title: Macedonia (ancient kingdom)

text: In 215 BC, at the height of the Second Punic War with the Carthaginian Empire, Roman authorities intercepted a ship off the Calabrian coast holding a Macedonian envoy and a Carthaginian ambassador in possession of a treaty composed by Hannibal declaring an alliance with PhilipV. The treaty stipulated that Carthage had the sole right to negotiate the terms of Rome's hypothetical surrender and promised mutual aid if a resurgent Rome should seek revenge against either Macedonia or Carthage. Although the Macedonians were perhaps only interested in safeguarding their newly conquered territories in Illyria, the Romans were nevertheless able to thwart whatever grand ambitions PhilipV had for the Adriatic region during the First Macedonian War (214–205BC). In 214BC, Rome positioned a naval fleet at Oricus, which was assaulted along with Apollonia by Macedonian forces. When the Macedonians captured Lissus in 212BC, the Roman Senate responded by inciting the Aetolian League, Sparta, Elis, Messenia, and Attalus I () of Pergamon to wage war against PhilipV, keeping him occupied and away from Italy.


title: Macedonia (ancient kingdom)

text: The Aetolian League concluded a peace agreement with PhilipV in 206BC, and the Roman Republic negotiated the Treaty of Phoenice in 205BC, ending the war and allowing the Macedonians to retain some captured settlements in Illyria. Although the Romans rejected an Aetolian request in 202BC for Rome to declare war on Macedonia once again, the Roman Senate gave serious consideration to the similar offer made by Pergamon and its ally Rhodes in 201BC. These states were concerned about PhilipV's alliance with Antiochus III the Great of the Seleucid Empire, which invaded the war-weary and financially exhausted Ptolemaic Empire in the Fifth Syrian War (202–195BC) as PhilipV captured Ptolemaic settlements in the Aegean Sea. Although Rome's envoys played a critical role in convincing Athens to join the anti-Macedonian alliance with Pergamon and Rhodes in 200BC, the "comitia centuriata" (people's assembly) rejected the Roman Senate's proposal for a declaration of war on Macedonia. Meanwhile, PhilipV conquered territories in the Hellespont and Bosporus as well as Ptolemaic Samos, which led Rhodes to form an alliance with Pergamon, Byzantium, Cyzicus, and Chios against Macedonia. Despite PhilipV's nominal alliance with the Seleucid king, he lost the naval Battle of Chios in 201BC and was blockaded at Bargylia by the Rhodian and Pergamene navies.


title: Macedonia (ancient kingdom)

text: While Philip V was busy fighting Rome's Greek allies, Rome viewed this as an opportunity to punish this former ally of Hannibal with a war that they hoped would supply a victory and require few resources. The Roman Senate demanded that PhilipV cease hostilities against neighboring Greek powers and defer to an international arbitration committee for settling grievances. When the "comitia centuriata" finally voted in approval of the Roman Senate's declaration of war in 200BC and handed their ultimatum to PhilipV, demanding that a tribunal assess the damages owed to Rhodes and Pergamon, the Macedonian king rejected it. This marked the beginning of the Second Macedonian War (200–197BC), with Publius Sulpicius Galba Maximus spearheading military operations in Apollonia.


title: Macedonia (ancient kingdom)

text: The Macedonians successfully defended their territory for roughly two years, but the Roman consul Titus Quinctius Flamininus managed to expel PhilipV from Macedonia in 198BC, forcing his men to take refuge in Thessaly. When the Achaean League switched their loyalties from Macedonia to Rome, the Macedonian king sued for peace, but the terms offered were considered too stringent, and so the war continued. In June 197BC, the Macedonians were defeated at the Battle of Cynoscephalae. Rome then ratified a treaty that forced Macedonia to relinquish control of much of its Greek possessions outside of Macedonia proper, if only to act as a buffer against Illyrian and Thracian incursions into Greece. Although some Greeks suspected Roman intentions of supplanting Macedonia as the new hegemonic power in Greece, Flaminius announced at the Isthmian Games of 196BC that Rome intended to preserve Greek liberty by leaving behind no garrisons and by not exacting tribute of any kind. His promise was delayed by negotiations with the Spartan king Nabis, who had meanwhile captured Argos, yet Roman forces evacuated Greece in 194BC.


title: Macedonia (ancient kingdom)

text: Encouraged by the Aetolian League and their calls to liberate Greece from the Romans, the Seleucid king AntiochusIII landed with his army at Demetrias, Thessaly, in 192BC, and was elected "strategos" by the Aetolians. Macedonia, the Achaean League, and other Greek city-states maintained their alliance with Rome. The Romans defeated the Seleucids in the 191BC Battle of Thermopylae as well as the Battle of Magnesia in 190BC, forcing the Seleucids to pay a war indemnity, dismantle most of its navy, and abandon its claims to any territories north or west of the Taurus Mountains in the 188BC Treaty of Apamea. With Rome's acceptance, PhilipV was able to capture some cities in central Greece in 191–189BC that had been allied to AntiochusIII, while Rhodes and Eumenes II () of Pergamon gained territories in Asia Minor.


title: Macedonia (ancient kingdom)

text: Failing to please all sides in various territorial disputes, the Roman Senate decided in 184/183BC to force PhilipV to abandon Aenus and Maronea, since these had been declared free cities in the Treaty of Apamea. This assuaged the fear of EumenesII that Macedonia could pose a threat to his lands in the Hellespont. Perseus of Macedon () succeeded PhilipV and executed his brother Demetrius, who had been favored by the Romans but was charged by Perseus with high treason. Perseus then attempted to form marriage alliances with Prusias II of Bithynia and Seleucus IV Philopator of the Seleucid Empire, along with renewed relations with Rhodes that greatly unsettled EumenesII. Although EumenesII attempted to undermine these diplomatic relationships, Perseus fostered an alliance with the Boeotian League, extended his authority into Illyria and Thrace, and in 174BC, won the role of managing the Temple of Apollo at Delphi as a member of the Amphictyonic Council.


title: Macedonia (ancient kingdom)

text: Eumenes II came to Rome in 172 BC and delivered a speech to the Senate denouncing the alleged crimes and transgressions of Perseus. This convinced the Roman Senate to declare the Third Macedonian War (171–168BC). Although Perseus's forces were victorious against the Romans at the Battle of Callinicus in 171BC, the Macedonian army was defeated at the Battle of Pydna in June 168BC. Perseus fled to Samothrace but surrendered shortly afterwards, was brought to Rome for the triumph of Lucius Aemilius Paullus Macedonicus, and was placed under house arrest at Alba Fucens, where he died in 166BC. The Romans abolished the Macedonian monarchy by installing four separate allied republics in its stead, their capitals located at Amphipolis, Thessalonica, Pella, and Pelagonia. The Romans imposed severe laws inhibiting many social and economic interactions between the inhabitants of these republics, including the banning of marriages between them and the (temporary) prohibition on gold and silver mining. A certain Andriscus, claiming Antigonid descent, rebelled against the Romans and was pronounced king of Macedonia, defeating the army of the Roman praetor Publius Juventius Thalna during the Fourth Macedonian War (150–148BC). Despite this, Andriscus was defeated in 148BC at the second Battle of Pydna by Quintus Caecilius Metellus Macedonicus, whose forces occupied the kingdom. This was followed in 146BC by the Roman destruction of Carthage and victory over the Achaean League at the Battle of Corinth, ushering in the era of Roman Greece and the gradual establishment of the Roman province of Macedonia.


title: Macedonia (ancient kingdom)

text: At the head of Macedonia's government was the king ("basileus"). From at least the reign of PhilipII, the king was assisted by the royal pages ("basilikoi paides"), bodyguards ("somatophylakes"), companions ("hetairoi"), friends ("philoi"), an assembly that included members of the military, and (during the Hellenistic period) magistrates. Evidence is lacking regarding the extent to which each of these groups shared authority with the king or if their existence had a basis in a formal constitutional framework. Before the reign of PhilipII, the only institution supported by textual evidence is the monarchy.


title: Macedonia (ancient kingdom)

text: The earliest known government of ancient Macedonia was that of its monarchy, lasting until 167BC when it was abolished by the Romans. The Macedonian hereditary monarchy existed since at least the time of Archaic Greece, with Homeric aristocratic roots in Mycenaean Greece. Thucydides wrote that in previous ages, Macedonia was divided into small tribal regions, each having its own petty king, the tribes of Lower Macedonia eventually coalescing under one great king who exercised power as an overlord over the lesser kings of Upper Macedonia. The direct line of father-to-son succession was broken after the assassination of Orestes of Macedon in 396BC (allegedly by his regent and successor Aeropus II of Macedon), clouding the issue of whether primogeniture was the established custom or if there was a constitutional right for an assembly of the army or of the people to choose another king. It is unclear if the male offspring of Macedonian queens or consorts were always preferred over others given the accession of Archelaus I of Macedon, son of Perdiccas II of Macedon and a slave woman, although Archelaus succeeded the throne after murdering his father's designated heir apparent.


title: Macedonia (ancient kingdom)

text: It is known that Macedonian kings before PhilipII upheld the privileges and carried out the responsibilities of hosting foreign diplomats, determining the kingdom's foreign policies, and negotiating alliances with foreign powers. After the Greek victory at Salamis in 480BC, the Persian commander Mardonius had Alexander I of Macedon sent to Athens as a chief envoy to orchestrate an alliance between the Achaemenid Empire and Athens. The decision to send Alexander was based on his marriage alliance with a noble Persian house and his previous formal relationship with the city-state of Athens. With their ownership of natural resources including gold, silver, timber, and royal land, the early Macedonian kings were also capable of bribing foreign and domestic parties with impressive gifts.


title: Macedonia (ancient kingdom)

text: Little is known about the judicial system of ancient Macedonia except that the king acted as the chief judge of the kingdom. The Macedonian kings were also supreme commanders of the military. PhilipII was also highly regarded for his acts of piety in serving as the high priest of the nation. He performed daily ritual sacrifices and led religious festivals. Alexander imitated various aspects of his father's reign, such as granting land and gifts to loyal aristocratic followers, but lost some core support among them for adopting some of the trappings of an Eastern, Persian monarch, a "lord and master" as Carol J. King suggests, instead of a "comrade-in-arms" as was the traditional relationship of Macedonian kings with their companions. Alexander's father, PhilipII, was perhaps influenced by Persian traditions when he adopted institutions similar to those found in the Achaemenid realm, such as having a royal secretary, royal archive, royal pages, and a seated throne.


title: Macedonia (ancient kingdom)

text: The royal pages were adolescent boys and young men conscripted from aristocratic households and serving the kings of Macedonia perhaps from the reign of PhilipII onward, although more solid evidence dates to the reign of Alexander the Great. Royal pages played no direct role in high politics and were conscripted as a means to introduce them to political life. After a period of training and service, pages were expected to become members of the king's companions and personal retinue. During their training, pages were expected to guard the king as he slept, supply him with horses, aid him in mounting his horse, accompany him on royal hunts, and serve him during "symposia" (i.e. formal drinking parties). Although there is little evidence for royal pages in the Antigonid period, it is known that some of them fled with Perseus of Macedon to Samothrace following his defeat by the Romans in 168BC.


title: Macedonia (ancient kingdom)

text: Royal bodyguards served as the closest members to the king at court and on the battlefield. They were split into two categories: the "agema" of the "hypaspistai", a type of ancient special forces usually numbering in the hundreds, and a smaller group of men handpicked by the king either for their individual merits or to honor the noble families to which they belonged. Therefore, the bodyguards, limited in number and forming the king's inner circle, were not always responsible for protecting the king's life on and off the battlefield; their title and office was more a mark of distinction, perhaps used to quell rivalries between aristocratic houses.


title: Macedonia (ancient kingdom)

text: The companions, including the elite companion cavalry and "pezhetairoi" infantry, represented a substantially larger group than the king's bodyguards. The most trusted or highest ranking companions formed a council that served as an advisory body to the king. A small amount of evidence suggests the existence of an assembly of the army during times of war and a people's assembly during times of peace.


title: Macedonia (ancient kingdom)

text: Members of the council had the right to speak freely, and although there is no direct evidence that they voted on affairs of state, it is clear that the king was at least occasionally pressured to agree to their demands. The assembly was apparently given the right to judge cases of high treason and assign punishments for them, such as when Alexander the Great acted as prosecutor in the trial and conviction of three alleged conspirators in his father's assassination plot (while many others were acquitted). However, there is perhaps insufficient evidence to allow a conclusion that councils and assemblies were regularly upheld or constitutionally grounded, or that their decisions were always heeded by the king. At the death of Alexander the Great, the companions immediately formed a council to assume control of his empire, but it was soon destabilized by open rivalry and conflict between its members. The army also used mutiny as a tool to achieve political ends.


title: Macedonia (ancient kingdom)

text: Antigonid Macedonian kings relied on various regional officials to conduct affairs of state. This included high-ranking municipal officials, such as the military "strategos" and the politarch, i.e. the elected governor ("archon") of a large city ("polis"), as well as the politico-religious office of the "epistates". No evidence exists about the personal backgrounds of these officials, although they may have been chosen among the same group of aristocratic "philoi" and "hetairoi" who filled vacancies for army officers.


title: Macedonia (ancient kingdom)

text: In ancient Athens, the Athenian democracy was restored on three separate occasions following the initial conquest of the city by Antipater in 322BC. When it fell repeatedly under Macedonian rule it was governed by a Macedonian-imposed oligarchy composed of the wealthiest members of the city-state. Other city-states were handled quite differently and were allowed a greater degree of autonomy. After PhilipII conquered Amphipolis in 357BC, the city was allowed to retain its democracy, including its constitution, popular assembly, city council ("boule"), and yearly elections for new officials, but a Macedonian garrison was housed within the city walls along with a Macedonian royal commissioner ("epistates") to monitor the city's political affairs. Philippi, the city founded by PhilipII, was the only other city in the Macedonian commonwealth that had a democratic government with popular assemblies, since the assembly ("ecclesia") of Thessaloniki seems to have had only a passive function in practice. Some cities also maintained their own municipal revenues. The Macedonian king and central government administered the revenues generated by temples and priesthoods.


title: Macedonia (ancient kingdom)

text: Within the Macedonian commonwealth, some evidence from the 3rd centuryBC indicates that foreign relations were handled by the central government. Although individual Macedonian cities nominally participated in Panhellenic events as independent entities, in reality, the granting of "asylia" (inviolability, diplomatic immunity, and the right of asylum at sanctuaries) to certain cities was handled directly by the king. Likewise, the city-states within contemporary Greek "koina" (i.e., federations of city-states, the "sympoliteia") obeyed the federal decrees voted on collectively by the members of their league. In city-states belonging to a league or commonwealth, the granting of "proxenia" (i.e. the hosting of foreign ambassadors) was usually a right shared by local and central authorities. Abundant evidence exists for the granting of "proxenia" as being the sole prerogative of central authorities in the neighboring Epirote League, and some evidence suggests the same arrangement in the Macedonian commonwealth. City-states that were allied with Macedonia issued their own decrees regarding "proxenia". Foreign leagues also formed alliances with the Macedonian kings, such as when the Cretan League signed treaties with Demetrius II Aetolicus and Antigonus III Doson ensuring enlistment of Cretan mercenaries into the Macedonian army, and elected Philip V of Macedon as honorary protector ("prostates") of the league.


title: Macedonia (ancient kingdom)

text: The basic structure of the Ancient Macedonian army was the division between the companion cavalry ("hetairoi") and the foot companions ("pezhetairoi"), augmented by various allied troops, foreign levied soldiers, and mercenaries. The foot companions existed perhaps since the reign of Alexander I of Macedon. Macedonian cavalry, wearing muscled cuirasses, became renowned in Greece during and after their involvement in the Peloponnesian War, at times siding with either Athens or Sparta. Macedonian infantry in this period consisted of poorly trained shepherds and farmers, while the cavalry was composed of noblemen. As evidenced by early 4th century BC artwork, there was a pronounced Spartan influence on the Macedonian army before PhilipII. Nicholas Viktor Sekunda states that at the beginning of PhilipII's reign in 359BC, the Macedonian army consisted of 10,000 infantry and 600 cavalry, yet Malcolm Errington cautions that these figures cited by ancient authors should be treated with some skepticism.


title: Macedonia (ancient kingdom)

text: After spending years as a political hostage in Thebes, PhilipII sought to imitate the Greek example of martial exercises and the issuing of standard equipment for citizen soldiery, and succeeded in transforming the Macedonian army from a levied force of unprofessional farmers into a well-trained, professional army. PhilipII adopted some of the military tactics of his enemies, such as the "embolon" (flying wedge) cavalry formation of the Scythians. His infantry wielded "peltai" shields that replaced the earlier "aspis"-style shields, were equipped with protective helmets, greaves, and either cuirasses breastplates or "kotthybos" stomach bands, and armed with "sarissa" pikes and daggers as secondary weapons. The elite "hypaspistai" infantry, composed of handpicked men from the ranks of the "pezhetairoi", were formed during the reign of PhilipII and saw continued use during the reign of Alexander the Great. PhilipII was also responsible for the establishment of the royal bodyguards ("somatophylakes").


title: Macedonia (ancient kingdom)

text: For his lighter missile troops, Philip II employed mercenary Cretan archers as well as Thracian, Paeonian, and Illyrian javelin throwers, slingers, and archers. He hired engineers such as Polyidus of Thessaly and Diades of Pella, who were capable of building state of the art siege engines and artillery that fired large bolts. Following the acquisition of the lucrative mines at Krinides (renamed Philippi), the royal treasury could afford to field a permanent, professional standing army. The increase in state revenues under PhilipII allowed the Macedonians to build a small navy for the first time, which included triremes.


title: Macedonia (ancient kingdom)

text: The only Macedonian cavalry units attested under Alexander were the companion cavalry, yet he formed a "hipparchia" (i.e. unit of a few hundred horsemen) of companion cavalry composed entirely of ethnic Persians while campaigning in Asia. When marching his forces into Asia, Alexander brought 1,800 cavalrymen from Macedonia, 1,800 cavalrymen from Thessaly, 600 cavalrymen from the rest of Greece, and 900 "prodromoi" cavalry from Thrace. Antipater was able to quickly raise a force of 600 native Macedonian cavalry to fight in the Lamian War when it began in 323BC. The most elite members of Alexander's "hypaspistai" were designated as the "agema", and a new term for "hypaspistai" emerged after the Battle of Gaugamela in 331BC: the "argyraspides" (silver shields). The latter continued to serve after the reign of Alexander the Great and may have been of Asian origin. Overall, his pike-wielding phalanx infantry numbered some 12,000 men, 3,000 of which were elite "hypaspistai" and 9,000 of which were "pezhetairoi". Alexander continued the use of Cretan archers and introduced native Macedonian archers into the army. After the Battle of Gaugamela, archers of West Asian backgrounds became commonplace.


title: Macedonia (ancient kingdom)

text: The Macedonian army continued to evolve under the Antigonid dynasty. It is uncertain how many men were appointed as "somatophylakes", which numbered eight men at the end of Alexander the Great's reign, while the "hypaspistai" seem to have morphed into assistants of the "somatophylakes". At the Battle of Cynoscephalae in 197BC, the Macedonians commanded some 16,000 phalanx pikemen. Alexander the Great's royal squadron of companion cavalry contained 800 men, the same number of cavalrymen in the sacred squadron (Latin: "sacra ala"; Greek: "hiera ile") commanded by Philip V of Macedon during the Social War of 219BC. The regular Macedonian cavalry numbered 3,000 at Callinicus, which was separate from the sacred squadron and royal cavalry. While Macedonian cavalry of the 4th century BC had fought without shields, the use of shields by cavalry was adopted from the Celtic invaders of the 270s BC who settled in Galatia, central Anatolia.


title: Macedonia (ancient kingdom)

text: Thanks to contemporary inscriptions from Amphipolis and Greia dated 218 and 181BC, respectively, historians have been able to partially piece together the organization of the Antigonid army under PhilipV. From at least the time of Antigonus III Doson, the most elite Antigonid-period infantry were the peltasts, lighter and more maneuverable soldiers wielding "peltai" javelins, swords, and a smaller bronze shield than Macedonian phalanx pikemen, although they sometimes served in that capacity. Among the peltasts, roughly 2,000 men were selected to serve in the elite "agema" vanguard, with other peltasts numbering roughly 3,000. The number of peltasts varied over time, perhaps never more than 5,000 men. They fought alongside the phalanx pikemen, divided now into "chalkaspides" (bronze shield) and "leukaspides" (white shield) regiments.


title: Macedonia (ancient kingdom)

text: The Antigonid Macedonian kings continued to expand and equip the navy. Cassander maintained a small fleet at Pydna, Demetrius I of Macedon had one at Pella, and Antigonus II Gonatas, while serving as a general for Demetrius in Greece, used the navy to secure the Macedonian holdings in Demetrias, Chalkis, Piraeus, and Corinth. The navy was considerably expanded during the Chremonidean War (267–261BC), allowing the Macedonian navy to defeat the Ptolemaic Egyptian navy at the 255BC Battle of Cos and 245BC Battle of Andros, and enabling Macedonian influence to spread over the Cyclades. AntigonusIII Doson used the Macedonian navy to invade Caria, while PhilipV sent 200 ships to fight in the Battle of Chios in 201BC. The Macedonian navy was reduced to a mere six vessels as agreed in the 197BC peace treaty that concluded the Second Macedonian War with the Roman Republic, although Perseus of Macedon quickly assembled some "lemboi" at the outbreak of the Third Macedonian War in 171BC.


title: Macedonia (ancient kingdom)

text: Following its adoption as the court language of Philip II of Macedon's regime, authors of ancient Macedonia wrote their works in Koine Greek, the "lingua franca" of late Classical and Hellenistic Greece. Rare textual evidence indicates that the native Macedonian language was either a dialect of Greek similar to Thessalian Greek and Northwestern Greek, or a language closely related to Greek. The vast majority of surviving inscriptions from ancient Macedonia were written in Attic Greek and its successor Koine. Attic (and later Koine) Greek was the preferred language of the Ancient Macedonian army, although it is known that Alexander the Great once shouted an emergency order in Macedonian to his royal guards during the drinking party where he killed Cleitus the Black. Macedonian became extinct in either the Hellenistic or the Roman period, and entirely replaced by Koine Greek.


title: Macedonia (ancient kingdom)

text: By the 5th century BC, the Macedonians and the southern Greeks worshiped more or less the same deities of the Greek pantheon. In Macedonia, political and religious offices were often intertwined. For instance, the head of state for the city of Amphipolis also served as the priest of Asklepios, Greek god of medicine; a similar arrangement existed at Cassandreia, where a cult priest honoring the city's founder Cassander was the nominal head of the city. The main sanctuary of Zeus was maintained at Dion, while another at Veria was dedicated to Herakles and was patronized by Demetrius II Aetolicus (). Meanwhile, foreign cults from Egypt were fostered by the royal court, such as the temple of Sarapis at Thessaloniki. The Macedonians also had relations with "international" cults; for example, Macedonian kings Philip III of Macedon and Alexander IV of Macedon made votive offerings to the internationally esteemed Samothrace temple complex of the Cabeiri mystery cult.


title: Macedonia (ancient kingdom)

text: In the three royal tombs at Vergina, professional painters decorated the walls with a mythological scene of Hades abducting Persephone and royal hunting scenes, while lavish grave goods including weapons, armor, drinking vessels, and personal items were housed with the dead, whose bones were burned before burial in golden coffins. Some grave goods and decorations were common in other Macedonian tombs, yet some items found at Vergina were distinctly tied to royalty, including a diadem, luxurious goods, and arms and armor. Scholars have debated about the identity of the tomb occupants since the discovery of their remains in 1977–1978, and recent research and forensic examination have concluded that at least one of the persons buried was PhilipII. Located near Tomb1 are the above-ground ruins of a "heroon", a shrine for cult worship of the dead. In 2014, the ancient Macedonian Kasta Tomb was discovered outside of Amphipolis and is the largest ancient tomb found in Greece (as of 2017).


title: Macedonia (ancient kingdom)

text: Young Macedonian men were typically expected to engage in hunting and martial combat as a by-product of their transhumance lifestyle of herding livestock such as goats and sheep, while horse breeding and raising cattle were other common pursuits. Some Macedonians engaged in farming, often with irrigation, land reclamation, and horticulture activities supported by the Macedonian state. The Macedonian economy and state finances were mainly supported by logging and by mining valuable minerals such as copper, iron, gold, and silver. The conversion of these raw materials into finished products and the sale of those products encouraged the growth of urban centers and a gradual shift away from the traditional rustic Macedonian lifestyle during the course of the 5thcenturyBC.


title: Macedonia (ancient kingdom)

text: The Macedonian king was an autocratic figure at the head of both government and society, with arguably unlimited authority to handle affairs of state and public policy, but he was also the leader of a very personal regime with close relationships or connections to his "hetairoi", the core of the Macedonian aristocracy. These aristocrats were second only to the king in terms of power and privilege, filling the ranks of his administration and serving as commanding officers in the military. It was in the more bureaucratic regimes of the Hellenistic kingdoms that succeeded Alexander the Great's empire where greater social mobility for members of society seeking to join the aristocracy could be found, especially in Ptolemaic Egypt. Although governed by a king and martial aristocracy, Macedonia seems to have lacked the widespread use of slaves seen in contemporaneous Greek states.


title: Macedonia (ancient kingdom)

text: By the reign of ArchelausI in the 5th century BC, the ancient Macedonian elite was importing customs and artistic traditions from other regions of Greece while retaining more archaic, perhaps Homeric, funerary rites connected with the symposium that were typified by items such as the decorative metal kraters that held the ashes of deceased Macedonian nobility in their tombs. Among these is the large bronze Derveni Krater from a 4th-centuryBC tomb of Thessaloniki, decorated with scenes of the Greek god Dionysus and his entourage and belonging to an aristocrat who had had a military career. Macedonian metalwork usually followed Athenian styles of vase shapes from the 6thcenturyBC onward, with drinking vessels, jewellery, containers, crowns, diadems, and coins among the many metal objects found in Macedonian tombs.


title: Macedonia (ancient kingdom)

text: Surviving Macedonian painted artwork includes frescoes and murals, but also decoration on sculpted artwork such as statues and reliefs. For instance, trace colors still exist on the bas-reliefs of the late 4th-century BC Alexander Sarcophagus. Macedonian paintings have allowed historians to investigate the clothing fashions as well as military gear worn by the ancient Macedonians. Aside from metalwork and painting, mosaics are another significant form of surviving Macedonian artwork. The Stag Hunt Mosaic of Pella, with its three-dimensional qualities and illusionist style, show clear influence from painted artwork and wider Hellenistic art trends, although the rustic theme of hunting was tailored to Macedonian tastes. The similar Lion Hunt Mosaic of Pella illustrates either a scene of Alexander the Great with his companion Craterus, or simply a conventional illustration of the royal diversion of hunting. Mosaics with mythological themes include scenes of Dionysus riding a panther and Helen of Troy being abducted by Theseus, the latter of which employs illusionist qualities and realistic shading similar to Macedonian paintings. Common themes of Macedonian paintings and mosaics include warfare, hunting, and aggressive masculine sexuality (i.e. abduction of women for rape or marriage); these subjects are at times combined within a single work and perhaps indicate a metaphorical connection.


title: Macedonia (ancient kingdom)

text: Philip II was assassinated in 336 BC at the theatre of Aigai, amid games and spectacles celebrating the marriage of his daughter Cleopatra. Alexander the Great was allegedly a great admirer of both theatre and music. He was especially fond of the plays by Classical Athenian tragedians Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides, whose works formed part of a proper Greek education for his new eastern subjects alongside studies in the Greek language, including the epics of Homer. While he and his army were stationed at Tyre (in modern-day Lebanon), Alexander had his generals act as judges not only for athletic contests but also for stage performances of Greek tragedies. The contemporaneous famous actors Thessalus and Athenodorus performed at the event.


title: Macedonia (ancient kingdom)

text: Music was also appreciated in Macedonia. In addition to the agora, the gymnasium, the theatre, and religious sanctuaries and temples dedicated to Greek gods and goddesses, one of the main markers of a true Greek city in the empire of Alexander the Great was the presence of an odeon for musical performances. This was the case not only for Alexandria in Egypt, but also for cities as distant as Ai-Khanoum in what is now modern-day Afghanistan.


title: Macedonia (ancient kingdom)

text: Perdiccas II of Macedon was able to host well-known Classical Greek intellectual visitors at his royal court, such as the lyric poet Melanippides and the renowned medical doctor Hippocrates, and Pindar's "enkomion" written for Alexander I of Macedon may have been composed at his court. ArchelausI received many more Greek scholars, artists, and celebrities at his court than his predecessors. His honored guests included the painter Zeuxis, the architect Callimachus, the poets Choerilus of Samos, Timotheus of Miletus, and Agathon, as well as the famous Athenian playwright Euripides. The philosopher Aristotle, who studied at the Platonic Academy of Athens and established the Aristotelian school of thought, moved to Macedonia, and is said to have tutored the young Alexander the Great, as well as serving as an esteemed diplomat for PhilipII. Among Alexander's retinue of artists, writers, and philosophers was Pyrrho of Elis, founder of Pyrrhonism, the school of philosophical skepticism. During the Antigonid period, Antigonos Gonatas fostered cordial relationships with Menedemos of Eretria, founder of the Eretrian school of philosophy, and Zenon, the founder of Stoicism.


title: Macedonia (ancient kingdom)

text: In terms of early Greek historiography and later Roman historiography, Felix Jacoby identified thirteen possible ancient historians who wrote about Macedonia in his "Fragmente der griechischen Historiker". Aside from accounts in Herodotus and Thucydides, the works compiled by Jacoby are only fragmentary, whereas other works are completely lost, such as the history of an Illyrian war fought by Perdiccas III written by Antipater. The Macedonian historians Marsyas of Pella and Marsyas of Philippi wrote histories of Macedonia, the Ptolemaic king Ptolemy I Soter authored a history about Alexander, and Hieronymus of Cardia wrote a history about Alexander's royal successors. Following the Indian campaign of Alexander the Great, the Macedonian military officer Nearchus wrote a work of his voyage from the mouth of the Indus river to the Persian Gulf. The Macedonian historian Craterus published a compilation of decrees made by the popular assembly of the Athenian democracy, ostensibly while attending the school of Aristotle. Philip V of Macedon had manuscripts of the history of PhilipII written by Theopompus gathered by his court scholars and disseminated with further copies.


title: Macedonia (ancient kingdom)

text: When Alexander I of Macedon petitioned to compete in the foot race of the ancient Olympic Games, the event organizers at first denied his request, explaining that only Greeks were allowed to compete. However, AlexanderI produced proof of an Argead royal genealogy showing ancient Argive Temenid lineage, a move that ultimately convinced the Olympic "Hellanodikai" authorities of his Greek descent and ability to compete. By the end of the 5thcenturyBC, the Macedonian king ArchelausI was crowned with the olive wreath at both Olympia and Delphi (in the Pythian Games) for winning chariot racing contests. PhilipII allegedly heard of the Olympic victory of his horse (in either an individual horse race or chariot race) on the same day his son Alexander the Great was born, on either 19 or 20July 356BC. Non-royal Macedonians also competed in and won various Olympic contests by the 4th century BC. In addition to literary contests, Alexander the Great staged competitions for music and athletics across his empire.


title: Macedonia (ancient kingdom)

text: Ancient Macedonia produced only a few fine foods or beverages that were highly appreciated elsewhere in the Greek world, including eels from the Strymonian Gulf and special wine produced in Chalcidice. The earliest known use of flat bread as a plate for meat was made in Macedonia during the 3rdcenturyBC, which perhaps influenced the later trencher bread of medieval Europe. Cattle and goats were consumed, although there was no notice of Macedonian mountain cheeses in literature until the Middle Ages. The comedic playwright Menander wrote that Macedonian dining habits penetrated Athenian high society; for instance, the introduction of meats into the dessert course of a meal. The Macedonians also most likely introduced "mattye" to Athenian cuisine, a dish usually made of chicken or other spiced, salted, and sauced meats served during the wine course. This particular dish was derided and connected with licentiousness and drunkenness in a play by the Athenian comic poet Alexis about the declining morals of Athenians in the age of Demetrius I of Macedon.


title: Macedonia (ancient kingdom)

text: The "symposium" in the Macedonian and wider Greek realm was a banquet for the nobility and privileged class, an occasion for feasting, drinking, entertainment, and sometimes philosophical discussion. The "hetairoi", leading members of the Macedonian aristocracy, were expected to attend such feasts with their king. They were also expected to accompany him on royal hunts for the acquisition of game meat as well as for sport.


title: Macedonia (ancient kingdom)

text: Ancient authors and modern scholars alike disagree about the ethnic identity of the ancient Macedonians. Ernst Badian notes that nearly all surviving references to antagonisms and differences between Greeks and Macedonians exist in the written speeches of Arrian, who lived at the time of the Roman Empire, when any notion of an ethnic disparity between Macedonians and other Greeks was incomprehensible. Hatzopoulos argues that there was no real ethnic difference between Macedonians and Greeks, only a political distinction contrived after the creation of the League of Corinth in 337BC (which was led by Macedonia through the league's elected "hegemon" PhilipII, when he was not a member of the league itself), N. G. L. Hammond asserts that ancient views differentiating Macedonia's ethnic identity from the rest of the Greek-speaking world should be seen as an expression of conflict between two different political systems: the democratic system of the city-states (e.g. Athens) versus the monarchy (Macedonia). Other academics who concur that the difference between the Macedonians and Greeks was a political rather than a true ethnic discrepancy include Michael B. Sakellariou, Malcolm Errington, and Craige B. Champion.


title: Macedonia (ancient kingdom)

text: Anson argues that some Hellenic authors expressed complex or even ever-changing and ambiguous ideas about the exact ethnic identity of the Macedonians, who were considered by some such as Aristotle in his "Politics" as barbarians and others as semi-Greek or fully Greek. Roger D. Woodard asserts that in addition to persisting uncertainty in modern times about the proper classification of the Macedonian language and its relation to Greek, ancient authors also presented conflicting ideas about the Macedonians. Simon Hornblower argues on the Greek identity of the Macedonians, taking into consideration their origin, language, cults and customs. Any preconceived ethnic differences between Greeks and Macedonians faded by 148BC soon after the Roman conquest of Macedonia and then the rest of Greece with the defeat of the Achaean League by the Roman Republic at the Battle of Corinth (146 BC).


title: Macedonia (ancient kingdom)

text: Macedonian architecture, although utilizing a mixture of different forms and styles from the rest of Greece, did not represent a unique or diverging style from other ancient Greek architecture. Among the classical orders, Macedonian architects favored the Ionic order, especially in the peristyle courtyards of private homes. There are several surviving examples, albeit in ruins, of Macedonian palatial architecture, including a palace at the site of the capital Pella, the summer residence of Vergina near the old capital Aigai, and the royal residence at Demetrias near modern Volos. At Vergina, the ruins of three large banquet halls with marble-tiled floors (covered in the debris of roof tiles) with floor plan dimensions measuring roughly 16.7 x 17.6 m (54.8 x 57.7 ft) demonstrate perhaps the earliest examples of monumental triangular roof trusses, if dated before the reign of Antigonus II Gonatas or even the onset of the Hellenistic period. Later Macedonian architecture also featured arches and vaults. The palaces of both Vergina and Demetrias had walls made of sundried bricks, while the latter palace had four corner towers around a central courtyard in the manner of a fortified residence fit for a king or at least a military governor.


title: Macedonia (ancient kingdom)

text: Macedonian rulers also sponsored works of architecture outside of Macedonia proper. For instance, following his victory at the Battle of Chaeronea (338 BC), PhilipII raised a round memorial building at Olympia known as the Philippeion, decorated inside with statues depicting him, his parents Amyntas III of Macedon and Eurydice I of Macedon, his wife Olympias, and his son Alexander the Great.


title: Macedonia (ancient kingdom)

text: The ruins of roughly twenty Greek theatres survive in the present-day regions of Macedonia and Thrace in Greece: sixteen open-air theatres, three odea, and a possible theatre in Veria undergoing excavation.


title: Macedonia (ancient kingdom)

text: By the Hellenistic period, it became common for Greek states to finance the development and proliferation of ever more powerful torsion siege engines, naval ships, and standardized designs for arms and armor. Under PhilipII and Alexander the Great, improvements were made to siege artillery such as bolt-shooting ballistae and siege engines such as huge rolling siege towers. E.W.Marsden and M.Y.Treister contend that the Macedonian rulers Antigonus I Monophthalmus and his successor Demetrius I of Macedon had the most powerful siege artillery of the Hellenistic world at the end of the 4thcenturyBC. The siege of Salamis, Cyprus, in 306BC necessitated the building of large siege engines and drafting of craftsmen from parts of West Asia. The siege tower commissioned by DemetriusI for the Macedonian Siege of Rhodes (305–304 BC) and defended by over three thousand soldiers was built at a height of nine stories. It had a base of , eight wheels that were steered in either direction by pivots, three sides covered in iron plates to protect them from fire, and mechanically opened windows (shielded with wool-stuffed leather curtains to soften the blow of ballistae rounds) of different sizes to accommodate the firing of missiles ranging from arrows to larger bolts.


title: Macedonia (ancient kingdom)

text: During the siege of Echinus by Philip V of Macedon in 211BC, the besiegers built tunnels to protect the soldiers and sappers as they went back and forth from the camp to the siege works. These included two siege towers connected by a makeshift wickerwork curtain wall mounted with stone-shooting ballistae, and sheds to protect the approach of the battering ram. Despite the early reputation of Macedon as a leader in siege technology, Alexandria in Ptolemaic Egypt became the center for technological improvements to the catapult by the 3rdcenturyBC, as evidenced by the writings of Philo of Alexandria.


title: Macedonia (ancient kingdom)

text: Although perhaps not as prolific as other areas of Greece in regards to technological innovations, there are some inventions that may have originated in Macedonia aside from siege engines and artillery. The rotary-operated olive press for producing olive oil may have been invented in ancient Macedonia or another part of Greece, or even as far east as the Levant or Anatolia. Mold-pressed glass first appeared in Macedonia in the 4thcenturyBC (although it could have simultaneously existed in the Achaemenid Empire); the first known clear, translucent glass pieces of the Greek world have been discovered in Macedonia and Rhodes and date to the second half of the 4thcenturyBC. Greek technical and scientific literature began with Classical Athens in the 5thcenturyBC, while the major production centers for technical innovation and texts during the Hellenistic period were Alexandria, Rhodes, and Pergamon.


title: Macedonia (ancient kingdom)

text: The minting of silver coinage began during the reign of AlexanderI as a means to pay for royal expenditures. ArchelausI increased the silver content of his coins as well as minting copper coins to promote foreign and domestic commerce. The minting of coinage significantly increased during the reigns of PhilipII and Alexander the Great, especially after the increase in state revenues following the seizure of the Pangaion Hills. During the Hellenistic period the royal houses of Macedonia, Ptolemaic Egypt, and the Kingdom of Pergamon exercised full monopolistic control over mining activities, largely to ensure the funding of their armies. By the end of the conquests of Alexander the Great, nearly thirty mints stretching from Macedonia to Babylon produced standard coins. The right to mint coins was shared by central and some local governments, i.e. the autonomous municipal governments of Thessaloniki, Pella, and Amphipolis within the Macedonian commonwealth. The Macedonians were also the first to issue different coins for internal and external circulation.


title: Macedonia (ancient kingdom)

text: State revenues were also raised by collecting produce from arable lands, timber from forests, and taxes on imports and exports at harbors. Some mines, groves, agricultural lands, and forests belonging to the Macedonian state were exploited by the Macedonian king, although these were often leased as assets or given as grants to members of the nobility such as the "hetairoi" and "philoi". Tariffs exacted on goods flowing in and out of Macedonian seaports existed from at least the reign of AmyntasIII, and Callistratus of Aphidnae (d.c.350BC) aided PerdiccasIII in doubling the kingdom's annual profits on customs duties from 20 to 40 talents.


title: Macedonia (ancient kingdom)

text: After the defeat of Perseus at Pydna in 168BC, the Roman Senate allowed the reopening of iron and copper mines, but forbade the mining of gold and silver by the four newly established autonomous client states that replaced the monarchy in Macedonia. The law may originally have been conceived by the Senate due to the fear that material wealth gained from gold and silver mining operations would allow the Macedonians to fund an armed rebellion. The Romans were perhaps also concerned with stemming inflation caused by an increased money supply from Macedonian silver mining. The Macedonians continued minting silver coins between 167 and 148BC (i.e. just before the establishment of the Roman province of Macedonia), and when the Romans lifted the ban on Macedonian silver mining in 158BC it may simply have reflected the local reality of this illicit practice continuing regardless of the Senate's decree.


title: Macedonia (ancient kingdom)

text: The reigns of Philip II and Alexander the Great witnessed the demise of Classical Greece and the birth of Hellenistic civilization, following the spread of Greek culture to the Near East during and after Alexander's conquests. Macedonians then migrated to Egypt and parts of Asia, but the intensive colonization of foreign lands sapped the available manpower in Macedonia proper, weakening the kingdom in its fight with other Hellenistic powers and contributing to its downfall and conquest by the Romans. However, the diffusion of Greek culture and language cemented by Alexander's conquests in West Asia and North Africa served as a "precondition" for the later Roman expansion into these territories and entire basis for the Byzantine Empire, according to Errington.


title: Macedonia (ancient kingdom)

text: The ethnic Macedonian rulers of the Ptolemaic and Seleucid successor states accepted men from all over the Greek world as their "hetairoi" companions and did not foster a national identity like the Antigonids. Modern scholarship has focused on how these Hellenistic successor kingdoms were influenced more by their Macedonian origins than Eastern or southern Greek traditions. While Spartan society remained mostly insular and Athens continued placing strict limitations on acquiring citizenship, the cosmopolitan Hellenistic cities of Asia and northeastern Africa bore a greater resemblance to Macedonian cities and contained a mixture of subjects including natives, Greek and Macedonian colonists, and Greek-speaking Hellenized Easterners, many of whom were the product of intermarriage between Greeks and native populations.


title: Macedonia (ancient kingdom)

text: The deification of Macedonian monarchs perhaps began with the death of PhilipII, but it was his son Alexander the Great who unambiguously claimed to be a living god. Following his visit to the oracle of Didyma in 334BC that suggested his divinity, Alexander traveled to the Oracle of Zeus Ammon—the Greek equivalent of the Egyptian Amun-Ra—at the Siwa Oasis of the Libyan Desert in 332BC to confirm his divine status. Although the Ptolemaic and Seleucid empires maintained ancestral cults and deified their rulers, kings were not worshiped in the Kingdom of Macedonia. While Zeus Ammon was known to the Greeks prior to Alexander's reign, particularly at the Greek colony of Cyrene, Libya, Alexander was the first Macedonian monarch to patronize Egyptian, Persian, and Babylonian priesthoods and deities, strengthening the fusion of Near Eastern and Greek religious beliefs. After his reign, the cult of Isis gradually spread throughout the Hellenistic and Roman world, while beliefs in the Egyptian god Sarapis were thoroughly Hellenized by the Ptolemaic rulers of Egypt before the spread of his cult to Macedonia and the Aegean region. The German historian Johann Gustav Droysen argued that the conquests of Alexander the Great and creation of the Hellenistic world allowed for the growth and establishment of Christianity in the Roman era.


title: Amber Midthunder

text: Amber Midthunder (born April 26, 1997) is a Native American (Fort Peck Assiniboine) actress. She is known for her regular roles in the FX series "Legion" and The CW series "Roswell, New Mexico", as well as appearances on "Longmire", "Banshee", and "Reservation Dogs". She starred as Naru in "Prey", the fifth installment of the "Predator" franchise.


title: Amber Midthunder

text: Midthunder's mother Angelique, who is originally from Thailand and of Thai-Chinese ancestry, is a casting director and stunt performer, and her father David is an actor; Angelique and David met while working on the 1995 Japanese film "East Meets West".


title: Amber Midthunder

text: Midthunder is Native American and a citizen of the Fort Peck Assiniboine and Sioux Tribe. She was born on the Navajo Nation in Shiprock, New Mexico, and eventually returned there after spending much of her childhood in Santa Fe, where she attended the Academy for Technology and the Classics and her mother worked in a casting firm.


title: Amber Midthunder

text: Midthunder developed an interest in acting as a child, where she would memorize and recite lines from her favorite shows, but disliked her first experience in the job, leading her to take some time before another performance, even considering a career in make-up, where she worked as an intern, or mixed martial arts, having trained and taught Brazilian jiu-jitsu. Her first credit was in 2008's "Sunshine Cleaning". Midthunder proceeded to work in various productions filmed in New Mexico, before moving to Los Angeles at the age of 17 to pursue more acting opportunities.


title: Ant-Man and the Wasp

text: Ant-Man and the Wasp is a 2018 American superhero film based on Marvel Comics featuring the characters Scott Lang / Ant-Man and Hope Pym / Wasp. Produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, it is the sequel to "Ant-Man" (2015) and the 20th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). The film is directed by Peyton Reed and written by the writing teams of Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers, and Paul Rudd, Andrew Barrer and Gabriel Ferrari. It stars Rudd as Lang and Evangeline Lilly as Hope van Dyne, alongside Michael Peña, Walton Goggins, Bobby Cannavale, Judy Greer, Tip "T.I." Harris, David Dastmalchian, Hannah John-Kamen, Abby Ryder Fortson, Randall Park, Michelle Pfeiffer, Laurence Fishburne, and Michael Douglas. In "Ant-Man and the Wasp", the titular pair work with Hank Pym (Douglas) to retrieve Janet van Dyne (Pfeiffer) from the Quantum Realm.


title: Ant-Man and the Wasp

text: Talks for a sequel to "Ant-Man" began shortly after that film was released. "Ant-Man and the Wasp" was officially announced in October 2015, with Rudd and Lilly returning to reprise their roles. A month later, "Ant-Man" director Reed was officially set to return. He had joined the first film later in the process and was excited to develop this one from the beginning. He also looked forward to introducing Hope van Dyne as the Wasp in this film, and insisted on treating Lang and her as equals. Filming took place from August to November 2017, at Pinewood Atlanta Studios in Fayette County, Georgia, as well as Metro Atlanta; San Francisco; Savannah, Georgia; and Hawaii.


title: Ant-Man and the Wasp

text: "Ant-Man and the Wasp" had its world premiere in Hollywood on June 25, 2018, and was released in the United States on July 6, 2018, as part of of the MCU. The film was a critical and commercial success, receiving praise for its performances (particularly those of Rudd and Lilly), humor, and levity, and grossing over $622 million worldwide. A sequel, "", is scheduled for release in February 2023.


title: Ant-Man and the Wasp

text: Two years after Scott Lang was placed under house arrest due to his involvement with the Avengers, in violation of the Sokovia Accords, Hank Pym and his daughter Hope van Dyne briefly manage to open a tunnel to the Quantum Realm. They believe Pym's wife Janet van Dyne might be trapped there after shrinking to sub-atomic levels in 1987. When he had previously visited the quantum realm, Lang had unknowingly become quantumly entangled with Janet, and now he receives an apparent message from her.


title: Ant-Man and the Wasp

text: With only days left of house arrest, Lang contacts Pym about Janet, despite the strained relationship they have because of Lang's actions with the Avengers. Hope and Pym kidnap Lang, leaving a large ant with Lang's ankle-monitor on as a decoy so as not to arouse the suspicions of FBI agent Jimmy Woo. Believing the message from Janet is confirmation that she is alive, the trio work to build a stable quantum tunnel so they can take a vehicle to the quantum realm and retrieve her. They arrange to buy a part needed for the tunnel from black-market dealer Sonny Burch, but Burch realizes the potential profit to be made from Pym's research and double-crosses them. Donning the Wasp outfit, Hope fights off Burch and his men until she is attacked by a quantumly unstable masked woman. Lang tries to help fight off this "ghost", but the woman escapes with Pym's lab, which has been shrunk down to the size of a suitcase.


title: Ant-Man and the Wasp

text: Pym reluctantly takes Hope and Lang to visit his estranged former partner Bill Foster, who gives them a way to locate the lab. After they find it, the ghost captures the trio and reveals herself to be Ava Starr. Her father, Elihas, was another of Pym's former partners who died along with his wife during an experiment that caused her unstable state. Foster enters and reveals that Ava is dying and in constant pain as a result of her condition. They plan to cure her using Janet's quantum energy. Believing that this will kill Janet, Pym refuses to help them and escapes with Hope, Lang, and the lab.


title: Ant-Man and the Wasp

text: Opening a stable version of the tunnel, Pym, Hope, and Lang are able to contact Janet, who gives them a precise location to find her but warns that they only have two hours before the unstable nature of the realm separates them for a century. Using a truth serum, Burch learns the trio's location from Lang's business partners Luis, Dave, and Kurt, and informs a contact at the FBI. Luis warns Lang, who rushes home before Woo can see that he is violating his house arrest. Pym and Hope are arrested by the FBI, allowing Ava to take the lab.


title: Ant-Man and the Wasp

text: Lang is soon able to help Pym and Hope escape custody, and they find the lab. Lang and Hope distract Ava while Pym enters the quantum realm to retrieve Janet, whom he finds alive. Meanwhile, Lang and Hope are confronted by Burch and his men, and following a lengthy chase, Ava regains control of the lab, allowing her to begin taking Janet's energy by force. Luis, Dave, and Kurt incapacitate Burch and his men so that Lang and Hope can stop Ava. Pym and Janet return safely from the quantum realm, and Janet voluntarily gives some of her energy to Ava to temporarily stabilize her.


title: Ant-Man and the Wasp

text: Lang returns home once again, in time for a now-suspicious Woo to release him at the end of his house arrest. Ava and Foster go into hiding. In a mid-credits scene, Pym, Lang, Hope, and Janet plan to harvest quantum energy to help Ava remain stable. While Lang is in the quantum realm doing this, the other three turn to dust. In a post-credits scene, the giant ant, who is still in Scott's apartment plays on his drum-set while most of San Francisco appears to have dusted away.


title: Ant-Man and the Wasp

text: Additionally, Stan Lee, co-creator of the titular heroes, has a cameo in the film as a man whose car is shrunk by accident. Michael Cerveris appears as Ava's father Elihas Starr, while Riann Steele plays his wife and Ava's mother Catherine. Tim Heidecker and Brian Huskey appear in cameos as a whale boat captain named Daniel Gooobler and a teacher at Cassie's school, respectively. Sonny Burch's team of men includes Divian Ladwa as Uzman, Goran Kostić as Anitolov, and Rob Archer as Knox, while Sean Kleier portrays Stoltz, Burch's FBI inside man and Jimmy Woo's subordinate. Tom Scharpling and Jon Wurster of "The Best Show" make brief appearances as Burch's SUV drivers.


title: Ant-Man and the Wasp

text: In June 2015, "Ant-Man" director Peyton Reed expressed interest in returning for a sequel or prequel to that film, saying that he had "really fallen in love with these characters" and felt "there's a lot of story to tell with Hank Pym". A month later, Pym actor Michael Douglas said he was not signed for any additional films, but "would look forward to more if it comes my way", and expressed the desire to have his wife Catherine Zeta-Jones cast as Janet van Dyne for a potential follow-up. Evangeline Lilly—who played the daughter of Pym and Van Dyne, Hope van Dyne—wanted to see Michelle Pfeiffer in the role. Producer Kevin Feige revealed that the studio had a "supercool idea" for the next "Ant-Man" film, and "if audiences want it, we'll find a place to do it." Reed also mentioned that there had been talks of making a standalone adventure with Hank Pym as Ant-Man, possibly including the original opening to "Ant-Man" featuring Jordi Mollà which was cut from the final film. Eric Eisenberg of Cinema Blend opined that a standalone adventure with Pym and the cut sequence would be a good candidate to revive the Marvel One-Shots short film series. By the end of July, David Dastmalchian expressed interest in returning for a sequel as Kurt.


title: Ant-Man and the Wasp

text: In October 2015, Marvel Studios confirmed the sequel, titled "Ant-Man and the Wasp", with a scheduled release date of July 6, 2018. Reed was in negotiations to direct the sequel by the end of the month, and announced his return in November, along with the confirmation of Paul Rudd and Lilly returning as Scott Lang / Ant-Man and Hope van Dyne / Wasp, respectively. Despite being offered the chance to direct sequels in the past, Reed had never done so out of a lack of interest, but was excited to work on "Ant-Man and the Wasp" because there was "a lot more story to tell with these characters that I have a genuine affection and kind of protective feeling about". He was also able to build the sequel "from the ground up", as he joined the first film late in the process following the departure of original writer and director Edgar Wright, and wanted to explore elements that he had set up in the first film. He first began work on an outline for the sequel, which he thought could be "weird, unique and different" now that the characters' origins had been established. On being the first MCU film to have a female character in the title with the Wasp, Reed called it "organic" and noted the Wasp's final line in "Ant-Man"—'It's about damn time'—as "very much about her specific character and arc in that movie, but it is absolutely about a larger thing. It's about damn time: We’re going to have a fully realized, very complicated hero in the next movie who happens to be a woman." Reed would push to ensure the Wasp received equal publicity and merchandise for the film, and wanted to explore the backstory of Janet van Dyne as well. He had "definite ideas" of who should portray that character. Reed said the alternate title "Wasp and the Ant-Man" was briefly considered, but was not chosen due to fan expectation given the comics history of the phrase "Ant-Man and the Wasp". That month, Adam McKay, one of the writers of "Ant-Man", expressed interest in returning to write the film, and Douglas confirmed that he was in talks to return as well.


title: Ant-Man and the Wasp

text: Reed stated in early December that the film may "call back" to the heist film genre and tone of "Ant-Man", but that "Ant-Man and the Wasp" would "have an entirely different genre template". He hoped to incorporate additional flashback sequences in the film, as well as explore Pym's various identities from the comics and his psychology. Reed also said he was "excited" about exploring and discovering the film version of the Ant-Man and Wasp relationship that is "a romantic partnership and a heroic partnership" in the comics, a "different dynamic than we've seen in the rest of the [MCU], an actual partnership." Additionally, Reed mentioned that pre-production would "probably" start in October 2016, with filming scheduled for early 2017. Production writers for the first film, Gabriel Ferrari and Andrew Barrer, signed on to write the script along with Rudd, with writing starting "in earnest" in January 2016. The next month, McKay stated that he would be involved with the film in some capacity. By April, the four writers and Reed had been "holed up in a room ... brainstorming the story", with Reed promising that it would have "stuff in it that you've never ever seen in a movie before". Feige added that they wanted to "stay true to what made ["Ant-Man"] so unique and different", and teased the potential of seeing the Giant-Man version of Lang that had been introduced in "" (2016). Despite being "intimately involved in the writing and the development of the script", Reed did not take or receive a writing credit on the film.


title: Ant-Man and the Wasp

text: In June 2016, Reed said that for inspiration from the comics he had been looking at "early "Avengers" stuff and all the way up to the Nick Spencer stuff now", and was focusing on iconic images that could be replicated in the film over story beats from the comics. He added that there was "definitely a chance" for Michael Peña, Tip "T.I." Harris, and Dastmalchian to reprise their respective roles as Luis, Dave, and Kurt from the first film. At San Diego Comic-Con 2016, Feige stated that Reed and Rudd were still working on the script, and that filming was now expected to begin in June 2017. Rudd elaborated that they had "turned in a treatment, but it's so preliminary. We'll see. We have an idea of what it might look like, but it could change a lot from where we're at now." The next month, Peña was confirmed to be returning as Luis, while filming was revealed to be taking place in Atlanta, Georgia. In early October, an initial script had been completed for the film that was awaiting approval from Marvel. Reed later revealed that early drafts of the script included a cameo appearance from Captain America, appearing during Luis' flashback sequences as he was recapping Lang's involvement in the airport battle in "Captain America: Civil War". However, the writers chose to remove the appearance in the final script since the events of "Civil War" were already referenced frequently in the film, and this instance "didn’t feel organic to the story."


title: Ant-Man and the Wasp

text: At the start of November 2016, Reed said that the film's production would transition from "the writing phase" to "official prep" that month, beginning with visual development. Reed reiterated his excitement for introducing the Wasp and "really designing her look, the way she moves, the power set, and figuring out, sort of, who Hope van Dyne is as a hero". Reed was inspired by the films "After Hours" (1985), "Midnight Run" (1988), and "What's Up, Doc?" (1972) for the look and feel of "Ant-Man and the Wasp". While the first film was more of a heist film, Reed described this as part action film, part romantic comedy, and was inspired by the works of Elmore Leonard where there are "villains, but we also have antagonists, and we have these roadblocks to our heroes getting to where they need to be". He also stated his disappointment in the Giant-Man introduction happening in "Civil War", rather than an Ant-Man film, but noted that the appearance provided character development opportunities between Lang, Pym, and Van Dyne since Pym is "very clear in the first movie about how he feels about Stark and how he feels about the Avengers and being very protective of this technology that he has", and so Reed thought Pym would be "pissed" and Van Dyne would feel betrayed, which was Reed's "in" for those characters' starting dynamics. Reed added that he spends "a lot of time" talking with the other writers and directors of MCU films, and that he and the writers on this film wished to maintain "our little Ant-Man corner of the universe. Because it's a whole different vibe tonally". Quantum physicist Spyridon Michalakis from the Institute for Quantum Information and Matter at the California Institute of Technology returned to consult on the film, after doing the same on "Ant-Man", and explained the science behind getting extremely small to the filmmakers. Michalakis described the subatomic realm as "a place of infinite possibility, an alternative universe where the laws of physics and forces of nature as we know them haven’t crystallized" and suggested it should be represented in the film by "beautiful colors changing constantly to reflect transience."


title: Ant-Man and the Wasp

text: In February 2017, Douglas confirmed that he would reprise his role as Hank Pym in the film. During the Hollywood premiere of "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2" in April, Dastmalchian confirmed his return as Kurt, and a month later, Harris confirmed his return as Dave as well. Through that May, Marvel was meeting with several actresses for a "key role" in the sequel, with Hannah John-Kamen cast in the part at the beginning of June. The following month, Randall Park joined the cast as Jimmy Woo, and Walton Goggins was cast in an undisclosed role. At San Diego Comic-Con 2017, Park's casting was confirmed; John-Kamen and Goggins' roles were revealed to be Ghost and Sonny Burch, respectively; and the casting of Pfeiffer as Janet van Dyne and Laurence Fishburne as Bill Foster was announced. Judy Greer was confirmed to be reprising her role as Maggie from the previous film the following week. Louise Frogley served as costume designer on the film after doing so for Marvel's "" (2017), and worked with Ivo Coveney to create the superhero suits for the film. Based on designs by Andy Park, the suits are updated for the film from the 1960s-inspired designs used in the first "Ant-Man" to more modern designs. The Wasp suit included practical wings which were replaced with digital wings for when they are expanded and ready for flight.


title: Ant-Man and the Wasp

text: The Russo brothers, directors of "" and "", which were filming while "Ant-Man and the Wasp" was preparing to film, were in constant discussion with Reed in order to ensure story elements would line up between the films. Joe Russo added that "Ant-Man and the Wasp" would have "some [plot] elements that stitch in" closely with "Avengers: Infinity War", more so than some of the other films leading up to the Avengers films. Reed knew "Ant-Man and the Wasp" would be "a fairly stand-alone movie but... could not ignore the events of "Infinity War"", with the biggest connection occurring in the film's mid-credit scene. Since the events of "Ant-Man and the Wasp" occur over 48 hours, the timeline in relation to "Infinity War" was "left purposefully ambiguous" with Reed noting there had been discussions of placing "little Easter eggs along the way, to start to reveal to the audience where the movie takes place in the timeline, [but t]hat felt not very fun to us and kind of obvious." Reed also liked how the film ends with closure and on a positive note "and then to BANG — give the audience a gut punch right after the main credits", with the sequence showing Hank Pym, Janet van Dyne, and Hope van Dyne disintegrating due to the Blip featured at the end of "Avengers: Infinity War". The film also has a post-credit scene that shows the ant who doubled for Lang while under house arrest performing a drum solo.


title: Ant-Man and the Wasp

text: Principal photography began on August 1, 2017, at Pinewood Atlanta Studios in Fayette County, Georgia, under the working title "Cherry Blue"; Dante Spinotti served as director of photography, shooting on Arri Alexa 65 cameras, with some sequences being shot with a Frazier lens. At the start of filming, Marvel revealed that Bobby Cannavale and Abby Ryder Fortson would also reprise their roles from the first film, respectively as Paxton and Cassie, and that Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers had contributed to the screenplay.


title: Ant-Man and the Wasp

text: The film's lab and quantum tunnel set was inspired by "The Time Tunnel" (1966–67), and was the largest physical set built for an MCU film, which Reed jokingly said was "a little counter-intuitive". For the sequence where Janet van Dyne communicates through Lang, inspiration was taken from "All of Me" (1984) in which Lily Tomlin's character is trapped in the body of Steve Martin's character. There were discussions about having Pfeiffer perform the scene first to give Rudd an idea of how she would act, but the group ultimately decided to let Rudd invent the scene completely himself. For the chamber in Ghost's lair, the production team under production designer Shepherd Frankel wanted to create an environment that was unique to the MCU, and designed the chamber with fresnel lenses to give it concentric-circle patterns that served a practical purpose for the film's story as well as differentiating the aesthetics of it from other sets and creating mystery about the character. The chamber is surrounded by "support shapes" to "create this feeling of desperation and yearning for family and stability".


title: Ant-Man and the Wasp

text: Filming also took place in Metro Atlanta, with filming locations including the Atlanta International School, the Midtown and Buckhead districts of Atlanta, and the Samuel M. Inman Middle School in the city's Virginia-Highland neighborhood; as well as Emory University and the Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton, Georgia. Additional filming took place in San Francisco in September 2017, in Savannah, Georgia in late October, and in Hawaii. Production wrapped on November 19, 2017.


title: Ant-Man and the Wasp

text: In late November, Lilly said that the characters would try to enter the Quantum Realm in the film, and their potential success would "open a whole entire new multi-verse to enter into and play around in" for the MCU. The film includes a clip from "Animal House" (1978), which Reed was reminded of while discussing the quantum realm science for the film. Reed insisted that the film be shorter than two hours since it would be following the "massive epic" "Infinity War" and because it is "an action/comedy, and it didn't want to overstay its welcome". Dan Lebental and Craig Wood edited the film. The film's main credits sequence is a "table-top" version of its action sequences, and was created by Elastic. An alternative idea that had been considered was to create a "fake behind-the-scenes documentary" that would have made the film look like it was a 1950s-era Godzilla movie with "people in suits stomping on model cityscapes".


title: Ant-Man and the Wasp

text: Visual effects for the film were created by DNEG, Scanline VFX, Method Studios, Luma Pictures, Lola VFX, Industrial Light & Magic, Cinesite, Rise FX, Rodeo FX, Crafty Apes, Perception NYC, Digital Domain, and The Third Floor.


title: Ant-Man and the Wasp

text: DNEG worked on over 500 shots, including the effects for Ghost—which were shared with the other vendors—the third act chase sequence, and the final Ghost fight as Hank and Janet are returning from the quantum realm. For the "macro-photography" sequences in the film, DNEG took a different approach from their work in "Ant-Man" due to issues including trying to get a camera to seem small enough to capture the small actions. Though some of the film was shot with a Frazier lens that provides extra depth of field, DNEG would still need to "re-project the road higher and "raise the floor level" to simulate a tiny sized camera". As the third act chase sequence was mainly shot in Atlanta, while being set in San Francisco, DNEG VFX Supervisor Alessandro Ongaro noted it required "extensive environment work" with background elements in some shots not being salvageable at all. DNEG ultimately created 130 unique environments for the chase. Clear Angle aided DNEG with the Lidar surveying and photography of San Francisco, and were able to get their information for Lombard Street down to the millimeter resolution. DNEG also handled the stereo conversion on the film to release it in both and 1.90:1 (for IMAX) aspect ratios. The squarer frame of the IMAX ratio was used as the basis for the visual effects, with the 2.39:1 version then being letterboxed from the finished IMAX version.


title: Ant-Man and the Wasp

text: Lola once again worked on the de-aging sequences with Douglas, Pfeiffer, and Fishburne. The flashback sequences featuring a younger Hank Pym were set around the same time as the flashback sequences of "Ant-Man", so Lola were able to use a similar process, referencing Douglas' appearance in "Wall Street" (1987) and having the actor on set in a different wardrobe and wig. Lola VFX Supervisor Trent Claus felt Pfeiffer's was less complicated, since "she has aged incredibly well" and still has big hair and a big smile. Pfeiffer's work from "Ladyhawke" (1985) and other films around that time was referenced. For Fishburne, his son served as his younger double, and helped inform Lola how the older Fishburne's skin would have looked in certain lighting situations. The films Lola looked to for Fishburne's younger self included "Boyz n the Hood" (1991) and "Deep Cover" (1992). Lola also made Fishburne thinner, and all actors had their posture adjusted.


title: Ant-Man and the Wasp

text: Luma worked on the scenes where Ant-Man and the Wasp infiltrate Ghost's hideout, where they had to recreate the entire environment with CGI. They also created the first quantum tunnel sequence where Ghost receives her powers, and the flashback missile launch, which had to be replicated exactly from how it appeared in "Ant-Man". The new version of the quantum realm, designed by Reed and production VFX supervisor Stephane Ceretti, was created by Method. Method Studios VFX Supervisor Andrew Hellen, explained, "We did a lot of research into macro and cellular level photography, and played with different ways to visualize quantum mechanics. It has a very magical quality, with a scientific edge. We also used glitching effects and macro lensing to ground the footage, and keep it from feeling too terrestrial." Method also worked on the sequence when Lang is the size of a preschooler, and created the digital doubles for Ant-Man and Wasp; Method used the same level of detail on the digital double suits regardless of what scale they were.


title: Ant-Man and the Wasp

text: In June 2017, Reed confirmed that Christophe Beck, who composed the score for "Ant-Man", would return for "Ant-Man and the Wasp". Beck reprised his main theme from "Ant-Man", and also wrote a new one for Wasp that he wanted to be "high energy" and show that she is more certain of her abilities than Lang. When choosing between these themes for specific scenes throughout the film, Beck tried to choose the Wasp theme more often so there would be "enough newness in the score to feel like it's going new places, and isn’t just some retread." Hollywood Records and Marvel Music released the soundtrack album digitally on July 6, 2018.


title: Ant-Man and the Wasp

text: Concept art and "pre-CGI video" for the film was shown at the 2017 San Diego Comic-Con. In January 2018, Hyundai Motor America announced that the 2019 Hyundai Veloster would play a significant role in the film, with other Hyundai vehicles also appearing. The first trailer for the film was released on January 30, 2018, on "Good Morning America", and used the guitar riff from Adam and the Ants' "Ants Invasion". David Betancourt of "The Washington Post" called the release, the day after the widely praised "Black Panther" premiere, a "smart move"; with "Black Panther" and "Avengers: Infinity War" also releasing in 2018, "it can be easy [to] forget that hey, there an "Ant-Man" sequel coming this year... So Marvel Studios giving us a quick reminder with this trailer release is logical". Tracy Brown, writing for the "Los Angeles Times", praised how the trailer prominently featured Lilly's Van Dyne showing "she was always meant to be a superhero".


title: Ant-Man and the Wasp

text: A second trailer was released on May 1, 2018, following a teaser video featuring the "Infinity War" cast asking "where were Ant-Man and The Wasp?" in that film. Graeme McMillan of "The Hollywood Reporter" felt the trailer made the film feel "very much like an intentional antidote for, or at least alternative to, the grimness of "Infinity War"s downbeat ending", calling it "a smart move" since it could be considered "a palate cleanser and proof that Marvel has more to offer... before audiences dive back into the core narrative with next year's "Captain Marvel"." In June 2018, Feige presented several scenes from the film at CineEurope. , an attraction inspired by the film, opened at Hong Kong Disneyland on March 31, 2019. It features Rudd and Lilly reprising their roles in clips that were made during the film's reshoots. Promotional partners for the film included Dell, Synchrony Financial, and Sprint. Disney spent around $154 million worldwide promoting the film.


title: Ant-Man and the Wasp

text: "Ant-Man and the Wasp" had its world premiere at the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood on June 25, 2018, and was released in the United States on July 6, 2018, where it opened in 4,206 theaters, of which 3,000 were in 3D, 403 were in IMAX, over 660 were in premium large format, and over 220 were in D-Box and 4DX. The film is part of of the MCU.


title: Ant-Man and the Wasp

text: The film was scheduled to be released in the United Kingdom on June 29, 2018, but was rescheduled in November 2017 to August 3, 2018, in order to avoid competition with the 2018 FIFA World Cup. Charles Gant of "The Guardian" and "Screen International" noted, "The worry for film distributors is that audiences will be caught up in the tournament. So it's easier to play safe and not date your film at this time, especially during the group stage, when all the qualifying nations are competing." Tom Butler of Yahoo! Movies UK added that, unlike the first film, which was one of the lowest-grossing MCU films in the UK, anticipation levels for the film "are at an all-time high following the events of "Infinity War"" and "UK audiences will probably have found out what happens in the film well before it opens in UK cinemas, and this could have a negative impact on its box office potential." Butler and Huw Fullerton of "Radio Times" both opined the delay could also be in part because of Disney also delaying the United Kingdom release of "Incredibles 2" to July 13, 2018 (a month after its United States release), and not wanting to compete with itself with the two films. This in turn led fans in the country to start a Change.org petition to have Disney move the release date up several weeks, similarly to how "Avengers: Infinity War"s United States release was moved up a week the previous May.


title: Ant-Man and the Wasp

text: "Ant-Man and the Wasp" was released on digital download by Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment on October 2, 2018, and on Ultra HD Blu-ray, Blu-ray, and DVD on October 16. The digital and Blu-ray releases include behind-the-scenes featurettes, an introduction from Reed, deleted scenes, and gag reels. The digital release also features a look at the role concept art plays in bringing the various MCU films to life and a faux commercial for Online Close-Up Magic University. The IMAX Enhanced version of the film was made available on Disney+ beginning on November 12, 2021.


title: Ant-Man and the Wasp

text: "Ant-Man and the Wasp" grossed $216.6 million in the United States and Canada, and $406 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $622.7 million. Following its opening, "Deadline Hollywood" estimated the film would turn a net profit of around $100 million. It became the eleventh-highest-grossing film of 2018.


title: Ant-Man and the Wasp

text: "Ant-Man and the Wasp" earned $33.8 million on its opening day in the United States and Canada (including $11.5 million from Thursday night previews), and a total opening weekend of $75.8 million; this was a 33% improvement over the first film's debut of $57.2 million. Its opening included $6 million from IMAX screens. In its second weekend, the film earned $28.8 million, coming in second behind "", and in its third weekend grossed $16.1 million, coming in fourth. The film placed sixth in its fourth weekend, seventh in its fifth weekend, and tenth in its sixth weekend.


title: Ant-Man and the Wasp

text: Outside the United States and Canada, the film earned $85 million from 41 markets, where it opened number one in all except New Zealand. Its South Korea opening was $20.9 million (which included previews). The $15.5 million opening from the market without previews was the second-best opening of 2018 behind "Avengers: Infinity War". In its second weekend, playing in 44 markets, it remained number one in Australia, Hong Kong, South Korea, and Singapore. The film opened in France in its third weekend, earning $4.1 million, and opened in Germany in its fourth, where it was number one and earned $2.8 million, including previews. The next weekend saw "Ant-Man and the Wasp" open at number one (when including previews) in the United Kingdom, where it earned $6.5 million, and two weeks later, Italy opened number one with $2.7 million (including previews). In its eighth weekend, the film's $68 million opening in China was the fourth-best MCU opening in China and the third-highest Hollywood film opening of 2018. $7.2 million was from IMAX, which was the best August IMAX opening in China. The film opened in Japan the next weekend, earning $3.7 million, which was the top Western film for the weekend. , the film's largest markets were China ($117.5 million), South Korea ($42.4 million), and the United Kingdom ($21.5 million).


title: Ant-Man and the Wasp

text: The review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported an approval rating of , with an average score of , based on reviews. The website's critical consensus reads, "A lighter, brighter superhero movie powered by the effortless charisma of Paul Rudd and Evangeline Lilly, "Ant-Man and The Wasp" offers a much-needed MCU palate cleanser." On Metacritic the film has a weighted average score of 70 out of 100, based on 56 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale, down from the "A" earned by the first film.


title: Ant-Man and the Wasp

text: Peter Travers, writing for "Rolling Stone", gave the film 3 out of 4 stars and praised Rudd and Lilly, saying, "The secret of "Ant-Man and the Wasp" is that it works best when it doesn't try so hard, when it lets charm trump excess and proves that less can be more even in the Marvel universe." Richard Roeper of the "Chicago Sun-Times" praised the lightweight tone as a treat and a breath following the "dramatically heavy conclusion" of "Avengers: Infinity War". He also praised the cast, especially Rudd and Fortson, as well as the visual effects and inventive use of shrinking and growing in the action scenes. Manohla Dargis at "The New York Times" felt the film's "fast, bright and breezy" tone was a vast improvement over the first film, praising Reed's direction. She also praised Rudd, felt Lilly found "her groove" in the film, and wrote that the supporting cast all had "scene-steal[ing]" sequences. Simon Abrams of RogerEbert.com said the film was "good enough", a "messy, but satisfying" sequel that he felt managed to juggle its many subplots while giving Rudd's Lang some decent character development.


title: Ant-Man and the Wasp

text: "Variety"s Owen Gleiberman called the film "faster, funnier, and more cunningly confident than the original," and felt Reed was able to give the film enough personality to overcome its two-hour runtime and effects-heavy climax. He did caution that this was "not quite the same thing as humanity. But it's enough to qualify as the miniature version." At "The Washington Post", Ann Hornaday called the film "instantly forgettable" and criticized its plot, which she felt included some "filler" subplots, but found the film to be "no less enjoyable" because of this. She particularly praised Rudd along with the action and effects. Writing for "The Boston Globe", Ty Burr called the film the perfect "summer air-conditioning movie", finding it fun, funny, superficial and an improvement over the first. He also wrote that the film had too many subplots and not enough of Pfeiffer, but was pleased with the lack of connection that the overall story had to the rest of the MCU, and with the focus on "pop trash" comedy. Stephanie Zacharek, writing for "Time", said it was "hard to actively dislike" the film, which she thought had reasonably fun action and stand-out moments between Rudd and Fortson; but she was not as impressed with the larger, effects-heavy action sequences and felt the focus on Lilly as a better hero than Rudd was "just checking off boxes in the name of gender equality."


title: Ant-Man and the Wasp

text: A sequel, "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania", is scheduled to be released on February 17, 2023, with Reed returning to direct and Jeff Loveness writing the script. Rudd, Lilly, Douglas, and Pfeiffer reprise their roles, while Kathryn Newton takes over as Cassie Lang. Jonathan Majors joins as Kang the Conqueror.


title: Gossip Girl (2021 TV series)

text: Gossip Girl is an American teen drama streaming television series developed by Joshua Safran for HBO Max. It is an extension and a standalone sequel to The CW television series of the same name, which is based on the novel series written by Cecily von Ziegesar. The series is executive produced by original series co-creators Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage, along with Safran, who was an executive producer on the first series and who also serves as showrunner. The series is narrated by Kristen Bell, who reprised her role as the voice of "Gossip Girl", an anonymous and omniscient blogger. The series features an ensemble cast led by Jordan Alexander, Whitney Peak, Tavi Gevinson, Eli Brown, Thomas Doherty, Emily Alyn Lind, Evan Mock, Zión Moreno, Savannah Lee Smith, and Grace Duah.


title: Gossip Girl (2021 TV series)

text: It was given a straight-to-series order in July 2019 by HBO Max. Filming takes place in New York City and was originally scheduled to begin in March 2020 before being delayed until November 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.


title: Gossip Girl (2021 TV series)

text: "Gossip Girl" premiered on HBO Max on July 8 to mixed reviews, and broke the record for the most-watched HBO Max original series over its launch weekend. The first season consisted of 12 episodes, split into two six-episode parts, with the second half debuting on November 25, 2021. In September 2021, the series was renewed for a second season which premiered on December 1, 2022.


title: Gossip Girl (2021 TV series)

text: Nearly a decade after the conclusion of the original series, a new cast of Manhattan private schoolers takes the lead under the watchful eye of Gossip Girl, while demonstrating how much social media – and the landscape of New York City itself – has changed in the intervening years. "Gossip Girl" is slated to feature more adult content than the original on The CW, owing to the relaxed standards of the HBO Max streaming service. The series is also slated to be more diverse, with non-white leads and LGBT characters.


title: Gossip Girl (2021 TV series)

text: In regard to continuity, executive producer and showrunner Joshua Safran stated that it is officially in the same continuity of the original "Gossip Girl" series. However, rather than a direct continuation of the story, it is instead set in the same world where previous characters existed and can be freely referenced and potentially reappear, but stars a different set of characters from a different point of view.


title: Gossip Girl (2021 TV series)

text: The series is narrated by Kristen Bell as the voice of "Gossip Girl", an online anonymous figure, reprising her role from the 2007 series.


title: Gossip Girl (2021 TV series)

text: WarnerMedia ordered a revival of the series for HBO Max in July 2019. Although called a "reboot", it was confirmed to be a continuation of the original story by Josh Schwartz. On November 2, 2020, it was announced that Karena Evans would direct the first two episodes of the series. On September 9, 2021, HBO Max renewed the series for a second season.


title: Gossip Girl (2021 TV series)

text: The creator and executive producer of the sequel, Safran, says that his priorities for the series are "to focus on stories that are not limited to one demographic.". He also stated "I wanted to be more inclusive; I wanted to showcase a more diverse universe; I wanted to tell more queer stories.".


title: Gossip Girl (2021 TV series)

text: In November 2019, it was announced Bell would be returning as the voice of Gossip Girl in the new series. In March 2020, it was reported Alyn Lind, Peak, Brown, Fernandez and Gotay were cast. Later that month, Gevinson, Doherty, Chanler-Berat and Moreno were reported to have joined as well. In April 2020, it was reported Smith had joined the cast. In August 2020, Jordan Alexander joined the cast in a starring role. In October 2020, Evan Mock was cast as a series regular, while Benanti was cast in an undisclosed capacity. In March 2021, Lail joined the cast in an undisclosed role. In May 2021, Renée joined the cast in a recurring role. In June 2021, Ferguson and Harris joined the cast in an undisclosed capacities. In June 2022, Michelle Trachtenberg is set to reprise her role from the original series as Georgina Sparks in an undisclosed capacity for the second season. In October 2022, it was announced that Grace Duah has been promoted to series regular for the second season.


title: Gossip Girl (2021 TV series)

text: Filming for the series was scheduled to begin in March 2020 in New York City but was put on hold due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, and as a result, the release date was pushed back to 2021. Production for the series began on November 2, 2020.


title: Gossip Girl (2021 TV series)

text: Filming for the second season began on February 4, 2022 in New York City. The series was also shot in Rome, Italy, in August 2022.


title: Gossip Girl (2021 TV series)

text: "Gossip Girl" premiered on HBO Max on July 8, 2021. The first six episodes of the series aired weekly, while the second slate of six episodes released November 25, 2021. The first season finale released on December 2, 2021. In June 2021, it was announced that The CW would broadcast the first episode of the sequel on July 9, the day after it premieres on the streaming service, with the episode available to stream on The CW's online platforms after its broadcast. The second season premiered on December 1, 2022.


title: Gossip Girl (2021 TV series)

text: The series is available to watch in Asia via HBO Go. The series is acquired by BBC One and BBC iPlayer for the UK. For Canada, it's acquired by Crave. In Belgium, the series released on on July 9, 2021. The series is released on Amazon Prime Video India on July 21, 2022.


title: Gossip Girl (2021 TV series)

text: On Rotten Tomatoes, the first season holds an approval rating of 37% based on 54 critic reviews, with an average rating of 4.9/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "An ambitious misfire, "Gossip Girl" stutters more than it struts, stranding a stacked cast in a sumptuous sea of rudderless drama." On Metacritic, the first season has a weighted average score of 51 out of 100, based on 28 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".


title: Gossip Girl (2021 TV series)

text: On Rotten Tomatoes, the second season has an approval rating of 100% based on 7 critic reviews, with an average rating of 7.1/10. On Metacritic, the second season holds a weighted average score of 68 out of 100, based on 5 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".


title: Gossip Girl (2021 TV series)

text: According to Samba TV, 550,000 US households watched the new series in its first four day streaming on HBO Max.


title: Arab world

text: The Arab world ( '), formally the Arab homeland ( '), also known as the Arab nation ( '), the Arabsphere, or the Arab states, refers to a vast group of countries, mainly located in Western Asia and Northern Africa, that linguistically or culturally share an Arab identity. A majority of people in these countries are either ethnically Arab or are Arabized, speaking the Arabic language, which is used as the "lingua franca" throughout the Arab world.


title: Arab world

text: The Arab world is at its minimum defined as the 18 states where Arabic is natively spoken. At its maximum it consists of the 22 members of the Arab League, an international organization, which on top of the 18 states also includes the Comoros, Djibouti, Somalia and the partially recognized state of Palestine. The region stretches from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Arabian Sea in the east, and from the Mediterranean Sea in the north to the Indian Ocean in the southeast. The eastern part of the Arab world is known as the Mashriq, and the western part as the Maghreb.


title: Arab world

text: According to the World Bank, the Arab world has a total population of 436 million inhabitants and a gross domestic product of $2.85 trillion, as of 2021. The region is nevertheless diverse in many ways, and economically includes some of the wealthiest as well as poorest populations. The region mostly corresponds with the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) definition.


title: Arab world

text: In post-classical history, the Arab world was synonymous with the historic Arab empires and caliphates. Arab nationalism arose in the second half of the 19th century along with other nationalist movements within the Ottoman Empire. The Arab League was formed in 1945 to represent the interests of Arab people and especially to pursue the political unification of the Arab countries; a project known as Pan-Arabism.


title: Arab world

text: In page 9 of ""Best Divisions for Knowledge of the Regions"", 10th Century Arab Geographer Al Maqdisi used the term "Arab regions" () to refer to the lands of the Arabian peninsula (Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United, Arab Emirates, and, Yemen), he also considered Iraq, alongside, Upper Mesopotamia (Iraq, Syria and Turkey), Ash-Sham (Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Syria, Turkey), Egypt, and the Maghreb (Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Tunisia, Western Sahara Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic), to be part of the Arab regions.


title: Arab world

text: Malta, an island country in Southern Europe whose national language also derives from Arabic (through Sicilian Arabic), is not included in the region. Similarly, Chad, Eritrea, and Israel recognize Arabic as one of their official or working languages but are not included in the region because they are not members of the Arab League.


title: Arab world

text: The linguistic and political denotation inherent in the term "Arab" is generally dominant over genealogical considerations. In Arab states, Standard Arabic is used by the government. Local vernacular languages are referred to as "Darija" ( "everyday/colloquial language") in the Maghreb or "Aammiyya" ( "common language") in the Mashreq. The majority of the vocabulary in these vernaculars is shared with Standard Arabic, but they also significantly borrow from other languages, such as Berber, French, Spanish and Italian in the Maghreb.


title: Arab world

text: Although no globally accepted definition of the Arab world exists, all countries that are members of the Arab League are generally acknowledged as being part of the Arab world.