Antiquization

Monument of Alexander The Great (officially "Warrior on a Horse") in Skopje. In fact the city was capital of Dardania and never became a part of Ancient Macedonia.^[1]

Native tribal ethnes in the Southern Balkans prior to the expansion of Macedon. The territory of present-day North Macedonia is populated by the Thraco-Illyrian tribes.

Antiquization (Macedonian: антиквизација), otherwise known as ancient Macedonism (Macedonian: антички македонизам), is a term used mainly to critically describe the identity policies conducted by the nationalist VMRO-DPMNE-led governments of North Macedonia in the period between 2006 and 2017. In the contemporary Macedonian discourse, antiquization refers to the identitarian policies based on the assumption that there is a direct link between today's ethnic Macedonians and Ancient Macedonians.^[2] The politics of the ex-Yugoslav era therefore not only embrace the revival of the ancient heritage of the Ancient Macedonians, including the heritage of Philip II and his son Alexander the Great, but also seek to depict a coherent continuity of history and descendancy from the ancient Kingdom of Macedon until the modern Republic of North Macedonia in order to prove the uninterrupted existence of the contemporary Macedonians. Criticized as pseudohistoric, this idea remains widespread in North Macedonia despite the fact that there is no evidence for the alleged ethnic continuum.^[3]

^ Elisabeth Kontogiorgi, Population Exchange in Greek Macedonia: The Rural Settlement of Refugees 1922–1930, Oxford Historical Monographs, Clarendon Press, 2006, ISBN 0191515558, p. 12.
^ Vangeli, Anastas (2011): Nation-building ancient Macedonian style: the origins and the effects of the so-called antiquization in Macedonia. In Nationalities Papers 39 (1), p. 13.
^ Todorović, Miloš (2019). "Nationalistic Pseudohistory in the Balkans". Skeptic Magazine. 24 (4): 2–4. North Macedonia has been accused in the recent years of 'antiquization,' sometimes called 'ancient Macedonism.' The term is used to describe the identity policies conducted by the nationalist governments that were based on the assumption that there is a direct link between present day ethnic Macedonians and Ancient Macedonians. This narrative implies that Macedonians have roots in the Balkans that reach back millennia. The idea is widespread in Northern Macedonia despite the fact there is no evidence for the alleged ethnic continuum... In the case of Northern Macedonia pseudohistoric antiquization was supported by the government. The ubiquitous nature of nationalistic pseudohistory makes it seem like a competition between pseudohistorians seeking to prove that their nation is the oldest and most important one.

[1] Elisabeth Kontogiorgi, Population Exchange in Greek Macedonia: The Rural Settlement of Refugees 1922–1930, Oxford Historical Monographs, Clarendon Press, 2006, ISBN 0191515558, p. 12.

[Vangeli13-2] Vangeli, Anastas (2011): Nation-building ancient Macedonian style: the origins and the effects of the so-called antiquization in Macedonia. In Nationalities Papers 39 (1), p. 13.

[3] Todorović, Miloš (2019). "Nationalistic Pseudohistory in the Balkans". Skeptic Magazine. 24 (4): 2–4. North Macedonia has been accused in the recent years of 'antiquization,' sometimes called 'ancient Macedonism.' The term is used to describe the identity policies conducted by the nationalist governments that were based on the assumption that there is a direct link between present day ethnic Macedonians and Ancient Macedonians. This narrative implies that Macedonians have roots in the Balkans that reach back millennia. The idea is widespread in Northern Macedonia despite the fact there is no evidence for the alleged ethnic continuum... In the case of Northern Macedonia pseudohistoric antiquization was supported by the government. The ubiquitous nature of nationalistic pseudohistory makes it seem like a competition between pseudohistorians seeking to prove that their nation is the oldest and most important one.

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