led to debate among modern academics about the precise ethnic identity of the Macedonians, who nevertheless embraced many aspects of contemporaneous Greek culture such as participation in Greek religious cults and athletic games, including the Ancient Olympic Games. Given the scant linguistic evidence, such as the Pella curse tablet, ancient Macedonian is regarded by most scholars as another Greek dialect, possibly related to Doric Greek or Northwestern Greek."[W]e may tentatively conclude that Macedonian is a dialect related to North-West Greek.", Olivier Masson, French linguist, “Oxford Classical Dictionary: Macedonian Language”, 1996. The ancient Macedonians participated in the production and fostering of Classical and later Hellenistic art. In terms of visual arts, they produced frescoes, mosaics, sculptures, and decorative metalwork. The performing arts of music and Greek theatrical dramas were highly appreciated, while famous playwrights such as Euripides came to live in Macedonia. The kingdom also attracted the presence of renowned philosophers, such as Aristotle, while native Macedonians contributed to the field of ancient Greek literature, especially Greek historiography. Their sport and leisure activities included hunting, foot races, and chariot races, as well as feasting and drinking at aristocratic banquets known as symposia. Etymology The ethnonym Μακεδόνες (Makedónes) stems from the Ancient Greek adjective μακεδνός (makednós), meaning "tall, slim", also the name of a people related to the Dorians (Herodotus). It is most likely cognate with the adjective μακρός (makrós), meaning "long" or "tall" in Ancient Greek. The name is believed to have originally meant either "highlanders", "the tall ones", or "high grown men". Origins, consolidation, and expansion Historical overview The expansion of the Macedonian kingdom has been described as a three-stage process. As a frontier kingdom on the border of the Greek world with barbarian Europe, the Macedonians first subjugated their immediate northern neighboursvarious Illyrian and Thracian tribesbefore turning against the states of southern and central Greece. Macedonia then led a pan-Hellenic military force against their primary objectivethe conquest of Persiawhich they achieved with remarkable ease. Following the death of Alexander the Great and the Partition of Babylon in 323 BC, the diadochi successor states such as the Attalid, Ptolemaic and Seleucid Empires were established, ushering in the Hellenistic period of Greece, West Asia and the Hellenized Mediterranean Basin. With Alexander's conquest of the Achaemenid Empire, Macedonians colonized territories as far east as Central Asia. The Macedonians continued to rule much of Hellenistic Greece (323–146 BC), forming alliances with Greek leagues