Macedonia History
The Evolution of Macedonia
Ancient Macedonia was the home of King Phillip and Alexander. The land extended on the north side along the lines between Ohrid and Prilep (Pelagonia), it followed the Crna Reka flow to Demir Kapija across Mt. Orvylos (Macedonian Paeonia), and continued to Mt. Rhodopi. The land follows River Nestos flow to the Aegean Sea. The Macedonian Greeks who came to this area about 2000 BC are the genuine Macedonians. Their origin could be traced back to Heracleides, thus making them part of the last and larger Greeks group that reached as far as Orestis (present-day Kastoria) along with the Acarnanians, Aetolians, and Dorians. Herodotus described the 800 years wandering of this group which later broke into three small groups little time after the Trojan War. It was around this the first group led by Dorus settled in Peloponnesus. In contrast, the second group, which was the Aetolians and Acarnanians headed south. This left only the third group marching toward the east. By being able to push out the Phrygians, they established the Macedonia kingdom right on the loop of River Aliakmon. Karanos was the first Macedonia king, and he reigned from 813 to 786 BC.
Aegis was chosen to be the first capital but King Archelaus who ruled between (413-399 BC changed it to Pella, a city that had access to the sea through River Lydias. It was during the reign of King Phillip II, 359-336 BC that Macedonia attained the status of European power. The King was able to unite the Greek states to form a Pan-Hellenic Union that is essentially the Greek nation we know today. Alexander the Great was the son of King Phillip, and in the Council of Corinth, both were made the Commanding Generals of all Greeks except the Spartans. As the Commander General of all Greeks, Alexander III conquered a large percentage of the known world then and in the process, spread the Greek culture, tradition, and language across several lands.
This Greek Macedonia Empire will continue to thrive until 168 BC when Romans became the dominant power and conquered these territories. But the Greek culture and language preserved long after that and remained a dominant influence.
The Roman Conquest continued long into the Byzantine Era which is a period spanning around one thousand years, and during this period, Constantinople was the capital of Roman territory while the empire’s cultural and commercial centre was Thessaloniki, and both places remained fully Greek. When Justinian became the emperor, the Greek language was adopted as the official and formal language of the Byzantine State.
Macedonia has always been a part of Greece and preserved that culture throughout, even when occupied by the Turks. It was in 1912-13 during the Balkan wars that Greece finally freed Macedonia and other Greek regions from the ottoman occupants.