Government of Macedonia (ancient kingdom)

The early history of the ancient kingdom of Macedonia is obscure because of shortcomings in the historical record; little is known of governmental institutions before the reign of Philip II during the late Classical period (480–336 BC).

It is unclear if there was a formally established constitution dictating the laws, organization, and divisions of power in ancient Macedonia's government, although some tangential evidence suggests this.

Surviving textual evidence suggests that the ancient Macedonian army exercised its authority in matters such as the royal succession when there was no clear heir apparent to rule the kingdom.

With their mining and tax revenues, the kings were responsible for funding the military, which included a navy that was established by Philip II and expanded during the Antigonid period.

[2] The works of these historians affirm the hereditary monarchy of Macedonia and basic institutions, yet it remains unclear if there was an established constitution for Macedonian government.

[6] From at least the reign of Philip II the king was assisted by the royal pages (basilikoi paides), bodyguards (somatophylakes), companions (hetairoi), friends (philoi), an assembly that included members of the military, and magistrates during the Hellenistic period.

The decision to send Alexander was based on his marriage alliance with a noble Persian house and his previous formal relationship with the city-state of Athens.

[17] With their ownership of natural resources including gold, silver, timber, and royal land, the early Macedonian kings were also capable of bribing foreign and domestic parties with impressive gifts.

They were split into two categories: the agema or the hypaspistai, a type of ancient special forces usually numbering in the hundreds, and a smaller group of men handpicked by the king either for their individual merits or to honor the noble families to which they belonged, respectively.

[34] Members of the council had the right to speak their minds freely, and although there is no evidence that they voted on affairs of state or that the king was even obligated to implement their ideas, it is clear that he was at least occasionally pressured to do so.

[35] The assembly was apparently given the right to judge cases of high treason and assign punishments for them, such as when Alexander III acted as prosecutor in the trial and ultimate conviction of three alleged conspirators in the plot to assassinate Philip II (while many others were acquitted).

[12][37] At the death of Alexander the Great, the companions immediately formed a council to assume control of his empire; however, it was soon destabilized by open rivalry and conflict between its members.

[39] There is epigraphic evidence from the Hellenistic period and Antigonid dynasty that the Macedonian kingdom relied on various regional officials to conduct affairs of state.

[40] Robert Malcolm Errington affirms that no evidence exists about the personal backgrounds of these officials, although they may have been picked from the available aristocratic pools of philoi and hetairoi that were used to fill vacancies of officers in the army.

[41] However, when it fell repeatedly under Macedonian rule it was governed by a Macedonian-imposed oligarchy composed of the wealthiest members of the city-state, their membership determined by the value of their property.

[42] The Macedonian king and central government otherwise sustained strict control over the finances administered by other cities, especially in regards to the revenues generated by temples and cultic priesthoods.

[note 6] In city-states belonging to a league or commonwealth, the granting of proxenia (i.e. the hosting of foreign ambassadors) was usually a right shared by local and central authorities.

[51][52] The foot companions existed perhaps since the reign of Alexander I of Macedon, while Macedonian troops are accounted for in the history of Herodotus as subjects of the Persian Empire fighting the Greeks at the Battle of Plataea in 479 BC.

[54][55] Macedonian infantry in this period consisted of poorly trained shepherds and farmers, while the cavalry was composed of noblemen eager to win glory.

[54] However, Malcolm Errington cautions that any figures for Macedonian troop sizes provided by ancient authors should be treated with a degree of skepticism, since there are very few means by which modern historians are capable of confirming their veracity, and the true number could have been possibly lower or even higher than the amount stated.

Instead, he claims that breastplates were only worn by military officers, while pikemen wore the kotthybos stomach bands along with their helmets and greaves, wielding a dagger as a secondary weapon along with their shields.

[65][66] It is unclear if the Thracians, Paionians, and Illyrians fighting as javelin throwers, slingers, and archers serving in Macedonian armies from the reign of Philip II onward were conscripted as allies via a treaty or were simply hired mercenaries.

[65] Following the acquisition of the lucrative mines at Krinides (renamed Philippi), the royal treasury could afford to field a permanent, professional standing army.

[79] Thanks to contemporary inscriptions from Amphipolis and Greia dated 218 and 181 respectively, historians have been able to partially piece together the organization of the Antigonid army under Philip V, such as its command by tetrarchai officers assisted by grammateis (i.e. secretaries or clerks).

Antigonus III Doson used the Macedonian navy to invade Caria, while Philip V allegedly sent two-hundred ships, some of them captured from the Ptolemies, to fight in the (unsuccessful) Battle of Chios in 201 BC.

[86] Macedonians were the first who issued different coins for internal and external circulation, a sophisticated approach which shows an elaborate monetary system at an early date.

[88] During the Hellenistic period the royal houses of Macedonia, Ptolemaic Egypt, and the Kingdom of Pergamon exercised full monopolistic control over mining activities, largely to ensure the funding of their armies.

[91] In addition to mining, the crown and central authorities also raised revenues by collecting produce from arable lands, timber from forests, and taxes on imports and exports at harbors.

[92] The king was capable of exploiting the mines, groves, agricultural lands, and forests belonging to the Macedonian state, although these were often leased as assets or given as grants to members of the nobility such as the hetairoi and philoi.

[99][100][101] The Roman-era historians Livy and Diodorus Siculus asserted that the law was originally conceived by the Senate due to the fear that material wealth gained from gold and silver mining operations would allow the Macedonians to fund an armed rebellion.