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Putting aside all other parameters to the Macedonia=Greece equation, one of the most obvious features that jumps out immediately from the ancient sources is the labelling of the Macedonians and Greeks as two separate groups. The ancient authors seem to have made a point of distinguishing between Macedonians and Greeks. It is very clear that when they are talking about Macedonians and Greeks, they are talking about two separate and distinct ethnic groups. The Macedonians, on the one hand, and all the various groups and communities that together constituted Greeks, on the other.
They never use these terms interchangeably, unlike some modern authors seem to make a habit of doing. When the ancient authors are talking of “Greeks” they are using a loose term that is all encompassing. It included all the various Greek city-state communities and Greek colonies spread across the Mediterranean, collectively. They are talking about people who shared all the unique and specific traits that set them apart from the rest of the ancient peoples. The collective term they used to describe them was of course, Hellenes, the modern equivalent being Greeks. A shared language, culture, religion and blood are what made these, often antagonistic communities, a common Greek people. Judging from their writings, as far as the ancient authors were concerned, Macedonians did not share these attributes and could not be included in the family of Greek communities and colonies that stretched from the southern coasts of modern France and Spain all the way to Asia Minor and the Black Sea coast. Put simply, Macedonians did not qualify as Greeks.
This is surely the best answer to all those who dispense with the nonsensical argument that the pride that Macedonians had and displayed as Macedonians was the same as the pride that other proud Greek communities had as Spartans, Athenians, Thebans, etc. but were all Greeks nonetheless. There is a clear and unmistakeable difference. The Macedonians did not belong to this collective Greek world. And, by the same token, the Greeks did not belong to the Macedonian Empire. They were attached to it superficially but were never a part of it. The ancient authors knew this and made a point of it in the most basic of ways, by differentiating between the two groups.
This is not Skopjan propagandists at work. These are the works of ancient Greeks and Romans alike, when they passed down to us all that we know about Alexander and his Macedonians. Is it possible they knew what they were talking about? Did they know something back then that modern Greeks and their Philhellene supporters steadfastly refuse to accept today?
The ancient authors have given us many marvellous insights into Greek/Macedonian relations, many of which are enacted within Alexander’s own camp. They are often mentioned in passing and in a matter-of-fact fashion but they speak volumes of just how opposed and hostile the two groups were towards each other. And these were the supposed allies that made up part of Alexander’s army, which numbered approximately 7,000 Greeks. Never mind over 50,000 Greek mercenaries in the service of the Persian King that fought against the Macedonians. If there ever was a Greek crusade at the time of Alexander, it was by these 50,000 Greeks who came from all over the Greek world to join in the fight alongside their old enemies, the Persians, against their supposed avengers.
To understand what Alexander really thought about the Greeks, the incident with the famous Athenian boxer, Dioxippus, is telling, to say the least. It happened at one of Alexander’s famous banquets where the greatest actors, musicians and athletes of the time were assembled to entertain the troops. Also present among the entertainers, on this particular occasion, was the well-known boxer from Athens. Overjoyed and in awe of their Greek hero before their eyes, the Greeks were revelling at the sight of Dioxippus as he oiled his naked body up in full view of everyone around him. The Macedonians, we are told, unimpressed by this Greek poser, who had never seen real combat in his entire life, could stand no more. Stepping forward, the Macedonian veteran Corrhagus, challenged Dioxippus to single combat. Dioxippus was armed with just a club while Corrhagus was dressed in full armour. A sense of the electric atmosphere that was created is captured as we see the camp now divided along ethnic lines. The Greeks huddled together on one side, cheering their great Greek hope on, and the Macedonians on the other, confident in their own invincibility.
In an instant Dioxippus had become more than just a famous Athenian boxer. For a short moment in time, he became the embodiment of all Greek hopes to get one over the Macedonians, their enslavers. We are told that Alexander, upon hearing all the commotion, took his seat amongst the Macedonians to witness the event. The fight apparently ended very quickly with Dioxippus emerging the winner, to the rapturous applause and delight of the assembled Greeks. A timely intervention by Alexander prevented Dioxippus from delivering the fatal blow to Corrhagus.
Alexander, who had backed Corrhagus, was so furious that he left the feast. This had been a matter of national prestige. The obvious disappointment of Alexander shows us clearly that he cared very little for the Greeks and carried a very proud Macedonian spirit throughout his short life.
They never use these terms interchangeably, unlike some modern authors seem to make a habit of doing. When the ancient authors are talking of “Greeks” they are using a loose term that is all encompassing. It included all the various Greek city-state communities and Greek colonies spread across the Mediterranean, collectively. They are talking about people who shared all the unique and specific traits that set them apart from the rest of the ancient peoples. The collective term they used to describe them was of course, Hellenes, the modern equivalent being Greeks. A shared language, culture, religion and blood are what made these, often antagonistic communities, a common Greek people. Judging from their writings, as far as the ancient authors were concerned, Macedonians did not share these attributes and could not be included in the family of Greek communities and colonies that stretched from the southern coasts of modern France and Spain all the way to Asia Minor and the Black Sea coast. Put simply, Macedonians did not qualify as Greeks.
This is surely the best answer to all those who dispense with the nonsensical argument that the pride that Macedonians had and displayed as Macedonians was the same as the pride that other proud Greek communities had as Spartans, Athenians, Thebans, etc. but were all Greeks nonetheless. There is a clear and unmistakeable difference. The Macedonians did not belong to this collective Greek world. And, by the same token, the Greeks did not belong to the Macedonian Empire. They were attached to it superficially but were never a part of it. The ancient authors knew this and made a point of it in the most basic of ways, by differentiating between the two groups.
This is not Skopjan propagandists at work. These are the works of ancient Greeks and Romans alike, when they passed down to us all that we know about Alexander and his Macedonians. Is it possible they knew what they were talking about? Did they know something back then that modern Greeks and their Philhellene supporters steadfastly refuse to accept today?
The ancient authors have given us many marvellous insights into Greek/Macedonian relations, many of which are enacted within Alexander’s own camp. They are often mentioned in passing and in a matter-of-fact fashion but they speak volumes of just how opposed and hostile the two groups were towards each other. And these were the supposed allies that made up part of Alexander’s army, which numbered approximately 7,000 Greeks. Never mind over 50,000 Greek mercenaries in the service of the Persian King that fought against the Macedonians. If there ever was a Greek crusade at the time of Alexander, it was by these 50,000 Greeks who came from all over the Greek world to join in the fight alongside their old enemies, the Persians, against their supposed avengers.
To understand what Alexander really thought about the Greeks, the incident with the famous Athenian boxer, Dioxippus, is telling, to say the least. It happened at one of Alexander’s famous banquets where the greatest actors, musicians and athletes of the time were assembled to entertain the troops. Also present among the entertainers, on this particular occasion, was the well-known boxer from Athens. Overjoyed and in awe of their Greek hero before their eyes, the Greeks were revelling at the sight of Dioxippus as he oiled his naked body up in full view of everyone around him. The Macedonians, we are told, unimpressed by this Greek poser, who had never seen real combat in his entire life, could stand no more. Stepping forward, the Macedonian veteran Corrhagus, challenged Dioxippus to single combat. Dioxippus was armed with just a club while Corrhagus was dressed in full armour. A sense of the electric atmosphere that was created is captured as we see the camp now divided along ethnic lines. The Greeks huddled together on one side, cheering their great Greek hope on, and the Macedonians on the other, confident in their own invincibility.
In an instant Dioxippus had become more than just a famous Athenian boxer. For a short moment in time, he became the embodiment of all Greek hopes to get one over the Macedonians, their enslavers. We are told that Alexander, upon hearing all the commotion, took his seat amongst the Macedonians to witness the event. The fight apparently ended very quickly with Dioxippus emerging the winner, to the rapturous applause and delight of the assembled Greeks. A timely intervention by Alexander prevented Dioxippus from delivering the fatal blow to Corrhagus.
Alexander, who had backed Corrhagus, was so furious that he left the feast. This had been a matter of national prestige. The obvious disappointment of Alexander shows us clearly that he cared very little for the Greeks and carried a very proud Macedonian spirit throughout his short life.