While written histories provide the narrative of ancient Macedonia, they are often biased and incomplete. To get a more direct and unfiltered view into the past, historians rely on physical evidence. Learning how inscriptions and coins reveal history allows us to hear from the Macedonians in their own words and understand their kingdom through the images they chose to project. These sources provide crucial correctives to the often-hostile literary accounts from southern Greece.
🪨 The Story in Stone: What Inscriptions Tell Us
Inscriptions, a field of study known as epigraphy, are one of our most valuable sources. These are texts carved into durable materials like stone and provide direct evidence of official decrees, laws, treaties, and private matters like epitaphs. A key discovery was the Pella curse tablet, a lead scroll from the 4th century BC written in a distinct Doric Greek dialect, which provided strong evidence about the Greekness of the ancient Macedonian language. Public inscriptions give us insight into the internal workings of Macedonian cities and the relationship between the king and his subjects, details often ignored by narrative historians.
🪙 More Than Money: Reading the History on Coins
Coins, the subject of numismatics, were the mass media of the ancient world. Rulers used coinage to project their power, ideology, and identity across their realms and beyond. The designs on Macedonian coins are a rich source of information. Early kings used images of horses to emphasize their dynasty’s prestige and military strength. Philip II and Alexander the Great used their coinage to promote a Hellenic identity, featuring gods like Zeus and Heracles. These coins help us understand the economic power of the kingdom and the self-image that the Argead dynasty wanted to broadcast to the world.
🔍 How These Sources Correct the Written Record
Together, inscriptions and coins offer a vital counterbalance to the literary sources. While an Athenian writer might portray the Macedonians as barbarians, an official inscription from a Macedonian city shows a government operating with familiar Greek legal and civic formulas. While a historian might question a king’s motives, the king’s own coins show the divine imagery he used to legitimize his rule. These artifacts are primary sources that allow modern scholars to challenge ancient biases and construct a more authentic and nuanced understanding of Macedonian society and identity.
Roisman, Joseph, and Ian Worthington, editors. A Companion to Ancient Macedonia. Wiley-Blackwell, 2010.
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