No where in history has a group conquered a nation and just imposed their langauage, beliefs, and laws. Not even when the British conquered Quebec did they force, or could force, the whole population to learn english as their main language. Yes, it was the language of business, but until the “Quiet Revolution” many French people outside of Montreal spoke french exclusively. The only time the British made a conquered area “english” was when they vanquished, remember Machiavelli’s “dispose and disposes” theory, when they sent the Acadians by the thousands to the now New Orleans area in order to fully, and properly conquer the French colonists. The same goes in Macedonia. Even if the kings were Greek, and the rest of the nation was non-Greek. The kings would have to learn the langauge of the locals, and follow their customs. An example of this were the Thracians that “adopted” Greek culture, but spoke a language entirely their own. Only through colonization by Athens, and Macedonia, were the Thracians “integrated” into the Greek culture. There are other cases as well in Asia Minor. Moreover, the Macedonians, like the Spartans, had their own “unique” culture compared to the “Ionian” Greeks, that were from the Athenian stock, or the “Aeolians”. The Spartans and the Macedonians were distant cousins as they both “invaded” Greece around the same time, and were known as “Dorians”. Remember that Greece, was not always inhabited by Greeks (that is in Herodotus as well, or JB Bury’s book titled “History of Greece”).

Remember that Herodotus was writing a book to propogate the Athenian “myth” of being the most civilised of the Greeks. It was a propoganda text at best. The facts are these”

1) If the Macedoians were not Greek, they definitely were not Slavs;
2) Philip, Alexander, and the other kings, especially Alexander, pushed the Greek culture throughout their conquered areas, not their ancient pseudo-culture.
3) Aristotle spoke no other language than Ionian Greek, which means he would have had to learn a barbaric langauge that he wouldn’t fathom based on his writings.

In short, learn your history because it is better to be considered a fool, than to open your mouth and to confirm it.

Epsilon +