Were the ancient Macedonians Greeks?

Question

Are there any references from the ancient Macedonians themselves claiming that they were Greeks? I know that all the archaeological evidence is in Greece and everything that has been found is Greek.
What historians say? Some quotes please.

Answer 1

Very good question!
We do have references from the ancient historians and with a lot of quotes from the ancient authentic(Greek) Macedonians.
Herodotus gives clear descriptions for the Greek origin of the Macedonians using their own words: “... Had I not greatly at heart the common welfare of Greece I should not have come to tell you; but I am myself Greek by descent, and I would not willingly see Greece exchange freedom for slavery.... If you prosper in this war, forget not to do something for my freedom; consider the risk I have run, out of zeal for the Hellenic cause, to acquaint you with what Mardonius intends, and to save you from being surprised by the barbarians. I am Alexander of Macedon."
(Herodotus, The Histories, 9.45)
and >"Tell your king who sent you how a Greek his viceroy of Macedonia has received you hospitably... "
(Herodotus V, 20, 4)
and >"Now that the men of this family are Greeks, sprung from Perdiccas, as they themselves affirm, is a thing which I can declare on my own knowledge, and which I will hereafter make plainly evident. That they are so has been already adjudged by those who manage the Pan-Hellenic contest at Olympia"
(Herodotus, the Histories 8.43)
and > "...but the Dorians on the contrary have been constantly on the move; their home in Deucalion's reign was Phthiotis and in the reign of Dorus son of Hellen the country known as Histiaeotis in the neighbourhood of Ossa and Olympus; driven from there by the Cadmeians they settled in Pindus and were known as Macedons; thence they migrated to Dryopis, and finally to the Peloponnese, where they got their present name of Dorians."
And “Arrian, "Anabasis of Alexander"
"He sent to Athens three hundred Persian panoplies to be set up to Athena in the acropolis; he ordered this inscription to be attached: “Alexander son of Philip and the Greeks, except the Lacedaemonians, set up these spoils from the barbarians dwelling in Asia",
(Arrian I, 16, 7)
"Your ancestors invaded Macedonia and the rest of Greece and did us great harm, though we had done them no prior injury;…. I have been appointed hegemon of the Greeks... "
(Arrian, II, 14, 4)
"There are Greek troops, to be sure, in Persian service -- but how different is theirs cause from ours ! They will be fighting for pay--- and not much of it at that; we on the contrary shall fight for Greece, and our hearts will be in it. As for our foreign troops ---Thracians, Paeonians, Illyrians, Agrianes --- they are the best and stoutest soldiers of Europe, and they will find as their opponents the slackest and softest of the tribes of Asia."
(Arrian, 11.7)
"You ought to have remembered that you are not the attendant of and adviser of Cambyses or Xerxes, but of Philip's son, a man with the blood of Heracles and Aeacus in his veins, a man whose forefathers came from Argos to Macedonia, where they long ruled not by force, but by law."
(Arrian 4.11)
"But Alexander said, `If I were not Alexandros, I should be Diogenes'; that is to say: `If it were not my purpose to combine barbarian things with things Greek, to traverse and civilize every continent, to search out the uttermost parts of land and sea, to push the bounds of Macedonia to the farthest Ocean, and to spread and shower the blessings of the Greek justice and peace over every nation, I should not be content to sit quietly in the luxury of idle power, but I should emulate the frugality of Diogenes. But as things are, forgive me Diogenes, that I imitate Heracles, and emulate Pursues, and follow in the footsteps of Dionysus, the divine author and PROGENOTOR of my family, and desire that victorious GREEKS should dance again in India and revive the memory of the Bacchic revels among the savage mountain tribes beyond the Kaukasos...' "
(Plutarchos, On the Fortune of Alexander, 332 a-b)
There are of course many more quotes but not enough room!
Of course every modern historian agrees that the Ancient Macedonians were Greeks.
Nicholas Hamond from Cambridge University was mentioned before with his strong arguments about the Greek origin of Macedonians.
\And Malcolm Errington, ‘A History of Macedonia’ (University of California Press, February 1993, pg 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." And “Ancient allegations that the Macedonians were non-Greeks all had their origin in Athens at the time of the struggle with Philip II. Then as now, political struggle created the prejudice. The orator Aeschines once even found it necessary, …, to defend Philip on this issue and describe him at a meeting of the Athenian Popular Assembly as being 'Entirely Greek'. ….their fundamental Greek nationality was never doubted. " And even Eugene Borza who at first was not sure if the ancient Macedonians were pure Greeks he is know clearly convinced!!!!!! “ Eugene N. Borza, ‘Makedonika’ Regina Books, Claremont CA "Our understanding of the Macedonians' emergence into history is confounded by two events: the establishment of the Macedonians as an identifiable ethnic group, and the foundation of their ruling house. The "HIGHLANDERS" or "MAKEDONES" of the mountainous regions of western Macedonia ARE DERIVED FROM NORTHWEST GREEK STOCK; THEY WERE AKIN BOTH TO THOSE WHO AT AN EARLIER TIME MAY HAVE MIGRATED SOUTH TO BECOME THE HISTORICAL "DORIANS", and to other Pindus tribes who were the ancestors of the Epirotes or Molossians. That is, we may suggest that NORTHWEST GREECE PROVIDED A POOL OF INDO-EUROPEAN SPEAKERS OF PROTO-GREEK from which were drawn the tribes who later were known by different names as they established their regional identities in separate parts of the country." And "First, the matter of the Greek origins of the Macedonians: Nicholas Hammond's general conclusion (though not the details of his arguments)that the origin of the Macedonians lies in the pool of proto-Greek speakers who migrated out of the Pindus mountains during the Iron Age, is acceptable."
And these Robin Lane Fox, Richard Stoneman, Ulrich Wilcken ,John V.A. Fine ,A. B. Bossworth ,Ernst Badian ,Charles Edson, Thomas Martin, Hermann Bengtson , Paul Cartledge , A.R. Burn ,Peter Green ,Mary Renault ,J.M. Roberts,R. M. Cook,Francois Chamoux ,Bevan ,Peter Tsouras ,Lewis Vance Cummings ,D.G Hogarth ,L.S. Stavrianos
Martin Sicker ,Graham Shipley ,Richard Gabriel, Michael Cage, Samuel Eddy ,René Grousset ,Anthony E. David ,Donald R. Dudley THEY ALL AGREE THAT ANCIENT MACEDONIANS WERE GREEKS.

Answer 2

Well, finally someone who speaks out of his curious mind and not out of his hatred or jealousy for Greeks... I think. I cannot commend for the entire nation but in my case,the fact that I may not be original Greek always made me think. So what I did next, I took the test! Yes, yes the DNA test, the one that "islander" has a link to. After a quick cheek swab, a couple of hundred dollars and a few waiting weeks ...voila! The results were definitive and proved my country of origin,in the Aegean sea. I strongly recommend it to you too, it will clear any thoughts and hopes that you may have any genetic links to us. As for the one with the Slavic nickname above, I suggest she stops counting points of Greek YA users or else she'll go nuts (if she didn't already).Now, seriously, who spends a little too much time in here? And she should save the private lessons for herself... to learn English writing :) Another final thought: The country of origin is generally the place you were born and raised in. But your country is also the place where your heart is, no matter where your ancestors came from. That's why we Greeks and our kids and our kids kids,kids,kids will always be and (most importantly) feel Greek!

Answer 3

They werent greeks greeks in that time were called hellens and macedonians-macedonians they had diffirent language then the greeks and the most famous writers in that time from greece said that macedonians were barbarians-(those who arent hellens)

Answer 4

They were Greek Macedonians. The old kingdom was in northern Greece.
Macedon or Macedonia (from Greek “Μακεδονία”; see also List of traditional Greek place names) was the name of an ancient kingdom in the northern-most part of ancient Greece, bordering the kingdom of Epirus on the west and the region of Thrace to the east

Answer 5

Hello. As far as I know the ancient Macedonians were considered Greeks.
The royal family (the Argead dynasty) ware from the city of Argos.
It is well documented in Herodotus texts.
“When 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. Having stayed behind in the extreme north, they were unable to participate in the progressive civilization of the tribes which went further south...”
(Wilcken, Alexander the Great, p 22).
I’ve also read in the library Peter Green and Robin lane Fox and they say the same.
(Robin Lane Fox was the adviser of Oliver Stone for the film “Alexander”. He also played as one of the companion cavalry.)
Ancient Macedonians are considered more or less Greek.

Answer 6

A Geographical and Historical Description of Ancient Greece: With a Map, and a Plan of Athens" By John Anthony Crame, Page 165

"Judging from their historical nomenclature, and the few words that have been preserved to us, we may evidently trace a Greek foundation in their language, whatever idiomatic differences might exist between it and the more cultivated dialects of southern Greece."
"The origin of the Macedonian dynasty is a subject of some intricacy and dispute. There is one point however, on which ALL the ancient authorities agree; Namely, that the royal family of that country was of the race of the Temenidae of Argos, and descended from Hercules.The difference of opinion principally regards the individual of that family to whome the honour of founding this illustrious monarchy is to be ascribed. "
"A Geographical and Historical Description of Ancient Greece: With a Map, and a Plan of Athens" By John Anthony Crame, Page 166

Answer 7

This is what I’ve found:
“Herodotus provides the chief traditions on the origins of the Macedonians: He writes in his first book that the Macedonians were a Greek tribe left behind during the great Dorian invasion:

…for during the reign of Deucalion, Phthiotis was the country in which the Hellenes dwelt, but under Dorus, the son of Hellen, they moved to the tract at the base of Ossa and Olympus, which is called Histiaeotis; forced to retire from that region by the Cadmeians, they settled, under the name of Macedonians, in the chain of Pindus. Hence they once more removed and came to Dryopis; and from Dryopia having entered the Peloponnese in this way, they became known as Dorians.
—(Histories, 1.53.1)

Answer 8

I agree with all above except Solun( I am sure that the next thing I will hear from you ,Solun, is that you have found the tomb of Alexander,I am totally sure that you will say that).
Macedonians were and are Greek.They were coming from Argos which is in Pelopponese and they were related with Spartans.
Someone above wrote that they were not saying the phrase "I am Greek".This is not coreect, they all knew their common ethnicity,they had the same language,the same religion etc.The only thing that seperates them is that every city had different king,different laws,different army etc.

Answer 9

Macedonians were Greek. " the Macedonian people and their kings were of Greek stock, as their traditions and the scanty remains of their language combine to testify..."
J.B Bury (Univ of Cambridge), Russel Meiggs (Oxford) A History of Greece.
The new Macedonia we see on the map are occupied by people of various races- Greek,Bulgarian,Albanian and Vlach. They speak a Slavic language and managed to find a state to live in after the Balkan wars which infused many people of different races together.

Peace,

Answer 10

The Ancient Macedonians were the inhabitants of Macedon in ancient times. Historians generally agree that the ancient Macedonians—whether they originally spoke a Greek dialect or a distinct language—were absorbed into the Koine Greek-speaking population in Hellenistic times. Whether the ancient Macedonians were an ethnically Greek people themselves continues to be debated by historians, linguists, and lay people. However, the Macedonian Royal family known as the Argead dynasty claimed Greek descent. After the 4th Century BCE, the ancient Macedonians were universally considered to be Greek by their contemporaries.
On the origins of the Macedonian Royalty, Herodotus holds a record (8.137) about the youngest of three brothers from Argos, and how he, through his skill in accepting omens, tricked an oppressive monarch out of his kingdom. The story apparently describes the genealogical connexion between the Macedonian royal house (or Macedonians in general) and legendary Greek heroes. This theory was widely accepted among the scholars of antiquity.
It is widely suggested today that Macedonians were originally a Greek tribe that was until the 5th century BC relatively isolated from the bulk of Greek civilization. This is derived from studies on early Macedonian religious, political and cultural traditions which could be safely recognisable as Greek and traced back to Homeric times. During their isolation Macedonians inevitably received Thraco-Illyrian influences and, as in the case of the Aetolians, they were regarded by many Greeks as "foreigners" or even "barbarians". (Britannica, Wilcken, Friedell, Abel, Hammond). That assumption seems to be in agreement with Herodotus' theories regarding the Doric origin of Macednoi, as well as the 5th century Persian characterisation "Yauna Takabara" (Greeks wearing hats).
The late Nicholas G. L. Hammond, a historian, also supports that Macedonian was a Greek dialect:
“What language did these `Macedones' speak? The name itself is Greek in root and in ethnic termination. It probably means `highlanders', and it is comparable to Greek tribal names such as `Orestai' and `Oreitai', mean­ing 'mountain-men'. A reputedly earlier variant, `Maketai', has the same root, which means `high', as in the Greek adjective makednos or the noun mekos... At the turn of the sixth century the Persians described the tribute-paying peoples of their province in Europe, and one of them was the `yauna takabara', which meant `Greeks wearing the hat'. There were Greeks in Greek city-states here and there in the province, but they were of various origins and not distinguished by a common hat. However, the Macedonians wore a dis­tinctive hat, the kausia. We conclude that the Persians believed the Macedonians to be speakers of Greek. Finally, in the latter part of the fifth century a Greek historian, Hellanicus, visited Macedonia and modi­fied Hesiod's genealogy by making Macedon not a cousin, but a son of Aeolus, thus bringing Macedon and his descendants firmly into the Aeolic branch of the Greek-speaking family. Hesiod, Persia, and Hellanicus had no motive for making a false statement about the language of the Macedonians, who were then an obscure and not a powerful people. Their independent testimonies should be accepted as conclusive.”
Over 6000 inscriptions have been found in Macedonia until now. All of them are in Greek.

Answer 11

I’ve visited the royal tombs in Macedonia of Greece and they are very beautiful.
From my experience I can say that they are totally Greek.
A very beautiful archaeological site.