Introducing the Ancient Greeks: From Bronze Age Seafarers to Navigators of the Western Mind

by Edith Hall

The Macedonians took competitiveness (the seventh of the characteristics I believe defined the ancient Greeks) to literally cutthroat levels. This started at home in the family. The Macedonian elite consisted of dominating individuals who understood intuitively how to acquire, maintain, and increase their power. Philip and Alexander, like all Macedonian rulers, never hesitated to use ruthless violence, even against family and associates. The general acceptance of polygamy, with several wives or concubines producing rival claimants to be heirs, heightened the competitive ethos. Macedonian history is a complex saga of internal struggle within dominant clans. Different factions, often supporting half-brothers born to the king, attempted to outmaneuver one another; rival wives and children were regarded as disposable. Alexander’s mother, Olympias, may have conspired to kill Philip’s “other woman,” Eurydice, along with her child or children, after Philip was killed by his own bodyguard. She may even have conspired in her husband’s assassination. The internal competition for power in Macedon was deeply entrenched. There was a general consensus that this system ensured the continuing strength of the kingdom on the principle of survival of the fittest.