BC. What cannot be denied, however, is that the cultural commodification of Hellenic identity that emerged in the 4th century might have remained a provincial artifact, confined to the Balkan peninsula, had it not been for the Macedonians." Eugene Borza emphasized the Macedonians "made their mark in antiquity as Macedonians, not as a tribe of some other people" but argued that "the 'highlanders' or 'Makedones' of the mountainous regions of western Macedonia are derived from northwest Greek stock." Worthington concludes that "there is still more than enough evidence and reasoned theory to suggest that the Macedonians were racially Greek." Edward M. Anson argues that some Hellenic authors expressed complex if not 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 by others as semi-Greek or fully Greek. Panagiotis Filos notes that the term “barbarian” was often used by ancient Greek authors in a very broad sense, referring not only to non-Greek populations, but also to Greek populations on the fringe of the Greek world with dialectal differences, such as the Macedonians. 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, such as Demosthenes when labeling Philip II of Macedon inaccurately as a "barbarian", whereas Polybius called Achaeans and Macedonians as homophylos (i.e. part of the same race or kin). Carol J. King elaborates that finding the reason why "ancient Greeks themselves differentiated between Greeks and Macedonians" is limited by the fact that "if one seeks historical truth about an ancient people who have left no definitive record, one may have to let go of the hope for a definitive answer" especially considering that ancient Macedonia was composed of Greeks, people akin to Greeks and non-Greeks. Simon Hornblower supports the Greek identity of the Macedonians, taking into consideration their origin, language, cults and customs. See also References Footnotes Citations Bibliography . Further reading External links Ancient Macedonia at ''Livius Ancient History''' Demetrius C. Evangelides – "The Yaunã Takabara and the Ancient Macedonians" Heracles to Alexander The Great: Treasures From The Royal Capital of Macedon, A Hellenic Kingdom in the Age of Democracy (Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology, University of Oxford) Ancient Greece Ancient Greeks Hellenistic Macedonia Ancient Greeks in Macedonia