Macedonians

The ancient Macedonians were the people of Macedon on the Balkan Peninsula who created a state in the seventh century b. c.e. that lasted until the second century B. C.E. The name of the kingdom, Macedon, is sometimes cited as Macedonia; it is perhaps derived from the name of a ruler, Makedon, or from the Greek word makedos or makednos for “tall man.” The latter form is more applied to a historical region encompassing the present-day region of Macedonia in northern Greece (defined administratively as Central Macedonia, Western Macedonia, and Eastern Macedonia and Thrace); the present-day nation of Macedonia (Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia); and a small portion of Bulgaria and Serbia. The Greek portion of the historical region (Greek or Aegean Macedonia) is about half of the total area; the Macedonian portion (Vardar Macedonia), about 40 percent; and the Bulgarian portion (Pirin Macedonia), about 10 percent. Macedon (or ancient Macedonia) is also at times discussed as Macedon proper, constituting the coastal plain north of the Chalcidice (Khalkidikhi) Peninsula in Greece, and as Upper Macedon to the west and the north of the plain. Prior to the fourth century and expansion under its most powerful rulers Philip II and his son, Alexander III (Alexander the Great), Macedon was roughly equivalent to Greek Macedonia or Macedon proper.