The World’s Greatest Places of 2025:Royal Palace of Aigai

 

 

by Julia Buckley

 There are moments in time when the world shifts. One such was the crowning of Alexander the Great, the legendary king of Macedon who went on to conquer land from Egypt to India, kickstart cross-cultural pollination between Europe and Asia, inspire the Roman empire, and change the course of history. Now, following nearly five decades of excavation and 16 years of painstaking restoration, visitors can enter the Royal Palace of Aigai—the ceremonial hub for the Macedonian dynasty—and step into the column-fringed courtyard where the 20-year-old was crowned in 336 BCE.

They can dial back time walking through dining rooms where Alexander’s father, Philip II, entertained Greek politicians and Persian royalty amid mosaic floors and colorful stucco-clad walls. Three times larger than the Parthenon in Athens (its courtyard alone could hold 4,000 people), the palace, located an hour west of modern-day Thessaloniki, inspired buildings as far afield as Uzbekistan. After being overlooked for centuries, northern Greece is opening a flurry of archaeological sites.

The newest: Thessaloniki’s November-debuted metro system, which cleaves through the 2,300-year-old city (which was named for a sister of Alexander’s). Thirteen “archaeo-stations” display ancient finds uncovered during the build, including Venizelou, which deposits riders plumb on the city’s Roman-era main drag.

TIME

Modern Historians about Macedonia – James S. Romm

 

Eventually the Greek way of war would prove so superior to that of the barbarian world as to enable a largely Hellenic army,led by Alexander the Great,to conquer not only Egypt but most of Asia as well. 

On the War for Greek Freedom:Selections from the ‘Histories’,edited by James S. Romm,translated by Samuel Shirley,page xiii

In the large scheme of things,Xerxes’ analysis was correct, as would be demonstrated by Alexander the Great and his Greco-Macedonian invasion of Asia,150 years down the road. 

On the War for Greek Freedom:Selections from the ‘Histories’,edited by James S. Romm,translated by Samuel Shirley,page 125

Modern Historians about Macedonia – Robin Osborne

 

After that victory Philip imposed his own conditions on the whole Greek mainland, making a treaty with all significant cities except Sparta, the so-called ‘League of Corinth’. This treaty obliged the Greek cities to provide soldiers for Philip’s campaigns, but it did not, contrary to what had been feared at Athens, interfere with the constitutions of the individual cities.

Greek History Classical Foundations Series,Robin Osborne,Routledge,2004,page 127

 

Although Macedonians were accepted as Greek, after some discussion, for the purposes of competing at the Olympic games, and although the language of the Macedonians appears most probably to have been a dialect of Greek related to the dialects of north-west Greek, some Macedonian customs were distinct.

Greek History Classical Foundations Series,Robin Osborne,Routledge,2004,page 127

Modern Historians about Macedonia – Rosalie and Anthony E. David

 

The history of ancient Egyptian civilisation covers a period from c.3100 BC to the conquest of the country by Alexander the Great in 332 BC. Before the Dynastic Period (beginning c.3100 BC), the communities laid the foundations for the later great advances in technological, political, religious and artistic developments; this is generally referred to as the Predynastic Period (c.5000-3100 BC). 

After *Alexander the Great conquered Egypt in 332 BC, the country was ruled by a line of Macedonian Greeks who descended from *Alexander’s general, Ptolemy (who became *Ptolemy I) .The last of this dynasty, *Cleopatra VII, failed to prevent the absorption of Egypt into the Roman Empire in 30 BC, and subsequently Egypt was ruled by Rome as a province.

Rosalie and Anthony E. David, ‘A Biographical Dictionary of Ancient Egypt’,Routledge,1991

 

The Archaeological Site of Pella| Into the Heart of Ancient Macedonia

 

Ancient Pella wasn’t just a royal palace, it was the heart of Greek life, bustling with a marketplace, public squares and homes that made it the political, economic, and cultural hub of its time.

 

After exploring the Archaeological Site of Pella, head to the museum nearby. It’s home to remarkable artifacts, including a marble head of Alexander the Great, intricate floor mosaics, towering 5-meter wall decorations and everyday items that bring ancient life vividly to mind.

 

🚗Hop on a 5-day road trip to the heart of Ancient Macedonia  👉   Discover Greece

The Polycentric Museum of Aigai (Vergina)| Into the Heart of Ancient Macedonia

 

This UNESCO-protected archaeological wonder preserves not just the palatial tombs of Philip II and other members of Macedonian royalty but also the integrity of a solemn burial mound and a museum within the tumulus.

 

It contains four palatial tombs (including those of Philip II and Alexander the Great’s teenage son, Alexander IV) and some of the most astonishing finds from Macedonian history: the gold larnax containing Philip’s bones (emblazoned with the Macedonian sun), his massive armour and the golden wreath he wore on his funeral pyre, almost luminous in the dimmed lighting, among them.

 

🚗Hop on a 5-day road trip to the heart of Ancient Macedonia  👉   Discover Greece

Modern Historians about Macedonia – Kathryn A. Bard

 

The Macedonians were originally one of several Greek tribes living on the northern frontier of the Hellenic world.”

 

“The relatively remote geographical situation of the Macedonians contributed to their retention of a social organization different from the rest of Greeks”

 

Encyclopedia of the Archaeology of Ancient Egypt By Kathryn A. Bard, pages 553-554

Modern Historians about Macedonia – J.D.Fage

 

✍️ Quote:

 

Persian rule in Egypt was not to survive long, but its overthrow was not the work of Egyptians. In 336 BC a Greek army,led by Alexander III (Alexander the Great) king of Macedonia invaded the Persian empire.

 

📖  “The Cambridge History of Africa” edited by J. D. Fage, page 105

 

✍️Quote:

 

It would be easy to see in this, the formal establishment of Greek rule in Egypt, the logical culmination of three centuries of Greek influence and patronage. But, except in so far as the earlier involvement of Greeks in Egyptian affairs prepared the Egyptians psychologically to accept Greek rule...

 

📖 “The Cambridge History of Africa” edited by J. D. Fage, page 106 

Modern historians about Macedonia – Max Cary

 

“The future relations between the two peoples had been irrevocably fixed by Alexander’s Anabasis, which destined them to work together in close co-operation as joint rulers of the East, and eventually to be blended into one Nation.“

Max  Cary, A History of the Greek World from 323-146 B.C. page 10

 

 

In 197 he re-entered Thessaly and forced a battle on the field of Cynoscephalae. In this encounter the Macedonian heavy infantry proved that in a solid front-to-front charge not even the Roman legions could hold, but that, once thrown out of order or taken in flank, it became helpless. While one Macedonian Phalanx charged right home, another broke itself up by its own impetus and became an easy prey to the enemy; and the victorious division, without cavalry support on the flanks, was enfiladed and cut to pieces by the succcessful Roman wing wheeling upon it. This was the first decisive victory of  Romans over Greeks  in a set battle on a large scale; but it sufficed definitely to establish Roman ascendancy in Greece.

Max  Cary, “A History of the Greek World from 323-146 B.C.”, page 191 

A History of the Greek World from 325 to 146 B.C.

by  Cary Max ,publication date:1932

Description

A History of the Greek World from 323 to 146 B.C. (1951) looks at the period of Greek history from the Macedonian to the Roman conquests. It contains a narrative of the political history of the Hellenistic states; a description of their statecraft, war-craft and economic practice; and a summary of later Greek achievement in the fields of art, literature, science, philosophy and religion. 

Routledge 

Modern historians about Macedonia – Mark Grossman

 

“When Alexander was just a child, his father was making Macedon (Now Macedonia in northern Greece) into one of the Greatest Greek city-states, as well as the dominant power in the Balkans.”

 

Mark Grossman,World Military Leaders:A Biographical Dictionary,page 11

“...he was tutored by Aristotle,the great Greek orator and educator,whom Philip called to Pella.”

Mark Grossman,World Military Leaders:A Biographical Dictionary,page 12

Modern historians about Macedonia – Nigel Guy Wilson

 

“The latest archaeological findings have confirmed that Macedonia took it’s name from a tribe of tall, Greek-speaking people, the Makednoi ( = lenght )”

 

“Philip II of Macedon was anxious to pacify and unify Greeks at any cost… His dream was fulfilled by his son Alexander III the Great,who in no more than 12 years at the head of a Greek army occupied a major part of then known world from the Aegean Sea to the frontiers of India “

 

Nigel Guy Wilson, Encyclopedia of Ancient Greece,page 439

Modern historians about Macedonia – R. M.Cook

 

Macedonia and Epirus were the buffers of Greece in Europe...

 

The Greeks Until Alexander [Ancient Peoples and Places series],1962  by R. M. Cook,page 23

Modern historians about Macedonia – Walter M. Ellis

 

I fear that I have not been wholly consistent in my use of the term “Macedonian.” For the record, let me state that I believe Macedonians, ancient and modern,are Greeks .

Ptolemy of Egypt,Walter M. Ellis, Routledge, 1994

In less than twelve years Alexander conquered the Persian  empire,a region that included the modern countries of Turkey,Syria,Lebanon,Israel,Egypt,Iraq,Iran,Afghanistan,Pakistan,and parts of former Soviet Turkestan and Uzbekistan.His empire also included a relatively united Greece,the work of his father,Philip II.

Ptolemy of Egypt,Walter M. Ellis, Routledge, 1994,page 1

Ptolemy was the creator of the longest lasting of the Hellenistic kingdoms. He created a state whose cultural importance was unparalleled until the coming of Rome. He encouraged the erection of the Pharos Lighthouse, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, as well as creating a library which eventually contained the greatest collection of books until relatively recent times. Ptolemy's institution of higher learning, the Museum, gave birth to the greatest advancements in science before the seventeenth century of our own era.

In this work, the first biography of Ptolemy in any language, Professor Ellis charts Ptolemy's extraordinary achievements in and beyond Egypt in the context of the fragmentation of Alexander's enormous empire and the creation of the Hellenistic state.

 

From the publisher

Modern Historians about Macedonia – Martin Sicker

 

The Greek leaders perceived the sudden resurgence of Persian power in the region as a new and significant challenge to their interests. To gain support for an activist policy, some attempted to redefine the nature of the Greek-Persian conflict from one of straightforward geopolitics to the more emotional issue of pan-Hellenism. For such proponents of a continuation of the struggle the issue was no longer merely the matter of the defense of the Greek city-states. The Persian challenge was now characterized as a conflict of principle, of Hellenic culture and civilization against Asiatic barbarism in an unrelenting struggle for survival. They advocated a crusade to be carried out by a unified Greek nation that was to include all that partook of Greek civilization. However, the traditional leadership of Athens and the other prominent city-states, exhausted by the long external and internal wars, were unable to mobilize the support necessary for an effective response to the Persian challenge. Nonetheless, the pan-Hellenic crusade was soon to be undertaken, but not by Athens. It was Macedonia that was to impose its own leadership on Greece and undertake the renewed struggle against Persia in the name of the Hellenes .

The Pre-Islamic Middle East, Martin Sicker, 2000,page 99

After successfully annexing Thessaly and Thrace, Philip was widely acknowledged as the natural leader of a Hellenic alliance. The venerable Isocrates saw Philip as the man that Greece needed to deal with a chronic demographic problem that menaced its future. He argued that Greece was plagued by overpopulation, which produced large numbers of men suitable for military service who wandered about, without loyalty to any city, selling their services to anyone who could pay for them and thereby posing a constant menace to the stability of the country. What was needed, he suggested, was a new country that might be colonized by Greece’s surplus population. This new land would have to be conquered from Persia, and Philip of Macedon, who was already successfully challenging the Persians in a contest for control of the European shores of the Hellespont, was clearly the only one who might be able to annex all Anatolia to the Hellenic world. 

The Pre-Islamic Middle East, Martin Sicker, 2000,page 100

 

Philip had no illusions about the stability of the Common Peace, given the turbulent history of the Greek city-states, their competitiveness, and their general reluctance to sacrifice their freedom of action even for the common good. Moreover, he was a Macedonian, from the backwater of the Greek world .

The Pre-Islamic Middle East, Martin Sicker, 2000,page 100

 

A Persian offer of 300 talents was privately accepted by Demosthenes, who employed it for purposes compatible with mutual Athenian-Persian interests in thwarting Macedonian ascendancy  

The Pre-Islamic Middle East, Martin Sicker, 2000,page 102

Modern historians about Macedonia – David George Hogarth

 

 

Tradition held the other element to be Hellenic, and no one in the fourth century seriously questioned its belief.

 

“Philip and Alexander of Macedon” by David G. Hogarth,page 5

 

 

The king [of macedon] was chief in the first instance of a race of plain-dwellers, who held themselves to be, like him, of Hellenic stock…

 

“Philip and Alexander of Macedon” by David G. Hogarth, page 8

 

From Alexander I, who rode to the Athenian pickets the night before Plataea and proclaimed himself to the generals their friend and a Greek, down to Amyntas, father of Philip, who joined forces with Lacedaemon in 382, the kings of Macedon bid for greek support by being more Hellenic than the Hellenes.

 

“Philip and Alexander of Macedon” by David G. Hogarth, page 9-10

 

 

Archelaus patronized Athenian poets and Athenian drama and commisioned Euripides to dramatize the deeds of his Argive ancestor.

 

 

“Philip and Alexander of Macedon” by David G. Hogarth, page 10

 

 

“Macedonia” therefore, throughout historical times until the accession of Philip the Second, presents the spectacle of a nation that was no nation, but a group of discordant units, without community of race, religion, speech or sentiment, resultant from half-accomplished conquest and weak as the several sticks of the faggot in the fable.

 

“Philip and Alexander of Macedon” by David G. Hogarth, page 10