[Verginius Rufus]

The area which is now the Republic of Macedonia was conquered by Philip II. The original heartland of the Macedonians was within modern Greece--to the north were various barbarian tribes. But from that time on the areas to the north were part of Macedonia and that has been their identity for over 2300 years. In the First Balkan War, Macedonia, which had been under Turkish rule, was divided--50% to Greece, 40% to Serbia, and 10% to Bulgaria.

The Greeks of the 5th and 4th centuries B.C. did not think much of the Macedonians and some sources call them barbarians--the use of Greek was widespread up there (Euripides died at the court of the king of Macedonia), but whether the native Macedonian language was a dialect of Greek or a separate (but related) language is debated--insufficient ancient evidence. Modern Greeks, of course, claim that the ancient Macedonians were Greek. Much of the Greek population of modern Macedonia is descended from Greeks who fled from Turkey in the 1920s.

[Wuli]

“The area which is now the Republic of Macedonia was conquered by Philip II. The original heartland of the Macedonians was within modern Greece-”

As I said.