1. THE TERM "UPPER MACEDONIA"
Strabo in his "Geography" defines as "Upper Macedonia" (ἄνω Μακεδονία) the area which consisted of the regions Lyncus, Pelagonia, Orestias and Elimeia («καὶ δὴ καὶ τὰ περὶ Λύγκον καὶ Πελαγονίαν καὶ Ὀρεστιάδα καὶ Ἐλίμειαν τὴν ἄνω Μακεδονίαν ἐκάλουν») ¹. According modern historical research, Upper Macedonia consisted of Elimeia, Tymphaea, Lycenstis, Orestias, Pelagonia, Derriopus, Eordaea, with Antintania and Dassaretis being incorporated later into the region ² The following map ³ might be helpful:
2. ETHNIC AFFILIATIONS
2.1 Archaeological Data
Upper Macedonia, being part of the Mycenaean world, was inhabited by Greek tribes already since the Bronze Age. This was confirmed by archaeological discoveries of the last decades, namely pottery associated with North-Western/ Doric Greek tribes, which also point to Mycenaean Greek settlements in the region. According to L. Wynn - Antikas:
«This can be seen in the numerous matt painted vases in the tradition of late Bronze Age pottery which developed from the Middle Helladic pottery in southern Greece ( 1900-1800 BC ). Matt painted ware has been found as far away as Albania, Central Macedonia and Thessaly, and was typically used by the north-western Greek tribes of the Dorians and the Macedonians. Among the Mycenaean finds found is a unique figurine ( Fig 6 ) which dates to the late Helladic - IIIb period ( 1300 to 1200 BC). Such artefacts have led archaeologists to believe that it is likely there were Mycenaean settlements in Upper Macedonia » ⁴.
2.2 Part of the Epirotic Ethne
The archaeological conclusions coincide with historical records, since the tribes of Upper Macedonia are associated with North-Western Greek tribes in ancient literature. Hecataeus of Miletus (6th c. BCE) , in a fragment preserved by Stephanus of Byzantium, describes the tribe of the Orestae as an Epirotic tribe and, more specifically, Molossian:
«Ὀρέσται, Μολοσσικόν ἔθνος. Ἑκαταῖος Εὐρώπῃ» ⁵.
Hecataeus' information can be confirmed by a 4th century BCE inscription found in Dodona, where an Orestian named Φρύνος appears as co-leader of the Molossian tribal state (κοινόν):
| ἐπὶ προστά[τα] Δροάτου Κελαίθ̣[ου, γραμ]- | |
| ματέος δὲ Παυσ[ανία Τριπ]- | |
| ολίτα, συναρχόν[των Θεαρί(?)]- | |
| 5 | δα Κελαίθου, Ἄλκ[ωνος Πεί]- |
| αλος, Μενεφύλου [— — — — —], | |
| Ἀντίκ̣κα Ἐθνεστοῦ, Μ̣[․․․․․ Τ]- | |
| ριφύλα, Γεννάδα Ὀ[νοπέρνο]- | |
| υ, Ἕκτορος Ὄνφαλος, Δ[αμοίτα] | |
| 10 | Ἀμύμνου, Αἰρόπου Γε[νοαίου, Ἀ]- |
| νεροίτα Ἀρκτᾶνος, Ν[ίκωνο]- | |
| ς Φύλατος, Ἀνερεία Τρ̣[ιπολίτ]- | |
| α, Φρύνου Ὀρεστοῦ, Ἀρ[χιδάμο(?)]- | |
| υ Παρωροῦ, Ὀμοστακ[ίου Κυεσ]- | |
| 15 | τοῦ ἔδωκε τὸ κοινὸν τ[ῶν Μο]- |
| λοσσῶν πολιτείαν [Ἀριστ]- | |
| οκλεῖ, Μονδαι[ῶι — — — Ἀντ]- | |
| ιγένεος Ν[αυ]πα[κτίοις, εὐε]- | |
| ργέτας εἶμεν τῶν [Μολοσ]- | |
| 20 | σῶν καὶ αὐτο̣[ῖ]ν̣ καὶ γ[ενεᾶι ὡς] |
| παντὶ Μολο[σσ]ῶ̣ι̣ κ̣[αὶ ἀτέλεια]- | |
| ν καὶ ἐντέλειαν [καὶ γᾶς ἔγ]- | |
| κτασιν καὶ ὅσα [τίμια πάντα] | |
| τοῖς ἄλλοις ε[ὐεργέταις π]- | |
| 25 | ολιτευομέν[οις ὑπάρχειν]. ⁶. |
In a 2nd c. BCE inscription we find the phrase "Orestian Molossians" ⁷:
< Ὀρεστοὶ Μολοσοί >
The Epirote origin of the Orestae is also attested in Strabo's Geography, where other Upper Macedonian tribes, such as the Tymphaei and the Atintanes, are listed as Ἠπειρῶται:
«The Amphilochians are Epeirotes; and so are the peoples who are situated above them and border on the Illyrian mountains, inhabiting a rugged country—I mean the Molossi, the Athamanes, the Aethices, the Tymphaei, the Orestae, and also the Paroraei and the Atintanes, some of them being nearer to the Macedonians and others to the Ionian Gulf» ¹.
While in another passage, Strabo mentions the Orestae, the Pelagonians and the Elimiotae as Epirotes who were annexed to Macedonia:
«For both on account of the fame and of the predominance of the Thessalians and the Macedonians, the countries of those Epeirotes who were their nearest neighbors were made, some willingly and the others unwillingly, parts of Thessaly or Macedonia; for instance, the Athamanes, the Aethices, and the Talares were made parts of Thessaly, and the Orestae, the Pelagonians, and the Elimiotae of Macedonia» ⁸.
Epirotic origin is also assigned to the Lyncestae (Λυγκῆσται) by Stephanus of Byzantium who mentions Lyncus (Λύγκος) as a "city of Epirus":
«Λύγκος, πόλις Ἠπείρου. Στράβων ἑβδόμῃ. ἐκλήθη ἀπὸ Λυγκέως. τὸ ἐθνικὸν Λυγκησταί. τὸ θηλυκόν Λυγκηστίς. λέγεται καὶ Λύγκιος ὡς Λύττιος. λέγεται καὶ Λυγκεύς» ⁹.
Based on the above, it is reasonable to conclude that the tribes of Upper Macedonia belonged to the branch of North-Western Greeks, or Epirotes, as archaeological data have indicated. N. G. L. Hammond is convinced that this is the case:
«On crossing the Balkan chain, we find that Hecataeus called the Orestae 'a Molossian tribe' (F 107), and Strabo (434; cf. 326) probably derived from Hecataeus his belief that the Elimeotae, Lyncestae, and Pelagones, as well as the Orestae, were Epirotic or rather Molossian tribes before their incorporation by the Macedones into the Macedonian kingdom» ¹⁰.
2.3 Connections to Macedonia
Marsyas of Pella, Macedonian writer, informs us that Orestis was also called Maketa (or Maketia) ¹¹ , while we also know that Maketai (or Macetae in Latin) was another name for the Macedonians ¹². It is possible that Orestis was home to a North-Western/Epirotic tribe, the Maketai, who migrated southwards and formed the new tribe of the Makedones. Moreover, given the fact that Orestai ("mountain-men") and Maketai/Makedones ("highlanders") are tribal names with almost identical meaning (see here), it can be assumed that Macedonians and Orestae were derived from the same North-Western Greek stock. This view is reinforced by Herodotus, who wrote that the ancestors of the Dorians, when they lived around Epirus, were called Macedonians ¹³ :
«For in the days of king Deucalion it inhabited the land of Phthia, then the country called Histiaean, under Ossa and Olympus, in the time of Dorus son of Hellen; driven from this Histiaean country by the Cadmeans, it settled about Pindus in the territory called Macedonian; from there again it migrated to Dryopia, and at last came from Dryopia into the Peloponnese, where it took the name of Dorian»
Eugene Borza summarizes:
«The “highlanders” or “Makedones” of the mountainous regions of western Macedonia are derived from northwest Greek stock; they were akin both to those who at an earlier time may have migrated south to become the historical “Dorians”, and to other Pindus tribes who were the ancestors of the Epirotes or Molossians. That is, we may suggest that northwest Greece provided a pool of Indo-European speakers of proto-Greek from which were drawn the tribes who later were known by different names as they established their regional identities in separate parts of the country» ¹⁴.
3. LINGUISTIC AFFILIATIONS
Having said these, we can now come to the conclusion that it was Epirote tribes from Orestis who brought the Northwestern - Doric dialect to Macedonia. Thus, the Orestae, the rest of Upper Macedonians and the Macedonians should have spoken similar dialects.
3.1 Ancient Testimonies
Indeed, the similarity in language between Upper Macedonians and Macedonians had been pointed out by the time of Strabo. Strabo reports that people classified as "Macedonia" the region from Upper Macedonia as far as Corcyra (Corfu) due to similarity in culture and speech:
«And in fact the regions about Lyncus, Pelagonia, Orestias, and Elimeia, used to be called Upper Macedonia, though later on they were by some also called Free Macedonia. But some go so far as to call the whole of the country Macedonia, as far as Corcyra, at the same time stating as their reason that in tonsure, language, short cloak, and other things of the kind, the usages of the inhabitants are similar, although, they add, some speak both languages» ¹.
From Strabo's description we can distinguish the following regions:
(a) Macedonia Proper
(b) Upper Macedonia & Epirus
(c) Corcyra Island.
In region (a) , the Macedonian idiom of North-Western Greek Doric was spoken ¹⁵. Region (c) was a Corinthian colony and, obviously, Corinthian Doric was the language of the Island. Corinthians, along with other Dorian colonists had founded several colonies along Western Greece and the Adriatic, such as Epidamnos. Thucydides clearly mentions the Corinthian Doric ancestry of the Corcyraeans:
«The city of Epidamnus stands on the right of the entrance of the Ionic gulf. Its vicinity is inhabited by the Taulantians, an Illyrian people. The place is a colony from Corcyra, founded by Phalius, son of Eratocleides, of the family of the Heraclids, who had according to ancient usage been summoned for the purpose from Corinth, the mother country. The colonists were joined by some Corinthians, and others of the Dorian race» ¹⁶.
The dialects of Corcyra and Macedonia were so similar that they were considered equally Macedonian. Consequently, the Doric character of the language of region (b) is also confirmed once again. To make it more simple, Strabo basically implies an equation Corinthian ≈ Macedonian ≈ Epirotic (= Doric).
3.2. The ethnonymic suffix -stai
The ethnonymic suffix -stai is a characteristic of Upper Macedonian tribal names such as the Ὀρέσται (Orestai), the Ἀργέσται (Argestai/Argestaioi, tribe attested in Pelagonia ¹⁷) and the Ἐθνέσται (Ethnestai , tribe located at Orestis or near Orestis ¹⁸). The suffix is very regular in Greek derivatives of s-stem neuter nouns ¹⁹:
• ὄρος > Ὀρέσ-ται
• Ἄργος > Ἀργέσ-ται > ἀργεσταῖοι
• ἔθνος > Ἐθνέσ-ται
However, the use of the suffix is also used in ethnonyms that are not derived from neuter s-stems. This generalization must have been applied by North-Western Greeks, as it is present in neighbouring Macedonian and Epirote tribal names:
• Ἐορδαία > Ἐορδέσται, but Ἐορδίζω > Ἐορδισταί ²⁰, regular derivation in Greek from verbs in -ίζω (e.g. κτίζω , "to build" > κτίσται , "builders").
• Δῖον > Διέσται ²¹ or Διάσται ²², the Macedonian inhabitants of Dion .
• αἴξ (?) > Αἰγεσταῖοι , another name for the Thesprotians ²³
Finally, the form -ησται (ē/ before -stai) as in Λυγκῆσται/Λυγκησταί is only attested in Ἐγχηστοί, an Epirotic tribe ²⁴:
• Λύγκος > Λυγκησταί
• Ἐγχος > Ἐγχηστοί
According to Stephanus of Byzantium, these derivations are a Macedonian dialectal feature:
«Μακεδόνων γὰρ ὁ τύπος, Ὀρέσται, Λυγκησταί» ²².
N. G. L. Hammond confirms that the suffix -estae is a West-Greek feature:
«...The aetiologizing motive is patently obvious, the more so as the word Orestae has an obvious derivation from ὄρος and the west-Greek ethnic termination -estae» ²⁵.
The occurrence of -st- suffixal elements in Illyrian ethnonyms could be attributed to neighbourιng Greek influence. Greek suffixes such as -ānes or -atai are also found in Illyrian tribes:
• Ἐγγελᾶνες , Illyrian tribe — Δυμᾶνες , Doric tribe
• Αὐταριάται , Illyrian tribe — Ποτειδαιάται , Greek inhabitants of Poteidaea ²⁶.
____________________
Sources/References:
⁴ Minerva, "The Aiani Museum opens in Western Macedonia", vol.9
¹² cf. Aulus Gellius, 9.3.1
¹⁵ The Ancient Macedonian Language:
¹⁶ Thucydides 1.24, cf. an inscription writing Ϙορινθιων Ϙορϙυραιων , "(of the) Corinthian Corcyraeans"
²⁰ According to Stephanus of Byzantium ; for Eordestai see here
²¹ Διεσται
²² Διασται
²³ Αἰγεσταῖοι
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