Archive for June, 2007
Theophylactus of Ohrid writes that the inhabitants of Ohrid are Bulgarians and speak Bulgarian
11th-12th c.
(a) from a letter to Anem:
When you say that you have become a complete barbarian among the Bulgarians, you, my dearest, are saying what I dream /in my sleep/. Because just think how much I have drunk from the cup of vulgarity, being so far away from the countries of wisdom, and how much I have drunk from the lack of culture … Since we have been living for a long time in the land of the Bulgarians, vulgarity has become our close companion and fellow-inhabitant.
Gr. CXXVI, Theophylacti epistola XXI, ed. Meursio; cf. Letters of Theophylactus of Ohrid, translated by metropolitan Symeon from Greek, Сб. БАН, кн. XXVII, Hist.-Philol. and Philos.-Polit. Branch, 15,
Sofia, 1931, pp.71-72; the original is in Greek
(b) from a letter to the Empress Maria:
Since I went from Ohrid to the Queen of Towns, my holy Lady, I have encountered many sorrows, because of my numerous sins … And so I come among the Bulgarians, I, a true citizen of
Constantinople, a Bulgarian by some miracle.
Ibidem, ep. I, ed. Laraio; cf. Letters, op. cit., pp.180 181; the original is in Greek
(c) from a letter to the Bishop of Vidin:
And so, do not despair, do not lose heart, as though you were the only one to suffer … So you have Kumans invading your land? What are they, however, in comparison with the people of Ohrid, who come from the city to attack us? So you have cunning citizens? They are children in comparison with our Bulgarian citizens …
Ibidem, ep. XV, ed. Finetti, cf. Letters, op. cit., p. 18; the original is in Greek
(d) from a letter to the royal son-in-law, Bruiennius:
Because the clerics have paid twice as much as the laymen, both for the mills and for the strugi, as they are called in Bulgarian, which a Hellene would call brooklets, and which facilitate fishing, and for them too the clerics have been subjected to much greater payments than the others …
Allegedly so as not to put my high rank to shame, he collected from me personally so much, that, for mills which have long since been destroyed, he asked the full price, while for those in good condition - twice as much as from the Bulgarians.
Ibidem, ep. XLI, ed. Finetti; cf. Letters, op. cit., p. 128; the original is in Greek
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The Byzantine historian Scylitzes describes how Samuil, son of a Bulgarian noble, became ruler of all Bulgaria
11th-12th c.
Immediately after the death of Emperor Ioannes the Bulgarians rose in revolt and four brothers were chosen to govern them: David, Moses, Aaron and Samuil, sons of one of the all-powerful comites of the Bulgarians and for this reason named Kometopouli…Of the four brothers, David was immediately killed by some Wallachian vagabonds between Castoria, Prespa and the so-called “Fair Oak Wood.” While besieging Seres, Moses was hit by a stone cast from the wall and died. Aaron was killed by his brother Samuil on July 14 in the place called Razmetanitsa, together with all his kin, because he was a supporter, so they say, of the Byzantines, or because he was trying to seize power for himself. Only his son Vladislav Ivan was saved by Samuil’s son Radomir Roman. Thus Samuil became the absolute ruler of all Bulgaria …
Georgii Cedreni compendium, op. cit., pp. 434-435; cf. ГИБИ, VI. p. 275; the original is in Greek
The Byzantine historian Scylitzes describes the wars between Bulgaria under Tsar Samuil and Byzantium
11th-12th c.
Samuil set out against Thessalonica and deployed the main part of his army in ambushes and traps, and he sent only a small part on an incursion to Thessalonica itself … Samuil camped on the opposite bank. Because of the torrential rains, the river rose and caused floods, so that no battle was expected at that moment. The magister, however, by inspecting the upper and lower reaches of the river, found a place through which he thought he could cross. In the night, having roused his troops, he crossed the river and attacked Samuil’s soldiers in their carefree sleep. A very large number of them were massacred, without anybody thinking of defense. Samuil himself and his son Roman were wounded, receiving grave wounds, and would have been taken prisoners, had they not mixed with the dead, lying as though dead. When night fell, they secretly fled towards the Aetolian Mountains and from there, across the peaks of these mountains, crossed the Pindus and took refuge in Bulgaria. And the magister, after freeing the Byzantines who had been taken prisoners, and stripping the Bulgarians who had fallen, looted the enemy camp and with very rich booty returned to Thessalonica with his troops…In 6508, indiction 13, /= 999/ the Emperor sent a strong army against the Bulgarian fortresses beyond the Haemus Mountains … The Byzantine troops captured Great and Little Preslav, as well as Pliska, and returned unscathed and victorious.The following year, the Emperor again set out against the Bulgarians via Thessalonica. He was joined by the governor of Berrhoea, Dobromir, who surrendered the town to the Emperor and was honoured with the dignity of anthypatus. The defender of Servia Nikola, who, because of his small stature was called by the diminutive name of Nikolitsa, put up valiant resistance and cheerfully endured the siege imposed on him. The Emperor, however, set himself the task of capturing the fortress and succeeded, taking Nikolitsa himself prisoner. He deported the Bulgarians from there and left a garrison of Byzantines. After all this he returned to the capital, taking Nikolitsa with him, whom he honoured with the title of patrician. But the inconstant Nikolitsa escaped from there and returning secretly to Samuil, together with him began to besiege Servia. The Emperor, however, moved swiftly and lifted the siege from the town and Nikolitsa fled with Samuil… The Emperor went to Thessaly and rebuilt the fortresses destroyed by Samuil, while those which were in the hands of Bulgarians he captured by siege and resettled the Bulgarians in the so-called Voleron. After posting strong garrisons in all fortresses, he returned to the place known as Voden. Voden is a small fortress situated on steep cliffs where the waters of the Ostrovo Lake fall after running unseen below the ground and coming to the surface again at this place. As the inhabitants of this town did not surrender of their own free will, the Emperor took it by siege. He deported them also to Voleron, then installed a strong guard in the town and returned to Thessalonica.
…………….
In the following year, indiction 15 /= 1003/, the Emperor set out on a campaign against Vidin and captured it by force after full eight months of siege. While he was busy with the siege, Samuil with a swift movement suddenly fell on Adrianople on the very feast of the Assumption of the Virgin. With a sudden assault he also seized the fair annually held there and attended by a great crowd and, after collecting much booty, he returned to his country. And the Emperor, after fortifying Vidin very well returned to the capital without losses, having devastated and destroyed all the Bulgarian fortresses on his way. When he approached the town of Skopje, he found Samuil calmly camping across the Axios river, which is now called Vardar. Relying on the river being in flood and thus impossible to ford, he had set up his camp in a negligent manner. But a soldier found a ford and led the Emperor through it. Shocked by his sudden appearance, Samuil hastily fled in confusion, and his tent and the entire camp were captured. And the town of Skopje was surrendered to the Emperor by Roman, the son of Peter, Tsar of the Bulgarians, and brother of Boris, called also Simeon after his grandfather and placed there as governor by Samuil. The Emperor received him and after honouring him for his decision with the title of patrician and prepositor, sent him as a strategus to Abydos.
Continuing from there, the Emperor set out for Pernik, whose defender was Krakra, a man excellent in military matters. He spent a considerable time there and lost no small number of soldiers in the siege. Finding the fortress impregnable and Krakra impervious to flattery or other promises and proposals, he returned to Philippopolis, whence he returned to Constantinople.
Georgii Cedreni compendium, op. cit, pp. 449-456; cf. ГИБИ, VI, pp. 278, 280, 283 285; the original is in Greek
The Byzantine historian Scylitzes describes the blinding of 15,000 captured Bulgarian soldiers by Basil II, the death of Samuil and the conquest of all Bulgaria
11th-12th c.
Every year the Emperor continued to invade Bulgaria and devastated and laid waste everything on his way. Samuil could not put up opposition in the open field, nor could he come out in an open battle against the Emperor, and he suffered defeats on all sides and began to lose his strength. For this reason he decided to dig trenches and block the Emperor’s road to Bulgaria … The Emperor was already losing hope of getting through when Nicephorus Xiphias, appointed it that time by him as strategus of Philippopolis, persuaded him to remain there and to keep up his constant assaults on the barrier, saying that he would go to see whether he could not do something advantageous and salutary. And so, having taken his soldiers …, all of a sudden, with cries and noise, he appeared on high ground in the rear of the Bulgarians. Terrified by his sudden appearance, they fled. The Emperor destroyed the abandoned palisade and began to pursue them. Many were slain and many more were captured. Samuil was barely saved from death by his son, who valiantly warded off the attackers. He put him on a horse and led him to the fortress called Prilep. And the Emperor blinded the captive Bulgarians, about 15,000 so they say, ordering each group of one hundred to be led by a soldier with one eye, and thus sent them to Samuil. When the latter saw them coming in rows of equal numbers he could not stand this suffering courageously and in silence, but became unwell, fainted and fell to the ground. Those present tried to restore his breathing with water and perfumes and succeeded in bringing him round a little. When he had recovered consciousness, he asked for cold water, but after taking a drink, he suffered a heart attack, and two days later he died. His son Gavril, called also Roman, who surpassed his father in might and force but was far inferior to him in wisdom and reason, took power over the Bulgarians. He was Samuil’s son by a slave girl from Larissa. He began to rule on September 15, indiction 13 /1014/. A year had not passed before he was murdered while out hunting by Aaron’s son, Ivan Vladislav, whom he had rescued from death when he was about to perish. Before these occurrences, at the time when Theophylactus Botaniates was sent as governor of Thessalonica, following Arianites, David Nestoritsa, a Bulgarian noble, was sent by Samuil with a large army against Thessalonica. Theophylactus met them with his son Michael, engaged in battle against them and utterly defeated them. He took much booty and many prisoners and brought them to the Emperor, who was besieging the barrier at the Gorge of Kleidion. Passing through the barrier, as we have already said, the Emperor advanced to Stroumitsa and captured the fortress, called Matzukion, situated near Stroumitsa. He also sent the Thessalonica duke Theophylactus Botaniates with his troops, ordering him to cross the hills at Stroumitsa, so as to burn the palisades on the roads to them and open a convenient road for him to Thessalonica. He set out, and the Bulgarians guarding these places let him pass everywhere unimpeded along the road. But when he was preparing to return to the Emperor after having fulfilled his orders, he fell into ambushes set up for this purpose and waiting in a long and narrow pass. When he entered it, surrounded from all sides and showered from above with stones and arrows, he fell dead without anyone being able to help him and without being able to make use of his hands, owing to the narrow and impassable place. A large part of the army perished with him. When this was reported to the Emperor, he was filled with great sorrow. It was because of this that he did not dare advance but turned back and arrived in Zagoria where the extremely strong fortress of Melnik stood, built on a rock and encircled on all sides by steep and very deep precipices. The Bulgarians from the area had gathered there and were not at all interested in the Byzantines. The Emperor sent to them one of his menservants, a eunuch named Sergius, an intelligent and eloquent man, to find out what their mood was. Once there, he succeeded by dint of much persuasion in convincing these people to lay down their arms and to surrender, together with the fortress, to the Emperor. The Emperor received them and conferred honours upon them, and leaving a sufficient garrison in the fortress, he returned to Mosynopolis. While he was there, they informed him also of Samuil’s death on October 24. The Emperor immediately left Mosynopolis and went down towards Thessalonica, and from there he went to Pelagonia, without devastating the lands on his way, and merely burning Gavril’s palaces in Buteli. Having sent troops, he captured the fortresses of Prilep and Stip. From there he reached the river called Cherna, which he crossed on rafts and inflated skins and returned to Voden , whence on January 9 /1015/ he went to Thessalonica.
Georgii Cedreni compendium, op. cit, pp. 457 464, 464-476; cf. ГИБИ, VI, pp. 283-296; the original is in Greek
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Posted by: admin in Language
“……….the nucleus of the Macedonian vocabulary consists of words which have exact correspondence in Greek.The importance of these words and the archaic phonological character of Macedonian lead to the conclusion that these are not borrowings but inherited words: this fact is confirmed by the genetic unity of Macedonian and Greek.
Moreover, the numerous lexical and phonological isoglosses in Macedonian and the different Greek dialects confirm the supposition of genetic unity.”
Vladimir I. Georgiev, “Introduction to the History of the Indo-European Languages”, Sofia 1981, p. 169
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| apart from the word Bugari which is the true national name of the Slavic Macedonians, which shows that they adopted the form of the name “Bulgarians” given to them by the Serbs |
A. Vaillant, “Le probleme du Slave Macedonien”, in “Bulletin de la Societe de Linguistique de Paris” 39 (1938), p.205.
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| Indeed, the macedonian language is a product essentialy of political origin |
V. Pisani, “Il Macedonico”, in, “Paideia” 12 (1957), p.250.
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| Macedonian national conscience and from that conscientious promotion of Macedonian as a written language, first appears just in the beginning of our century and is strengthened particularly during in the years between the two world wars |
Fr. Scholz, “Slavische Etymologie”, 1966, p.61.
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| “From a strictly linguistic point of view Macedonian can be called a Bulgarian dialect, as structurally it is most similar to Bulgarian. |
— Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics (1994)
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| It [Macedonian language] has not created by natural means, as all other languages in the world, but was created by political circumstances. It is an absurd, that it was created on a certain date - namely August 2nd, 1944, and at certain place - the monastery “Prohor Pchinski”, with a decree. Such an event has not happened to any other language in the world. |
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| With other words, the very soul of the so-called Macedonian language is of no linguistical but of political nature, which is the source of todays political problems between the Republic of Macedonia and Bulgaria |
Prof. Dr Ivan Kochev - Sofia University, newspaper “Kontinent” - 17.10.1997
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| Whoever is familiar with the basic structural principles of the two neighboring languages must, even though he may not be a philologist, arrive, on the basis of the examples cited here, at the same conclusion to which also the French slavicist, Louis Leger, came, and I repeat his words: The Macedonian Slavs are Bulgarians and speak a Bulgarian dialect. |
Czech Balkanologist Vladimir Sis in his book about Macedonia
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| In the language of the Serbians around Prizren it is clearly noticeable how much it tends to resemble the Bulgarian dialects. It would be interesting to investigate how this blend of the Serbian language with the Macedo-Bulgarian has come about. |
Russian scholar Hilferding in his book An Excursion Into Hersegovina And Old Serbia
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| Whatever segment of this language we analyze, again and again it becomes evident that we deal here not with the Serbian, but the Bulgarian language. All attempts of Serbian chauvinists to design the Bulgarian language as spoken in Macedonia as a Serbian dialect or as a mixed language of indefinite character will therefore end in failure. One could pose the question whether, perhaps, the Macedonian Slavs haven’t their own language, something in between Serbian and Bulgarian. Such an assumption, however, would be absolutely unjustified, for, as we have seen, in phonology, morphology and syntax Macedonian Bulgarian and Bulgarian proper harmonize in every respect. Certain exclusively Macedonian peculiarities cannot essentially change this picture. In the lexicon there occurs a number of words of Greek or Turkish origin which do not exist in the Serbian or Bulgarian vocabulary. In proportion to the overall lexicon, however, their number is quite insignificant, as can be seen from the linguistic samples adduced here, which clearly demonstrate that Macedonian can only be considered a Bulgarian Dialect |
German Balkanologist and linguist, Professor Guslav Wcigand, Ethnographic von Macedonien, 1924
Experts agree that the Slavic language he [Delchev] spoke and the one spoken here now is closer to Bulgarian than to Serbian. But on account of Titos break with Stalin, the Yugoslav government, encouraged by the Serbs, promoted a separate ethnic and linguistc identity for Macedonian, in order to sever any emotional link between the local population and the one next door in Bulgaria
[Robert D. Kaplan, Balkan Ghosts, p.60]
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| In Yugoslav Macedonia the new authorities quickly set about consolidating their position. The new nation needed a written language, and initially the spoken dialect of northern Macedonia was chosen as the basis for the Macedonian language. However, this was deemed too close to Serbian and the dialects of Bitola-Veles became the norm.(1) These dialects were closer to the literary language of Bulgaria but because the latter was based on the eastern Bulgarian dialects, it allowed enough differentiation for the Yugoslavs to claim it as a language distinct from Bulgarian-a point which Bulgaria has bitterly contested ever since(2). In fact the differentiation between the Macedonian and Bulgarian dialects becomes progressively less pronounced on an east-west basis. Macedonian shares nearly all the same distinct characteristics which separate Bulgarian from other Slav languages lack of cases, the post-positive definite article, replacement of the infinitive form, and preservation of the simple verbal forms for the past and imperfect tenses-but whether it is truly a different language from Bulgarian or merely a dialect of it is a moot point.The alphabet was accepted on 3 May 1945 and the orthography on 7 June 1945, and the first primer in the new language appeared by 1946, in which year a Macedonian Department in the Faculty of Philosophy at the University of Skopje was also founded.
A grammar of the Macedonian literary language appeared in 1952, and the Institute for the Macedonian Language “Krste P’ Misirkov” was founded the following year. Since the Second world ‘war the new republic has used the full weight of the education system and the bureaucracy to make the new language common parlance, and indeed it is noticeable that old people still tend to speak a mixture of dialects which include obvious Serbianisms and Bulgarianisms, while those young enough to have gone through the education system in its entirety speak_ a ‘purer’ Macedonian. |
Hugh Poulton
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| We the Macedonians voluntarily choose one and the same language with Bulgarians long before the liberation of Bulgaria from Turkey. The prohibition from the Serbs to use our literally language, which is the only one connection between us and Bulgarians is significant violation of our human rights. .. and further.. when they forbid us to call ourselves Bulgarians, to learn Bulgarian history and to be ashamed from everything which connect us with Bulgarians. It is enough to learn our Macedonian culture and history to understand that we are very different from Serbian nationality. |
[K.Misirkov, Balazki po jusno-slavjanskata folilogija…”, Balfarka Sbirka, XVII, 1 Sofijia,1910,Kn 1-39-41 and Kn 3-168] ..
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 1)’We are not to be amazed that in the archaeological material of Pelagonia we have a rarely great wealth of reflections of all pronounced cultural events in the relations between middle-Danubian and Graeco-Aegean world
‘Mikulcic,Ivan “Pelagonija”,Skopje,1966,pp.2
‘In a such great chronological distance in the life of ancient Pelagonia two stages are visible: development and existence in the frames of Hellenic culture and later the Roman one’
Ibid.,pp.4
2)
‘The lower part of Vardar is certainly the area south of Demir-Kapija gorge that entered Hellenic cultural sphere very early and already before 600 b.c. the material culture is thoroughly Hellenised.’”
The Valley of Vardar in Ist millennium b.c”,Skopje,1982,pp.2
3)’Even in the last decades of 5th century stabilization in all spheres of social life is established. As first sign of the new time import from Graeco-Macedonian south appeared as well as fortified settlements that later grew into urban centers with character of economic and religious nuclei of the region’”
Guide to the archaeological exhibition”,Skopje,1996,pp.54
4)’For example,Pelagonia,which is naturally oriented to the South, was the first to be subjected to Greek influence, together with the lower part of Vardar’
“Archaeologic Map of the Republic of Macedonia”,Skopje,1996,pp.71
5)‘From the mountains of Epirus Dorian Makednoi (Macedonians) made their advance towards Macedonia, conquering the native tribes who latter gained new, Hellenistic culture and after that are politically organized into a powerful state’
“The Art in Macedonia”,Skopje,1984 pp.26
6)’Paeonians,a people who during the first millennia b.c inhabited border area between the three great paleobalkanic peoples-Illyrians, Thracians and Hellenes‘
Veljanovska,Fanica ” An Attempt at Anthropological Definition of the Paeonians”,Skopje,1994
7)’…Certain proto-populations occupying distinct areas of the Balkans could be distinguished on the territories of the cultural groups :in western part of the Balkans the proto-Illyrians, in the east the proto Thracians, in the south the Hellenes, in the northern part of the Balkans the proto Daco-Mysians and in the southwest of the Central Balkans the proto Bryges.
‘“Bryges on the central Balkans in the 2nd and 1st millennium b.c.” (summary)
“Arheologija” No 1,Skopje 1995
8)’With the end of Iron Age III, i.e. with the total Hellenisation of material culture,the prehistory of Macedonia ends
.‘Sanev,Vojislav “Prehistory of S.R. Macedonia”,Skopje 1977,pp.13
9)”The Art of Antiquity left in the region of Ohrid a great number of traces of its own presence.Illyrian forts imported goods from Greek centers and imitated them in a modest fashion. Political advancement of the Macedonians and their domination enabled cultural influx that manifested itself through products of crafts and alphabet. From the times of Phillip II deeper advances in the area of Lychnidos are attested.Cultural influences of the Graeco-Macedonian world are more present.Rich Hellenistic culture arrived at Illyrian soil”"
Ohrid” by Vera Bitrakova-Grozdanova ,in:”The Art in Macedonia” ,Skopje 1984, pp.85
10)”With the increase of influences from developed cultured south and with the acceptation of Hellenic influences over Paeonia,which already in the V and IV centuries b.c.have committed great changes in the Paeonian culture, usage of Greek Pantheon was also accepted”
Petrova,Eleonora “Cults and symbolism of Paeonian tribes compared with the Illyrian and Thracian ones“in: “Macedoniae Acta Archeologica”,Skopje No.13,pp.129
“Having the central position in this part of the Balkans,Paeonia,apart from receiving influences from the Hellenic south, wasn’t an exception with regard to influences from Illyrian and Thracian sphere”
Ibid.,pp.134
11)”Greek epigraphic monuments created before definitive Roman domination of our area are to be found in modest quantity”
Bitrakova Grozdanova,Vera “Hellenistic Monuments in S.R.Macedonia”,Skopje,1987,pp. 130
“Study of the inscriptions speaks about epigraphic characteristics of the neighboring Macedonian-Hellenic world”
Ibidem. pp.103
12)”During the early arhaic period at the Macedonian territory,the Dorian tribal groups came across over the Pindos mountain,to the area of today’s North-Western Greece and parts of the southern Republic of Macedonia.They established several early principalities partially by chasing away the local Paeonian tribes.Those tribal groups were the ancient Macedonians
“”Macedonian Heritage”,No 1,july 1996,pp.5
13)”The northern periphery of Greek world, inhabited with ancient Macedonians and other peoples and tribes, wasn’t developed for democracy as the most developed social system at that time”
Mikulcic,Ivan “Ancient towns in the Republic of Macedonia”,Skopje,1999,pp.9
”
Our overview was exposed chronologically. The first part embraces the early antiquity in our country, the period from 5th century b.c. up to the middle 3rd century b.c.. Throughout this centuries one can follow the Hellenic spirit and the creation of the Hellenic civilization in our areas, which left a basic imprint on the material artifacts”
Ibidem. pp.10-11
14)”The quantitative ceramic material used to be produced with the usual process including the labor of persons .Partly because of that, partly because of the traditions that had taken roots into our soil, which with centuries before that used to be watered with Hellenic spirit and Hellenistic way of life ,the use of the building ceramics had been brought to minimum”
Lilcic,Viktor “Building ceramics in the Republic of Macedonia during the Roman Period:Scupi,Stobi,Heraclea Lynkestis,Styberra“,Skopje,1996,pp.120
15)”In any case during the classical and Hellenistic periods and especially in the 4th and 3rd centuries b.c. we can no longer speak of Paeonian cult in the Peaonian region ,but of cults adopted by the entire Hellenic civilization, where through the material culture, elements of spiritual life from developed south were adopted. This was followed by the strenghtening of the autochthonous elements above all, the solar cult. Since Paeonians were centrally located in this region of the Balkans,they were influenced from the Hellenic south but they also couldn’t avoid the influences from the Illyrian and Thracian sphere”
Petrova,Eleonora “The cults, symbolism and Deities in Paeonian and neighboring regions
“Macedonia and the neighboring regions from 3rd to1st millennium b.c.-Papers presented at the international symposium in Struga-1997″,Skopje,1999,pp.118
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In response to the misinformation and falsification of history from the site http://faq.macedonia.org we are going to provide references both by Ancient and Modern sources refuting the lies and misinformation from FYROM.
- Ancient Sources -
1 .
“Porus, bringing up his elephants, followed these movements, guided by the
noise, and Alexander gradually led him to make these marches, parallel to
his own, a regular thing. This went on for some time, until Porus, finding that the Greeks never went beyond shouts and yells, gave it up. Clearly, it was afalse alarm; so he ceased to follow the movements of the Greek cavalry and stayed where he was in his original position with lookouts posted at various points along the river.”
Arrian’s Life of Alexander the Great. Penguin Classics. Translated by Aubrey
De Selincourt. Page 172
2.
“Alexander promptly sent for Abisares, adding a threat that, should he fail to appear he would soon see the Greek army and its commander-in-chief and in an unwelcome spot.”
Arrian’s Life of Alexander the Great. Penguin Classics. Translated by Aubrey
De Selincourt. Page 182
3.
Even though Xerxes had a huge host with him, he was a barbarian and was defeated by the prudence of the Hellenes; whereas Alexander the Hellene has already engaged in 13 battles and has not been defeated once.”
<`Pseudo-Kallisthenes' 2.3.4.-5; Oration of Demosthenes>
4.
“And, now, is justly the barbarian praised by the Athenians for capturing Hellenes? As for Alexander who is a Hellene and captured Hellenes, not only did he not imprison his opponents, but enlisted them and made them his allies instead of enemies… ”
`Pseudo-Kallisthenes’ 2.4.5; Oration of Demosthenes
5.
“No king of the Hellenes had ever conquered Egypt with the exception only of Alexander, and that he did without war…”
`Pseudo-Kallisthenes’ 2.4.7-8; Oration of Demosthenes
6.
Mutiny was but a step away when, unperturbed by all this, Alexander summoned a full meeting of his generals and officers in his tent and ordered the Egyptian seers to give their opinion. They were well aware that the annual cycle follows a pattern of changes, that the moon is eclipsed when it passes behind the earth or is blocked by the sun, but they did not give this explanation, which they themselves knew, to the common soldiers. Instead, they declared that the sun represented the Greeks and the moon the Persians, and that an eclipse of the moon predicted disaster and slaughter for those nations.
(Quintus Curtius Rufus 4.10)
7.
Alexander called a meeting of his generals the next day. He told them that no city was more hateful to the Greeks than Persepolis, the capital of the old kings of Persia, the city from which troops without number had poured forth, from which first Darius and then Xerxes had waged an unholy war on Europe. To appease the spirits of their forefathers they should wipe it out, he said.
(Quintus Curtius Rufus 5.6)
8.
“…The Greeks moved on thence, from the sacred island, and were already coasting along Persian territory…”
Arrian, Indica XXXVIII
9. “
…Thence they sailed eight hundred stades, anchoring at Troea; there were small and poverty-stricken villages on the coast. The inhabitants deserted their huts and the Greeks found there a small quantity of corn, and dates from the palms…”
[Arrian, Indica XXIX]
10.
“…he (Alexander) inflicted punishment on the Persians for their outrages on all the Greeks, and how he delivered us all from the greatest evils by enslaving the barbarians and depriving them of the resources they used for the destruction of the Greeks, pitting now the Athenians and now the Thebans against the ancestors of these Spartans, how in a word he made Asia subject to Greece.”
[Polybius, Book IX, 34, 3]
11.
“…Yet through Alexander (the Great) Bactria and the Caucasus learned to revere the gods of the Greeks
Alexander established more than seventy cities among savage tribes, and sowed all Asia with Greek magistracies... Egypt would not have its Alexandria, nor Mesopotamia its Seleucia, nor Sogdiana its Prophthasia, nor India its Bucephalia, nor the Caucasus a Greek city, for by the founding of cities in these places savagery was extinguished and the worse element, gaining familiarity with the better, changed under its influence…”
Plutarch’s Moralia, On the Fortune of Alexander I, 328D, 329A (Loeb, F.C. Babbitt)
12.
“But he 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 HELLENIC, 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 DISSEMINATE AND SHOWER THE BLESSINGS OF HELLENIC 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 Herakles, and emulate Perseus, and follow in the footsteps of Dionysos, the divine author and progenitor of my family, and DESIRE THAT VICTORIOUS HELLENES SHOULD DANCE AGAIN in India <...>“
Plutarch’s Moralia, On the Fortune of Alexander, 332A (Loeb, F.C Babbitt)
13.
Similarly, the Thebans voted to drive out the garrison in the Cadmeia and not to concede to Alexander the leadership of the Greeks.
Diodorus of Sicily, 17.3.4
14.
he spoke to them in moderate terms and had them pass a resolution appointing him general plenipotentiary of the Greeks and undertaking themselves to join in an expedition against Persia seeking satisfaction for the offences which the Persians had committed against Greece.
Diodorus of Sicily, 17.4.9
15.
“Alexandros observed that his soldiers were exhausted with their constant campaigns. …The hooves of the horses had been worn thin by steady marching. The arms and armour were wearing out, and the Hellenic clothing was quite gone. They had to clothe themselves in materials of the barbarians,…”
(Diodoros of Sicily 17.94.1-2)
16.
” 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 - The Campaigns of Alexander. Alexander talking to the troops before the battle. Book 2-7 Penguin Classics. Page 112. Translation by Aubrey De Seliucourt.
17.
“…so said the military leaders to the camps: `We have made enough war in Persia and conquered Dareios who claimed taxes from the Hellenes, but what are we accomplishing by marching against the Indians, in scary lands and doing things IMPROPER FROM HELLAS? If Alexandros has become full of himself and wishes to be a warrior, and subjugate barbarian peoples why do we follow him? Let him move on alone and engage in wars. Having heard these Alexander separated the Persian host from the MACEDONIANS AND THE OTHER HELLENES and addressed them…”
(`Pseudo-Kallisthenes’ 3.1.2-4)
18.
Alexander (the Great)… after talking to the Thessalians and the other Hellenes,… grabbed his spear with his left hand, shifted his right
hand to pray to the gods, as Kallisthenes reports, wishing, if he is indeed a SON of ZEUS that they SUPPORT the HELLENES. Aristandros, the priest…”
(Plutarchos, Alexander 33)
19.
“Your ancestors invaded Macedonia and the rest of Hellas and did us great harm, though we had done them no prior injury;… I have been appointed hegemon of the Greeks… ”
(Arrian, Anabasis of Alexander II, 14, 4)
20.
.”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 Hellenes, except the Lacedaemonians, set up these spoils from the barbarians dwelling in Asia”,
(Arrian I, 16, 7)
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Posted by: admin in Language
A usual wordwide misconception is the association of the word ‘Barbarian’ with non-Greeks.
We all know for starters Epirotes being classed as ‘barbarians’ from Thucydides, although they were greek-speakers.
However the ultimate proof of Greek tribes being called ‘barbarians is coming from Athenaios Deipnosophistes where Stratonicus the harp-player was asked “πότερα Βοιωτοί βαρβαρώτεροι…ή θετταλοί, Ηλείους έφησεν” meaning “who were the greatest Barbarians, the Boeotians or the Thessalians” and he replied “the Eleans“.
Quote:
42. And Clearchus. in the second book of his treatise on Friendship, says,-” Stratonicus the harp-player, whenever he wished to go to sleep, used to order a slave to bring him something to drink; ‘ not,’ says he, ‘because I am thirsty now, but that I may not be presently.’” And once, at Byzantium, when a harp-player had played his prelude well, but had made a blunder of the rest of the performance, he got up and made proclamation, ” That whoever would point out the harp-player who had played the prelude should receive a thousand drachme.” And when he was once asked by some one who were the wickedest people, he said, “That in Pamphylia, the people of Plaselis were the worst; but that the Sidetze were the worst in the whole world.” And when he was asked again, according to the account given by Hegesander, which were the greatest barbarians, the Boeotians or the Thessalians he said, ” The Eleans.”
Athenaios VIII 350a
Plato characterized the Lesbian Aeolic Greek dialect as ‘a barbarian register’ while addressing Pittakos of Mytilene. We do know though Aeolic was a Greek dialect. Another bright example about the abuse of the term “barbaros”
[Protagoras 3410]
Another example is the dialogue between Socrates and Strepsiadis in Aristophanes “Clouds”. At a certain moment Socrates call Strepsiadis “ανθρωπός αμαθές ουτώσι και βάρβαρος“. This make even clearer the term “barbaros” was used as a derogatory term since Strepsiadis…was a well-known Athenian. Unless skopjans insist on believing Atheneans werent greeks either.
Quote:
SOCRATES aside
Oh! the ignoramus! the barbarian!
to STREPSIADES
I greatly fear, old man, it will be necessary for me to have recourse to blows. Now, let me hear what you do when you are beaten
Aristophanes, ‘Nephelae’ (line 491)
One of the frequent users of the term “barbarian” in order to slander his political opponents was Demosthenes. His most known victim was Philip of Macedon. Not many people thought know that Demosthenes used it also against one of his political opponents, the Athenean orator Aristogeiton [Against Aristogeiton II. 26.17]
Here’s another fine example: Aeschines, On the Embassy 2 183
Quote:
A word more and I have done. One thing was in my power, fellow citizens: to do you no wrong. But to be free from accusation, that was a thing which depended upon fortune, and fortune cast my lot with a slanderer, a barbarian, who cared not for sacrifices nor libations nor the breaking of bread together; nay, to frighten all who in time to come might oppose him, he has fabricated a false charge against us and come in here. If, therefore, you are willing to save those who have laboured together with you for peace and for your security, the common good will find champions in abundance, ready to face danger in your behalf.
Here Aeschines when attempting to refute Demosthenes’ accusations, clearly titles him a “barbarian” that “fabricated a false charge” against him
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