Wednesday, May 19, 2010


Miltiades Bolaris
This article was originally published in the American Chronicle on Μay 21, 2009

Balkan Illusion - phantasia archaica:

" is very interesting to note that many of the authentic ancient Macedonian words, according to their etymology and pronunciation, have a striking resemblance to the appropriate words used in the modern Macedonian language (and other so called "Slav"[sic] languages)."..."Bere(s). The root of this name contains the verb "bere" (to pick up) that exists today in the Macedonian language and in other "Slavic"[sic] languages. Also in the present day Macedonian onomasticon there are names derived from verbs. The name "Bere" is present In todays' Macedonian onomasticon..."

Quote taken from the book: "Similarities between ancient Macedonian and today's' Macedonian Culture (Linguistics and Onomastics)" by Aleksandar Donski, celebrity folk "historian" from FYROM.

Beres / Βερης


"Βέροιας πόλις Μακεδονίας, ήν Φέρωνα κτίσαι φασίν, αυτός δέ τό Φ εις Β μεταποιείν, ως Φάλακρον Βάλακρον καί Βίλιππον καἰ Κεβαλίνον. Αλλοι από Βέροιας τού Βέρητος τού Μακεδόνος. Εστί καί πόλις Συρίας."
Ηρωδιανός Γραμματικός, "Περί καθολικής προσοδείας"
Herodianos the Grammatist, "Peri catholikes prosodeias"




Μιεζα. πολις Μακεδονιας. Στρυμονιον εκαλειτο απο Μιεζης θυγατρος Βερητος του Μακεδονος, ως Θεαγενης εν Μακεδονικοις. Βερης γαρ τρεις εγεννησεν, Μιεζαν, Βεροιαν, Ολγανον, εφ' ων ποταμος ομωνυμος και πολις Βεροια και τοπος Στρυμωνος.
Stephanos Byzantios Lexicographer (6th c AD), Ethnica.

The city of Beroea/Beroia/Berroia/Βερροια (I know the reader by now is getting confused by the multiple variations in the spelling of the city, but it is only in the Latin transliterations that the different spellings of this name occur: in Greek it remains the same, it is always Βέρροια, or Βέροια, with one "ρ"/"r") is well known to Christians because it was one of the first Greek cities that the Apostle Paul visited in Europe, having first passed through a few more Macedonian cities: Neapolis/Νεάπολις, Philipoi/Φίλιπποι, Amphipolis/Ἄμφίπολις, Apollonia/Ἄπολλωνία and Thessalonike/Θεσσαλονίκη. We know of the dream that came to Paul while he was asleep in Troad:

καὶ ὅραμα διὰ τῆς νυκτὸς ὤφθη τῷ Παύλῳ· ἀνήρ τις ἦν Μακεδὼν ἑστὼς, παρακαλῶν αὐτὸν καὶ λέγων· Διαβὰς εἰς Μακεδονίαν βοήθησον ἡμῖν. ΠΡΑΞΕΙΣ 16:9

In Macedonia indeed he went, and by Macedonia we mean THE historic Macedonia, not the Makedonijan wannabe neighbor of Kossovo: Paul never put his foot on what is now FYROM. Not that this historic fact would be enough to dissuade the regime there from claiming an association between St. Paul's trip to Macedonia proper and "their" Makedonija. In fact they recently re-named the airport of Ochrid to St. Paul's legacy and his trip to Macedonia: Aerodrom "St. Paul" Ochrid/Аеродром „Св. Апостол Павле" Охрид (Skopje airport, FYROM's main international airport was also renamed, from Aerodrom Skopje/Аеродром Скопје to Aleksandar Veliki/Aлександар Вeлики. Who was Aleksandar Veliki/Aлександар Вeлики? The fabled Czar of the proto-Slavs, of course: yes we are indeed talking about Alexander the Great...Alexandros III/Αλέξανδρος Γ', son of Philip II!).

"The likelyhood[sic] that St. Luke was from a Macedonian origin is indicated even in the world renown encyclopaedia Microsoft Encarta 98 (Encyclopaedia Deluxe Edition, USA, 1998; "Luke Saint"). More detail on this topic can be found in the book "Jesus Christ and the Macedonians" by A. Donski (Centre for Cultural Initiative, Stip, FYROM, 2000."
Trying to double check my sources, I opened another encyclopaedia, which is published by an ecclesiastical organization that may possibly have a slightly deeper connection to biblical scholarship than Encarta's Microsoft Corp, the Catholic Encyclopaedia. Here is what it says about St. Luke, St. Paul's associate:

and further down:"St. Luke was not a Jew. He is separated by St. Paul from those of the circumcision (Colossians 4:14), and his style proves that he was a Greek." and also: "His great command of Greek is shown by the richness of his vocabulary and the freedom of his constructions."


καί τινες ἐξ αὐτῶν ἐπείσθησαν καὶ προσεκληρώθησαν τῷ Παύλῳ καὶ τῷ Σίλᾳ, τῶν τε σεβομένων Ἑλλήνων πολὺ πλῆθος γυναικῶν τε τῶν πρώτων οὐκ ὀλίγαι.ΠΡΑΞΕΙΣ 17:4
After Thessalonica he went to Berroia, where:
Πράξεις Aποστόλων 17:10,11,12
Acts 17:10,11,12

The bible mentions the small community of the Jews living in the city of Berroia at the time but it also tells us that "not a few" Greek women and men, indeed of high social standing, believed in his message. The same as we saw had happened earlier in Thessalonike. Now let us think about this:
Paul has been "invited" in his dream while in Troad by a Macedonian man who asked for his help to come to Macedonia. Paul goes to Macedonia, and to our surprise, no "Macedonian" is ever mentioned, and for sure not a Slavonic-speaking one, anywhere. Some Jews, yes, small communities here and there, who are in personal contact with each other, so we know they were not too many of them: a rather close community. Then the occasional Roman official or guardsman, as the ones in Philippoi shows up in the text. Finally we hear of "multitudes of Greeks", both men and women, who listen to Paul and accept his message, in Philippoi in Thessalonike and in Beroia.
So, then, we are left wondering: what happened to the OTHER Macedonians, the Slavic speaking "Macedonians" of Skopje? Why do they not appear in the text? Where are the imaginary NON-GREEK Macedonians? Why is the Christian bible failing to mention ANY other, non-Greek Macedonians? If they existed, we must surely conclude that they must have been a rude bunch indeed, for having had "invited" St. Paul they then failed to ever show up in his speeches, not even to stop by and say hello! Well, that is rude! Surely the bible would have mentioned them, but then, the bible is not supposed to lie: it is not Utrinski Vesnik or Nova Makedonija or some politicaly inspired manifesto on pseudo-makedonism authored by the VMRO untra-nationalist party in Skopje! And for sure it has no connection to the sacrilegious and racist folk who came up with this pathetic video that shows Byzantine churches and speaks of Alexander the Great and how Christianity started in Skopje. The music is also Greek by the way, by Vangelis (Papathanasiou):
When you lie, lies eventually catch up with you after a while. When you use other people's sacred books to promote your nationalistic agenda, that exposes your lies to a harsher light, for it betrays your cynicism. But would an administration such as that of prime minister Gruevski sweat twice for being accused of supporting what would some consider as sacrilegious lies to promote their regime's pseudo-makedonist agenda? "What's the big fuss about dragging St.Paul into our propaganda game?" they will be wondering...Tito's Stalinist government of Yugoslavia went as far as forcibly splitting the Serbian Orthodox Church in order to create a church for the Makedonci (the only instance of a nominally "atheist" and "socialist" state going to such a degree of "church building" initiative, in order to support the shaky identity of the newly created (since 1943) Slavo-"Makedonski" nation!

Πύθια ἐν Τρωάδι Ἀλε-
Pythian (games) in Troy Ale-
ξάνδρεια Ὀλύμπια ἐν Βεροίᾳ,
xandreian Olympics in Beroia
Ἁδριανὰ Ὀλύμπια ἐν Κυζίκῳ,
Adrianian Olympics in Kyzikos
Πύθια ἐν Καλχαδόνι κοινὰ
Pythian (games) in Kalchedon common


Regions : Northern Greece (IG X) : Macedonia
EKM 1. Beroia 111
Macedonia : Bottiaia: Beroia
[Β]εροιαίων [ἡ βουλὴ]
[κ]αὶ ὁ δῆμος [— — —]
the parliament of the Beroians
and the municipality


Adymos Evandrou Beroiaios Epoiei
Αdymos son of Evandros from Beroia Created this

It was found in the Yugoslav village of Marvinci, by Valandovo, in the ancient Amphaxitis. The ancient city that now lies next to Marvinci, was originally a Paionian and later on a Macedonian city. If someone checks on the map, they will notice that Marvinci lies five minutes by car from the Greek-Yugoslav frontier, next to Greek Macedonia, which corresponds about 90% with ancient Macedonia, the original Μακεδονία-Macedonia, not the Former Yugoslav ROM which is about 5% of it, the rest being ancient Paionia and Dardania.

IG IX,2 601
Thessaly (IG IX,2) : Pelasgiotis: Larisa
Εὔανδρος Εὐάνδρου Βεροιαῖος ἐποίε[ι].
Evandros son of Evandros from Beroia created this.



Regions : Central Greece (IG VII-IX) : Delphi
BCH 1921:1
ἐν Δίωι Μέντωρ Ἀγαθοκλέους Πολυκλῆς
in Dion Mentor son of Agathocles, Polykles
ἐν Πύδναι Ἀρχίας Φίλιππος Διο[ν]υσογένης
in Pydna Archias Philippos Dionysogenes
son of Alkimachos
ἐν Βεροίαι Ἀντάνωρ Νεοπτολέμου
in Beroia Antanor son of Neoptolemos
Μένανδρος Ἀπελλᾶς Φιλώτα
Menandros son of Apellas of Philotas
ἐμ Μέζαι Νικωνίδας Νικάνωρ Μνασιγένεος
in Mezai Nikonidas Nikanor son of Mnasigenes
ἐν Ἐδέσσαι Μοσχίων Τριάκας Μόσχος
in Edessa Moschion Triakas Moschos
ἐν Πελλαῖ Ἀπολλωνίδης Δίφιλος Χάρης
in Pella Apollonides Diphylos Chares

These are all very typical Greek names: hardly the type of typical proto-Slavic names, in other words that would corroborate a non Hellenic, Slavic identity for the ancient Macedonians. The south Slavic tribes, if we remember, came into Macedonia from Ukraine and Belorussia, not less than 800 to a thousand years after this inscription was written.

SEG 50:623
Macedonia : Pieria: Pydna
[— — — —]όνου
Βεροιαῖος καὶ ἡ γυνὴ αὐτοῦ Ἑλλὰς καὶ ὁ υἱὸς αὐτῶν Μένανδρος.
[first name missing — — son of— —]onos
Beroiaios (from Berroia) and his wife
Hellas and their son Menandros.

While we are missing in this inscription the name of the husband, we have the ending of his paternal name "-onos", we are also told that he is a Beroiaios, a Berroian, a man from Berroia. We are additionally given in the inscription the name of his son, Menandros, and the name of his wife: Hellas/Ἑλλὰς.

[1.61] Ἦλθε δὲ καὶ τοῖς Ἀθηναίοις εὐθὺς ἡ ἀγγελία τῶν πόλεων ὅτι ἀφεστᾶσι, καὶ πέμπουσιν, ὡς ᾔσθοντο καὶ τοὺς μετ' Ἀριστέως ἐπιπαριόντας, δισχιλίους ἑαυτῶν ὁπλίτας καὶ τεσσαράκοντα ναῦς πρὸς τὰ ἀφεστῶτα, καὶ Καλλίαν τὸν Καλλιάδου πέμπτον αὐτὸν στρατηγόν, οἲ ἀφικόμενοι ἐς Μακεδονίαν πρῶτον καταλαμβάνουσι τοὺς προτέρους χιλίους Θέρμην ἄρτι ᾑρηκότας καὶ Πύδναν πολιορκοῦντας. προσκαθεζόμενοι δὲ καὶ αὐτοὶ τὴν Πύδναν ἐπολιόρκησαν μέν, ἔπειτα δὲ ξύμβασιν ποιησάμενοι καὶ ξυμμαχίαν ἀναγκαίαν πρὸς τὸν Περδίκκαν, ὡς αὐτοὺς κατήπειγεν ἡ Ποτείδαια καὶ ὁ Ἀριστεὺς παρεληλυθώς, ἀπανίστανται ἐκ τῆς Μακεδονίας, καὶ ἀφικόμενοι ἐς Βέροιαν κἀκεῖθεν ἐπὶ Στρέψαν καὶ πειράσαντες πρῶτον τοῦ χωρίου καὶ οὐχ ἑλόντες ἐπορεύοντο κατὰ γῆν πρὸς τὴν Ποτείδαιαν, τρισχιλίοις μὲν ὁπλίταις ἑαυτῶν, χωρὶς δὲ τῶν ξυμμάχων πολλοῖς, ἱππεῦσι δὲ ἑξακοσίοις Μακεδόνων τοῖς μετὰ Φιλίππου καὶ Παυσανίου· ἅμα δὲ νῆες παρέπλεον ἑβδομήκοντα. κατ' ὀλίγον δὲ προϊόντες τριταῖοι ἀφίκοντο ἐς Γίγωνον καὶ ἐστρατοπεδεύσαντο.
Θουκιδιδης 1-61
Thucydides 1-61


We read Thucydides again, and now we notice that he has already given us the answer: ἀπανίστανται ἐκ τῆς Μακεδονίας, καὶ ἀφικόμενοι ἐς Βέροιαν κἀκεῖθεν ἐπὶ Στρέψαν :They withdrew from Macedonia, going to Beroea and thence to Strepsa. Therefore, this Beroea is not the Beroea we is not the Beroia in Macedonia! There was another Beroea/Βερροια!

...καὶ Ὀδησσὸς Μιλησίων ἄποικος͵ καὶ Ναύλοχος Μεσημβριανῶν πολίχνιον· εἶτα τὸ Αἷμον ὄρος μέχρι τῆς δεῦρο θαλάττης διῆκον· εἶτα Μεσημβρία Μεγαρέων ἄποικος͵ πρότερον δὲ Μενεβρία͵ οἷον Μένα πόλις͵ τοῦ κτίσαντος Μένα καλουμένου͵ τῆς δὲ πόλεως βρίας καλουμένης θρᾳκιστί· ὡς καὶ ἡ τοῦ Σήλυος πόλις Σηλυμβρία προσηγόρευται͵ ἥ τε Αἶνος Πολτυμβρία ποτὲ ὠνομάζετο·
Γεωγραφία 7.6.1
...and Odessus, a colony of the Milesians, and Naulochus, a small town of the Mesembrianoi. Then comes the Haemus Mountain, which reaches the sea here; then Mesembria, a colony of the Megarians, formerly called "Menebria" (that is, "city of Menas," because the name of its founder was Menas, while "bria" is the word for "city" in the Thracian language. In this way, also, the city of Selys is called Selybria and Aenus was once called Poltyobria).
Strabo Geographia 7.6.1

So, Strabo explains to us that Bria means "city" in Thracian. And indeed he tells us that the ending of many Thracian towns in "-bria" is just that, the equivalent to Greek polis i.e. Alexandroupolis, Philipoupolis, later to be extended to such American cities as Mineapolis and Anapolis, or Ukranian cities such as Sympheropolis/Симферополь, etc.

Strabo mentions Selymbria, Poltyobria, Menebria, and we also know from Herodotus of a Combreia/Κώμβρεια in Chalkidike:
7.123 [2] ἐκ τῶν προσεχέων πολίων τῇ Παλλήνῃ, ὁμουρεουσέων δὲ τῷ Θερμαίῳ κόλπῳ, τῇσι οὐνόματα ἐστὶ τάδε, Λίπαξος Κώμβρεια Αἷσα Γίγωνος Κάμψα Σμίλα Αἴνεια·
7.123 [2] from the cities which come next after Pallene and border upon the Thermaïc gulf; and the names of them are these,--Lipaxos, Combreia, Lisai, Gigonos, Campsa, Smila, Aineia;

"βρία εσήμαινε την επ´ αγροίς κώμην, ως και φρούριον, τόπον οχυρόν": bria meant a farmland town, as well as fort, a castre-protected area.

Looking in Asia Minor, we also find Phrygian cities called Garsavara of Cilicia/Γαρσάβαρα Κιλικίας, Atabyris/Ατάβυρις, Kibyra of Phrygia/Κίβυρα Φρυγίας as well as Bria/Βρία, between Eumeneia and Sebaste, next to the Burgasdagh mountain. Whose coins were epigraphed: ΒΡΙΑΝΩΝ/Brianon (genitive form of "BPIANOI-Brianoi", meaning: of the people of Bria).

When we look back at our Indo-European common language, we see that the original word was *bhergh which originally meant "high", and also "hill". The Greek word Boreas/Βoρέας (originally the wind from the mountains, the northern wind) comes from this word. But the north Germanic word for mountain "berg" is also derived from it, as does the word Iceberg in English and the Russian word Bereg which means "high river bank". But since the primitive Indoeuropeans found protection on the high hills where they built their wall-protected towns, the original word *bhergh for high and hill eventually came to mean: "a castle on a high ground". In French it became "bourg" as in Luxembourg (=the luxurious, or full of light castle), which is not only a country but also a park in Paris, in German it became "burg", as in Hamburg (Originaly named: Hammaburg: meaning either "Riverside castle" or "Beechwood castle").

Bourg and burg are in turn also related lingusistically and semanically to the Greek word Pyrgos/Πύργος, meaning castle. Burgaz, the Bulgarian city on the Black sea was the Byzantine Pyrgos/Πύργος, and it retains this name even today among Greeks. Close to my own hometown, Serres, there is a small village which has antiquities, the village of Βέργη/Berge, site of the ancient city by the same name: Berge. It was a city of the Paeonians, long before the Macedonians took over that land sometime in the 5th century bC. The name of ancient Berge is in turn linguistically connected not only to the Germanic "berg" or "burg" but also to the the Celtic word "-briga". The Iberian peninsula is litterally dotted with untold Celtic toponyms ending in -briga,. In Portugal there is Londobris/Λονδοβρίς (*Lond-o-brig-s - wild fortress) just off the Lusitanian coast (if this toponym sounds related phonetically to the London of England it is because they are linguistically related, indeed, it is in fact a Portuguese "London-city": Londobris). Then we encounter Talabriga/Ταλάβριγα (*tala + briga - fortres by the river Tala), but also Langobriga, Ierabriga, Caetobriga, Larcobriga etc. In Spain we find Λακόβριγα/Lacobrigenses (Pliny III 3 26); Langobriga (*Lak-o-briga: 'Lake Fortress'). Sarabriga or Salabriga or Salabris/Σαλαβρίς (almost an issogloss with the Thracian Sylibria, modern Silivi, in Eastern Thrace) (*Sara-brig-s: - the town/fort by the Sara River, now called in its Spanish translation: Torre del Sabre), between the provinces of Salamanca and Zamora. We also find in Spain cities such as Deobriga, Alpobriga, Nertobriga, Ardobriga, Colubriga, and numerous others, all Celtic toponymns.

[More in: ].

In France we find Iliberis which rhymes and is linguistically connected with our Beres, but we also encounter the Franco-Latin Burgundia (the highlands), and in England we find "-bury": Bury, Salisbury, Bloomsbury, Norbury, Kingsbury, Canterbury, as well towns ending in "-borough": Thornborough, Thomborough, etc. The words brigand which means the man away from the law up on the mountains and of course the word "fort" and all the forts and the towns ending in "-fort", or "-furt" like Frankfurt are also related linguistically to the Macedonian Berroia.




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