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| Alexander the Great-The Greatest Greek (Hellene) |
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| POSTED Thursday, January 01, 2004 01:55:48 AM |
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Let us hope justice will be done and truth will be told......
Alexander the Great
Similar to no Other Human Being
By
Nicholas Martis,
Former Minister of Macedonia and Thrace, President of Macedonian Hestia
April 2003
Translated by Nina Gatzoulis
Supreme Secretary of the Pan-Macedonian Association USA
"Not even to me seems possible that without divine intervention he turned out to be similar to no other human being". Arrian completes his book, "Alexander's Ascend" with the previous statement and evaluation.
Plutarch in his book "Morals about Alexander's Fate or Virtue", writes that "States which never got to know Alexander, were as though they never saw the light of the sun". At another place of the same book he says, "If one judges from what Alexander taught and did, it is verified that he was a Philosopher".
The American producers, who aspire to make a film about the life of Alexander the Great, should not ignore the two quotations of the above two well-known and respected philosophers. Hollywood, due to its influence and authority, but also, as former President Clinton wrote, due to the supremacy and muscle USA exercises on a global level, must not be lured into casual scripts and ignore Alexander's magnificence and the fact that he was born human, lived as a superhuman and died as God. Alexander's accomplishments and endeavors had a profoundly positive effect in the development of future societies.
The mighty Romans were the first people to name Alexander "Great". They deified him and not only considered him a role model, but also embraced his life, as well as the arts and sciences that he spread in the East. It was through the Romans that the Greek civilization and culture were transferred and established in the West and thus the western civilization was paved and took roots in the western world. Chateaubriand wrote, "if someone was compared to a God, that was Alexander". The preceding quotations are not casual comments.
Alexander's speech at OPIS in 324 BC, otherwise known as Alexander's Oath, given about one year before his death in the presence of 9.000 Greek and Asian Officers, has become the beacon of State Leaders and International Organizations in their route toward the third millennium. The main points made in this speech have been reported to be as follows:
Now that the wars are over, I wish you to find happiness through Peace.
May all mortals live from now on in Harmony, as one Nation, for the sake of common Prosperity.
Consider the World as your Country, with common Laws, governed by men of merit, regardless of race.
I do not distinguish people as Greeks and Barbarians, as do the narrow minded.
I am not interested where people come from or which race they were born in.
I only distinguish people according to their virtues.
To me every virtuous foreigner is Greek and each non virtuous Greek is worst than a Barbarian.
If you are ever faced with differences, do not resort to arms, but resolve them peacefully. If need be, I can act as your arbitrator.
God should not be viewed as an authoritarian Ruler, but as our common Father.
As for myself, I consider all, be black or white, as equals.
I wish you to be my partners and not just members of our commonwealth.
As far as I can, I shall see to it that all I have promised you comes true.
Regard this Oath, as a Symbol of Love.
The Oath at OPIS conveys a message, which originated in Macedonia and has not been emphasized enough. The message, emanating from Alexander's native land, was not to conquer nations or to acquire riches, or even to satisfy rivalry passions between nations, but to unite all people with the bonds of Peace, amalgamation and mutual communication.
Alexander's comments to Diogenes during their brief encounter in Corinth, his policy during his expedition to the East, culminating with the Oath at OPIS and the historic fact, recorded by Diodoros, that "the enemies were required by the conqueror to be happy", all attest to the fact that Alexander's ambition was to civilize and not to conquer. The young king respected the Public Treasury and he was a philanthropist. Professor Panagiotis Kanellopoulos, who has been one of the most respected, well read and broadly accepted Statesmen of Greece, wrote that Alexander severely penalized those who abused the Public Treasury or ill-treated the citizens of his Commonwealth.
As Plutarch notes, Alexander expressed the above policy, before he initiated his expedition in the East. The recorded occasion was during the time when he met the famous Greek philosopher Diogenes in Corinth. When Alexander asked Diogenes what he would like to have from the Macedonian King, the philosopher answered that the only thing he wished, was for Alexander to move, so he does not obscure the sun. Diogenes' reply did not anger Alexander and who said, "If I did not intend to merge the barbarian nations with Greece, and by going through the Continent to bring civilization to it and then come across the end of the world and ocean, in order to extend Macedonia that far and spread and convey to all nations Hellenic Justice and Peace, I wouldn't be contend doing nothing and just using the power for corporal pleasures. However, I would be envious of Diogenes' simplicity".
Indeed throughout his life Alexander never used his authority for pleasures.
When Alexander was leaving Macedonia to undertake his expedition against the Persians, he distributed his property and belongings. Alexander was asked what would he keep for himself and his answer was that he only will keep HOPE.
Jews throughout the centuries have been using the name Alexander. This has been in accordance with their High Priests decision, that "Alexander's name should remain in eternity". The decision was taken, because when he visited Jerusalem, Alexander the Great exhibited respect towards the High Priest and for the Jewish religious worship. It is said that when the Jews of Jerusalem offered Alexander gold and silver, he refused to accept them and that the Jewish High Priest told Alexander: "We serve only one God, who created Heaven and Earth and all visible and invisible things, no human being is able to explain". To this Alexander replied: "As worthy worshipers of the true God, be in Peace, for your God is my God and my Peace is your Peace. I shall not treat you any different from the other nations, since you serve the living God"
A few years ago our Ambassador to Islamabad, Pakistan's capitol, told me that even today, Pakistani school students are learning that when Alexander died, his remains were placed in a coffin with his hands outside the coffin. The crowd was taking Alexander's remains around the city shouting, "Alexander hands were clean when he was born and with clean hands he goes to the other world". Pakistanis even today regard Alexander as their national hero.
Alexander never followed Aristotle's advice that he should treat the Greeks differently than the non-Greeks. By respecting the traditions of the people he conquered, eliminating discrimination and prejudice between conquerors and conquered, Alexander the Great elevated the peoples he conquered from an economic, social and political point of view to a higher echelon. And, that is the reason why Alexander, even today, is being loved and respected by a multitude of nations in the East and West and various legends of different nationalities claim Alexander as their own. Montesquieu, the great French political philosopher, wrote, "when Alexander was gone, nations became orphans".
Voltaire, according to Pavlos Tzermias, wrote, "Alexander changed Asia's, Greece's and Egypt's nature and gave the world new direction". Alexander with his marriage to Roxane, Darius' daughter, was the first one to revoke racial discrimination. He reaffirmed his stance about inequity, by assigning individuals from within the peoples he conquered to assume responsible governing positions in his Commonwealth.
Alexander's behavior toward Persian King Darius' family, which he had captured (his mother, wife and children), was admired by all for the respect that he showed to the royal members. He did not treat his opponent's family as a conqueror and as mighty King would treat his enslaved subjects. Darius' mother came to love Alexander as her own son, because he treated her with respect and the purity of his youth became evident to her. She refused to abandon him, when there was a plot that gave her the opportunity to escape. When Alexander passed away, she went on a hunger fast for five days and as Professor Panagiotis Kanellopoulos wrote, she committed suicide.
"Darius, you have been conquered by an enemy whose character is far superior of any other humanThis enemy is virtuous and brave". These were the comforting words to Darius, offered by Stateiras' (wife of Darius) manservant, who had escaped, when he saw Darius lamenting after the news he received about his wife's death while she was giving birth to their child.
Droyzen in his book The History of Alexander the Great (of R.I.S. Apostolidis, published by Trust Bank, p.301), wrote that when Darius was informed that the Macedonian King showed every respect toward his captive family and that the dead Stateira was buried with all honors fit for a Queen, he raised his arms toward the sky saying, "If I return a conqueror I want to be able to return Alexander's kindness during my family's misfortune, and if we cease ruling may the Gods intervene so no other than Alexander should occupy the throne of Persia".
Alexander, by liberating various cities in the East, which were under bondage, abolished Oligarchy and established Democracy. He founded cities, theaters, and gymnasiums, built new roads, established common currency and promoted commerce among nations. He mitigated the Greek Civilization in the East and extremely influenced the Arab nations. As Dennis Overbye of New York Times wrote, the meeting of the two Civilizations, the Greek and Arabian, became an important historic fact. The Arabs translated the Greek literary works into Arabian, which subsequently were passed to Europe during the 12th century AD through Latin, thus establishing the basis of the European Renaissance.
Dr. Constantine Romanos, Assistant Professor of the Philosophy Department of Aegean University, in his interesting book The Hellenistic Islam, describes "the missing Hellenistic legacy of Islam, is the missing link of the History of Civilization". As Dr. Romanos mentions, no research has been done in Greece about this issue; the Former Metropolitan of Great Britain, Methodios Fougias, carried out the only serious attempt to be mentioned. Metropolitan Methodios' remarkable research, combined with the reopening of Alexandria's Library and the commenced reports of various Egyptian scientists in regards to the great benefits of the legendary Library of Alexandria, the works of hellenized Islam philosophers in the Medieval period, have gained interest on an international level.
As D. Overbye of New York Times (newspaper Kathimerini 11/4/2001) observed, the scientific work of the Arab philosophers, which was the end result of the success of Alexander the Great, was interrupted by the Crusades, the Mongols and the Ottomans. The latter imposed their presence for about five centuries and during that period there was no academic scholarship at all in the area. Overbye wrote that the Ottomans were not interested in sciences and Dr. Romanos observed that they did not identify with Islam.
It is not by chance, that Mohammed the Prophet, refers in the Koran to the Double-horned King (Alexander) as a prophet, who has the ability to punish those who wrong others and reward the individuals who carry out good deeds.
Buddhists consider Alexander equal to God.
St. Nectarios in his book The Ecumenical Synods writes, "Hellenism which spread by Alexander, paved the way for Christianity by Emperor Constantine the Great".
St. Vasilios the Great, does not by chance present Alexander the Great as role model of self-discipline to young people.
Mankind today needs a positive projection of Alexander's deeds and work and this is an ardent aspiration of UN. This goal could be satisfied by a film supported by true historic verity, rather than imaginary or profiteering scripts, aiming to humiliate Alexander, whom the passing of time has indeed respected. This could not only result in insulting nations conquered by Alexander, but it would also offend the faithful of other great religions.
Arrian in his book The Ascension of Alexander VII, mentions that according to Aristovoulos (historian who was accompanying Alexander) the Macedonian King was diligent, fearless, brave and respectful to Gods, was also self-disciplined in his corporeal pleasures. Arrian adds that it is not of great significance that Alexander committed some errors. He was the only King who was remorseful about his mistakes and this has to do with his gentle nature. According to Aristovoulos, the Symposia, in which Alexander participated, did not last long, since Alexander did not drink much.
Plutarch, employing Alexander's journal as source, writes in his book Parallel Lives (chap. 23): "Also in wine he was less self-indulgent than what he was considered. He was of the habit of staying at the Symposia talking much, but drinking little". Plutarch adds that he was also temperate in eating.
Alexander is honored and will be honored and respected forever by the great religions of the world. Scripts, therefore, and other attempts to blemish his personality, are ineffective. Regardless of what has been mentioned above, common sense falsifies allegations about Alexander's homosexuality or drinking habits. It would be impossible for Alexander to lead his army in such successful military campaigns, that no one before and after him was able to achieve, if these attributes were true.
Film scripts which attempt to portray Alexander the Great as homosexual are of poor taste and lack seriousness. Plutarch in his Morals - About the Fate and Virtue of Alexander (p 333, chap. 12), states: "Let us bring up the deeds of those who have generally been identified as Philosophers and let us compare their deeds with the deeds of Alexander. Philoxenos, his coast guard commander, wrote to Alexander that he found in Ionia a very handsome boy, one that could be compared to none other in beauty, and if Alexander wanted the boy he could send the youth to him. The King replied to him in bitter, scolding manner: "Horrible man, have you known me up to now guilty of such crimes? How dare you flatter me with such vile pleasures?"
Other points that could be brought to disprove Alexander's homosexuality allegations are:
a) Alexander was married to Roxane and they had an heir,
b) Alexander also married to Darius' daughter,
c) A Queen of the East asked Alexander to father a child with her.
In this age of loss of direction and human dignity, we search for great man to guide and inspire our youth and elevate the quality of life. Falsification and degradation of the personalities and statuses of long established History's heroes for political or materialistic gains and minimization of their positive effectiveness, is not only offensive to every civilized human being, but is also a crime against humanity itself. In the case of Alexander the Great, nothing undertaken by those who now wish to turn historical facts around, in order try and belittle him or tarnish his fame with unfounded claims, can affect his grandeur and place in History.
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| REPLIED Sunday , November 28, 2004 08:01:22 PM |
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ilija the great
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fairfield,NJ
POSTS: 3
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REPLIED Sunday , November 28, 2004 07:45:44 PM
AGC....quit spreading propaganda. Macedonians were not Greek, they were Macedonian. The language spoken at the time, by the aristocrats and intellectuals was Greek, so that is how soe Macedonians spoke Greek. Secondly Aegean Macedonia, which you refer to as Northern Greece, belonged to Macedonia for over 2000 years. Greece only had it for about 70 years (since WWI). Just because us Macedonians are half slav, does not change the fact that we are also half Macedonian (ancient Macedonian, of no relation to Greeks). Many Greek historians reeatedly said that the Macedonians were "barbarians", often discribing people who were not Greek, and who did not use the Greek language (except for the aristocrats). On top of that, the Macedonians were not allowed to participate in the Olympics, while the other Greek States, such as the Spartans were. Don't make some bullshit up about Macedonia being to mountainous, so it would be hard for them to get to the Olympics. Lastly, look at the facts. Genetic research has been done in Spain (click on the following lnks to see the results http://www.historyofmaced
onia.org/ConciseMacedonia
/AncientGenes.html) These results show that present day Macedonians and Greeks have different genes then each other. The Macedonians have certain genes, that are not present in either Greeks or slavs, like serbians and russians.
Once more I say, LOOK AT THE FACTS. Look at us Macedonians. We generally do not look like other slavs (serbians and russians). We are short, usually have dark hair. While, the slavs are characteristically a tall race, usual with a blondish hair color. And we certainly do not look like the Greeks. Short, hairy, dark, and dare I say, ugly people.
If you want the real facts....check this site out http://www.historyofmaced
onia.org/
Edit Reply w/Quote
ilija the great
Member
fairfield,NJ
POSTS: 3
MEMBER SINCE: 2004-11-28 READ MY PROFILE
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REPLIED Sunday , November 28, 2004 07:48:39 PM
WHY THE MACEDONIANS HAVE NEVER BEEN GREEK http://www.historyofmaced
onia.org/ConciseMacedonia
/MacedoniansNotGreeks.htm
l
WHY THE MACEDONIANS ARE NOT SLAVS (ACTUALLY HALF SLAVS) http://www.historyofmaced
onia.org/ConciseMacedonia
/MacedoniansNotSlavs.html
GENETIC RESARCH 1 http://www.historyofmaced
onia.org/ConciseMacedonia
/AncientGenes.html
GENETIC RESARCH 2 http://www.historyofmaced
onia.org/ConciseMacedonia
/Y-chromosomes.html
THE DESCENDANTS OF ALEXANDER THE GREAT (THE TRUE MACEDONIANS) http://www.historyofmaced
onia.org/ConciseMacedonia
/donski.html
Edit Reply w/Quote
ilija the great
Member
fairfield,NJ
POSTS: 3
MEMBER SINCE: 2004-11-28 READ MY PROFILE
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VOTE FOR ME
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REPLIED Sunday , November 28, 2004 07:53:55 PM
AGC, please show me atleast one book or website, written non-biasly, by a non-greek or non-american saying that Macedonians are Greek (with concrete evidence), such as the genetic resarch done in Spain. I know you can't, because it is all propaganda. I hate to say it, but you Greeks are worse then the Albanians, and I can officially say, there is not one Greek in the world that I like. (I don't like people who don't recognize me, or that don't even acknowledge that I exist
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Edit Reply w/Quote
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| REPLIED Sunday , November 28, 2004 08:03:08 PM |
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ilija the great
Member
fairfield,NJ
POSTS: 3
MEMBER SINCE: 2004-11-28 READ MY PROFILE
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VOTE FOR ME
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REPLIED Sunday , November 28, 2004 07:45:44 PM
AGC....quit spreading propaganda. Macedonians were not Greek, they were Macedonian. The language spoken at the time, by the aristocrats and intellectuals was Greek, so that is how soe Macedonians spoke Greek. Secondly Aegean Macedonia, which you refer to as Northern Greece, belonged to Macedonia for over 2000 years. Greece only had it for about 70 years (since WWI). Just because us Macedonians are half slav, does not change the fact that we are also half Macedonian (ancient Macedonian, of no relation to Greeks). Many Greek historians reeatedly said that the Macedonians were "barbarians", often discribing people who were not Greek, and who did not use the Greek language (except for the aristocrats). On top of that, the Macedonians were not allowed to participate in the Olympics, while the other Greek States, such as the Spartans were. Don't make some bullshit up about Macedonia being to mountainous, so it would be hard for them to get to the Olympics. Lastly, look at the facts. Genetic research has been done in Spain (click on the following lnks to see the results http://www.historyofmaced
onia.org/ConciseMacedonia
/AncientGenes.html) These results show that present day Macedonians and Greeks have different genes then each other. The Macedonians have certain genes, that are not present in either Greeks or slavs, like serbians and russians.
Once more I say, LOOK AT THE FACTS. Look at us Macedonians. We generally do not look like other slavs (serbians and russians). We are short, usually have dark hair. While, the slavs are characteristically a tall race, usual with a blondish hair color. And we certainly do not look like the Greeks. Short, hairy, dark, and dare I say, ugly people.
If you want the real facts....check this site out http://www.historyofmaced
onia.org/
Edit Reply w/Quote
ilija the great
Member
fairfield,NJ
POSTS: 3
MEMBER SINCE: 2004-11-28 READ MY PROFILE
ADD TO FRIENDS
VOTE FOR ME
E-MAIL ME
REPLIED Sunday , November 28, 2004 07:48:39 PM
WHY THE MACEDONIANS HAVE NEVER BEEN GREEK http://www.historyofmaced
onia.org/ConciseMacedonia
/MacedoniansNotGreeks.htm
l
WHY THE MACEDONIANS ARE NOT SLAVS (ACTUALLY HALF SLAVS) http://www.historyofmaced
onia.org/ConciseMacedonia
/MacedoniansNotSlavs.html
GENETIC RESARCH 1 http://www.historyofmaced
onia.org/ConciseMacedonia
/AncientGenes.html
GENETIC RESARCH 2 http://www.historyofmaced
onia.org/ConciseMacedonia
/Y-chromosomes.html
THE DESCENDANTS OF ALEXANDER THE GREAT (THE TRUE MACEDONIANS) http://www.historyofmaced
onia.org/ConciseMacedonia
/donski.html
Edit Reply w/Quote
ilija the great
Member
fairfield,NJ
POSTS: 3
MEMBER SINCE: 2004-11-28 READ MY PROFILE
ADD TO FRIENDS
VOTE FOR ME
E-MAIL ME
REPLIED Sunday , November 28, 2004 07:53:55 PM
AGC, please show me atleast one book or website, written non-biasly, by a non-greek or non-american saying that Macedonians are Greek (with concrete evidence), such as the genetic resarch done in Spain. I know you can't, because it is all propaganda. I hate to say it, but you Greeks are worse then the Albanians, and I can officially say, there is not one Greek in the world that I like. (I don't like people who don't recognize me, or that don't even acknowledge that I exist
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Edit Reply w/Quote
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| REPLIED Sunday , November 28, 2004 08:05:13 PM |
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Quotes from the ancient and modern historians
"The fight was further embittered by the old racial rivalry of Greek and Macedonian" - Arrian
"When oaths to this effect had been sworn and the Greeks were interspersed among the Macedonians, Pithon was greatly pleased, seeing that the affair was progressing according to his intentions; but the Macedonians remembering the orders of Perdiccas and having no regard for the oaths that had been sworn, broke faith with the Greeks. Setting upon them unexpectedly and catching them off their ground, they shot them all down with javelins and seized their possessions as plunder. Pithon then, cheated of his hopes, came back with the Macedonians to Perdiccas" - Diodorus 18.7.8-9
"The Macedonian army, which will have the exclusive status, was to be supported by the Greek army and by the armies of the adjacent conquered nations" - Justin 9.5.5-8.
"Antipater was appointed governor of Macedonia and Greece" - Justin 13.4.5
"His Majesty Alexander to Darius: Greetings. The Darius whose name you have assumed wrought utter destruction upon the Greek inhabitants of the Hellespontine coast and upon the Greek colonies of Ionia, and then crossed the sea with a mighty army, bringing the war to Macedonia and Greece" - Curtius
"Neither Greeks nor Macedonians considered the Macedonians to be Greeks." Borza
"The conclusion is inescapable: there was a largely ethnic Macedonian imperial administration from beginning to end. Alexander used Greeks in court for cultural reasons, Greek troops (often under Macedonian commanders) for limited tasks and with some discomfort, and Greek commanders and officals for limited duties. Typically, a Greek will enter Alexander's service from an Aegean or Asian city through the practice of some special activity: he could read and write, keep figures or sail, all of which skills the Macedonians required. Some Greeks may have moved on to military service as well. In other words, the role of Greeks in Alexander's service was not much different from what their role had been in the services of Xerxes and the third Darius." Borza
"If one wishes to believe that Alexander had a policy of hellenization - as opposed to the incidental and informal spread of Greek culture - the evidence must come from sources other than those presented here. One wonders - archeology aside - where this evidence would be." Borza
On the ethnic tension between Macedonians and Greeks, referring to the episode of Eumenes of Cardia and his bid to reach the throne: "And if there were any doubt about the status of Greeks among the Macedonians the tragic career of Eumenes in the immediate Wars of succession should put it to rest. The ancient sources are replete with information about the ethnic prejudice Eumenes suffered from Macedonians."
Borza
"The tension at court between Greeks and Macedonians, tension that the ancient authors clearly recognized as ethnic division." Borza
"The main evidence for Macedonian existing as separate language comes from a handful of late sources describing events in the train of Alexander the Great, where the Macedonian tongue is mentioned specifically." Borza
"Greeks and Macedonians remained steadfastly antipathetic toward one another (with dislike of a different quality than the mutual long-term hostility shared by some Greek city-states) until well into the Hellenic period, when both the culmination of hellenic acculturation in the north and the rise of Rome made it clear that what these peoples shared took precedence over their historical enmities." Borza
"They made their mark not as a tribe of Greek or other Balkan peoples, but as 'Macedonians'. This was understood by foreign protagonists from the time of Darius and Xerxes to the age of Roman generals." Borza
"What did others say about Macedonians? Here there is a relative abundance of information", writes Borza, "from Arrian, Plutarch (Alexander, Eumenes), Diodorus 17-20, Justin, Curtius Rufus, and Nepos (Eumenes), based upon Greek and Greek-derived Latin sources. It is clear that over a five-century span of writing in two languages representing a variety of historiographical and philosophical positions the ancient writers regarded the Greeks and the Macedonians as two separate and distinct peoples whose relationship was marked by considerable antipathy, if not outright hostility." Borza
"The suggestion is surely that Macedonian was the language of the infantry and that the Greek was a difficult indeed a foreign tongue to them". Badian
"Alexander never tried to impose Greek on his Macedonian infantry, or to integrate it with Greek 'foreign' individuals". Badian
"Philip had not tried to pass of his Macedonians as Greeks" Badian
"The Colonels, as it happened, promoted Alexander as a great Greek hero, especially to army recruits: the Greeks of the fourth century B.C., to whom Alexander was a half-Macedonian, half-Epirote barbarian conqueror, would have found this metamorphosis as ironic as I did." Green
"Macedonia was the first large territorial state with an effective centralized political, military and administrative structure to come into being on the continent of Europe". Green
"And though Philip did not give a fig for Panhellenism as an idea, he at once saw how it could be turned into highly effective camouflage ( a notion which his son subsequently took over ready-made). Isocrates had, unwittingly, supplied him with the propaganda-line he needed. From now on he merely had to clothe his Macedonian ambitions in a suitable Panhellenic dress." Green
"The Greek states retained no more than a pale shadow of their former freedom". Green
"The Greek states were to make a common peace and alliance with one another, and constitute themselves into a federal Hellenic League. Simultaneously, the league was to form a separate alliance with Macedonia, though Macedonia itself would not be a league member." Green
"Philips Panhellenism was no more than a convenient placebo to keep his allies quiet, a cloak for further Macedonian aggrandizement." Green
"Most Greek statesmen recognized this only too well. To them, their self-styled hegemon was still a semi-barbarian autocrat, whose wishes had been imposed on them by right of conquest; and when Alexander succeeded Philip, he inherited the same bitter legacy of hatred and resentment - which his own policies did little to dispel." Green
"In the early spring of 336, an advance force of 10,000 men, including a thousand cavalry, crossed over to Asia Minor. Its task was to secure the Hellespont, to stockpile supplies, and in Philips pleasantly cynical phrase, to liberate the Greek cities." Green
"This was the Panhellenic crusade preached by Isocrates, and as such the kings propaganda section continued - for the time being - to present it. No one, so far as we know, was tactless enough to ask the obvious question: if this was a Panhellenic crusade, where were the Greek troops?" Green
"The truth of the matter seems to have been that Alexander distrusted his Greek allies so profoundly - and with good reason - that he preferred to risk the collapse of his campaign in a spate of rebellion rather than entrust its safety to a Greek fleet." Green
"But then, Eumenes was a Greek, and Macedonian troops, especially the old sweats who had served under Philip II, were never really comfortable being led by non-Macedonians." Green
"I deliberately refrain from adopting any position on the linguistic status of ancient Macedonian. It has little significance outside the nationalistic propaganda of the contemporary Balkan states, in which prejudice and dogma do duty for rational thought. What matters for the present argument is the fact, explicit in Curtius, that Macedonian was largely unintelligible to non-Macedonians. Macedonians might understand Greek, and some Greek (like Eumenes) with experience of Macedon might speak Macedonian. However, even Eumenes took care that a vital message was conveyed to the phalangites of Neoptolemus by a man fluent in Macedonian (MAKEDONI/ZONTA TH]=FWNH]=:PSI 12. 1284,col. ii. 19-20).] "Alexander shouted out in Macedonian, and called the hypaspists in Macedonian." In my view there is nothing at all surprising in the use of Macedonian. Alexander was calling his hypaspists, who were Macedonians, and he addressed them in their native language/dialect." Bosworth
"The Macedonians themselves were not Hellenes; they belonged to the barbaric races, not greatly differing from the Greeks in ethnic type, but far behind them in civilization, which bordered Hellas upon the north. They were a distinct race, not Paeonian, not Illyrian, not Thracian; but, of the three, their connection was closest with the Illyrians." Rawlinson
"It is thus not surprising that the Macedonians considered themselves to be, and were treated by Alexander the Great as being, separate from the Greeks. They were proud to be so." Hammond
"He knew from experience that in the eyes of the Macedonians he was still a Greek, a foreigner. Plutarch praised his charming and refined manners, which were very unlike the haughty airs of the noble Macedonian officer." Jouguet
"The dislike was reciprocal, for the Macedonians have grown into a proud masterful nation, which with highly developed national consciousness looked down upon the Hellenes with contempt. This fact too is of prime importance for the understanding of later history." Wilcken
"Philip II of Macedonia (359-336), who made his country into a major power, virtually controlling the mainland Greek city-states, intended to lead his and their forces against the two-centuries-old Persian (Achaemenid) empire, which ruled over huge territories extending from the Aegean to Egypt and central Asia. Philip's motives were mixed: revenge for the Persian invasion of Macedonia and Greece in the previous century, annoyance because the contemporary Persians had at times aided the king's own Greek opponents, a desire to wipe out the only large-scale potential enemy to the Macedonians that was still in existence - and pure lust for expansion." Grant
"In 334 BC, at the head of 40,000 Macedonian and Greek troops, he (Alexander) crossed the Hellespont (Dardanelles) and confronted the Persian advanced forces on the river Granicus (Can Cayi), winning a victory which enabled him to conquer western and southern Asia Minor." Grant
"Reading the lesson of his times, and making the proved inferiority of citizen militia to standing forces, and of the capricious rule of the many to an imperial system under a single head, he evolved the first European Power in the modern sense of the word-- an armed nation with a common national ideal. This, his own conception, he understood clearly and perused consistently through twenty-three years. Surely such a man may be called great for what he was." Hogarth
"Isocrates had long been urging the Greeks to combine in a war of conquest against Persia, and had latterly incited Philip to lead the enterprise. But Isocrates evinced little concern for the ' enslavement ' of the Asian Greeks or desire to revenge the atrocities of the Persians in 480-479.62 In his conception a Panhellenic crusade would promote peace at home and provide the Greeks with new lands on which to settle their surplus population; Philip was to be content with the glory of benefiting the Greeks by victories over the barbarians.63 If we can believe the ' vulgate ', Callisthenes may well have shared this na1ve idea, for we are told that he reminded Alexander of his original purpose, to annex ' Asia' to Greece (iv 11, 7). It is quite unlikely that either Philip or Alexander ever entertained such a purpose. They could allege Macedonian casus belli: in the fifth century the Persians had invaded Macedon as well as Greece, and in 340 they had helped Perinthus to repel Philip's attack; Alexander even had the impudence to add that Darius had been guilty of hostile acts against him-after Philip had already invaded Asia (ii 14, 4 f.). But all these were surely pretexts. Conquest must have been the real purpose." Brunt
"Macedonian and Greek were mutually unintelligible in the court of Alexander the Great" R.A.Crossland
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| REPLIED Thursday, December 09, 2004 06:26:28 AM |
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| REPLIED Wednesday, January 12, 2005 10:27:58 AM |
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