Macedonia Early history

Macedonia is a small country, covering 25,000 square kilometers of mountains, lakes, forests, and picturesque villages, along with fertile valleys and rivers. The Vardar River runs through its center, flowing through a wide valley that forms the heart of the country. Its source is in western Macedonia, and Skopje is located along its banks. The river eventually flows into the Mediterranean near Thessaloniki.

The Vardar River valley has long been an important transport corridor, linking the Balkans and Central Europe with Greece and the Mediterranean basin. The region is characterized by vast tobacco fields and vineyards, reflecting its agricultural heritage.

Geographically, the country is divided into three parts. The central region, dominated by the Vardar River Valley, is the most populated, with Skopje in the north, where about a third of the population lives. The eastern mountainous region is the poorest, while the western mountainous region, at its heart, contains the great lakes.

In western Macedonia there are high mountains reaching a height of 2,600 meters, along with two large lakes, Ohrid and Prespa. East of the Vardar Valley, the landscape is dominated by forested mountains rising to heights of up to 2,000 meters, with remote villages scattered between them.

Macedonia has a large number of monasteries, many of which are located in breathtaking natural settings, such as the Matka Canyon near Skopje or the springs of St. Nahum near Ohrid. In relation to its population size, Macedonia has the highest number of monasteries in the Balkans. These monasteries preserve invaluable artistic and cultural treasures, particularly in painting and wood carving. It is home to Ohrid city, known as the Jerusalem of the Slavs, along with numerous other historical sites.

Macedonian Kingdom

The Macedonians were considered a Greek people, related to the Dorians (Sparta and the Peloponnese). Some argue that the Dorians originated in the Pindus Mountains, and that the Macedonians were part of this group. There is no mention of the Macedonians before the Dark Ages of Greece (12th–8th centuries BC).

According to Hesiod in the Catalogue of Women, Macedon was the son of Zeus and Theia, daughter of Dodecahedron, the man who survived the flood (son of Prometheus, who married the daughter of Epimetheus). He was born in the Olympus region and conquered the region of Macedonia from the Thracians, married a local woman, and had two sons, Pierus and Ametheus, after whom two cities in ancient Macedonia were founded. The central region of Greek Macedonia is called the Pierus region; its capital is Katerini, and to its west lies Mount Pierus, the northern twin of Olympus, which rises to a height of over 2,100 meters.

Archaeological finds discovered in Pella, the capital of Macedonia, include scrolls written in ancient Doric Greek, indicating that the Macedonians spoke Greek.

The kings of Macedonia believed themselves to be descendants of the Argive dynasty—one of the great dynasties of ancient Greece, originating in the city of Argos in the Peloponnese. They were considered descendants of Hercules and therefore promoted his cult in Macedonia, alongside the chief god Zeus. For this reason, Alexander I (the great-grandfather of Alexander the Great, who was Alexander III) was the first person outside southern Greece to be allowed to participate in the Olympic Games.

In the 4th century BC, a king named Philip came to power in Macedonia. He grew up as a young man in Thebes, which was the leading city of Greece at the time. He admired Greek culture, learned its ways, and brought them to his country after becoming king. He founded cities, organized an efficient system of government and a modern tax collection system, led reforms in the army, and educated the youth in the spirit of Greek philosophy, freedom, and inquiry, bringing to his palace in Vergina the best pedagogues, led by the philosopher Aristotle, who became Alexander the Great’s personal tutor from the age of 13 for several years.

Philip succeeded in implementing the Greek system on a large scale. He built roads, large irrigation systems, and developed silver and gold mines, which brought great wealth to the public treasury. The land of Macedonia was fertile and capable of supporting a large population, in contrast to the arid and land-poor regions of Greece. Philip succeeded in reaching a critical mass of people, wealth, and military power. He established a standing army and introduced effective reforms in the classical Greek method of warfare. With the help of this army, he conquered Greece, united all the Greek peoples under one leadership, and established the Corinthian League.

Macedonia is a large country with fertile plains and dramatic landscapes of mountains and large rivers. In the south lies Mount Olympus, and at its foot is the ancient sacred city of Dion, which was dedicated to Zeus. North of Olympus stretch fertile plains, where another sacred city called Vergina was founded. It served as the capital of ancient Macedonia until it was replaced by Pella during Philip’s time. Beginning at the end of the 4th century BC, with the conquests of Alexander the Great, Macedonia became, by and large, the center of the world.

Philip’s son, Alexander the Great, took advantage of the war machine his father had developed to take over the world and spread Greek culture. The Macedonians, led by Alexander, mobilized the entire Greek world to their aid and succeeded in conquering the entire East, becoming its rulers. They reached as far as India and Egypt and brought their culture with them everywhere, including to the Land of Israel, founding cities where veteran soldiers, who married the local population, settled — thus creating Hellenic culture: an original urban culture that merged East and West and was based on the polis — a city-state composed of a community of citizens with rights.

Alexander the Great’s journey to the East was not merely a journey of conquest, but a search for wisdom and a fusion of all cultures for the sake of common humanity. It was perhaps the most significant journey of conquest in history — the first major encounter between East and West. After his death, his empire was divided among his generals, and a local kingdom was established in Macedonia, which controlled the Aegean Sea, parts of the Balkans, and Greece.

Following Alexander’s death, Macedonia was ruled by local leaders who continued to cultivate and develop the region. Macedonia proved a worthy rival to the rising power of the ancient world — Rome. It took the Romans three wars to subdue the Macedonians. The fear of Macedonia was so great that the Romans divided it into provinces (hence the expression “divide and rule”!) and exiled a large part of the population. Macedonia never returned to its former glory, but it was integrated into the Roman Empire, which ultimately brought peace and prosperity to the Mediterranean basin and the broader world.

Early History of Northern Macedonia

The heart of Northern Macedonia is the fertile valley of the Vardar River. In classical times, the region was inhabited by Indo-European peoples called Pannons, who established a kind of undefined kingdom centered around the city of Veles and the ancient site of Stobi in the middle of the valley, areas that are now relatively empty.

In the 4th century BC, Northern Macedonia was conquered by the military machine of Philip of Macedon, who began to establish cities throughout the country, the most famous of which was Heraclea near Bitola. During this period, the first urban settlement in Ohrid, called Lychnidos, was also established. In the 2nd century BC, the Romans fought the Macedonians, and after three wars called the “Macedonian Wars,” conquered the country, exiled and enslaved large part of the population. The Macedonian Phalanx threatened Roman military superiority, so they made sure that there was no more Hellenic kingdom that would endanger their rule, they broke the power of Hellenic Macedonia, divided it into four provinces (hence the expression “divide and rule”), and thereby changed the nature of the country. From that time on, we essentially there is no more Hellenic Macedonia.

At the same time, the Romans brought prosperity to the Balkans. The main road connecting Rome with the eastern parts of the empire and Byzantium passed through Macedonia. It climbed from the port of Durrës in Albania to Lake Ohrid and from there to the city of Bitola and eastward. In the late Roman period, Stobi became the capital of the province of Macedonia, and a city called Scupi developed near Skopje.

In the Byzantine period, the center shifted to Skopje, which was built in a new location by Justinian. General prosperity prevailed, and large basilica churches with beautiful mosaics from the period can be found in Ohrid, Heraclea, and other sites. According to the Macedonians, they were the first people in the world to convert to Christianity, since the territory of the province of Macedonia in the Roman period included Thessaloniki and northern Greece, and the apostles came to this area, wrote epistles (to the Thessalonians), and founded the first Christian communities there. However, starting from the 4th century and especially after the time of Justinian, barbarian invasions throughout the Balkans eradicated the Christian belief.

The Slavs are coming

The Macedonians claim continuity from the time of Alexander the Great, but their language is Slavic, as the local population mixed with Slavic tribes who migrated to the Balkans starting in the 6th century AD and became the dominant factor.

From the 8th century AD, Macedonia was part of the rising Bulgarian Empire, and by the end of the 10th century, it became its epicenter, with Ohrid serving as its capital. To this day, Bulgarians claim that Macedonia is part of Greater Bulgaria.

In the 9th century, the Bulgarian tsars established Ohrid as a religious, political, cultural, and spiritual center of their rule, making it one of the most important cities in the Balkans. The apostles St. Clement and St. Nahum founded the first Slavic university in Ohrid, and it was here that the Cyrillic alphabet was finalized. Ohrid came to be known as the “Jerusalem of the Balkans.”

St Clement and Nahum of Ohrid

The Patriarch of Constantinople in the 9th century was the great Photios. As one of the most educated men of his time, he established the University of Magnaura and sent apostles to the Slavs to convert them to Orthodox Christianity. The first to be sent were Cyril and Methodius, who initially arrived in Moravia (now part of Czechoslovakia). After their deaths, two of their closest disciples, Saint Nahum and Saint Clement, arrived in Bulgaria.

Clement and Nahum approached the Bulgarian King Boris with a proposal: if he accepted Orthodox Christianity, they would establish a university and educational institutions for his people, where the younger generation would be educated. As part of this agreement, they would also develop a Cyrillic alphabet and translate the Holy Scriptures into Slavic. This would affirm Boris’s rule as one granted by the grace of God, rather than solely by his own merit.

Boris accepted the proposal. Consequently, Nahum established an educational institution in Preslav, the kingdom’s capital, while Clement moved to Ohrid, where he founded a renowned university that educated 3,500 students and played a key role in developing Christian Slavic religious life. The curriculum included poetry, law, religious and civil history, natural history, philosophy, medicine, and more. Extensive translation efforts took place at the university, with books being translated from Greek, Latin, and even Hebrew and Aramaic into Slavic.

In 893, during the reign of Prince Simeon I, Clement was appointed the first Slavic bishop in the Balkans and asked Nahum to join him in Ohrid and assist in managing the university. Nahum became the head of the university, while Clement focused on his role as the religious leader of the Slav-Bulgarians. Together, they built the university on Plaošnik Hill in Ohrid, as well as a monastery—now known as Saint Nahum Monastery—on the opposite side of the lake.

The construction of the monastery was completed in 905, and Clement consecrated the site. A few years later, as Saint Nahum’s health declined, he retired to the monastery, spending the rest of his life in seclusion and prayer—an act that contributed to the spread of monasticism in Macedonia. He passed away in 910 and was buried in the monastery. Ten years later, Clement died and was laid to rest in the Church of Saint Panteleimon, which was part of the university he had built in Ohrid.

The Archbishopric of Ohrid, founded by Clement and Nahum, oversaw large parts of the western Balkans. During the reign of Tsar Samuel (r. 980–1018), the Bulgarian Patriarchate was temporarily relocated to Ohrid. While Macedonians regard Tsar Samuel as a Macedonian ruler, Bulgarians consider him part of their own historical legacy.

The Archbishopric of Ohrid existed for 800 years until it was abolished by Sultan Mustafa III in 1767. At the same time, the Serbian Archbishopric in Peć was also dissolved, and all Christians in the Balkans were placed under the authority of the Patriarchate in Istanbul. Macedonians view the Archbishopric of Ohrid as an independent Macedonian Patriarchate and are actively seeking to restore it. A new Macedonian Patriarchate was established in 1958, but it has not yet been recognized as independent by the Serbian Church or the Patriarch of Istanbul.

Tsar Samuel

At the end of the 10th century, the Bulgarian Empire was conquered by the Byzantines, but the Comitopoli brothers led a rebellion concentrated in the western parts of the empire. Eventually, one of them rose to power, becoming Tsar Samuel—a capable military and civil leader who revived the empire.

Macedonians regard him as a Macedonian ruler who established a Macedonian state encompassing Macedonia, Thessaly, Epirus, Albania, Duklja (Montenegro), Serbia, and large parts of Bulgaria. According to their perspective, the most numerous and influential people in his state were the Macedonian Slavs. Bulgarians, on the other hand, view him as a Bulgarian king who ruled over the First Bulgarian Empire.

Either way, Samuel was crowned king in a church on an island in Lake Prespa, Macedonia, and made Ohrid the political, cultural, religious, and military capital of the empire. He was an enlightened ruler, and some claim that he supported the Bogomil heretical movement, which was spreading through the Balkans at the time and had a center in the Bogomil Valley, in the heart of the country.

After 40 years of independence, Samuel was ultimately defeated in 1014 by Byzantine Emperor Basil II, known by the nickname “Bulgars Slayer”. The decisive battle took place near Prilep on the Pelagonian Plain. The emperor captured 14,000 of Samuel’s soldiers, arranged them in groups of a hundred, blinded them and sent them back, each group led by a one-eyed soldier. Confronted with this horrific sight, Tsar Samuel collapsed and died.

It is interesting to note here that from the Byzantine perspective, Basil II was one of the greatest emperors of the Macedonian dynasty. He was known for his fairness toward the peasants and implemented significant reforms to strengthen the empire.

Following the defeat of Tsar Samuel, the Archbishopric of Ohrid was subordinated to the Patriarchate of Constantinople, and the country fell under Byzantine rule. Greek priests began suppressing the use of the Slavic language in prayers and the study of the Gospels, enforcing Greek as the sole holy language. The occupation ushered in a period of oppression and decline, which, paradoxically, strengthened the spirit of the local Macedonians. Many sought refuge in the Bogomil heresy, which found a stronghold in Macedonia during this time.