THE ANCIENT MACEDONIAN REGION

VANISHED FOR 1000 YR

After the Roman conquest in 168BC, Macedonia became the name of an administrative and military unit (theme) of the Roman Empire, and in 12 to 45AD was reduced in size and renamed Macedonia Proper. In the fourth century the territory was split into two distinct parts, Macedonia Prima with Thessalonika as its center, and Macedonia Secundi with Stobi at its center. Then during the seventh century the invasions of the southern Slavs, in particular the Sclavinians, followed by the proto-Bulgarians destroyed the diocese of Macedonia and the rule of the Empire ceased to exist throughout Greece. In accordance with common practice of the time the land was named after the ethnic group that controlled it, hence the diocese of Macedonia and its provinces Macedonia Prima and Macedonia Secundi were collectively referred to by contemporary Byzantine and Eastern writers as Bulgaria or Land of the Bulgarians. Consequently the name Macedonia associated with the ancient land disappeared completely.

However in about 800AD, when the Empire had regained the basin region of the River Maritsa it resettled the previous refugees from the diocese of Macedonia and established a new theme which was called Macedonia. The main towns of Macedonia were now Adrianopolis (present day-Odrin) and Philippopolis (present-day Plovdiv). The map opposite, drawn in the Middle Ages, shows the new location for the name Macedonia (in purple), and for comparison the area of the ancient region is indicated by the blue circle. That part of ancient Macedonia still controlled by the Byzantine Empire with Thessalonika as its main city became known as Thessaly (shaded in green).

Therefore for the next millennium the name Macedonia was totally forgotten in relation to its ancient location by both the new inhabitants of the region and people living in the Balkans. It was however preserved in its proper ancient meaning in the old manuscripts and on geographic maps made in the West. The re- establishment of the name Macedonia in accord with its ancient location only occurred very late in the nineteenth century due to external factors which sought to standardise the cartography of the Balkan peninsula. Naturally the Greeks were the first to accept and widely use these new place-names since they advanced contemporary Greek nationalism as a continuance of the past glory of Hellenic antiquity.

However for a millennium prior, the ancient Macedonian territory was only known as Lower Land to its endemic population, which with Upper Land comprised the two constituent parts of the Bulgarian Nation.

Updates page 1

MACEDONIA AT 431 BC

MACEDONIA AT 800 AD