League of the Macedonians

The League of the Macedonians (Greek: Κοινὸν τῶν Μακεδόνων, Koinòn tōn Makedónōn) was a confederationally-organized commonwealth institution (i.e., an ancient Greek regional state or koinon[1]) consisting of all Macedonian communities united around a monarch.[2] It can be paralleled from the koinon of the Molossians, but it seems that the Macedonian koinon had far less power than that of the Molossians.[2] The capital, or headquarters, of the Macedonian koinon was the city of Beroia.[3]

Coin of the Macedonian League in the Numismatic Museum of Athens with the Greek inscription "ΜΑΚΕΔΟΝΩΝ ΠΡΩΤΗΣ"

History

Both numismatic and inscriptional evidence attest to the existence of the Macedonian koinon before and after the Roman conquest of Macedon.[4] Coinage in the name of the "Macedonians" (i.e., ΜΑΚΕΔΟΝΩΝ) was in continuous production from the reigns of Philip V (r. 238–179 BC) and Perseus (r. 212–166 BC) well into the Roman period.[4] It was reorganized under the early Roman Empire and transformed into an institution related to the imperial cult as happened to all the koina of the period.[4]

The koinon, administered by local elite members, organized and financed games and festivals and were awarded Roman citizenship. Using traditional ethnic symbols depicted on its coins, such as the Macedonian shield and the winged thunderbolt, the koinon preserved a sense of Greek/Macedonian civic identity within the province until the end of the 2nd century AD.[4] The last attestation of a person "ethnically" identified as Macedonian is dated to the beginning of the 4th century AD.[5]

References

Citations
  1. Mackil 2013, pp. 304–305 including Map 11.1.
  2. Walbank 1993, p. 84.
  3. Gill 1994, p. 415.
  4. Kremydi-Sicilianou 2005, pp. 101–102.
  5. Hatzopoulos 2011, p. 35.

Sources
  • Gill, David W.J. (1994). "CHAPTER 11 MACEDONIA". In Gill, David W.J.; Gempf, Conrad (eds.). The Book of Acts in Its Graeco-Roman Setting. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. ISBN 978-0-80-284847-5.
  • Hatzopoulos, Miltiades B. (2011). "Macedonian Studies". In Lane Fox, Robin J. (ed.). Brill's Companion to Ancient Macedon: Studies in the Archaeology and History of Macedon, 650 BC – 300 AD. Leiden: Brill. pp. 35–42. ISBN 978-90-04-20650-2.
  • Kremydi-Sicilianou, Sophia (2005). "7. 'Belonging' to Rome, 'Remaining' Greek: Coinage and Identity in Roman Macedonia". In Howgego, Christopher; Heuchert, Volker; Burnett, Andrew (eds.). Coinage and Identity in the Roman Provinces. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 95–106. ISBN 0-19-923784-0.
  • Mackil, Emily (2013). "CHAPTER 11 THE GREEK KOINON". In Bang, Peter Fibiger; Scheidel, Walter (eds.). The Oxford Handbook of the State in the Ancient Near East and Mediterranean. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 304–323. ISBN 978-0-19-518831-8.
  • Walbank, Frank William (1993) [1981]. The Hellenistic World: Revised Edition. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. ISBN 0-674-38726-0.
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