MAssive tomb north of Skopje

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  • Stevce
    Member
    • Jan 2016
    • 200

    MAssive tomb north of Skopje

    Only in Macedonia would a massive Royal tomb be discovered in 1986 and be forgotten over the years only to be rediscovered again. I wonder what else is around that site.

    Овој краток документарен филм на здружението „Археологика" е снимен за проектот прослава на меѓународниот ден на археологијата „Day of Archaeology 2014" со п...
  • Karposh
    Member
    • Aug 2015
    • 863

    #2
    Thanks Stevce, that was fascinating.

    It is extremely important for Greeks today that Ancient Macedonia i.e. the Macedonia of Phillip and Alexander, as opposed to Roman Macedonia, corresponds “roughly” to today’s northern Greece. It is important because this is one of the main arguments and narratives that the Greeks use to tell the world that the real Macedonia is within Greece today and that the Skopjans only have a tiny portion of Alexander’s Macedonia which is not a strong enough argument to usurp the ancient name of Macedonia for themselves.

    What is meant by “roughly” corresponding to today’s northern Greece anyway? And who decided that this was “roughly” the limits of Ancient Macedonia? Naturally, it would serve the purpose of today’s Greeks if Ancient Macedonia corresponded “roughly” to today’s Greek Macedonia.

    However, if any group of ancient peoples knew who the Macedonians were and where the limits to their nation lay it was surely the Romans, who fought four wars against them and owed much of their military prowess to them as well. The divided territory of Macedonia under Roman occupation included Macedonia Prima (“roughly” today’s Greek Macedonia, with Salonica as the capital) and Macedonia Secunda (most of the Republic of Macedonia and Pirin Macedonia, with Stobi as the capital).



    It is interesting to note that within the boundaries of Macedonia Secunda, besides the Paeonians, are the famous Agrianians, whom Alexander relied on heavily during his campaigns, as well as the Maedi, which are often considered a Thracian tribe and is the tribe from which Spartacus is said to have originated from.

    The Agrianians, of course, were the elite commandos of Alexander’s army. From Wikipedia:

    “They [Agrianians] fought light; they carried a bundle of javelins into battle and wore no armor or helmets, perhaps not even shields. Alexander made heavy use of them and every time he dispatched a flying column, the Agrianians were always included. They were expert fighters in mountainous terrain where the phalanx was impracticable and mobile enough to use when speed was essential. Being an elite unit of the light infantry, they often formed up with the hypaspists battalion and the companion cavalry on the right wing of the army.”

    Here we have yet another northern Balkan tribe whom Alexander trusted to charge into battle on his orders with unquestionable loyalty and effectiveness. The Paeonians also made notable contributions and proved themselves time and again as Mounted Scouts. This trust in the northern Balkan peoples is contrasted starkly with Alexander’s complete mistrust and suspicion towards his supposed brethren, the Greeks within his infantry. It has been well documented by the ancient authors that Alexander never completely trusted the Greeks within his army. After all, they were forced contributions as part of the league of Corinth deal after the Greek’s demise at the battle of Chaeronea but were essentially hostages for the good behaviour of their city states of origin. The best example of this is on the eve of the Macedonians’ first pitched battle against the Persians at the battle of Granicus, in today’s Turkey.

    Alexander decided it was way too risky to allow “his” Greeks to face off against the thousands of Greeks within the ranks of the Persian army. And, it was not like Alexander to make such a rooky mistake and risk “his” Greeks changing sides in the middle of the battle and joining forces with Darius’s Greeks which had a combined strength of over 50,000 men. 20,000 of them were there that day at the Granicus and, at the end of the day, the Macedonians allowed only 2,000 of them to live and work the mines of Macedonia for the rest of their sorry lives. The rest were slaughtered on the spot on Alexander’s orders. This intense hatred and suspicion of the Greeks was a common theme throughout Alexander’s campaign and the feeling was mutual. When news reached the Greeks of mainland Greece of Alexander’s death, they celebrated wildly for days on end and the Athenian orator, Demades, has even been quoted as saying “Impossible, the world will stink of his corpse”. Such was their hatred for the barbarian king of the north, Alexander.

    As far as I’m concerned the combined regions of Macedonia Prima and Macedonian Secunda represent ethnic Macedonia in the eyes of the Romans. The division was a necessity for the Romans as the memory of the Macedonian’s fighting spirit was still very fresh in their minds. Although not indicated on the map I have included, the Romans also incorporated Thessaly as part of the province of Macedonia. However, this was for administrative purposes only and did not constitute a part of ethnic Macedonia. Perhaps the loyalty of the Thessalian Cavalry during Alexander’s campaign might have something to do with this inclusion. Just a thought.

    Paeonian independence ceased to exist in 358 B.C. when Phillip II defeated the Paeonian army and Paeonia became a subject of Macedonia. Paeonia and the Paeonians effectively ceased to exist and became a part of Macedonia proper under Phillip V's rule when he incorporated Paeonia into his kingdom. There must have been something there that was quite evident and plain to see for both Phillips to be able to absorb the Paeonian people so easily into the Macedonian sphere and I think I know what it was. It was language.

    I’m still not convinced that the name of one of the Paeonian’s major cities, “Bylazora” is a mere coincidence and has nothing to do with the Slavic words Bela Zora i.e. “White Dawn”. I think the Macedonians had much in common with the northern Balkan peoples (including the Thracians) and language was one of those common traits.

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    • Stevce
      Member
      • Jan 2016
      • 200

      #3
      Excellent analysis Karposh. I agree that the Macedonians had more in common with its Northern neighbours than its Southern neighbours. From what I have read most of the kings married wives from the North. There seems to be a common language among them. I haven't read anywhere that a translator was needed for the army units. This is why I believe the Slavic language is so wide spread and Greek is not even through it was the written language for all the lands.

      This is probably why even 1000 years later the Bulgaria of today, was a Macedonia theme for a time and current Greece never was.

      As can be seen Hellenic art was sold and traded around the lands, long before Alexander and Phillip were around. I believe as the archaeology finds continue in Macedonia, the skewed current versions of most historians will slowly change towards a less unbiased version of events.

      Don't forget Greece tried to hellenize all of Macedonia including Skopje when they abolished the Arcbishop in 1767.

      I don't have a problem with Greeks until they try and tell me I can't call myself Macedonian and either say I'm a FYROM, Bulgarian or a Skop.

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