Originally posted by Kassander
"And yet if we take into account the political conditions, religion and morals of the Macedonians, our conviction is strengthened that they were a Greek race and akin to the Dorians."
Yet Mr. Wilchen contradicts this statement here: "Even in Philip's day the Greeks saw in the Macedonians a non-Greek foreign people, and we must remember this if we are to understand the history of Philip and Alexander, and especially the resistance and obstacles which met them from the Greeks. The point is much more important than our modern conviction that Greeks and Macedonians were brethren, this was equally unknown to both, and therefore could have no political effect." p. 22-23
& again here: "Philip was the Hegemon, the federal general, selected for life by the congress. His kingdom of Macedon naturally did not belong to the Hellenic League..." p.44
& again here: "The Greeks regarded the hegemony of Philip as, after all, a foreign domination; they did not look upon the Macedonians as Greeks." p. 45
& again here: "His Kingdom of Macedonia naturally did not belong to the Hellenic League." p.44
& finally: "The strong emphasis on Philip as a Heraclid and therefore a true Hellene, was to make easier for Greeks the idea of subordination to foreign leadership." p.35-6
But for the ethnicity, we can start another thread. In regards to the Dorian theory, Ak, that argument was very effectively rebutted in another forum. You know this, I will not repeat it here as the ethnicity debates tend to initiate some nastyness.
My last word on this thread on the ethnicity of Balkan peoples is the following: when pushed, I will push back, however, what we should do is concentrate on our similarities as Balkanians as opposed to our differences historically & politically. Many of us are from places that are no more than 500km from eachother...how 'different could we truly be?
Kali nychta
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