Oldest samples of writing in Macedonia

[Eleatic Guest]

What i think as ''odd'' is that while there are not finds of a language or culture other than Greek in Macedonia some scholars are trying to present ''grey areas'' and the existance of a ''Macedonian'' culture other than Greek.

I think that there are two discussions which have become hopelessly intertwined. (a) The rise of ancient Macedonia, which has certain unGreek characteristics and was not always recognized as Greek - a subject that scholars may investigate; (b) the strange theory that the unGreek element of ancient Macedonia was in fact Slav, as proposed from the late nineteenth century, and revived by marshal Tito in an attempt to obtain Thessaloniki. Whatever the origin of the inhabitants of the FYROM, the ethnogenesis of them is medieval - a combination of Byzantine system collapse and settlers with a different, Slav language.

What worries me, is that if you start discussing (a), Greek nationalists immediately accuse you of (b). Since I wrote a book about Alexander the Great, I get hate mail from Greece nearly every week. Remarkable, because the book was written in Dutch and they cannot possibly know what I said.

Good post, Jona.