-root names. The only area where Haphēs-based names appear in any quantity, Boeotia, also had an important cult related to the god. Otherwise, Hephaistos was not a terribly important deity in Doric-Aeolian populations. This epigraphic (and religious) record calls into question the assumed Macedonian ethnicity of the king's best friend and alter-ego, Hephaistion. According to Tataki, Macedonian naming patterns followed distinctively non-Attic patterns, and cult for the god Hephaistos is absent in Macedonia (outside Samothrace). A recently published 4 th century curse tablet from Pydna could, however, provide a clue as to why a Macedonian Companion had such a uniquely Attic-Ionian name. If Hephaistion's ancestry was not, in fact, ethnically Macedonian, this may offer us an interesting insight into fluidity of Macedonian identity under the monarchy, and thereby, to ancient conceptualizations of ethnicity more broadly.

After careful comparison of the finds of Archontiko with
the new unearthings from Aigai and the wider region of Macedon it
seems more likely that the Macedonians had not expanded to Axios
River before the last decade of the sixth century. In this case the rich
city of Archontiko was the centre of the Bottiaeans who lived by the
sea, and the auriferous warriors were actually their rulers. In the context
of the campaign launched by Megavazus against Thrace in 513 BC,
and the pro-Persian policy of king Amyntas I it is possible that the
Macedonians stretched to Axios, conquered the city of Archontiko and
expelled the Bottiaeans from the Thermaic Gulf shortly before the end
of the sixth century BC.

Трудот претставува интерпретација на македонските книжевни дела во кои фигурира историската личност Александар III Македонски како лик со доминантна улога на интерактивен код на културите. Се тргнува од тезата дека со ликот на Александар Македонски во македонската литература се поврзани два вида интеркултурна комуникација: а) расистичка интеркултурна комуникација; б) толерантна интеркултурна комуникација. Првиот вид се однесува на поставувањето на релацијата супериорност – инфериорност меѓу културите, а вториот на почитувањето на дистинктивните сегменти од културата на Другиот. Од тој аспект се анализираат бројни македонски книжевни дела од што се заклучува дека македонската книжевно-уметничка елаборација на историската личност Александар III Македонски ја манифестира отвореноста на македонскиот културен дух за разговор, комуникација, дијалог со истоста, но и со различноста во културните семиосфери од другата страна.

Основната цел на овој труд е да се афирмираат и да се актуелизираат неколку суштински, но истовремено и нејасни и дискутабилни проблемски прашања од македонската фолклористика поврзани со местото и улогата на античко-македонскиот крал Александар III Македонски во македонското народно творештво. Станува збор, имено, за дилемите во врска со прашањето дали постојат песни за Александар Македонски во проектот „Веда Словена“ од Стефан Верковиќ и Јован Гологанов од македонскиот културен 19 век. Овде се потенцира фактот дека во двете објавени книги од Стефан Верковиќ со наслов „Веда Словена“ (првата во Белград во 1874 и втората во Санкт-Петербург во 1881 година) не постојат песни за Александар Македонски. Бројни македонски фолклористи ги презентираат информациите за постоење на песни за Александар Македонски што Јован Гологанов му ги предал на Стефан Верковиќ, но ниту еден од нив не ги отвора суштинските прашања за тоа колку песни Гологанов му дал на Верковиќ, кои се тие песни и дали тие се сочувани или, пак, некаде објавени. Ваквото афирмирање и актуелизирање на овие прашања ќе поттикне натамошни дискусии и проучувања коишто ќе водат кон разјаснување на постоечките дилеми и нејаснотии за македонските песни за Александар III Македонски во проектот „Веда Словена“ на Верковиќ и Гологанов.

The Balkan peninsula has long been considered as Europe’s tinderbox; and with good reason! With so many languages, ethnic groups (or peoples), and religious systems, the Balkans lived their most peaceful period of their millennia long history during the Ottoman rule that lasted between 400 and 600 years (as per different regions). As natural continuation of the Eastern Roman Empire, the Sublime Gate ensured peace and tolerance to a great number of peoples at a time of merciless and inhuman wars in the multi-divided and constantly disputed territories of the defunct Western Empire.
The Ottoman Empire’s scholarly, scientific and artistic superiority over the various state forms of Western Europe was undisputed until the beginning of the 17th century. However, the rise to preponderance of a bogus-Islamic, theological – ideological sect, namely the Hanbalite followers of Ibn Taimiya and his obscurantist and barbaric system, led the Ottoman Empire to collapse and the Islamic Civilization to definite and irreversible extinction. From 1600 to 1800, the Ottoman Empire became the Sick Man of Europe, and a century later it died out. The parallel rise of the Western European nationalist and colonialist states exposed the Balkan peoples to hatred, discord, local conflicts and regional wars that have not ended so far.
First published in the American Chronicle, AfroArticles and Buzzle on 27th March 2007
Republished in numerous sites, blogs and fora - indicatively:
https://republic-of-macedonia.jimdo.com/the_macedonians_the_greeks_and_the_communists.php
https://makedonin.wordpress.com/2007/10/19/the-macedonians-the-greeks-and-the-communists/
http://forum.idividi.com.mk/forum_posts.asp?TID=9846
https://forum.kajgana.com/threads/Хеленизмот-Европска-измислица-од-18-век.11127/page-3
http://www.topix.com/forum/city/dora-al/TK41LPQOB5VFME9PN/p5

Edited with Michael Stuart Williams.
Warfare has long been central to a proper understanding of ancient Greece and Rome, worlds where war was, as the philosopher Heraclitus observed, ‘both king and father of all’. More recently, however, the understanding of Classical antiquity solely in such terms has been challenged; it is recognised that while war was pervasive, and a key concern in the narratives of ancient historians, a concomitant desire for peace was also constant. This volume places peace in the prime position as a panel of scholars stresses the importance of ‘peace’ as a positive concept in the ancient world (and not just the absence of, or necessarily even related to, war), and considers examples of conflict resolution, conciliation, and concession from Homer to Augustine. Comparing and contrasting theories and practice across different periods and regions, this collection highlights, first, the open and dynamic nature of peace, and then seeks to review a wide variety of initiatives from across the Classical world.

El descuartizamiento de una perra como ceremonia de purificación previa a un combate ritual que el ejército macedonio celebraba en las Jándicas podría tener relación con el culto a la diosa Enodia, una diosa equivalente a Hécate en el entorno cultural tesalio y macedonio. A partir de los testimonios de las fuentes históricas y de los restos arqueológicos, se trata de probar esta hipótesis, en la que se plantea la posibilidad de que este ritual fuera incor-porado con los contingentes tesalios que Filipo II introdujo en el ejército macedonio en el contexto de la profunda reforma militar que implantó al llegar al poder.

The dismemberment of a female dog as a purification ceremony before a ritual combat that the Macedonian army held in the Xandica, could be related to Ennodia goddess, an equivalent to Hecate in the Thessalian and Macedonian context. From the historical sources statements and the archaeological remains, we try to prove this hypothesis, in which we present the possibility that this ritual was incorporated with Thessalian troops that Philip II introduced in the Macedonian army in the context of the deep military reform developed when he came to the head of the kingdom.

Hesychius' Macedonian words are those which he assigns to the Macedonians as a whole, as well as to individual Macedonians such as Amerias, Alexander, Marsyas, etc. These terms are analyzed through and Indo - European perspective to find corresponding words in other Indo - European languages that will be useful in putting the ancient Macedonian language in the proper perspective and attempt to solidify its grouping as a distinct centum Balkan language that developed out of the same proto - language as Phrygian, Armenian, Epirotian, and Greek.

This article is about the study of a hoard of seventeen bronze coins found near the new entrance of the archaeological site of Pella.This hoard constitutes one of the few known cases of numismatic concealment during the lifetime of Philip II. It numbers 17 bronze coins:  1 of Amyntas III, 4 of Perdiccas III,  11 of Philip II and1 of Cetriporis, ruler of the Odrysians. It is interesting to note that the majority of Philip’s  coins lack symbols, monograms and letters, which frequently appear in posthumous issues of this king. Only two coins of Philip II from the Pella hoard  bear the thunderbolt symbol.  The existence of coins attributed to Philip’s predecessors,  the appearance of Philip’s early type Heracles/horseman holding whip,  the lack of symbols apart from the thunderbolt, the coin of Cetriporis (357-352 BC) and  the shape of the skyphos allow us to date the coins’ concealment around the middle of the 4th century BC.

In this paper the excavation of 2009, that brought to light part of Pella's north forification of the Classical period,  is presented. Trial trenches led us to the dating of this wall in the late 5th or early 4th century BC. Furthermore, a pit of the third quarter of the 4th century was partially excavated, as well as three graves of the Iron Age

The body of preserved data on the first Persian incursion on the northern coast of the Aegean is rather small. A dissection of the information preserved in Herodotus, combined with a detailed analysis of the features of local geography, show that, in all probability, Persia managed to establish control over the majority of the Thraco-Macedonian coast.

However, there is little indication that the Persians attempted to administer this territory at such an early date. At the time, a major benefit for the Persians was establishing control over the road network leading to the west – a fact which indicates that Persian ventures were far from over and that this line of communication was of critical importance for further conquests. Most importantly, the road to the west led the Persians to the immediate vicinity of the kingdom of the Argeadae.

This is the first part of Chapter 1 of my Honours thesis (1980). It begins with a brief discussion of basic military principles and of relevant tactical unit types. A much more detailed discussion of the function of Light Infantry, including a discussion of the types used by Alexander III follows. With respect to the army of Alexander the Great, special reference is made to the Agrianians and Cretan Archers.

espanolLa muerte de Perdiccas, hijo de Orontes, durante su invasion de Egipto es un hecho dificil de comprender, por lo que podemos encontrar diferentes explicaciones para este evento. El objetivo principal de este articulo es establecer una conexion entre la muerte de Perdiccas y la importancia, el significado de los rios y su cruce para los antiguos macedonios. De hecho, los rios estaban relacionados con la realeza. Este hecho se refleja en su relacion con los reyes de la zona geografica de los Balcanes (Polyaen. 4.12.3). Por lo tanto, podemos encontrar pasajes en los que algunos de los personajes miticos mas importantes fueron engendrados por un rio divino (Asteropaios, Rhesus, Orfeo, etc.). Ademas, a veces incluso la majestuosidad proviene del rio, porque los reyes fueron coronados en el rio o cerca de uno (App. Syr. 56; Justin 15. 4.2-7). De hecho, el fundador de la casa real Argeada, Perdiccas I, se convirtio en rey despues de ser salvado por un rio (Hdt. 8. 138). La fuerte co...