It\'s all Greek to me (Makedonians included) ...

[Ghostmojo]

Let's not forget that the notion of just what and where Greece was, was felt by many ancient Hellenes to apply to anywhere that Greeks settled. The most obvious serious major contenders to be part of the Greek World were the coast of Asia Minor (the other side of one Greek pond (the Aegean Sea)) populated particularly by Ionians, but also Dorians and Aiolians. The other major area is of course Megale Hellas (Magna Graecia/Greater Greece) comprising much of Sicily and southern Italy - populated by Achaians, Dorians and Ionians. The Italiote and Siciliote Greeks would have considered themselves every bit as Greek as their mainland homeland. Some of their cities would become major players in the Greek world (Syracuse). Then there are the more remote colonies dotted around the Mediterranean and Black Seas.

My own interpretation of Greece proper in ancient times would have included all the mainland including as far north as Epeiros/Kerkyra and Makedon/Chalidike; as far west as half of Sicily and the foot of Italy; as far south as Krete; and as far west as Ionia (modern Turkish coast) and Kypros (Cyprus).

But I agree, there is nothing hard and fast about any of this, and boundaries both real and imagined were very elastic throughout the ages ...