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Hello!
i am a political science student and i have a question regarding colonialism and slavery in the Macedonian Empire. Could anybody tell me if there are facts showing that there was slavery in the macedonian empire and that the macedonian empire used colonialism? I am interested in drawing a comparison between 18-19th stlye of colonialism and ancient style of colonialism.
Thank you very much for your help,
Alex Balas

Hi Alex,There was definitely slavery - it was a fact of life in the Ancient world. I don't know whether I can give you chapter and verse on citations, not having my books with me; but one example is that, after the battle of the Granicus, Alexander sent back 2,000 captured Greek mercenaries to work in the silver mines (as slaves).There are plenty of books on slavery in the ancient world, which you really ought to have a look at, because it is important to understand the nature of ancient slavery and the attitudes towards it.As far as colonialism is concerned, perhaps you can be more specific about what "colonialism" means. To a large extent Philip II definitely practised it, and Alexander certainly did, if all you mean is that they set up colonies in foreign lands (although Philip's colonies were all in relatively nearby areas that he had just conquered - mainly Thrace). For Alexander's colonialism you would need to look for information on his cities - the various Alexandrias. Whether Macedonian colonialism was the same as 18th/19th century colonialism is possibly a matter of conjecture - after all, the way in which the British gradually took over India was very different from the blitzkrieg way in which Philip and Alexander created their empire - and for different reasons, too.All the bestMarcus

Hello Companions -I fully agree with Marcus. Let's tackle "colonialism" first, then "slavery".Colonialism is the term to denote the policies of the European superpowers of the 19th century that were politically dominating the countries now generally known as the Third World. The essence was that Europe was the economic heart of that world order - just before WW I some 65% of all world trade happened in Europe. The colonies were the perifery of that economic system, slowly heading towards poverty. We can never say that Greece and Macedonia were the "economic" heart of Alexander's world. That honour should go to Alexandria? Or the coasts of Asia Minor and the Levant? Also, colonialism denotes the "race" between the competing European powers. There was no such thing during Alexander's reign.One can not really compare "slavery" in the Ancient World with the form of "slavery" the world witnessed after 1500 AD. A "slave" in Antiquity was more often part of a household, while after 1500 (until slavery was abolished around 1820) slaves were more regarded as a lower form of human beings. "Racism" was the ideology that sprung up during the slave trade era, providing the moral backing for the treatment of slaves. Though in the Ancient world e.g. Greeks might view Persians as barbarians, it is over the edge to interprete this as "racism" that was fully interlocked with "slavery", as became usual from 1500 onwards.I suppose both comparisons - colonialism and slavery during European domination - do not bring us any closer to understanding Alexander's world.Nick

no i do not think there is no refrence that imposes that ancient macedonia actuly had slavery,, which i dont think had happend untill after the death of alexander the great,, because, alexander would not slave country or territorys that he concoured but had in fact gave the kings he defeted control of there land only under macedonian rule