Virtual Macedonia Bookstore - Ancient Macedonians: Differences Between The Ancient Macedonians and The

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Binding: Paperback Dewey Decimal Number: 930 EAN: 9780595233069 ISBN: 0595233066 Label: AuthorHouse Manufacturer: AuthorHouse Number Of Items: 1 Number Of Pages: 317 Publication Date: 2002-07-24 Publisher: AuthorHouse Release Date: 2002-07-24 Studio: AuthorHouse
Spotlight customer reviews: Customer Rating: Summary: FALSIFICATION OF HISTORY Comment: Before I begin my review id like to point out some inaccuracies from previous reviews listed here..First, there was no Greek nation in ancient times but Greek city-states...Athens Sparta Thebes Corinth and yes Macedonia...Ive read previous reviews where the authors claim that the the Greeks revolted under Macedoanian rule which is true...Greek city states greatly valued their independence even from other Greek city states..Such is the case between Athens and Sparta when they tried to dominate each other leading to the Peloponnesian War..It is natural that they would revolt..Claiming that because the other Greek city-states revolted against Macedonia as proof of Macedonians being a non-Greek people is false!! Id like to ask or suggest some food for though to my FYROM readers(Former YugoSLAV Republic Of Macedonia) or disbelievers that the MAcedonians were Greek these FACTS: 1)Why is there no evidence of a non-Greek Macedonian language? the ancient Macedonians spoke Greek and had Greek names.. 2)Where is this non-Greek Macedonian culture hiding? All ancient Macedonian artifacts are Greek Are we suppose to believe the that the ancient Macedoanians were not Greek and then one day out of the blue they said the hell with it let's be Greek? Lets speak Greek, worship Greek gods, write in Greek, structure our conquered territory based on Greek ideas and culture, setting up gymnasiums, theater, agoras..etc.. common on people!!! No conquerer has ever conquered a country or territory and then poof in an instant forgot his roots..I once heard someone use Rome as an example regarding its conquering of the ancient Greek city states and adopting Greek culture.Id like to point out that Rome never adopted Greek as its official language. Romans never adopted Greek names ( cicero ceasar aurelias are not greek)and most of all you can clearly see a distinction between Roman literature and Greek.. 3)Why did Alexander idolize Greek heroes such as Achilles, why did he keep a copy of the Illiad around as if it were his bible written by another Greek Homer..How is Aristotle his tutor Greek and Alexander isnt when they are both Macedonians? 4) Why would the ancient Greeks place the home of their gods( Zeus Athena Poseidon etc) on MT OLYMPUS which is located in ancient Macedonia?? Does it make sense for a people to place their holy sites in a foreign land??? Doesnt anyone think logically anymore? Todays inhabitants of FYROM are a mix of Bulgarians, Albanians, Gypsies. Slavic people arrived in the Balkans in the 6th and 7th century AD... It is LOGICALLY incorrect for these citizens to believe they are Macedonians...They are Slavs and there is ZERO evidence of the ancient Macedonians being Slavic!!!! Todays FYROM scholars have NO TANGIBLE EVIDENCE to claim that the ancient Macedonians were not Greek just revisionistic lies!!!! Furthermore,FYROM's former president Kiro Gligorov in the Toronto Star on March 15, 1992 said: "Wee have no connection to Alexander the Greek and his Macedonia In an interview with the Ottawa Citizen, Gyordan Veselinov, Macedonia's Ambassador to Canada said: "We are not related to the northern Greeks who produced leaders like Philip and Alexander the Great. We are a Slav people and our language is closely related to Bulgarian" and that "there is some confusion about the identity of the people of this country." Customer Rating: Summary: Nationalist Rhetoric Comment: J S Gandeto's nationalist motives become blatently obvious within the first 20 pages of the book. He relies heavily on Eugene Borza's arguments yet even Borza admits his views are not main stream in the field of ancient Macedonian studies. There are many historical sources, including the Oxford Classical Dictionary, NGL Hammond, Malcom Errington, L.Fox,Masson and others, that describe the ancient Macedonians as branch of the ancient Hellenic ethnos. Gandeto concentrates on the period of 300 BC for his arguments. This is a period where the political conditions created a rift between Macedon and the rest of Greece. However, Alexander's conquests motivated the Hellenistic era which resulted in the Macedonians becoming fully Hellenized by Roman times. The notion that the ancient Macedonians became Hellenized by the ancient Roman era is fully supported by Ernst Badian and Eugene Borza, the two historians Gandeto relies on the most. I am sorry that I bought this book and became a casualty of a nationalist dispute involving Greece and Macedonia. Nationalists from both countries want to lay claim to the ancient Macedonian legacy. Modern Macedonians are descendants of Slavs that came to the Balkans in 6th and 7th centuries AD and have nothing to do with ancient Macedonia. Greece may have a cultural claim to the ancient Macedonians since Alexander's empire was in essence a Greek empire and the Macedonians were fully Hellenized by 200AD, but this should not be the crux of their argument against the new Macedonian nation. As others have said in the comments section for this book: spare your time and money and purchase a book from a qualified historian. Customer Rating: Summary: Excellent overview of Ancient Macedonian historical thought Comment: The book offers and excellent analysis of the historical record on Ancient Macedonia and deals with modern propaganda attmepts by Greece to portray the Ancient Macedonians as some kind of a Greek tribe. As put by Prof. Eugene Borza "...What did others say about the Macedonians? Here there is a relative abundance of information 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 Macedonians as two separate and distinct peoples whose relationship was marked by considerable antipathy, if not outright hostility..." This book confirms this and eloborates the details. A must read for all students of ancient history of Macedonia. Customer Rating: Summary: Waste of Time Comment: Do not waste your time reading this "book". 'Gandeto' is not qualified to write about history. He made his rounds to slav-Macedonian communities around North America pawning this book. "Gandeto's" (not the author's real name) purpose for writing this book was politically motivated. "Gandeto" and some extreme nationalists from the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia believe that their Slavic population are somehow related to the ancient Macedonians. In order for this to be in their minds the ancient Macedonians could have never been a Greek tribe. The book consists of selective quotations and politically motivated assertions. Buy a book written by a legitimate historian instead. Customer Rating: Summary: Do not waste your money Comment: Before you buy this book ask yourself who "JS Gandeto" is. JS Gandeto is a pseudonym used by a nationalist Slavic Macedonian in order to appear unbiased when presenting arguments. Slavic Macedonian nationalists believe they are related to the ancient Macedonians and they spend an inordinate amount of time and money promoting the idea that Alexander and the ancient Macedonians were not a Greek tribe. They think that if they can show that the ancient Macedonians were not a Greek tribe this will validate their nationalist theory that they are descendants of the ancient Macedonians. In light of the fact that the Slavs of Macedonia were universally considered to be Bulgarian up until 100 years ago, these nationalists spend a lot of effort trying to build a national myth for themselves in order to bolster their irridentist claims against Greece. If you wish to learn about ancient Macedonia there are plenty of legitimate historians whose books you can purchase on Amazon. They may have different opinions over who the ancient Macedonians were but at least they are not insulting you by authoring books under false names to give the impression of objectivity. Save your money and purchase a book authored by a legitimate credible historian. 'J.S Gandeto" is not legitimate and is not a credible historian.
Editorial Reviews: To understand the history of the ancient Macedonians, their ethnogenesis and their innermost drives as people, we need to analyze and comprehend, first and foremost, their deeply rooted material culture. Only by sifting meticulously through the thick layered strata of their rich culture can we discover and appreciate who this ancient people were. The rare glimpses into their intricate and deeply carved traditions afford us a window of luxury through which the plumage of their race emerges and becomes recognizable. Coupled with numerous anecdotes recorded and preserved through time and epitaphs that are impervious to politics and change, we now have a sizeable body of truth to know and believe that ancient Macedonians were, what they said they were-Macedonians.