Macedonia

by

Miltiades B. Hatzopoulos, Dimitra Andrianou

• LAST REVIEWED: 11 October 2019
• LAST MODIFIED: 25 May 2011
• DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780195389661-0140

Introduction

Macedonia is understood as the country that existed as an independent kingdom between c. 700 BCE and 168 BCE; as a formally independent confederation, but practically subject to Rome, between 167 BCE and 148 BCE; and as a portion of the Roman province of that name until the second half of the 3rd century CE.

General Overviews

General overviews include Sakellariou 1983, a general work on Macedonia from antiquity to the present day, and Vokotopoulou 1994, a catalogue of exhibitions lavishly illustrating the material culture of Macedonia. Ginouvès and Hatzopoulos 1993 is an edited volume offering a multidisciplinary approach to Macedonia’s history and culture at its peak, while Hatzopoulos 2006 highlights forefront research on major topics of Macedonian geography, history, and culture. The Hammond 1993–1997 four-volume collection of articles contains three decades of contributions to Macedonian studies by one of the most prominent scholars in the field. Finally, Hoffmann 1974, Kalléris 1954–1976, Badian 1982, and Hatzopoulos 2007 investigate the thorny question of the identity of ancient Macedonians and its perception by the Greeks south of Olympus.

• Badian, Ernst. 1982. Greeks and Macedonians. Paper presented at a symposium at the National Gallery of Art, 14–15 November 1980. In Macedonia and Greece in late classical and early Hellenistic times. Edited by Beryl Barr-Sharrar and Eugene N. Borza, 33–51. Studies in the History of Art 10. Washington, DC: National Gallery of Art.

  A very skillful presentation of evidence and argumentation aimed at contrasting the ancient Macedonians to the Greeks south of Olympus.

• Ginouvès, René, and Miltiades B. Hatzopoulos, eds. 1993. Macedonia: From Philip II to the Roman conquest. Translated by David Hardy. Athens, Greece: Ekdotike Athenon.

  A volume aimed to “please lovers of fine books and fine pictures, be of use to teachers and students, offer an accessible synthesis to curious readers and make available to researchers as much factual and bibliographical information as possible, particularly with regard to recent discoveries” (preface, p. 9). An excellent introductory volume for Macedonian researchers.

• Hammond, Nicholas G. L. 1993–1997. Collected studies. 4 vols. Amsterdam: Hakkert.

  The latter part of Hammond’s prodigiously productive life was devoted to Macedonia. This collection contains his shorter studies, almost half of which, to be found mainly in Volumes 3 and 4, were devoted to Macedonia.

• Hatzopoulos, Miltiades B. 2006. La Macédoine: Géographie historique, Langue, cultes et croyances, institutions. Travaux de la Maison René-Ginouvès 2. Paris: De Boccard.

  A synthesis of recent discoveries that have modified our knowledge in the fields of historical geography, linguistics, religion, and political institutions of Macedonia, based on a series of lectures by the author to the Collège de France in 2005.

• Hatzopoulos, Miltiades. 2007. Perception of the self and the other: The case of Macedonia. In Ancient Macedonia, Seventh International Symposium, 14–18 October 2002. Edited by Danae Kaplanidou and Eirene Chiote, 51–66. Thessaloniki, Greece: Institute for Balkan Studies.

  A discussion of recent theories about ancient identities and particularly about that of the ancient Macedonians in light of the epigraphic evidence and with the help of modern parallels. To be read in tandem with Badian 1982.

• Hoffmann, Otto. 1974. Die Makedonen, ihre Sprache und ihr Volkstum. Hildesheim, Germany, and New York: Olms.

  A pioneer work; the soundness of some intuitions therein has been vindicated by recent discoveries. Originally published in 1906 (Göttingen, Germany: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht).

• Kalléris, Jean N. 1954–1976. Les anciens Macédoniens: Étude linguistique et historique. 2 vols. Collection de l’Institut Français d’Athènes 81. Athens, Greece: Collection de l’Institut français d’Athènes.

  An ambitious endeavor planned to comprise an introduction and four chapters covering the language, the religion, and the ways and customs of the ancient Macedonians, and the ancient testimonia on them. Only the first two chapters and a part of the third were published before the author’s death. An impressive collection of literary and epigraphic evidence.

• Sakellariou, Michael B., ed. 1983. Macedonia: 4000 years of Greek history and civilization. Athens, Greece: Ekdotike Athenon.

  Unique for following the fate of Macedonia from prehistory and classical antiquity through the medieval and modern periods down to the eve of the new situation created by the dissolution of Yugoslavia. Especially rich in the history of culture.

• Vokotopoulou, Julia, ed. 1994. Macedonians: The northern Greeks and the era of Alexander the Great: National Museum, Copenhagen, 15 September 1994–8 January 1995. Athens: Greek Ministry of Culture/ICOM National Hellenic Committee.

  Superbly illustrated catalogue of a traveling exhibition. The catalogue itself is preceded by short, systematic chapters devoted to the history of archaeological research; historical geography; the contribution of Macedonia to Greek and world culture; Alexander the Great; urban centers in Macedonia; and to the sites of Aiane, Aigeai, Dion, Pella, Thessalonica, Beroia, modern Petres, Olynthos, Akanthos, Amphipolis, Thasos, and Philippi.