Class Systems Throughout the Empire

Babbling Barbarians

Aristotle, like all the Hellenes of his time, believed people who did not speak his language were uncouth barbaroi, not deserving of any status much better than slave. The Greek word barbaroi, the root of the English word barbarian, is translated as "babbler" or "jabberer." So all non-Hellenes were considered nothing but babblers— barbarians in the true Hellenic sense.

The Greeks, the Macedonians, and the Persians all had class systems. The upper classes of Macedonian society admired the Greeks. The Macedonians had their own language, which may have been similar to Greek, but the upper classes also spoke Greek. They considered themselves to be Greek by blood. At the same time, Macedonia was a rough land with a colder climate, and the Macedonians looked down on their southern Greek neighbors as softer and less hardy than themselves.

The Greeks thought even less highly of the Macedonians, whom they scorned. They considered Macedonia a crude backwater whose people were little better than barbarians.

There were some significant differences between the culture of Macedonia and that of the rest of Greece. Even though Macedonia was a male-dominated society, the queens and royal mothers were greatly respected. This was largely because they came from powerful Macedonian families or from ruling families in neighboring lands. They were given respect because they gave birth to the heirs their husbands needed for their royal dynasties to continue. When the king was away, the royal women sometimes engaged in power struggles with the king’s male representatives, as Alexander’s mother did.

The favorite pastimes of the Macedonian upper classes were fighting, hunting, and heavy drinking. The king could only get respect from the nobility if he was an expert in all these activities, which was seen as an indication that he would be capable of heading the state. Hunting on horseback was seen as a useful aspect of military training. Alexander loved riding and hunting, and before he became king he probably hunted almost every day. He stalked animals such as bears, lions, and stags that roamed the hills of Macedonia.

Persian society was divided into two classes. We know more today about the lifestyle of Persia’s upper classes than about its lower classes. The upper class included the king, the nobility, and the priests. At the head of the upper class was the king. Just below him in power were his chief noblemen. They served as officers and cavalry in the army. The lower class included the majority of Persians, who were laborers. Freemen got paid and

Could choose where they worked. Bondsmen were serfs and slaves, and had little or no choice as to where and for whom they worked.

All of the land in Persia belonged to the king, but the kings gave land holdings to nobles and military leaders. These lands were named in military terms, according to their size. For example, there were “bow,” “horse,” and “chariot” lands, and the owners of these lands had to provide men and equipment for the army accordingly. One of the smallest parcels, a bow land, was about 52 acres and its lord was expected to supply one archer to the army. Some lords had parcels of many thousands of acres and had to provide much greater numbers of men and equipment.