…kings: A Probable Historical Bias.
"In this article, I will deal with a probable "historical bias" against Alexander the Great and the Macedonian kings before Philip II of Macedonia. And I define it as "probable" because obviously many scholars have a different view on it. This situation is due to the attribution during the recent decades of an excessive role to the very successful king Philip II, father of Alexander III (the Great), concerning the creation of the Macedonian political and military power; an attribution which is probably unfair to both Alexander and the Macedonian kings before Philip. In order to present the problem I will quote a brief summary of the history of the Macedonians to Philip II's reign.
The Macedonians were a Greek people of the Northwestern Group originating from Epirus, being close relatives of the Dorians (being a significant component of the Dorian tribal union), the Thessalians, the Aetolians, the Molossians and others. Most researchers and historians have rather excessively attributed the power of the Macedonian Kingdom which Alexander inherited, almost exclusively to the truly great king Philip II. But this view except of being oversimplified is also biased. In order to demonstrate the deeds of the Macedonian kings before Philip, it is suffice to quote that when the Macedonians began their immigration and then their conquering march from the Central Pindus Ridge to the region that was later to become their home, they numbered only a few thousands (according to the extent of Makedonis – see below – and the usual figures of the migrating tribes of the Balkan Peninsula Highlands).
Thus, when at some point in the Geometric Period (11th-8th c. BC), the Macedonian shepherd-warriors started their march from Pindus to finally settle down after many wanderings, in the small district of Makedonis (not to be confused with Macedonia) in the North slopes of Olympus, they did not know even if in a few months they would stay alive or whether they would all be killed or enslaved after a confrontation with a strong enemy, and their families would be also enslaved: this was the fate of several other minor tribes. Macedonis (Makedonis) was the small district at which they stayed for a few generations and from where they dashed to gradually occupy subsequent Macedonia…"
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