The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1897-04-25
Macedonia and Its History

The great province Of Macedonia. the the
| alter OF the fare OF Alexander ard Philip.
erected by the latter into vast empire,
| once portion OF The Greek and Roman
empires and now invaded again By the
plucky Greeks In their effort to shake of
turkish tyranny and to regain part, al
| least, of their old possessions, lies between
Thrace On the east and Illyria on the west,
| the Danubian principal;ties on the north
and Thessaly. now a part OF thu Greek
kingdom, on the south. It's boundaries are
| mainly formidable mountain chains.
through one OF which. Mount Olympus and
the Cambunian mountains on the south
east, one OF the Turkish armies has sue
ceeded in forcing a passage and debouch-
ing on the plains of Thessaly, In the v.cini-
~ of Larissa
The province is divided by the river Ak
ins, whose praises Homer has sung Eas:
OF that river the surface of the country is
Irregular, while west of Il there are nunner-
Gus little plains surrounded by rocky noun
tain walls. The general aspect Of the
country IS rugged and mountaious and the
climate IS severe. though some of the river
valleys havet rich alluvial soil. Its rivers
are only navigable for small barges and
It's products are un:mportant. Its ancient
capital was Odessa. near Mount Olympus.
the home OF the gods. Philip of Mace
donia transferred the capital to Pella, near
the sea. a locality now utterly deserted.
Under the Romans Tnessalonica, or Salo-
nica, became the principal point in Mace
donia, and such it remains today, being
admirably situated on the Thermatic Gulf
and tie natural location for all purposes
OF trade and communication. 1t is now
the principal base of supplies for the Turk,
ISL army. 1t is not far from Alossona, the
Turkish headquarters. and near the gather
ing point of the Turkish forces, some of
them going west by rail from Salonica TO
Ver.a, thence marching forty-dve miles to
Alossona, while the remainder sailed down
the Gulf Of Salonica and landed on the
frontier near Mount Olympus.
No province Of Eastern Europe has been
more famous in history than Macedonia
1t first appears in the reign Of Amyntas
GO B. c. and in that OF Alexander, who
reigned at the time of Xerxes' invasion OF
Greece. From small beginnings sprang a
great empire, built up by Philip and Alex
ander the Great, which included Mace
donia, Greece, Thrace, Asia Minor, Syria,
Egypt. Mesopotamia, Bablyonia, Assyria.
Armenia in part, Persia. Afghanistan, Bel
Of Central Asia The Empire was divided
under Alexander's successor, the principal
division being Macedonia, Egypt, Syria.
Pergamum, Bithynia, Rhodes and Greek
States. The empire was conquered by the
Romans GeS B. c. and was divided into
four districts. Afterwards Il was made into
province. 1t was at one time the prey of
Aloric's Go.hs and afterward was largely
colonized by Slavonians. In the tenth cell
fury a large portion Of It was absorbed into
the Bulgarian monarchy. In the eleventh
and twelfth centuries it was considerably
depopulated by the Emperors of Constan-
tinople. who following the practice Of that
time, supplied the places of those who left
from various Asiatlc colonies. thus securing
a heterogeneous people more easy to gov
ern. After the partition OF the Eastern
Empire, following the fall of Constantine
pie, Macedonia was assigned to Boniface,
who ruled as king of Salonil1i. In the thir-
teenth century it passed into the hands of
Eptrian, Theodorus. who founded the
Greek empire of Thessalonica- In the
fourteenth century it passed under the
power of the Servians but before the mid
die Of the next century the Turks acquired
It and have held 1t ever since.
Now the Turks have swept down from
and, forcing their way through
the mountain passes of Macedonia's south
ern frontier, have invaded Greek sell, while
the Greeks, fighting their way northward
from Larissa, have invaded Turkish soil,
and are menacing Alossona. That the lat
ter will maintain their position, however.
Is a matter of extreme doubt. Larissa
once taken, the forward movement OF the
victorious Turks menacing Athens, or the
demand Of the powers that the invasion
shall go no further may cause the return
Of the Greeks TO their own territory, either
TO defend their capital or to submit to the
humiliation of Withdrawing their forces
from Crete, leaving the affairs of that IN
fortunate island to be settled by the pow
era