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Ancient Macedonia was founded much prior to the arrival of Alexander and was founded by the Hellenic immigrants who had come from Argos. The native Macedonians however, were not Hellenes themselves but they belonged rather to the barbaric races.
Ancient Macedonia was ruled by the Argive tribes who had acquired power in the region and Perdiccas, one of the early emigrants had become the king of the Macedonian state.
Before the 4th century BC, the kingdom of Macedonia covered an area equivalent to the modern Greece in terms of area. This region was greatly Hellenized during this early years and it was under the leadership of King Amyntas I that it emerged as a unified state.
During this era, the Macedonian kings had become rulers of Pieria and Bottiaea, had conquered Anthemus and Mygdonia and had thrown away the native Eordi from Eordia. But the sudden advancement of the Persian powers forced the Macedonians to stop their further expansion. Gradually they lost all their power and territory to the mighty Persians and became subjects of the Persian kingdom in the year 492 BC. They however, continued to have their own rulers, who became subordinates of the Persian rulers.
Then the Macedonian kingdom faced much disturbance which lasted till B.C. 359, until Philips came to the throne. The disturbance was caused because direct successors failed to ascend the throne and numerous pretenders claimed ascendance to the throne. After the decline of Philips, came the rule of Alexander the Great, which brought immense glory to the ancient Macedonian nation.
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