What are the social factors that made Macedonia stronger?
By the more familiar social standards of Athens, there are great differences between Macedonian society and Greek society.
Macedonia shares many traditions and institutions with its non-Greek tribes in the east, north and northwest.
Male warrior society in Macedonia retains in many respects the small, tight-knit group style of the pre-expansion of the 7th century, and in the eyes of some Greek philosophers they are undoubtedly backward (hence the name barbarians).
From the time of the present until the death of Alexander IV (311 BC), all kings belonged to the Temenid family, ruling the dominant family of Argead in the kingdom, and they traced their ancestry back to the heroic king Temenus, all the way to Hercules.
The king and his subjects (in fact, mainly with male subjects, i.e. warriors) were representatives of their religious, social and military cohesion.
Except in exceptional cases, the warriors were under the direct command of the monarch.
And although the voice of the people is limited, it can still be expressed at military meetings.
According to tradition, everything that is "decided by the Macedonian people" is difficult to change in practice.
The army had two formal rights, the first to elect the king by acclamation (and occasionally to remove him) and the second to investigate cases of treason.
In fact, the choice of Macedonia is in most cases uncontroversial when it comes to choosing a king, since Macedonia traditionally prefers primogeniture; And in the investigation of treason, the king's superiority as plaintiff, juror, commander-in-chief and high priest undoubtedly usually ensured the sentence he wanted.
Although there are these restrictions on the king in theory, it is clear that in practice, the outcome of the king's election and treason cases is still in the hands of the king, so the king is not in fact subject to any restrictions, and this nominal restriction on the king subtly reflects the relationship between the ruler and the ruled.
Most closely associated with the king were his advisers or "hetairoi", who were qualified to accompany the king on horseback.
Because these noble status was bestowed by the king's personal choice, they may not be entirely hereditary nobles; Of course, the status of the traditional nobility generally did not disappear, and their sons would always be promoted to the position where their father had been, and the king would listen to their advice in choosing officials, so in the end it was still the same nobles who accompanied the king, whether traditionally, during hunting or on formal occasions.
The sons of these nobles were also to be educated by the king.
These nobles and their families also occupied a large amount of land, which was a gift from the king.
Outside this class was the ordinary class of Macedonian soldiers, who served in infantry units.
They are small landowners, so avoid placing too much and too much of a demand on them; For this reason, arming them is certainly much more difficult.
From about a very early age, they didn't attend group meetings, even when important matters required them.
But this group represented those who served the king militarily.
Finally, since the army always conscripted a large number of laborers, and sometimes for extended periods of service, there must also be a class engaged in other labors, which may be composed of indigenous groups incorporated in the development of the kingdom.
It also played a role in the military, service, carriage driving and labor.
Although their status may be somewhat lower than that of real citizens, they do not seem to be as humble as the slaves of Athens.
To sum up, Macedonia is geographically located on the northern border of Greece, living next to a large number of barbarian tribes.
Therefore, in terms of social culture and political system, it is deeply influenced by surrounding tribes, and it is these factors that make Macedonians have not been accepted by the mainstream culture of Greece, so Macedonians are also considered barbarians, but the country that eventually created the Hellenistic era and spread Greek culture to three continents was Macedonia.
This led directly to the question of whether a Macedonian was Greek or not being discussed for thousands of years, which is what I will discuss in the next section.
References: (French) Gurançais: Ancient Cities: A Study of Greco-Roman Religion, Law and Institutions
