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Summary: Another Pseudo-Macedonian Propaganda book...
Comment: For an American writer, John Shea seems unusually well versed on the Slav-Macedonian version of history.....
The sheer fact that he calls this country "Macedonia", shows that this is clearly a propaganda book, probably financed by the George Soros foundation, as many things in Skopje are...
As far as whether Alexander or the ancient Macedonians were Greek or not, it is their own admissions that clarify this more than anything else:
"For I (Alexander I) myself am by ancient descent a Greek, and I would not willingly see Hellas change her freedom for slavery." (Herod. IX, 45, 2 [Loeb])
"Tell your king (Xerxes), who sent you, how his Greek viceroy (Alexander I) of Macedonia has received you hospitably." (Herod. V, 20, 4 [Loeb])
The speech of Alexander I, when he was admitted to the Olympic games
"Men of Athens...
Had I not greatly at heart the common welfare of Hellas I should not have come to tell you; but I am myself Hellene by descent, and I would not willingly see Hellas exchange freedom for slavery....
If you prosper in this war, forget not to do something for my freedom; consider the risk I have run, out of zeal for the Hellenic cause, to acquaint you with what Mardonius intends, and to save you from being surprised by the barbarians. I am Alexander of Macedon." (Herodotus, The Histories, 9.45)
"Now, that these descendants of Perdiccas are Greeks, as they themselves say, I myself chance to know." (Herod. V, 22, 1 [Loeb])
Other historical references concerning the identity of the ancient Macedonians:
"The country by the sea which is now called Macedonia... Alexander, the father of Perdiccas, and his forefathers, who were originally Temenidae from Argos" (Thucydides 99,3 (Loeb, C F Smith)
"But Alexander (I), proving himself to be an Argive, was judged to be a Greek; so he contended in the furlong race and ran a dead heat for first place."(Herod. V, 22, 2)
"The Macedonian people and their kings were of Greek stock, as their traditions and the scanty remains of their language combine to testify."
` {John Bagnell Bury, "A History of Greece to the Death of Alexander the Great", 2nd ed.(1913)
"Clearly, the language of the ancient Macedonians was Greek"
{Prof. John C. Roumans Professor Emeritus of Classics Wisconsin University}
"There is no doubt, that Macedonians were Greeks."
(Robin Lane Fox "Historian-Author" In Interview with newspaper TO BHMA)
Concerning the identity and origins of modern citizens of FYROM:
"Bulgarian historians say the inhabitants of FYROM are of Bulgarian origin and their language developed from a Bulgarian dialect," which Skopje denies. But Sofia was also the first country to recognize FYROM's independence from the former Yugoslavia in 1991 and now favours its joining the EU. (August 2006 AFP)
"Every national of FYROM who does not claim Albanian or Serbian origin has the right to declare a Bulgarian origin." This is an individual act in accordance with the historical reality of our common ethnic origin,"
According to: Stefan Nikolov of the Agency for Bulgarians Abroad. (August 2006 AFP)
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Summary: JOHN SHEA THE PUPPET OF GYORGY SCHWARTZ AKA GEORGE SOROS.....MACEDONIANS ARE GREEK...YOUR COUNTRY IS VARDASKAR OR PAEONIA..
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: . That's who we are! We 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
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Summary: Apotheosis
Comment: So, the synopsis of the book is that Ancient Makedonians were slavic. According to the author, the Ancient Makedonians did not speak a Hellenic dialect and Alexander the Great's tutor, Aristotle, taught him a slavic dialect.In a Socratic dialogue, that makes Aristotle a slav too since he was born in Ancient Makedonia and returned there when in exile.(I need to burn my history books.)
Furthermore, if the ancient Makedonians were slavs, why then was Alexander I, the king of Makedonia, named Philhellene(lover of Hellas)? This title is bestowed only to foreigners.
Unfortunately, the author doesn't mention that the king of Makedonia, Alexander I, was named Philhellene by the Theban poet Pindaros for the same reason Jason of Pherrai and Euagoras of Cyprus were called Philhellenes (Isocrates 107A, 199A). The title Philhellene in ancient times meant Philopatris (lover of the homeland) or simply put "a patriot" (Plato, Politics, 470E; Xenophon, Agesilaus, 7, 4), which is why Alexander the Great did not touch the traditional house of Pindaros when he ordered his soldiers to burn Thebes.
I think that the book is poorly written because the author does not take into consideration the 4000 year history of Makedonia and only focuses on the recent 2000 years and especially the cold war period.
This being the case and enlighted by the author, I recommend to all Global Hellenes to uprise. How would the Australian Author feel, if 600 years from now, the Hellenic Australian community claims that Australia wasn't an english speaking country because there were Hellenes living in Australia? So, Australia is Hellenic although we came to Australia 170 years after the Anglo-Saxons.
Based on his book,I guess the author would agree with the Hellenic Australians since he agrees with the slavs who entered Makedonia in the 6th and 8th century(800 years after Alexander the Great's death). Apotheosis.
Claiming, that the inhabitants of The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia(The FYROM) are ethnic Macedonians, direct descendants of, or related to the ancient Macedonians the author contradicts some testimonies from The FYROM's officials:
The inhabitants of The FYROM are mostly Slavs, Bulgarians and Albanians. They have nothing in common with the ancient Makedonians.
a. The former President of The FYROM, Kiro Gligorov said:"We are Slavs who came to this area in the sixth century ... we are not descendants of the ancient Macedonians" (Foreign Information Service Daily Report, Eastern Europe, February 26, 1992, p. 35).
b. Also, Mr Gligorov declared:"We are Macedonians but we are Slav Macedonians. That's who we are! We have no connection to Alexander the Greek and his Macedonia... Our ancestors came here in the 6th and 8th century" (Toronto Star, March 15, 1992).
c. On 22 January 1999, Ambassador of the FYROM to USA, Ljubica Achevska gave a speech on the present situation in the Balkans. In answering questions at the end of her speech Mrs. Acevshka said: "We do not claim to be descendants of Alexander the Great ... Greece is Macedonia's second largest trading partner, and its number one investor. Instead of opting for war, we have chosen the mediation of the United Nations, with talks on the ambassadorial level under Mr. Vance and Mr. Nemitz." In reply to another question about the ethnic origin of the people of FYROM, Ambassador Achevska stated that "we are Slavs and we speak a Slav language."
d. On 24 February 1999, in an interview with the Ottawa Citizen, Gyordan Veselinov, FYROM'S Ambassador to Canada, admitted, "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." He also commented, "There is some confusion about the identity of the people of my country."
e. Moreover, the Foreign Minister of the FYROM, Slobodan Casule, in an interview to Utrinski Vesnik of Skopje on December 29, 2001, said that he mentioned to the Foreign Minister of Bulgaria, Solomon Pasi, that they "belong to the same Slav people."
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Summary: Macedonia is Macedonia and the people of it are Macedonian (slavic) not Greek.
Comment: Macedonia is Macedonia and the people of it are Macedonian (slavic) not Greek. Anyone who says otherwise is ignorant (99% of the time it happens to be a jealous Greek). What kind of country makes another country change its name and national flag under false pretences that the use of the name "Macedonia" implies territorial advances towards the northern region of Greece also called "Macedonia" (which is merely similar to a county in the U.S.) A jealous country like Greece does. I am speaking to the 99% of Greeks that are like this, I appolagize to the other 1%, but you Greeks should all quit being so ignorant and recognize Makedonija for what it is (Just like almost every other country in the world has). A slavic country on the Balkan Penninsula.
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Summary: Macedonia will always be a part of Greece
Comment: The people of Skopie are brainwashed!! 60 years after Tito they still think their Macedonians. Sad, truly sad.
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