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there were prominent 4th century Greeks who didn't consider the Macedonians to be Greek or Hellenes at all

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or they made this claim for rhetorical reasons

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what we know is that the Macedonian kings, including Alexander, could speak, write, and read Greek fluently

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although some sources indicate that Greeks couldn't necessarily understand Macedonians

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because Macedonian was probably a dialect of Greek

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but one can say that Macedon was a very different kind of place than the Greek city states

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there were some Greek city-states which had kings during the fourth century

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but in the vast majority of the 1000 and more polis, or city-states of the Greek world, there were in fact assemblies of citizens, councils, and elected officials who were bound by often written laws

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in Macedon by contrast, the Temenid kings were essentially the state, bound by no constitutional restrictions, written or otherwise

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the Temenid kings were understood to have descended from a man named Temenus of Argos, who was said to be a descendent of Heracles

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Macedonian army might acclaim a new king and might serve as in treason trials of Macedonian nobles

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but the kings serves as the prosecutors

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the selected their own successors

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they made rulings in cases of petitions

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and treaties between Macedon and other places were signed in the names of the kings themselves

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there were no bureaucrats or lawyers in Macedon

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the Macedonian kings lived among their picked companions and friends, marrying as many women as they wished, sometimes even for diplomatic reasons, and drinking heavily

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their parties were famous, even notorious

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at those parties, the Macedonian nobles didn't hesitate to speak their minds

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the parties often ended in bloodshed

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most of the kings who preceded Philip died in battle or were assassinated

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Macedon really was an autocracy tempered by assassination

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for all of the drama and bloodshed, the Macedonian kings were finally able to

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master their rivals in lower and upper Macedon

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harness the resources of the kingdom

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King Archelaus I of Macedon (469-399 BC)

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raised the level of culture

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Euripides came to the Macedonean court between 408-406 BC

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wrote one of his most troubling and powerful tragedies, the Bacchae, a the Macedonian court

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the foundation of the court in Pella is still visible today

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richly decorated

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Pella was no cultural backwater during the fourth century BCE

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it means that Alexander the Great was not brought up among a bunch of barbarian thugs as some Athenian orders applied

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yet the threat of stability persisted

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because the power in Macedon was personal

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between 400-360 BC there were nine kings of Macedon

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Perdiccas III (368-359 BC)

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killed in a battle against the Illyrians along with 4000 soldiers

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Amyntas IV (infant)

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was left to be king barely old enough to walk let along defend the kingdom

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Philip II

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in his place, his uncle, Philip II took power, father of Alexander the Great

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took responsibility for the defense of Macedon

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gave his daughter to Amyntas

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set about a reform of Macedon's army that would lead to the creation of the world's first truly professional army

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Alexander

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was Amyntas' cousin and so Alexander had him killed to insure that he would stay in power

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used that professional army to conquer the Persian empire