Arridaeus (Gr: Αρριδαίος)
According to the account of the linguist Sakalis (source: ‘He Hellenike Tautotita ton arhaion Makedonon”
1. A citizen of the Greek island Kos (ii BC BCH 86 (1962) P. 275 no4,5)
2. Greek oikonomos of Laodike, ex-wife of Antiochus B’, king of the Seleukid kingdom.
Etymology: Derives from the greek word ‘Ari’ (An. Gr:άρι, Tr: much) + the adject. ‘Daios’ (An. Gr: Δάιος, Tr: frightening)
Therefore the claim “Arridaeus has no Greek paralel” is false.
Sabattaras (Gr: Σαβαττάρας)
The name appears in Inscription 269 (Second edition of Sylloge dated to 300 BCE) referring to the the ‘proxenia‘ of Machatas, son of Sabattaras, originating from the Macedonian city Europos.
For starters, Machatas is a Greek name and most particularly its the Doric form of “Machetes” (Gr: Μαχητής, Tr: ‘Fighter‘)
Sabattaras appears to be an obscure case, in relation to the name’s origins but most likely it may be Thracian.
Points of interest:
-The root “Sabat” may be related to that of Sabazios, a Thraco- Phrygian god.
- The suffix “taras” may be appears to be Thracian, in the form of “Kotyotaras“.
- We should not forget that the Macedonians expanded from Makedonia (Pieria, Emathia) to regions populated by Thracians, after all and in essence Thrace has been incoporated into Macedonian kingdom much earlier than the date given.
- The fact that Sabattaras is a SINGLE case, contrary to Arridaeus which appears to be somewhat common name in ancient Macedon, points out its the tiny EXCEPTION of the general rule which explicitely proves ancient Macedonians had Greek names. Rare cases of foreign names in Ancient Greek world were always found, even in Athens. Thucydides‘ father bore the name Olorus, which is a Thracian one. It doesnt mean anyway we should start doubting the Greekness of Atheneans.
Claim:
In the second place, in many semi-literate societies, there is a difference between the spoken and the written language. It would not be without parallel if a Macedonian, when he wanted to make an official statement, preferred decent Greek instead of his native tongue. (Cf. the altars of the goddess Nehalennia, which were all written in Latin, a language that was almost certainly not spoken by the people who erected them.)
True to a certain point. However the crux of the matter is in these semi-illiterate societies used their native tongue in:1. their own names
2. in their toponymies.
Ancient Macedonians used in both of these options Greek names so the assumption is at least clumsy. Moreover from a rational point of view, a migrating people dont go around renaming existing toponymies in someone else’s language. They obviously rename them into their own. The original Ancient Macedonians renamed Phrygian toponymies into Greek during their migration. This alone proves they already were Greek-Speaking so the “Hellenization theory” unfortunately falls apart. During 8th Century BC It would be quite absurb, Macedonians to rename toponymies into:
(i) Not their own language
(ii) A language they didnt…understand.
Claim:
Thirdly, many historical sources are written in Greek, and it was a common practice among Greek historians to hellenize foreign names. For example, the name of the powerful first king of the Persian empire, Kuruš, ought to be transcribed as Kourous or Kouroux in Greek, but became Kyros, because this looks like a Greek word (”Mr. Almighty”). The name that is rendered as Alexandros, which has a perfect Greek etymology, may in fact represent something like Alaxandus, which is not Greek.
Greeks indeed had a tedency to regularize foreign names to sound better in Greek. Examples are:
- The name Artaxerxes is the regularization of the original Persian name Artakhshathra.
- The name Xerxes is the regularization of the original Persian name Khshayarsha.
- The name Darius from the regularization of the old Persian name Dârayawuð.
Or even the name of the famous Indian founder of the Mauryan empire Chandragupta was regularised from Greeks into Sandracottus.
The vast majority of these foreign names have no meaning in Greek. From the other hand All Macedonian names like Alexandros and Phillipos are completely meaningful in greek in their original forms therefore there was no need anyone to regularize them. In relation to the name’s “Alexandros” usage, the first evidenced use of the name in history, comes from the Mycenean Greeks, in the female form “Alexandra“. In reality the name Alexadros was COMMON in the Greek world prior to the establishment of Macedonian kingdom. Furthermore this claim is easily refuted alone by the fact that NONE of the Persian names who were regularized to sound better in Greek, is found in the Greek world. You wont find any Greek of classical ages called….Xerxes, or Darius, or any female called Sisygambis. On the contrary, the vast majority of ancient Macedonian names is COMMON in the Greek world. Philippos, Alexandros, Pausanias, etc are extensively used among Greeks. In reality the argument of Jona Lendering proves the exact opposite of his claim.
For example, there is evidence that Greeks were unable to understand people who were makedonizein, “speaking Macedonian”. The Macedonian king Alexander the Great was not understood by the Greeks when he shouted an order in his native tongue and the Greek commander Eumenes needed a translator to address the soldiers of the Macedonian phalanx.
Firstly Makedonizein could be a i) a dialect/language, ii) simply a mode of speech.
There isnt any clear reference from ancient sources that we could claim safely Greeks couldnt understand the ancient Macedonian native tongue. On the contrary there are references which proves the opposite.
3] When day dawned and the inhabitants had realized the danger that beset them, they were at first under the impression that the Lacedaemonians had forced an entry into the town, and attacked them more recklessly owing to their ancient hatred. But when they discovered from their equipment and speech that it was the Macedonians and Demetrius the son of Philip, they were filled with great fear, when they considered the Macedonian training in warfare and the good fortune which they saw that they enjoyed in all their ventures.
[Pausanias Messeniaka XXIX, 3]
This quote shows Messenians were able to understand Macedonian speech, thus they recognized the newcomers were Macedonians and Demetrius, son of Philip.
But while he lay encamped there near him, many who came out of Beroea infinitely praised Pyrrhus as invincible in arms, a glorious warrior, who
treated those he had taken kindly and humanely. Several of these Pyrrhus himself sent privately, pretending to be Macedonians, and saying, now was the time to be delivered from the severe government of Demetrius, by coming over to Pyrrhus, a gracious prince, and a lover of soldiers.
[Plutarch Pyrrhus XI.4]
So Pyrrhus planted some of his Epirotes into Macedonian army urging Macedonians to get rid of Demetrius since Epirotes spoke the same Greek dialect as Macedonians.
one recollecting himself, stripped off a piece of bark from an oak, and wrote on it with the tongue of a buckle, stating the necessities and the fortunes of the child, and then rolling it about a stone, which was made use of to give force to the motion, threw it over to the other side, or, as some say, fastened it to the end of a javelin, and darted it over. When the men on the other shore read what was on the bark, and saw how time pressed, without delay they cut down some trees, and lashing them together, came over to them. And it so fell out, that he who first got ashore, and took Pyrrhus in his arms, was named Achilles, the rest being helped over by others as they came to hand.
[Plutarch Pyrrhus II.1]
Plutarch tells us the story of the infant Pyrrhus when his companions tried to save the infant Pyrrhus from Molossians and while heading to the court Of Glaucias, they came across Megara, a Macedonian village in the other side of where they were. Apparently the Macedonian peasants were able to read the message of the Epirotes guards of Pyrrhus since they spoke the same language thus they helped them.
Alexander speaks: “The Macedonians are going to judge your case,” he said. “Please state whether you will use your native language before them.”Philotas: “Besides the Macedonians, there are many present who, I think, will find what I am going to say easier to understand if I use the language you yourself have been using, your purpose, I believe, being only to enable more people to understand you.”
Curtius VII 9.25 - 11.7
in fact in Philotas affair it becomes even clearer Macedonian is a Greek dialect, since Philotas explicitely states that using the Koine would make his speech “easier to understand“, indicating that Macedonian dialect was not incomprehensible to the non-Macedonians, but a bit more difficult to understand. In fact, the whole incident shows the Macedonian dialect was not that different from the Koine and could be understood eventhough it had some difficulty by other Greeks. This also explains the quick disappearance of the Macedonian dialect and the quick adoption of the Koine from Macedonians.
Aetolians, Acarnanians, Macedonians, men of the same language
Nothing more to be added. Aetolians, Acarnanians and Macedonians spoke the same language.
“General Paulus of Rome surrounded by the ten Commissioners took his official seat surrounded by the whole crowds of Macedonians…Paulus announced in Latin the decisions of the Senate, as well as his own, made by the advice of his council. This announcement was translated into Greek and repeated by Gnaeus Octavius the Praetor-for he too was present.
[T. Livius, XLV]
Another proof the Macedonian population spoke Greek.
“In pursuit of Bessus the Macedonians had arrived at a small town inhabited by the Branchidae who, on the orders of Xerxes, when he was returning from Greece, had emigrated from Miletus and settled in this spot. This was necessary because, to please Xerxes, they had violated the temple called the Didymeon. The culture of their forebears had not yet disappeared thought they were now bilingual and the foreign tongue was gradually eroding their own. So it was with great joy that they welcomed Alexander, to whom they surrendered themselves and their city. Alexander called a meeting of the Milesians in his force, for the Milesians bore a long-standing grudge against the Branchidae as a clan. Since they were the people betrayed by the Branchidae, Alexander let them decide freely on their case, asking if they preferred to remember their injury or their common origins. But when there was a difference of opinion over this, he declared that he would himself consider the best course of action.When the Branchidae met him the next day, he told them to accompany him. On reaching the city, he himself entered through the gate with a unit of light-armed troops. The phalanx had been ordered to surround the city walls and, when the signal was given, to sack this city which provided refuge for traitors, killing the inhabitants to a man. The Branchidae, who were unarmed, were butchered throughout the city, and neither community of language nor the olive-branches and entreaties of the suppliants could curb the savagery. Finally the Macedonians dug down to the foundations of the city walls in order to demolish them and leave not a single trace of the city.”
[Curtius VII.5.29]
The greek-speaking Branchidae had common language with Macedonians.
If we follow this logic then by reading the following quote by [Thucydides (3-112)]
we should conclude Doric was not understood by Atheneans.
There is nowhere in ancient sources found that Eumenes needed a translator to communicate with Macedonians. Eumenes sent a Macedonian to speak to them in the Macedonian dialect, in order to win their confidence. In (Plut. Eumenes XVII.2-VIII.1) Eumenes has absolutely no problem to communicate with Makedones. Or in (Eum. XIV.5) Makedones greeted Eumenes μακεδονιστι τη φωνή. Therefore there was no problem of communication between Eumenes and Makedones.
If the use of Xennias is, according to the argumentation, a sign that he was a translator then by reading (Diodorus XIX 39.5) we should assume the Macedonian commancer of Argyraspids Antigenes could not communicate in his native tongue and needed…a translator.
According to the account of the linguist Sakalis (source: ‘He Hellenike Tautotita ton arhaion Makedonon”
1. A citizen of the Greek island Kos (ii BC BCH 86 (1962) P. 275 no4,5)
2. Greek oikonomos of Laodike, ex-wife of Antiochus B’, king of the Seleukid kingdom.
Etymology: Derives from the greek word ‘Ari’ (An. Gr:άρι, Tr: much) + the adject. ‘Daios’ (An. Gr: Δάιος, Tr: frightening)
Therefore the claim “Arridaeus has no Greek paralel” is false.
Sabattaras (Gr: Σαβαττάρας)
The name appears in Inscription 269 (Second edition of Sylloge dated to 300 BCE) referring to the the ‘proxenia‘ of Machatas, son of Sabattaras, originating from the Macedonian city Europos.
For starters, Machatas is a Greek name and most particularly its the Doric form of “Machetes” (Gr: Μαχητής, Tr: ‘Fighter‘)
Sabattaras appears to be an obscure case, in relation to the name’s origins but most likely it may be Thracian.
Points of interest:
-The root “Sabat” may be related to that of Sabazios, a Thraco- Phrygian god.
- The suffix “taras” may be appears to be Thracian, in the form of “Kotyotaras“.
- We should not forget that the Macedonians expanded from Makedonia (Pieria, Emathia) to regions populated by Thracians, after all and in essence Thrace has been incoporated into Macedonian kingdom much earlier than the date given.
- The fact that Sabattaras is a SINGLE case, contrary to Arridaeus which appears to be somewhat common name in ancient Macedon, points out its the tiny EXCEPTION of the general rule which explicitely proves ancient Macedonians had Greek names. Rare cases of foreign names in Ancient Greek world were always found, even in Athens. Thucydides‘ father bore the name Olorus, which is a Thracian one. It doesnt mean anyway we should start doubting the Greekness of Atheneans.
Claim:
In the second place, in many semi-literate societies, there is a difference between the spoken and the written language. It would not be without parallel if a Macedonian, when he wanted to make an official statement, preferred decent Greek instead of his native tongue. (Cf. the altars of the goddess Nehalennia, which were all written in Latin, a language that was almost certainly not spoken by the people who erected them.)
True to a certain point. However the crux of the matter is in these semi-illiterate societies used their native tongue in:1. their own names
2. in their toponymies.
Ancient Macedonians used in both of these options Greek names so the assumption is at least clumsy. Moreover from a rational point of view, a migrating people dont go around renaming existing toponymies in someone else’s language. They obviously rename them into their own. The original Ancient Macedonians renamed Phrygian toponymies into Greek during their migration. This alone proves they already were Greek-Speaking so the “Hellenization theory” unfortunately falls apart. During 8th Century BC It would be quite absurb, Macedonians to rename toponymies into:
(i) Not their own language
(ii) A language they didnt…understand.
Claim:
Thirdly, many historical sources are written in Greek, and it was a common practice among Greek historians to hellenize foreign names. For example, the name of the powerful first king of the Persian empire, Kuruš, ought to be transcribed as Kourous or Kouroux in Greek, but became Kyros, because this looks like a Greek word (”Mr. Almighty”). The name that is rendered as Alexandros, which has a perfect Greek etymology, may in fact represent something like Alaxandus, which is not Greek.
Greeks indeed had a tedency to regularize foreign names to sound better in Greek. Examples are:
- The name Artaxerxes is the regularization of the original Persian name Artakhshathra.
- The name Xerxes is the regularization of the original Persian name Khshayarsha.
- The name Darius from the regularization of the old Persian name Dârayawuð.
Or even the name of the famous Indian founder of the Mauryan empire Chandragupta was regularised from Greeks into Sandracottus.
The vast majority of these foreign names have no meaning in Greek. From the other hand All Macedonian names like Alexandros and Phillipos are completely meaningful in greek in their original forms therefore there was no need anyone to regularize them. In relation to the name’s “Alexandros” usage, the first evidenced use of the name in history, comes from the Mycenean Greeks, in the female form “Alexandra“. In reality the name Alexadros was COMMON in the Greek world prior to the establishment of Macedonian kingdom. Furthermore this claim is easily refuted alone by the fact that NONE of the Persian names who were regularized to sound better in Greek, is found in the Greek world. You wont find any Greek of classical ages called….Xerxes, or Darius, or any female called Sisygambis. On the contrary, the vast majority of ancient Macedonian names is COMMON in the Greek world. Philippos, Alexandros, Pausanias, etc are extensively used among Greeks. In reality the argument of Jona Lendering proves the exact opposite of his claim.
For example, there is evidence that Greeks were unable to understand people who were makedonizein, “speaking Macedonian”. The Macedonian king Alexander the Great was not understood by the Greeks when he shouted an order in his native tongue and the Greek commander Eumenes needed a translator to address the soldiers of the Macedonian phalanx.
Firstly Makedonizein could be a i) a dialect/language, ii) simply a mode of speech.
There isnt any clear reference from ancient sources that we could claim safely Greeks couldnt understand the ancient Macedonian native tongue. On the contrary there are references which proves the opposite.
3] When day dawned and the inhabitants had realized the danger that beset them, they were at first under the impression that the Lacedaemonians had forced an entry into the town, and attacked them more recklessly owing to their ancient hatred. But when they discovered from their equipment and speech that it was the Macedonians and Demetrius the son of Philip, they were filled with great fear, when they considered the Macedonian training in warfare and the good fortune which they saw that they enjoyed in all their ventures.
[Pausanias Messeniaka XXIX, 3]
This quote shows Messenians were able to understand Macedonian speech, thus they recognized the newcomers were Macedonians and Demetrius, son of Philip.
But while he lay encamped there near him, many who came out of Beroea infinitely praised Pyrrhus as invincible in arms, a glorious warrior, who
treated those he had taken kindly and humanely. Several of these Pyrrhus himself sent privately, pretending to be Macedonians, and saying, now was the time to be delivered from the severe government of Demetrius, by coming over to Pyrrhus, a gracious prince, and a lover of soldiers.
[Plutarch Pyrrhus XI.4]
So Pyrrhus planted some of his Epirotes into Macedonian army urging Macedonians to get rid of Demetrius since Epirotes spoke the same Greek dialect as Macedonians.
one recollecting himself, stripped off a piece of bark from an oak, and wrote on it with the tongue of a buckle, stating the necessities and the fortunes of the child, and then rolling it about a stone, which was made use of to give force to the motion, threw it over to the other side, or, as some say, fastened it to the end of a javelin, and darted it over. When the men on the other shore read what was on the bark, and saw how time pressed, without delay they cut down some trees, and lashing them together, came over to them. And it so fell out, that he who first got ashore, and took Pyrrhus in his arms, was named Achilles, the rest being helped over by others as they came to hand.
[Plutarch Pyrrhus II.1]
Plutarch tells us the story of the infant Pyrrhus when his companions tried to save the infant Pyrrhus from Molossians and while heading to the court Of Glaucias, they came across Megara, a Macedonian village in the other side of where they were. Apparently the Macedonian peasants were able to read the message of the Epirotes guards of Pyrrhus since they spoke the same language thus they helped them.
Alexander speaks: “The Macedonians are going to judge your case,” he said. “Please state whether you will use your native language before them.”Philotas: “Besides the Macedonians, there are many present who, I think, will find what I am going to say easier to understand if I use the language you yourself have been using, your purpose, I believe, being only to enable more people to understand you.”
Curtius VII 9.25 - 11.7
in fact in Philotas affair it becomes even clearer Macedonian is a Greek dialect, since Philotas explicitely states that using the Koine would make his speech “easier to understand“, indicating that Macedonian dialect was not incomprehensible to the non-Macedonians, but a bit more difficult to understand. In fact, the whole incident shows the Macedonian dialect was not that different from the Koine and could be understood eventhough it had some difficulty by other Greeks. This also explains the quick disappearance of the Macedonian dialect and the quick adoption of the Koine from Macedonians.
Aetolians, Acarnanians, Macedonians, men of the same language
Nothing more to be added. Aetolians, Acarnanians and Macedonians spoke the same language.
“General Paulus of Rome surrounded by the ten Commissioners took his official seat surrounded by the whole crowds of Macedonians…Paulus announced in Latin the decisions of the Senate, as well as his own, made by the advice of his council. This announcement was translated into Greek and repeated by Gnaeus Octavius the Praetor-for he too was present.
[T. Livius, XLV]
Another proof the Macedonian population spoke Greek.
“In pursuit of Bessus the Macedonians had arrived at a small town inhabited by the Branchidae who, on the orders of Xerxes, when he was returning from Greece, had emigrated from Miletus and settled in this spot. This was necessary because, to please Xerxes, they had violated the temple called the Didymeon. The culture of their forebears had not yet disappeared thought they were now bilingual and the foreign tongue was gradually eroding their own. So it was with great joy that they welcomed Alexander, to whom they surrendered themselves and their city. Alexander called a meeting of the Milesians in his force, for the Milesians bore a long-standing grudge against the Branchidae as a clan. Since they were the people betrayed by the Branchidae, Alexander let them decide freely on their case, asking if they preferred to remember their injury or their common origins. But when there was a difference of opinion over this, he declared that he would himself consider the best course of action.When the Branchidae met him the next day, he told them to accompany him. On reaching the city, he himself entered through the gate with a unit of light-armed troops. The phalanx had been ordered to surround the city walls and, when the signal was given, to sack this city which provided refuge for traitors, killing the inhabitants to a man. The Branchidae, who were unarmed, were butchered throughout the city, and neither community of language nor the olive-branches and entreaties of the suppliants could curb the savagery. Finally the Macedonians dug down to the foundations of the city walls in order to demolish them and leave not a single trace of the city.”
[Curtius VII.5.29]
The greek-speaking Branchidae had common language with Macedonians.
If we follow this logic then by reading the following quote by [Thucydides (3-112)]
Quote:
| At dawn he fell upon the Ambraciots while they were still abed, ignorant of what had passed, and fully thinking that it was their own countrymen—Demosthenes having purposely put the Messenians in front with orders to address them in the Doric dialect, and thus to inspire confidence in the sentinels, who would not be able to see them as it was still night. |
There is nowhere in ancient sources found that Eumenes needed a translator to communicate with Macedonians. Eumenes sent a Macedonian to speak to them in the Macedonian dialect, in order to win their confidence. In (Plut. Eumenes XVII.2-VIII.1) Eumenes has absolutely no problem to communicate with Makedones. Or in (Eum. XIV.5) Makedones greeted Eumenes μακεδονιστι τη φωνή. Therefore there was no problem of communication between Eumenes and Makedones.
If the use of Xennias is, according to the argumentation, a sign that he was a translator then by reading (Diodorus XIX 39.5) we should assume the Macedonian commancer of Argyraspids Antigenes could not communicate in his native tongue and needed…a translator.
Σχόλια