Antiquization

Monument of Alexander The Great (officially "Warrior on a Horse") in Skopje. In fact the city was capital of Dardania and never became a part of Ancient Macedonia.^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4]

Native tribal ethnes in the Southern Balkans prior to the expansion of Macedon. The territory of present-day North Macedonia is populated by the Thraco-Illyrian tribes.

Antiquization (Macedonian: антиквизација), otherwise known as ancient Macedonism (Macedonian: антички македонизам), is a term used mainly to critically describe the identity policies conducted by the nationalist VMRO-DPMNE-led governments of North Macedonia in the period between 2006 and 2017. In the contemporary Macedonian discourse, antiquization refers to the identitarian policies based on the assumption that there is a direct link between today's ethnic Macedonians and Ancient Macedonians.^[5] The politics of the ex-Yugoslav era therefore not only embrace the revival of the ancient heritage of the Ancient Macedonians, including the heritage of Philip II and his son Alexander the Great, but also seek to depict a coherent continuity of history and descendancy from the ancient Kingdom of Macedon until the modern Republic of North Macedonia in order to prove the uninterrupted existence of the contemporary Macedonians. Criticized as pseudohistoric, this idea remains widespread in North Macedonia despite the fact that there is no evidence for the alleged ethnic continuum.^[6]

^ In worth mentioning here that the territory encompassed by the three Ottoman vilayets did not coincide with the ancient Greek kingdom of the Macedonians, which extended to the southern part of the Ottoman Macedonia, and never as far north as Skopje, which in ancient times was under the control of the Dardans, a people of Illyrian descent and hostile to the Macedonians. Elisabeth Kontogiorgi, Population Exchange in Greek Macedonia: The Rural Settlement of Refugees 1922–1930, Oxford Historical Monographs, Clarendon Press, 2006, ISBN 0191515558, p. 12.
^ Ancient Scupi, as Skopje was called prior to the Middle Ages, was the site of an Illyrian tribal center, but permanent settlement did not occur until the Roman emperor Domitian (81-96 AD) found a colony there. Noelle Watson, Paul Schellinger, Trudy Ring as ed. Southern Europe. International Dictionary of Historic Places, 2013, Taylor & Francis, ISBN 9781134259656, p. 657.
^ Standing on the banks of the Vardar River amid mountainous country, Skopje began as ancient Scupi, an Illyrian tribal centre. It became the capital of the district of Dardania (part of the Roman province of Moesia Superior) under the emperor Diocletian in the 4th century. Skopje national capital, North Macedonia, an article in Encyclopedia Britannica online.
^ It seems quite probable that the Dardani actually lost independence in 28 B.C. Thus, the final occupation of Dardania by Rome has been connected with the beginnings of Augustus’ rule, while its administrative inclusion into the Empire to form the province of Moesia appears to have taken place in 15 B.C. As a result of the division of Moesia under Domitian, the Dardanian territory became part of the newly-established province of Upper Moesia or Moesia Superior. However, it is virtually unknown when Roman legions were transferred from Macedonia to Dardania. It may be assumed that no permanent garrisons had been stationed in Dardania prior to 16 B.C... As to the location of the first Roman military camps in the province of Moesia, opinions diverge. It is quite reasonable to assume that such camps must have been at strategically important points, such as Naissus or Scupi, from where the conquered peoples, Dardani, Moesi and Scordisci, could be controlled. Petrović, Vladimir. (2006). Pre-Roman and Roman Dardania: Historical and Geographical Considerations. Balcanica - Annual of the Institute for Balkan Studies, (XXXVII), 7–23. (pp. 10-11) https://doi.org/10.2298/BALC0637007P .
^ Vangeli, Anastas (2011): Nation-building ancient Macedonian style: the origins and the effects of the so-called antiquization in Macedonia. In Nationalities Papers 39 (1), p. 13.
^ Todorović, Miloš (2019). "Nationalistic Pseudohistory in the Balkans". Skeptic Magazine. 24 (4): 2–4. North Macedonia has been accused in the recent years of 'antiquization,' sometimes called 'ancient Macedonism.' The term is used to describe the identity policies conducted by the nationalist governments that were based on the assumption that there is a direct link between present day ethnic Macedonians and Ancient Macedonians. This narrative implies that Macedonians have roots in the Balkans that reach back millennia. The idea is widespread in Northern Macedonia despite the fact there is no evidence for the alleged ethnic continuum... In the case of Northern Macedonia pseudohistoric antiquization was supported by the government. The ubiquitous nature of nationalistic pseudohistory makes it seem like a competition between pseudohistorians seeking to prove that their nation is the oldest and most important one.

[1] In worth mentioning here that the territory encompassed by the three Ottoman vilayets did not coincide with the ancient Greek kingdom of the Macedonians, which extended to the southern part of the Ottoman Macedonia, and never as far north as Skopje, which in ancient times was under the control of the Dardans, a people of Illyrian descent and hostile to the Macedonians. Elisabeth Kontogiorgi, Population Exchange in Greek Macedonia: The Rural Settlement of Refugees 1922–1930, Oxford Historical Monographs, Clarendon Press, 2006, ISBN 0191515558, p. 12.

[2] Ancient Scupi, as Skopje was called prior to the Middle Ages, was the site of an Illyrian tribal center, but permanent settlement did not occur until the Roman emperor Domitian (81-96 AD) found a colony there. Noelle Watson, Paul Schellinger, Trudy Ring as ed. Southern Europe. International Dictionary of Historic Places, 2013, Taylor & Francis, ISBN 9781134259656, p. 657.

[3] Standing on the banks of the Vardar River amid mountainous country, Skopje began as ancient Scupi, an Illyrian tribal centre. It became the capital of the district of Dardania (part of the Roman province of Moesia Superior) under the emperor Diocletian in the 4th century. Skopje national capital, North Macedonia, an article in Encyclopedia Britannica online.

[4] It seems quite probable that the Dardani actually lost independence in 28 B.C. Thus, the final occupation of Dardania by Rome has been connected with the beginnings of Augustus’ rule, while its administrative inclusion into the Empire to form the province of Moesia appears to have taken place in 15 B.C. As a result of the division of Moesia under Domitian, the Dardanian territory became part of the newly-established province of Upper Moesia or Moesia Superior. However, it is virtually unknown when Roman legions were transferred from Macedonia to Dardania. It may be assumed that no permanent garrisons had been stationed in Dardania prior to 16 B.C... As to the location of the first Roman military camps in the province of Moesia, opinions diverge. It is quite reasonable to assume that such camps must have been at strategically important points, such as Naissus or Scupi, from where the conquered peoples, Dardani, Moesi and Scordisci, could be controlled. Petrović, Vladimir. (2006). Pre-Roman and Roman Dardania: Historical and Geographical Considerations. Balcanica - Annual of the Institute for Balkan Studies, (XXXVII), 7–23. (pp. 10-11) https://doi.org/10.2298/BALC0637007P .

[Vangeli13-5] Vangeli, Anastas (2011): Nation-building ancient Macedonian style: the origins and the effects of the so-called antiquization in Macedonia. In Nationalities Papers 39 (1), p. 13.

[6] Todorović, Miloš (2019). "Nationalistic Pseudohistory in the Balkans". Skeptic Magazine. 24 (4): 2–4. North Macedonia has been accused in the recent years of 'antiquization,' sometimes called 'ancient Macedonism.' The term is used to describe the identity policies conducted by the nationalist governments that were based on the assumption that there is a direct link between present day ethnic Macedonians and Ancient Macedonians. This narrative implies that Macedonians have roots in the Balkans that reach back millennia. The idea is widespread in Northern Macedonia despite the fact there is no evidence for the alleged ethnic continuum... In the case of Northern Macedonia pseudohistoric antiquization was supported by the government. The ubiquitous nature of nationalistic pseudohistory makes it seem like a competition between pseudohistorians seeking to prove that their nation is the oldest and most important one.

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Antiquization

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