Map of the Roman Empire - Macedonia

Macedonia
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Ancient Macedonia A region north of Greece, it was a border territory of Greece. In classical times Macedonia was a kingdom, not city-states; In the 4th century B.C. Macedonia was the dominant power in Greece; Alexander the Great (King of Macedonia) conquered the Persian empire; after Alexander's death the Macedonian kingdom continued until the Roman conquest in 168 B.C.; Macedonia became a Roman Province in 148 B.C. The Bible mentions that Macedonia was the first part of Europe that was visited by Paul, Acts 16:9ff.; 20:3; 1 Corinthians 16:5; 2 Corinthians 1:16; Philippians 4:15; 1 Thessalonians 1:7. In Romans 15:26 the name "Macedonia" denotes the churches of the province.

Acts 16:9ff. - And a vision appeared to Paul in the night; There stood a man of Macedonia, and prayed him, saying, Come over into Macedonia, and help us.

Acts 20:3 - And [there] abode three months. And when the Jews laid wait for him, as he was about to sail into Syria, he purposed to return through Macedonia.

1 Cor. 16:5 - Now I will come unto you, when I shall pass through Macedonia: for I do pass through Macedonia.

2 Cor. 1:16 - And to pass by you into Macedonia, and to come again out of Macedonia unto you, and of you to be brought on my way toward Judaea.

Phil. 4:15 - Now ye Philippians know also, that in the beginning of the gospel, when I departed from Macedonia, no church communicated with me as concerning giving and receiving, but ye only.

1 Thess. 1:7 - So that ye were ensamples to all that believe in Macedonia and Achaia.

Rom. 15:26 - For it hath pleased them of Macedonia and Achaia to make a certain contribution for the poor saints which are at Jerusalem.

Macedonia. Greek: Μακεδονία, Makedon�a,  Macedonia is a geographical and historical region of Greece in southeastern Europe. Macedonia is the largest and second most populous Greek region. The region and that of Thrace are often together referred to informally as northern Greece.

This northern Greek region incorporates most of the territories of ancient Macedon, the kingdom ruled by the Argeads whose most celebrated members were Alexander the Great and his father Philip II. The name Macedonia was later applied to identify various administrative areas in the Roman and Byzantine Empires with widely differing borders. Under the Ottomans, the name disappeared altogether...

History. According to Herodotus, the history of Macedonia began with the Makednoi tribe, among the first to use the name, migrating to the region from Histiaeotis in the south. There they lived near Thracians tribes such as the Bryges that would later leave Macedonia for Asia Minor and become known as Phrygians. Macedonia was named after the Makednoi. Accounts of other toponyms such as Emathia are attested to have been in use before that. A branch of Macedonians invaded Southern Greece, where, upon reaching Peloponnese were renamed to Dorians triggering the accounts of the Dorian invasion. For centuries the Macedonian tribes were organized in independent kingdoms, in what is now Central Macedonia, and their role in Greek politics was minimal. The rest of the region was inhabited by various Thracian and Illyrian tribes as well as mostly coastal colonies of other Greek states such as Amphipolis, Olynthos, Potidea, Stageira and many others. During the late 6th and early 5th century BC, the region came under Persian rule until the destruction of Xerxes at Plataea. In the next century, Macedonia became the theatre of many military actions by the Lacedaemonians and the Athenians and saw incursions of Thracians and Illyrians, as attested by Thucidydes. The kingdom of Macedon, was reorganised by Philip II and achieved Greek hegemony during his years. This is where the Greek history of the remainder of today's Greek Region of Macedonia. After his assassination, his son Alexander succeeded to the throne of Macedon and, retaining the office of "General of Greece", he became one of the best known persona this land ever gave birth to. Macedonia remained an important and powerful kingdom until it was annexed by the Romans in 148 BC. The region remained under Roman rule for centuries and went under various administrative names. - Wikipedia

Macedonia. A country in Europe, north of Greece, said to have been originally named Emathia. Its boundaries before the time of Philip, the father of Alexander, were, on the south, Olympus and the Cambunian Mountains, which separated it from Thessaly and Epirus; on the east, the river Strymon, which separated it from Thrace; and on the north and west, Illyria and Paeonia. Macedonia was greatly enlarged by the conquests of Philip. He added to his kingdom Paeonia on the north; a part of Thrace on the east as far as the river Nestus, which Thracian district was usually called Macedonia Adiecta; the peninsula Chalcidic� on the south; and on the west a part of Illyria as far as Lake Lychnitis. On the conquest of the country by the Romans, B.C. 168, Macedonia was divided into four districts, independent of one another; but the whole country was formed into a Roman province after the conquest of the Achaeans in 146.

Macedonia may be described as a large plain, surrounded on three sides by lofty mountains. Through this plain, however, run many smaller ranges of mountains, between which are wide and fertile valleys, extending from the coast far into the interior. The chief mountains were Scordus, or Scardus, on the northwest frontier, towards Illyria and Dardania; further east Orbelus and Scomius, which separated it from Moesia; and Rhodop�, which extended from Scomius in a southeasterly direction, forming the boundary between Macedonia and Thrace. On the southern frontier were the Cambunii Montes and Olympus. The chief rivers were in the direction of east to west� the Nestus, the Strymon, the Axius, the largest of all, the Ludias or Lydias, and the Haliacmon. The chief cities were Aegae and Pella, the capitals, and Pydna, Potidaea, Olynthus, Amphipolis, and Philippi. The great bulk of the inhabitants of Macedonia consisted of Thracian and Illyrian tribes. At an early period some Greek tribes settled in the southern part of the country. They are said to have come from Argos, and to have been led by the three sons of Temenus, the Perdiccas, the youngest of the three, was looked upon as the founder of the Macedonian monarchy. A later tradition, however, regarded Caranus, who was also a Heraclid from Argos, as the founder of the monarchy. These Greek settlers intermarried with the original inhabitants of the country. The dialect which they spoke was akin to the Doric, but it contained many barbarous words and forms; and the Macedonians accordingly were never regarded by the other

Very little is known of the history of Macedonia till the reign of Amyntas I., who was a contemporary of Darius Hystaspis; but from that time their history is more or less intimately connected with that of Greece, till at length Philip, the father of Alexander the Great, became the virtual master of the whole of Greece. The conquests of Alexander extended the Macedonian supremacy over a great part of Asia; and the Macedonian kings continued to exercise their sovereignty over Greece till the conquest of Perseus by the Romans, in B.C. 168, brought the Macedonian monarchy to a close. See Abel, Makedonien vor K�nig Phillipp (Leipzig, 1847); D�ll, Geographie der alt. Makedoniens (1891); Henzey and Daumet, Mission Arch�ologique de Mac�donie, 2 vols. (Paris, 1876); Curteis, Rise of the Macedonian Empire (N. Y. 1878); and the articles Alexander; Perdiccas; Philippus. - Harry Thurston Peck. Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities. New York. Harper and Brothers. 1898.