Macedonia, understood as the name of a geographical area, is derived from the ethnic name of one unit of its inhabitants, the ancient tribe of Macedonians. Macedonia means the land or state of the Macedonian people; the name spread over every territory this people occupied. Before the accession of Philip II in 359 the southern boundaries of Macedonia were the lower Olympos and Kambounia Mountains, and the western boundary the Pindos range. To the north, Macdeonia's border was close to that of present-day Greece and the formerYugoslavia, stretching as far as Lake Kerkine and Mounts Bertislos and Kerdyllion. Philip II added Pelagonia to the northwest, Chalkidike to the northeast, and the belt beyond Kerkine, Bertiskos and Kerdyllion to the north as far as the mountains west of the river Nestos.
The Macedonians were a distinct group of people who lived north of Thessaly, west of Illyria, south of Painonia, and west of Thrace. These people first came from the western mountains of what today is the northern region of modern Greece. They settled in an area called Pieria, which is located east of the Thermaic Gulf. The migration might have been due to an increase in populations surrounding the Pindos mountain range, which resulted in a need for additional farm or pasture land.
Macedonia’s geography rendered the inhabitants' struggle even more difficult. Ancient Macedonia consisted of two distinct geographical regions: Lower Macedonia, the great alluvial plain created by the Halliakmon and Axius rivers as they flowed down to the Thermaic Gulf; and Upper Macedonia, the horseshoe of rugged uplands and mountains that stretched northwestward toward Illyria and Epirus and was drained by the same two great rivers. The plains of Lower Macedonia formed the heart of the kingdom and supported a large agricultural population. Its mountainous hinterlands not only held extensive forests and rich mineral but also sheltered various tribes who jealously guarded their freedom from the control of the lowland Macedonian kings.
The monarch was the central institution of the Macedonian society. Macedonian kings believed themselves "to be the state." The king and his nobles always made the final decisions- all the appointments, grants of land and privilege, and all responses to petitions. There were no constitutional limitations on the Macedonian kings’ powers, but there were extra constitutional limits on how these policies were exercised. In Macedonia, there was no impersonal bureaucracy buffering the king from his subjects. The kings of Macedonia spent their lives in the mists of their personal entourage composed of Macedonian nobles. The kings chose their closest advisers and the members of their bodyguard from these "companions." In war, the companions served in an elite cavalry unit personally commanded by the king.
The Greek historians Herodotus and Thucydides claim that the Macedonian royal house was an extension of the Temenidian royal family of Argos. However, Eugene Borza, a modern expert on ancient Macedonia, suggests that the Macedonians themselves developed this myth in order to improve their diplomatic relationship with the Hellenic world. He also suggests that the royal Macedonian family originated in the city of Aegae with King Amyntas I, the father of Alexander I. Alexander I’s reign saw the first diplomatic relations established with Greece. During Xerxes' invasion of Greece Alexander I was chosen by the Persian general Mardonius as a Persian envoy to Athens. At Tempe, Alexander I supplied the Greek commanders with beneficial advice and a detailed report of the size and strength of the Persian army. Athens later anointed him as a patron and benefactor of Greece.
Even before the Peloponnesian War Athens traded for wood with Macedonia, a trade which became an integral part of the Macedonian economy. Since Macedonia was heavily forested, timber became one of the city’s main exports. Athens required a large amount of timber for ship building, especially for replacements and additions to their fleet, as well as supplies of tar and pitch for water-proofing and caulking their ships. Both Macedonia and Athens benefited from this trade, bolstering the economy of Macedonia and providing a special source of raw materials for the expansion of the Athenian fleet. Indeed, maintaining access to Macedonian timber supplies, and keeping them from her enemies, was an important part of Athenian foreign policy.
Alexander I’s grandson, Arkhelaos, brought Madedonia further within the Greek world. There were already several independent Greek poleis along the Macedonia coast, which served as a source of Hellenic influence on Macedonia. Arkhelaos, who ruled from 413 to 399, moved the capital of Macedonia to Pella and invited many Greek artists and playwrights to his court, who brought with them for the first time a real Greek artistic and intellectual presence to Macedonia. This was the exposure that the Macedonians needed, and Arkhelaos is justly remembered as the first king to adopt Greek culture and customs into the Macedonian world.
As we know from our textbook, Philip II was played a major role in Greek history in the third quarter of the fourth century, eventually establishing his domination over old Greece after his victory at Khaironea in 338. The accession of his son Alexander the Great to the throne of Macedonia and the overlordship of Greece in 336 conveniently marks the end of Greece's Classical period and the start of the Hellenistic Age.