A History of Macedonia (Hellenistic Culture and Society) [Hardcover]

R. Malcolm Errington (Author), Catherine Errington (Translator)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 27, 1990 | Series: Hellenistic Culture and Society (Book 5)

In this single-volume history, R. Malcolm Errington provides a modern account of the political and social framework of ancient Macedon. He places particular emphasis on the structure of the Macedonian state and its functioning in different stages of historical development from the sixth to the second century B.C. Errington's main emphasis is not on the biographies of the great kings but rather on the flexible political interplay between king, nobility, and people; on the growth of cities and their political function within the state; and on the development of the army as a motor of military, social, and politicalchange.

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: German

About the Author

R. Malcolm Errington is Professor of Ancient History at the Philipps-Universität in Marburg, Germany.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 330 pages
• Publisher: University of California Press (August 27, 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0520063198
• ISBN-13: 978-0520063198
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,623,810 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great!, September 19, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: History of Macedonia (Hardcover)

This is a very scholarly and wonderful book about the history of Macedonia. For those interested in Phillip II and his son Alexander the Great, this book gives a general history of the period and of the people involved.

11 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent book about the ancient history of Macedonia, April 23, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: A History of Macedonia (Hellenistic Culture and Society) (Hardcover)

The history of the first nation-state in Europe from the pen of one of the biggest experts in the field of ancient history. Very detailed and conscise. This is a must buy book. Macedonian history is always fascinating and Dr. Errington gives you the very details of the Macedonian saga. The rise of Macedon, Phillip's concor of and rule over the ancient Greek city states and Alexandar's Asian campaign are only some of aspects discussed in the book.

17 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent and accurate source of Macedonian history, December 26, 2001

By 

Jimg "jg999" (Massachusetts) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: A History of Macedonia (Hellenistic Culture and Society) (Hardcover)

Although I acquired this book by a different source than Amazon (before I discovered Amazon.com), I feel I should write a review, especially after reading the first review by the reader from NY.

This book is very well written and, I believe, will always be a great source of historical info. for myself and my daughter.

Mr. Errington's research and conclusions as to the ethnic makeup of the ancient Macedonians are not only correct they appear to be necessary in light of today's wave of self-serving history revisionism.

QUESTION #1: WHAT WAS THE LANGUAGE OF THE ANCIENT MACEDONIANS?

Here's what a couple of ancient (and obviously unbiased) sources say:

The Roman writer Titus Livius says : (from "The Foundation of the City", Paragraph 31)

"The Aitolians, the Akarnanians, the Macedonians, men of the same language, are united or disunited by trivial causes that arise from time to time; with aliens, with barbarians, all Greeks wage and will wage eternal war; for they are enemies by the will of nature, which is eternal, and not from reasons that change from day to day."

Didorus of Sicily (17.67.1) says:

(...) And the rest of the Greeks?

Pausanias writes in his book "Description of Greece" (10.3.3):

"The Phocians were deprived of their share in the Delphic sanctuary and in the Greek assembly, and their votes were given by the Amphictyons to the Macedonians."

and also in his book "Phokis" (8,2 & 4):

"They say that these were the tribes collected by Amphiktyon himself in the Hellenic Assembly: [...] the Macedonians joined and the entire Phocian race [...] In my day there were thirty members: six from each of Nikopolis, Macedonia and Thessaly [...] "

Aeschines (On the Embassy 2.32) gives evidence of the Macedonian king Amyntas taking part at the congress of the Lacedaemonian allies and the other Greeks:

"For at a congress of the Lacedaemonian allies and the other Greeks, in which Amyntas, the father of Philip, being entitled to a seat, was represented by a delegate whose vote was absolutely under his control, he joined the other Greeks in voting to help Athens to recover possession of Amphipolis. As proof of this I presented from the public records the resolution of the Greek congress and the names of those who voted".

Isocratis, one of the most impotant orators of ancient Greece says in his speach "To Philip" addressed to King Philip II of Macedonia (Paragaraph 127):

(...) The Sicilian historian Diodoros says in his history about King Philip of Macedonia (Diodoros, Historical Library 16.95.1-2)

"Such was the end of Philip, who had made himself the greatest of the kings in Europe in his time, and because of the extent of his kingdom had made himself a throned companion of the twelve gods. He had ruled twenty-four years. He is known to fame as one who with but the slenderest resources to support his claim to a throne won for himself the greatest empire in the Greek world, while the growth of his position was not due so much to his prowess in arms as to his adroitness and cordiality in diplomacy.

It is clear to see why special interest groups 'need' to separate ancient Macedonians from the rest of Greece. The new Slav Republic of "Macedonia" (FYROM), needs to establish some sort of link to the age of antiquity, in order to justify their self-proclaimed ethnic identity. It must be difficult to prove that you have some ancient local roots when your ancestors (Slavic tribes) descended on the Balkans about 800 years after the death of Alexander.

Books such as the Erringtons' are clearly needed in order to establish historical and cultural truth. Readers can simply judge for themselves.

Start with this book.