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The term
Μακεδόνας
and its derivatives in Byzantinesources 
Posted by
admin
in
Medieval Macedonian History
,
medieval writers
 
A quite interesting research over the term
Μακεδόνας
and its derivatives in Byzantineera, comes from Professor
Ioannes Tarnanides
in his book entitled “
Οι
 
 Κατά
 
 Μακεδονίαν
 
 Σκλαβήνοι
“. Professor Tarnanides begins with the ancient Macedoniansand dwells particularly on the Macedonians of the Byzantine era who were forced toaccept the Slavs in question in their territory. From his invenstigation of contemporary historical sources, he draws on his own words:a)
The two terms,
 Μακεδών
(noun, Translation: ”a Macedonian”, plural
Μακεδόνες
) and
 Μακεδονικός 
(adjective - “Macedonian”) do not always havethe same significance: they coincide only to the extend that they refer to ageographical concept.
b)
The term
 Μακεδ
 o
νικός 
is used exclusively to characterise forces or armiescoming from the Byzantine Theme
,
that is, the administrative or militarydistrict, of Macedonia
. Since the theme of Macedonia was not a fixed entity alwayscontained within geographical boundaries, a military unit coming from a specificplace, could be described as Macedonian at one historical moment or another. This,consequently could mean that the leaders of these troops could at one time bedesignated Macedonian generals and at other times not.
This usage derives from thefact that the meaning of the term was purely geographical, dependent upon theadministrative district- the “theme” - that bore the name at any given time.
c)
The term
Μακεδών
also was to a considerable extend used in its geographicalsense, when it designated a Byzantine inhabitant of Macedonia
. Since, however, itcould at the same time have other, non-geographical, connotations (racial, family,etc.). it does not appear blindly to follow the successive administrate changes effectedby the central authority.
It is characteristic that those who from time to time are designated as
Μακεδόνες
 are always members of Byzantine society or the Byzantine army, speaking thesame language and apparently following the same failh, and that they neverappear to turn, as the head of a certain group, against ihe Byzantine state
.d)
In this sense, the term
Μακεδών
could be applied lo a person who was not of Macedonian descent. The characteristic example here is that of the EmperorBasil I, who is clearly described as being descended “
 from the Armenian nation
“
:This however, did not stop the Byzantines from calling him a Macedonian.
 
e)
This category does not appear to include the more recent immigrants toMacedonia, evidently because they retained their own ethnic particularity(language, religion, culture, etc.)
 
and, more important still, their independencefrom the Byzantine rule.
 
Thus, for example, in no case could any Bulgars, Slavsor Turks who were known to have settled in the region after a certain period(and who, indeed, became the permanent residents) ever be described as
Μακεδόνες
.
An interesting case of this refusal to use the term
Μακεδών
, as a descriptor for local,generally Slav, rulers, is that of Tsar Samuel.
Samuel who came from the WesternMacedonian district of Ochrid
and who brought all Macedonia under his rule in thelate 10th centure and early 11th century,
was never called
Μακεδών
, either by theByzantines or by local Slavo-Bulgarian sources.
This fact would be exceplionallyilluminating if his Armenian descent could be proven which would make his casecongruous with that of the Emperor Basil I, also of Armenian origin. This wouldmake it absolutely clear that the one, was called, perfectly naturally, a Macedonianbecause he accepted without inhibition ot reaction the capacity of a Byzantine citizenand Byzantine subject, while the other was denied this honour by Byzantine writersand Byzantine public opinion because his distinction was based on rebellion againstthe Byzantine authorities. The fact that the city of Ochrid was not at that particularmoment part of the Theme of Macedonia would of course, have been no obstacle tothis, for two reasons: firstly, because Ochrid had been part of Macedonia n the pastand most of Samuels dominions lay within the historical territory of Macedonia andsecondly because the designation “Macedonian” did not always, as we have notedappear faithfully to echo the formal and practical administrative changes and divisionsof the broader Balkan region effected by the Byzantine authorities. When, that is, theemperor Alexios (according to Choniates) calls Bryennius a
Μακεδών
, since he camefrom the “
blessed 
” and “
all-powerful
” Macedonian city of Orestiada, it is difficult toimagine that any temporary administrative change could alter this. That Orestiadacould, that is, cease to be a Macedonian city or its inhabitants be
Μακεδόνες
. Evenless could the scion of a famous Macedonian family, such as the “Gomoste”mentioned by Georgios Monachos (who does not of course specify where they camefrom) cease to be called a
Μακεδών
, just because an administrative shit in the Themeof Macedonia might leave him outside its borders.From the existing literature it is possible to conclude with certainty that the privilegeof designating a region as Macedonia and its inhabitants as Macedonians always laywith the Byzantine side. For this reason, no foreign - and especially no Slavic source -has ever arbitrarily attributed the appellation “Macedonian” to any region or anyperson outside Byzantium.f) The designation
Μακεδόνες
, with the added information that the person in questionwas “of the race of the Macedonians” or came from a well-known Macedonian family(Gomostes) or was related to some Macedonian personality (Bryennius) isencountered sporadically throughout the Byzantine period. This means that theByzantines were aware of the particular presence of the Macedonians in the specificgeographical area in the past and kept the memory of their continuity and successionalive in the context of the new “Romeo-Christian” family. And
of 00

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