3) GREEK CLAIM: FROM "A HISTORY OF MACEDONIA" BY MALCOM ERRINGTON (Philipps-Universitat in Marburg, Germany) Page 3

3) GREEK CLAIM: FROM "A HISTORY OF MACEDONIA" BY MALCOM ERRINGTON (Philipps-Universitat in Marburg, Germany) Page 3
"That the Macedonians and their kings did in fact speak a dialect of Greek and bore Greek names may be regarded nowadays as certain." (Malcom Errington "A History of Macedonia", University of California Press, 1993)

REPLY:

Malcolm Errington is a typical western writer which concludes that the "Macedonians are Greek", despite the overwhelming ancient evidence that clearly shows the opposite. His conclusion however, is extremely unconvincing. We have already explained above that it is incorrect to claim that the "Macedonians spoke a dialect of Greek" and "had Greek names". Alexander himself called the Macedonian language "our native language", as opposes to the Greek language, not a dialect of Greek! (the trial of Philotas - Curtius Rufus). Errington uses the following words on page 4 to back up his claim that "the Macedonians were Greek":

"Ancient allegations that the Macedonians were non-Greek all had their origin in Athens at the time of the struggle with Philip II."

Simply put - this is wrong. First of all, the supposed "ancient allegations that the Macedonians were non-Greek" do not have "their origin in Athens" in the time of Philip II. Errington avoids mentioning here that the Macedonians were called non-Greeks (barbarians) since the reigns of the Macedonian kings Alexander I and Archelaus - full 100 years before Philip II conquered the Greeks. Please visit Thrasymachus and Herodotus on the matter. Furthermore, we explained above with facts that Alexander I did not participate in the Olympic Games (his name is not on the list of the victors among the other things), and his Greek claim was only an invention, a propaganda, directed towards the Greeks with a clear political goal (Borza, Badian, Green). Errington fails to notify the reader of that fact, and he is furthermore ignorant on the facts that all ancient Greek writers, historians, and scholars (Herodotus, Thrasymachus, Thucydides, Isocrates, Demosthenes, to name a few) did not consider the Macedonians to be Greek. Yet, he "concludes" based on not a single credible evidences whatsoever that the "Macedonians were Greek". Let us further examine his conclusion. We will bring the words of Demosthenes for that purpose:

"... not only no Greek, nor related to the Greeks, but not even a barbarian from any place that can be named with honors, but a pestilent knave from Macedonia, whence it was never yet possible to buy a decent slave" - Demosthenes, Third Philippic, 31. These are the famous words that this Greek orator from Athens, used to describe the Macedonian king Philip II, the father of Alexander the Great, prior to Philip’s conquest of Greece.

We know for a fact that the ancient Greeks stereotyped and called all non-Greeks barbarians. These included the Persians, the Thracians, Illyrians, Macedonians, etc. Errington on page 4 suggests that Demosthenes called Philip "not only no Greek, nor related to the Greeks" and "barbarian", only because of "a political struggle" which "created the prejudice". This is completely unconvincing since it is very clear from Demosthenes’s words that he regards the Macedonians and their king Philip II as non-Greeks. Errington's position is easily debunked, however, when we consider the following two points:

If the Macedonians were Greeks but nevertheless called barbarians and nor related to the Greeks, why is then no other Greek tribe called barbarians and nor related to the Greeks because of "a political struggle" which "created the prejudice"? There were many examples when that could have happened, it’s enough to point to the long Peloponesian War, or any of the many constant wars between the Greek states, not involving Macedonia. Yet, no Spartan, Athenian, Theban, Epirote, was ever called non-Greek or barbarian during any of these "political struggles" which "created the prejudice"! Not even ONCE!

We know for a fact that the ancient Greeks also called the Persians barbarians. Are we suppose to say now, based on Errington's "logic", that the Persians were also a Greek tribe, but they were called non-Greeks only in "a political struggle" which "created the prejudice"?

The lesson is clear. The ancient Greeks called all non-Greeks barbarians, and Errington's argument simply does not make any sense. The Third Philippic is entirely dedicated to the danger that threatens all of Greece. Similarly, when the past and future are compared, it is the whole of Hellas that is considered, not Athens alone. It is indeed unfortunate to see people such as Michael Errington, write books about the history of Macedonia, based on false assumptions and incomplete (or biased) research, and still call themselves "historians." To see the complete evidence on the ethnicity of the ancient Macedonians please click here.