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====Background==Were Ancient Macedonians Greeks?==
Macedonia was a small kingdom to the north of Greece. Unlike the rest of Greece, it was rather backward, and it did not have any major urban centers. The country’s economy was based on pastoral farming, and many Macedonians were semi-nomadic pastoralists. The Macedonian nobility and population measured their wealth in the number of horses and livestock they owned. The kingdom was regularly shaken by civil wars between the kings and the nobles. Macedonia kings were rarely in full control of the kingdom, and often the powerful local lords acted as semi-independent rulers. Macedonia was very vulnerable to invasions. It was regularly invaded by its neighbors, including the Celts, Scythian, and Thracians.
The kingdom was never a significant player in Greece's politics and was conquered by Darius during the Second Persian Invasion. Many of Phillip II's critics claimed that the Macedonians were not really Greeks and implied that they were non-Greeks or ‘barbarians’ ‘barbarians.’ <ref> Demosthenes. Philippics. 1 8</ref>. The vast majority of scholars today believe that the Macedonians were Greeks and they . They had originated from North-East Greece and had expanded into the Modern Republic of Macedonia. Evidence of their ‘Greekness’ is that they worshiped the same Pantheon of Gods as those worshiped in Sparta and Athens<ref>. Worthington, Ian. Philip II of Macedonia (Yale: Yale University Press, 2000), p. 13</ref>
====Life of Phillip II====
