Macedonia
Macedo'nia
(Μακεδονία, from a supposed founder Macenus or Macedon), a name originally confined to the district lying north of Thessaly, east of the Cardanian mountains (a prolongation of Mount Pindus), and west of the River Axius; but afterwards extended to the country lying to the north of Greece Proper, having on the east Thrace and the AEgaean Sea, on the west the Adriatic and Illyria, on the north Dardania and Moesia, and on the south Thessaly and Epirus. "In a rough and popular description it is enough to say that Macedonia is the region bounded inland by the range of Haemus or the Balkan northwards and the chain of Pindus westwards, beyond which the streams flow respectively to the Danube and Adriatic; that it is separated from Thessaly on the south by the Cambunian hills, running easterly from Pindus to Olympus and the AEgmean; and that it is divided on the east from 'Thrace by a less definite mountain boundary running southwards from Haemus. Of the space thus enclosed, two of the most remarkable physical features are two great plains, one watered by the Axius, which comes to the sea at the Thermaic Gulf, not far from Thessalonica; the other by the Strymon, which, after passing near Philippi, flows out below Amphipolis. Between the mouths of these two rivers a remarkable peninsula projects, dividing itself into three points, on the farthest of which Mount Athos rises nearly into the region of perpetual snow." The whole region was intersected by mountains (among these were the famous Olympus and Athos), which supplied numerous streams (especially the Strymon and Axius), rendering the intervening valleys and plains highly fruitful (Pliny, 4:17; Mela, 2:3; Ptol. 3:13). The natives were celebrated from the earliest times for their hardy independence and military discipline. The country is supposed to have been first peopled by Chittim or Kittim, a son of Javan (Ge 10:4), and in that case it is probable that the Macedonians are sometimes intended when the word CHITTIM occurs in the Old Testament. Macedonia was the original kingdom of Philip and Alexander, by means of whose victories the name of the Macedonians became celebrated throughout the East. The rise of the great empire formed by Alexander is described by the prophet Daniel under the emblem of a goat with one horn (Da 8:3-8). As the horn was a general symbol of power, the oneness of the horn implies merely the unity of that power. It is, however, curious and interesting to know that Daniel did describe Macedonia under its usual symbol, as gems and other antique objects still exist in which that country is represented under the figure of a one-horned goat. (See Murray's Truth of Revelation Illustrated, and the art. Macedonia, in Taylor's Calmet.) SEE GOAT. Monuments are still extant in which this symbol occurs, as one of the pilasters of Persepolis, where a goat is depicted with one immense horn on his forehead, and a Persian holding the horn, by which is intended the subjection of Macedon by Persia. In Esther 16:10, Haman is described as a Macedonian, and in 16:14 he is said to have contrived his plot for the purpose of transferring the kingdom of the Persians to the Macedonians. This sufficiently betrays the late date and spurious character of these apocryphal chapters; but it is curious thus to have our attention turned to the early struggle of Persia and Greece. Macedonia played a great part in this struggle, and there is little doubt that Ahasuerus is Xerxes. The history of the Maccabees opens with vivid allusions to Alexander, the son of Philip, the Macedonian king (Α᾿λέξανδρος ὁ τοῦ Φιλιππου ὁ βασιλεὺς ὁ Μακεδών), who came out of the land of Chettiim and smote Darius, king of the Persians and Medes (1 Maccabees 1:1), and who reigned first among the Grecians (ib. 6:2). A little later we have the Roman conquest of Perseus, "king of the Citims," recorded (ib. 8:5). Subsequently in these Jewish annals we find the term "Macedonians" used for the soldiers of the Seleucid successors of Alexander (2 Maccabees 8:20). In what is called the Fifth Book of Maccabees this usage of the word is very frequent, and is applied not only to the Seleucid princes at Antioch, but to the Ptolemies at Alexandria (see Cotton's Five Books of Maccabees, Oxf. 1832). When subdued by the Romans (Livy, 44) under Paulus AEmilius (B.C. 168), Macedonia was divided into four provinces (Livy, 45:29). Macedonia Prima was on the east of the Strymon, and had Amphipolis for the capital. Macedonia Secunda stretched between the Strymon and the Axius, with Thessalonica for its metropolis. The third and fourth districts lay to the south and the west. Of two, if not three of these districts, coins are still extant (Akerman, Numismatic Illust. of the N.T. p. 43). Afterwards (B.C. 142) the whole of Greece was divided into two great provinces, Macedonia and Achaia. SEE ACHAIAA; SEE GREECE. Macedonia therefore constituted a Roman province, governed by a propraetor, with the title of proconsul (provincia proconsularis; Tacit. Annal. 1:76; Sueton. Claud. 26), in the time of Christ and his apostles. (See fully in Smith's Dict. of Class. Geog. s.v.) The apostle Paul being summoned in a vision, while at Troas, to preach the Gospel in Macedonia, proceeded thither, and founded the churches of Thessalonica and Philippi (Ac 16:9), A.D. 48. This occasions repeated mention of the name, either alone (Ac 18:5; Ac 19:21; Ro 15:26; 2Co 1:16; 2Co 11:9; Php 4:15), or along with Achaia (2Co 9:2; 1Th 1:8). The principal cities of Macedonia were Amphipolis, Thessalonica, Pella, and Pelagonia (Livy, 45:29); the towns of the province named in the New Testament are Philippi, Amphipolis, Thessalonica, Neapolis, Apollonia, and Beroea. When the Roman empire was divided, Macedonia fell to the share of the emperor of the East, but in the 15th century it fell into the hands of the Turks. It now forms a part of Turkey in Europe, and is called Makdonia. It is inhabited by Wallachians, Turks, Greeks. and Albanians. The south- eastern part is under the pasha of Salonika; the northern under beys or agas, or forms free communities. The capital, Salonika, the ancient Thessalonica, is a commercial town, and the only one of any consequence, containing about 70,000 inhabitants. (See Cellarii Notit. 2:828 sq.; Mannert, 7:420 sq.; Conybeare and Howson, 1:315.) On the question whether Luke includes Thrace in Macedonia, SEE THRACE. "Nothing can exceed the interest and impressiveness of the occasion (Ac 16:9) when a new and religious meaning was given to the well-known ἀνὴρ Μακεδών of Demosthenes (Philippians i, p. 43), and when this part of Europe was designated as the first to be trodden by an apostle. The account of St. Paul's first journey through Macedonia (Ac 16:10-17:15) is marked by copious detail and well-defined incidents. At the close of this journey he returned from Corinth to Syria by sea. On the next occasion of visiting Europe, though he both went and returned through Macedonia (Ac 20:16), the narrative is a very slight sketch, and the route is left uncertain except as regards Philippi. Many years elapsed before St. Paul visited this province again; but from 1Ti 1:3, it is evident that he did accomplish the wish expressed during his first imprisonment (Php 2:24). The character of the Macedonian Christians is set before us in Scripture in a very favorable light. The candor of the Beraeans is highly commended (Ac 17:11); the Thessalonians were evidently objects of St. Paul's peculiar affection (1Th 2:8,17-20; 1Th 3:10); and the Philippians, besides their general freedom from blame, are noted as remarkable for their liberality and self-denial (Php 4:10,14-19; see 2Co 9:2; 2Co 11:9). It is worth noticing, as a fact almost typical of the change which Christianity has produced in the social life of Europe, that the female element is conspicuous in the records of its introduction into Macedonia. The Gospel was first preached there to a small congregation of women (Ac 16:13); the first convert was a woman (ib. ver. 14); and, at least at Philippi, women were prominent as active workers in the cause of religion (Php 4:2-3). It should be observed that, in St. Paul's time, Macedonia was well intersected by Roman roads. especially by the great Via Egnatia, which connected Philippi and Thessalonica, and also led towards Illyricum (Ro 15:19)." For the antiquities of this region, see Cousinery, Voyage dans le Macedoine (Paris, 1831); Leake, Travels in Northern Greece (London, 1835); compare also Holland, Travels in the Ionian Isles, etc. (Lond. 1812-13).
