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 – J.R. Hamilton

 

“That the Macedonians were of Greek stock seems certain.”

 

“…but Macedonian proper names, such as Ptolemaios or Philippos, are good Greek names, and the names of the Macedonian months, although differed from those of Athens or Sparta, were also Greek.”

 

Alexander the Great,J.R. Hamilton(Hutchinson,London, 1973),page 23

Modern historians about Macedonia – Jerome Jordan Pollitt

 

“The Macedonians were ethnically related to the Greeks and spoke a dialect of Greek, but their loose feudal kingdom on the northern border of the Greek world had always been regarded as culturally backward.”

 

 

Art and Experience in Classical Greece,Jerome Jordan Pollitt,page 138

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 – J.B Bury & Russell Meiggs

 

“The Macedonian people and their kings were of Greek stock,as their traditions and the scanty remains of their language combine to testify.”

“Alexander was chosen supreme general of the Greeks for the invasion of Asia,and it was as head of Hellas,descendant and successor of Achilles...”

J.B.Bury and R. Meiggs:A History of Greece. To the Death of Alexander the Great 

Modern historians about Macedonia – Robert Malcolm Errington

 

"That the Macedonians and their kings did in fact speak a dialect of Greek and bore Greek names may be regarded nowadays as certain."

Malcom Errington, "A History of Macedonia",page 3

“Macedonian horsemen together with those  of their Thessalian neighbours were later regarded  as the best in Greece”

Malcom Errington, "A History of Macedonia",page 7

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 – 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 

Πλούταρχος:Περί Ἀλεξάνδρου τύχης καί ἀρετῆς,6 329Α-D

 

Καί μήν ἡ πολύ θαυμαζομένη πολιτεία τοῦ τήν Στωικῶν αἵρεσιν καταβαλομένου Ζήνωνος εἰς ἓν τοῦτο συντείνει κεφάλαιον, ίνα μή κατά πόλεις μηδέ δήμους οἰκῶμεν ἰδίοις ἕκαστοι διωρισμένοι δικαίοις, ἀλλά πάντας ἀνθρώπους ἡγώμεθα δημότας καί πολίτας, εἷς δέ βίος ᾖ καί κόσμος, ὥσπερ ἀγέλης συννόμου νόμῳ κοινῷ συντρεφομένης. Τοῦτο Ζήνων μέν ἔγραψεν ὥσπερ ὄναρ ἢ εἴδωλον εὐνομίας φιλοσόφου καί πολιτείας ἀνατυπωσάμενος, Ἀλέξανδρος δέ τῷ λόγῳ τό ἔργον παρέσχεν.

 

 Οὐ γάρ, ὡς Ἀριστοτέλης συνεβούλευεν αὐτῷ, τοῖς μέν Ἕλλησιν ἡγεμονικῶς τοῖς δέ βαρβάροις δεσποτικῶς χρώμενος, καί τῶν μέν ὡς φίλων καί οἰκείων ἐπιμελόμενος τοῖς δ’ ὡς ζῴοις ἢ φυτοῖς προσφερόμενος, πολέμων πολλῶν καί φυγῶν ἐνέπλησε καί στάσεων ὑπούλων τήν ἡγεμονίαν, ἀλλά κοινός ἥκειν θεόθεν ἁρμοστής καί διαλλακτής τῶν ὅλων νομίζων, οὓς τῷ λόγῳ μή συνῆγε τοῖς ὅπλοις βιαζόμενος καί εἰς ταὐτό συνενεγκών τά πανταχόθεν, ὥσπερ ἐν κρατῆρι φιλοτησίῳ μίξας τούς βίους καί τά ἤθη καί τούς γάμους καί τάς διαίτας, πατρίδα μέν τήν οἰκουμένην προσέταξεν ἡγεῖσθαι πάντας, ἀκρόπολιν δέ καί φρουράν τό στρατόπεδον, συγγενεῖς δέ τούς ἀγαθούς, ἀλλοφύλους δέ τούς πονηρούς· τό δ’ Ἑλληνικόν καί βαρβαρικόν μή χλαμύδι μηδέ πέλτῃ μηδ’ ἀκινάκῃ μηδέ κάνδυι διορίζειν, ἀλλά τό μέν Ἑλληνικόν ἀρετῇ τό δέ βαρβαρικόν κακίᾳ τεκμαίρεσθαι, κοινάς δ’ ἐσθῆτας ἡγεῖσθαι καίτραπέζας καί γάμους καί διαίτας, δι’ αἵματος καί τέκνων ἀνακεραννυμένους.

Ζήνων ο Κιτιεύς

Εκείνη η πολυθαύμαστη Πολιτεία του Ζήνωνα, που ίδρυσε τη Σχολή των Στωικών, αποβλέπει σε έναν κύριο σκοπό:να μην κατοικούμε χωρισμένοι σε πόλεις ούτε σε δήμους, που έχουν ιδιαίτερους κανόνες δικαίου, αλλά να θεωρούμε όλους τους ανθρώπους συνδημότες και συμπολίτες, και να υπάρχει ένας κοινός τρόπος ζωής και μία τάξη, όπως σε μια αγέλη που βόσκει και τρέφεται μαζί υπό έναν κοινό “νόμο”.

 

Αυτά έγραψε ο Ζήνων, αναπλάθοντάς τα σαν ένα όνειρο ή μια εικόνα του φιλοσόφου για την εύνομη πολιτεία.

 

Αλλά εκείνος που έκανε πράξη τη θεωρία ήταν ο Αλέξανδρος. Γιατί δεν φόρτωσε τη διακυβέρνησή του με πολλούς πολέμους και εξορίες και συνωμοτικές εξεγέρσεις, αντιμετωπίζοντας τους Έλληνες ως ηγέτης και τους βαρβάρους ως δεσπότης, όπως τον είχε συμβουλεύσει ο Αριστοτέλης, και φροντίζοντας τους πρώτους ως φίλους και συγγενείς και τους δεύτερους ως ζώα ή φυτά. Αλλά, πιστεύοντας ότι είχε αποσταλεί από τον θεό ως κοινός ρυθμιστής και συμφιλιωτής όλων, εξαναγκάζοντας με τα όπλα όσους δεν έπειθε με τον λόγο και συνενώνοντας σε ενιαίο σύνολο τα πάντα, αναμειγνύοντας τους τρόπους ζωής και τα ήθη και τους γάμους και τις συνήθειες, όπως σε μια κούπα φιλίας, πρόσταξε πως πρέπει όλοι να θεωρούν πατρίδα τους την οικουμένη, ακρόπολη και φρουρά τους το στρατόπεδο, συγγενείς τούς αγαθούς και ξένους τους τούς φαύλους.

 

Και τον Έλληνα ή τον βάρβαρο να μην τον καθορίζει η χλαμύδα ή η ασπίδα, ούτε το περσικό ξίφος ή ο μανδύας, αλλά να συμπεραίνουν ότι κάποιος είναι Έλληνας από την αρετή του και βάρβαρος από την κακία του. και να θεωρούν κοινά τα ενδύματα και τα φαγητά και τους γάμους και τις συνήθειες, καθώς θα έχουν αναμειχθεί με δεσμούς αίματος και με κοινά παιδιά.

Modern historians about Macedonia – Thomas R. Martin

 

Philip never achieved his goal of conquering Persia, because he was murdered in 336, before he could begin that quest. It was his son, Alexander the Great (ruled 336–323 b.c.), who astonished the world by making Philip’s dream come true. 

 

 

Alexander’s awe-inspiring conquests reached from Greece to the western border of India and convinced him that he had achieved the status of a god. 

 

 

Alexander died unexpectedly in 323, before he had a mature heir to succeed him as king of Macedonia and without having put into place a permanent restructuring of governance in Greece to suit the new political conditions of the world in the late fourth century b.c.

 

 Thomas R.Martin,“Ancient Greece From Prehistoric to Hellenistic Times”  (1996) ,pages 221-223

Modern historians about Macedonia – Percy Gardner

 

 

 

The Macedonians spoke the Greek language, using a peculiar dialect, but that dialect disappears with their other provincialisms when they suddenly become dominant. We find no trace in Asia of any specially Macedonian deities;

it is the gods of Hellas that the army of Alexander bears into the East. Even in manners and customs there seems to have been small difference between Greek and Macedonian; in our own day many primitive Greek customs, which have died out elsewhere, survive in remote districts of Macedonia.

No doubt there was a great deal of Thracian blood among the hardy shepherds who followed the standards of Philip and Alexander; but if not only the nobility but even the common people had no language, religion, or customs different from those of the Greeks, how was it possible to prevent the races from becoming mingled?

The more wealthy and educated classes in Macedonia were mostly Greek by blood, and entirely Greek in everything else except the practice of self-government.

Wherever Alexander went, Homer and Aristotle went too. In the wake of his army came the Greek philosopher and man of science, the Greek architect and artist, the Greek merchant and artisan. And Alexander must have known this. When he tried to fuse Greeks, Macedonians, and Persians, into one race, he must have known that whose blood soever ruled the mixture, Greek letters, science, and law must needs gain the upper hand.

He must have known that the Greek schoolmasters would make Homer and Hesiod familiar to the children; that the strolling companies of Dionysiac artists would repeat in every city the masterpieces of the Greek drama; and that the Odes of Simonides and Pindar would be sung wherever there was a Greek lyre.

 

 

“New Chapters in Greek History:Historical Results of Recent Excavations in Greece and Asia Minor” by Percy Gardner,1892,page 415 

The truth is, that the history of Greece consists of two parts, in every respect contrasted one with the other.

The first recounts the stories of the Persian and Peloponnesian wars, and ends with the destruction of Thebes and the subjugation of Athens and Sparta.

 The Hellas of which it speaks is a cluster of autonomous cities in the Peloponnesus, the Islands, and Northern Greece, together with their colonies scattered over the coasts of Italy, Sicily, Thrace, the Black Sea, Asia Minor, and Africa. These cities care only to be independent, or at most to lord it over one another. Their political institutions, their religious ceremonies, their customs, are civic and local. Language, commerce, a common Pantheon, and a common art and poetry are the ties that bind them together.

In its second phase, Greek history begins with the expedition of Alexander.

 It reveals to us the Greek as everywhere lord of the barbarian, as founding kingdoms and federal systems, as the instructor of all mankind in art and science, and the spreader of civil and civilized life over the known world.

In the first period of her history Greece is forming herself, in her second she is educating the world. We will venture to borrow from the Germans a convenient expression, and call the history of independent Greece the history of Hellas, that of imperial Greece the history of Hellenism.

 

“New Chapters in Greek History:Historical Results of Recent Excavations in Greece and Asia Minor ” by Percy Gardner ,1892,pages 416-417