Macedonia found on the Colosseum in Rome!

[Spartan]

^^
Thats just how I see things my friend
Perhaps Im totally wrong
So far, I believe Im correct on this though, as SoM hasnt disagreed yet lol

[Soldier of Macedon]

Achaia is the Roman name for Greece, as it is in the bible mostly. I think the significance of the Roman maps is in the fact that Macedonia exists as an entity by her name while an entity named Greece or Hellas does not at all. If Achaia is to be considered representative of ‘the’ Greece or Hellas, then it limits the Roman perception of the Greek homeland to be the Peloponnesus and some surrounding regions. The Macedonian state (and name), even after defeat, was still respected by the Romans due to its glorious past.

Despite the multitude of Philhellenic Romans, no state or province called Hellas was on their minds, which indicates a lack of necessity to accomodate a 'Hellenic' people even after the Romans saved them from the defeated Macedonians (Plutarch, Pasuanias).

[Spartan]

SoM
I agree with all you say above, except when you say "Achaea is the Roman name for Greece". It is actually one of the homeric names for the southern Greeks/Greece from what I understand.....

[Soldier of Macedon]

It may have been so in the past Spartan, but it was also the official name of a Roman province that roughly corresponds to where the 'real' ancient Greeks once lived. Homer refers to the general collective from 'Greece' as Achaians, Argives or Danaans, from the southern tip all the way up to the northern limits, in the vicinity of the river Peneus.

The names of Greece and Hellas, at least where it concerns the important map above, do not exist in an official capacity within the Roman Empire. Macedonia does. I think in the end those factors will tower above the rest in this respect.

[Spartan]

Did you notice how far the Roman Macedonia reached to the south on those maps?
I found it quite interesting.
Btw, how far north is this river Peneus?
I always thought 'Achaean' was used by Homer to describe the Greeks of the south.

I dont have time to dig too deep right now, but heres aquick Wiki reference.
Make of it what you will.
When I have more time Ill try to find something more reliable...

The Achaeans (Greek: Ἀχαιοί, Akhaioí) is one of the collective names used for the Greeks in Homer's Iliad (used 598 times) and Odyssey. The other names are the Danaans (Δαναοί, used 138 times in the Iliad) and Argives (Ἀργεῖοι, used 29 times in the Iliad). In the historical period, the Achaeans were the inhabitants of the region of Achaea, a region in the north central part of the Peloponnese. The city states of this region formed a confederation known as the Achaean League which was influential during the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC.

Description
The Achaeans are one of the four main tribes occupying the ancient Greek mainland (Achaeans, Aeolians, Ionians, Dorians). The name Achaeans came to mean all the Greeks in the oral tradition that was crystallized by Homer; earlier usage is unattested.

The Homeric "long-haired Achaeans" would have been a part of the Mycenaean civilization that dominated Greece from ca. 1600 BC, with a history as a tribe that may have gone back to the prehistoric Hellenic immigration in the late 3rd millennium BC. It has been suggested that the Achaeans had not settled in the Greek mainland until the Dorian invasions of the 12th century BC. It is possible that Homer's Achaean leaders held power in the Mycenean world but were replaced by the Dorians. Herodotus identified the Achaeans of the northern Peloponnese as descendants of these earlier Achaeans.
A scholarly consensus has not yet been reached on the origin of the historic Achaeans, and is still hotly debated.

So what this tells me is that Homer used the word to describe all the Greeks, but it is actually the name of a Greek tribe that settled in the Pelloponnesse.

[Venom]

Going by those maps, it would seem greece has territorial ambitions on Macedonia.

And it is the greeks who very much love to yap about Ancient History.

[Philosopher]

Achaia--land of Achaicus.

It is the classic name of that part of Greece which lies along the S coast of the Gulf of Corinth. This name is sometimes used for the whole of Greece, and Corinith was its capital.

As the wiki article states, it is found throughout the New Testament.
Greece is mentioned only once in the NT--Acts 20.

By this definition, Achaia fits the map.

[Spartan]

Heres some more info on the origins of Achaea and the achaeans-

Achaeans
Encyclopedia Article

Achaeans, people of an ancient region in the northern Pelopónnisos (Peloponnesus), Greece. The term was broadly used by Homer to designate all the inhabitants of ancient Greece. According to Greek mythology, the Achaeans were descendants of Achaeus, grandson of Hellen, the legendary ancestor of the Hellenes, or Greeks. The region where they lived was known as Achaea.

References to the western kingdom of Ahhiawa in Hittite documents of the 13th and 14th centuries bc have been thought by some scholars to refer to the ancient city of Mycenae under Achaean domination. These documents characterize the Achaeans as a maritime people inhabiting western Asia Minor and the island of Lésvos in the Aegean Sea. In the Homeric period (circa 7th century bc) the Achaeans controlled southern Thessaly (Thessalia) and most of the Pelopónnisos, but from the 6th to the 2nd century bc they were restricted to a narrow strip on the north coast of the Pelopónnisos. In the 4th century bc they formed a confederation of states known as the Achaean League.

http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761551499/achaeans.html

[osiris]

spartan dont walk on egg shells anymore, history forums should be open to as many ideas as possible, as you must know by now, all we macedonians have ever demanded is the same rights as anyone else, and respect, and you have given that unequivocally. i dont think we need to agree on everything about history to remain friends.

[Sirma vojvoda]

I saw this maps when I went to Rome, I was very nicely suprised to see Macedonia on them. It's great

[Spartan]

spartan dont walk on egg shells anymore, history forums should be open to as many ideas as possible, as you must know by now, all we macedonians have ever demanded is the same rights as anyone else, and respect, and you have given that unequivocally. i dont think we need to agree on everything about history to remain friends.

Thanks Osiris, you are correct.
Its just that most of the guys on this site I consider good people, and even 'friends' (on an internet level anyways,lol). I dont want to offend anyone , thats all.
What do you think of my view on this 'Achaean' matter?
Is it acceptable and feasable in your opinion?

[osiris]

i know and appreciate your sentiments about us spartan, but lets try to put all historical perspectives on the table without rancour. i think what you say about the acheans is plausible, but i am no authority on ancient history, and to be honest i dont think a definitive non biased study has been done on the hellenes, i am wondering if in fact a european can ever do it, too much emotional baggage.