Erroneous Claim: “Greek was the lingua franca before Alexander the Great’s era, like English is today” The above  is a widely-used false claim promoted mainly by FYROM’s propaganda. The status of lingua franca, especially during the Achaemenid period (539-333) through the vast Persian empire[1] and the Mediteranean world had the Aramaic language. [2] Greek was not the lingua franca during the reign of […]

Presentation  of ancient Greek tribes being segregated by the rest of Greeks In the cases of Athenians: “When the estrangement which had arisen between the Athenians and the Hellenes became noised abroad, there came to Athens ambassadors from the Persians and from the Hellenes. [Diodoros of Sicily 11.28.1]   “…the Hellenes gathered in congress decreed to make common cause with […]

The famous king (Βασιλεύς) of ancient Macedonia and father of Alexander the Great, Philip II was born in 383/82 BC. He was son of the king Amyntas III and queen Eurydice. His brothers were Alexander II, Perdiccas III and Eurynoe, while he had also 3 half brothers, the sons of Gygaea,  namely Menelaus, Arrhidaeus and Archelaus. [1] Early Life In 368 […]

A couple of days ago i read an article in the website Livius.org related to the history of ancient Macedonia.  The article is written by Jona Lendering, the owner of the website and admittedly he tries to give a neutral perspective, mainly due to the connection of the issue with modern politics. However his apparent neutrality is seriously hindered by some blatant […]

  1. [Diodorus Siculus 17.1.5] “Alexander’s ancestry went back to Heracles on his father’s side, while through his mother he was related to the Aeacids.” 2. [Plutarch, Alexander 2.1-2] “As for Alexander’s family, it is firmly established that he was descended from Heracles through Caranus on his father’s side and from Aeacus through Neoptolemus on his mother’s. The story goes […]