The land in question [FYROM], with its modern capital at Skopje, was called Paeonia in antiquity. Mts. Barnous and Orbelos (which form today the northern limits of Greece) provide a natural barrier that separated, and separates, Macedonia from its northern neighbor. The only real connection is along the Axios/Vardar River and even this valley does not form a line of communication because it is divided by gorges. While it is true that the Paeonians were subdued by Philip II, father of Alexander, in 358 B.C. they were not Macedonians and did not live in Macedonia. Likewise, for example, the Egyptians, who were subdued by Alexander, may have been ruled by Macedonians, including the famous Cleopatra, but they were never Macedonians themselves, and Egypt was never called Macedonia. Rather, Macedonia and Macedonian Greeks have been located for at least 2,500 years just where the modern Greek province of Macedonia is. Exactly this same relationship is true for Attica and Athenian Greeks, Argos and Argive Greeks, Corinth and Corinthian Greeks, etc. We do not understand how the modern inhabitants of ancient Paeonia [FYROMians], who speak Slavic – a language introduced into the Balkans about a millennium after the death of Alexander – can claim him as their national hero.Alexander the Great was thoroughly and indisputably Greek. (John Duffy, Professor, Department of the Classics, Harvard University USA, Antony Snodgrass, Professor Emeritus of Classical Archaeology, University of Cambridge, UK, Robin Lane Fox, University Reader in Ancient History, New College, Oxford, UK, Luigi Beschi, professore emerito di Archeologia Classica, Università di Firenze, Italy, John Dillon, Emeritus Professor of Greek, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland, R. Malcolm Errington, Professor für Alte Geschichte, Philipps-Universität, Marburg, Germany, Pontus Hellstrom, Professor of Classical archaeology and ancient history, Uppsala University, Sweden, Marion Meyer, Professor of Classical Archaeology, University of Vienna, Austria, Christina Leypold, Dr. phil., Archaeological Institute, University of Zürich, Switzerland, John Richard Melville-Jones, Winthrop Professor, Classics and Ancient History, University of Western Australia, macedonia-evidence.org)
Posted on: Fri, 23 Jan 2015 18:46:19 +0000
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