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Though I know they're strapped for time, maybe the answer is painless:
@PericlesofAthens, in your 2017 work on this article, you wrote that
Although Macedonia and the rest of Greece traditionally practiced monogamy in marriage, Philip II divulged in the 'barbarian' practice of polygamy, marrying seven different wives and perhaps only one of them for non-military purposes.
...citing Müller in Roisman & Worthington (2010), pp. 169–170. However, the relevant passages are as follows:
To this end, [Philip II] married six times in his life (his final, seventh marriage could have been for non-military reasons. ... Probably polygamy, presumably influenced by the Achaemenid example, was not introduced by Philip to Macedonia but was practised by the royal house before that. ... However, in the eyes of the Greeks who lived in a monogamous society and judged from their point of view, polygamy was a symbol of 'barbarians' ...
The only thing I might be missing is how to weigh the description of Achaemenid influence? It seems potentially too vague to verify that particular statement in any case. Let me know if you can, or anyone else in the know.
Probably influenced by the Achaemenids the Macedonian Royals practiced polygamy which in the eyes of the Greeks who lived in monogamous society was a symbol of "barbarians" SolderUnion (talk) 23:25, 3 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]
@Remsense The current statement seems fine to me, but we could amend it slightly to include the following: "Philip II divulged in the 'barbarian' (potentially Achaemenid influenced) practice of polygamy, marrying seven different wives and perhaps only one of them for non-military purposes." - Please let me know if you find that comment in parentheses to be suitable. It's a reasonable assumption by historians, even if it cannot be verified directly. So long as hedging language like "potentially" is used here, I find it okay to include this hypothetical idea. Pericles of AthensTalk09:25, 4 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]
So, the intent is that Macedonians were monogamous prior to Achaemenid influence? I think that change makes it seem too transient of a shift, given Alexander was polygamous also. Remsense ‥ 论09:35, 4 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]
That seems to be the implication here, yes. We don't have solid evidence for it before the reign of Philip II, even if it was likely that a Macedonian monarch before him had multiple wives. We're working with the limited evidence we have, which doesn't suggest polygamy was a regular practice in Macedon beforehand, hence the speculation about the Achaemenids. Pericles of AthensTalk17:39, 5 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]
I'm not sure the source fully verifies the plain assertion for pre-Philip monogamy? May be better to avoid it entirely, though I defer to your judgment. Remsense ‥ 论17:42, 5 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]
@Remsense Just to confirm, in her Women and Monarchy in Macedonia (2000, University of Oklahoma Press: pp 23-24), Elizabeth Donnelly Carney also states that there is no direct evidence for polygamy practiced by the Argeads before Philip II. She does, however, note some circumstantial evidence pointing to its likelihood for Macedon's royal court during the reigns of previous monarchs, and that scholars such as William Greenwalt have speculated about this. It's only speculation, though. We only know about sole official wives of Macedonian monarchs before Philip II. Pericles of AthensTalk20:52, 5 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]
@Remsense No problem! Feel free to add an endnote with input by Carney (2000) about scholarly consensus, or perhaps I could do it sometime in the near future. I just happen to be swamped at work right now and am really struggling to save my FA class article Augustus while it is currently undergoing a Featured Article Review (any help with that would be appreciated too). I've got a lot on my plate at the moment, unfortunately! Cheers. Pericles of AthensTalk20:02, 6 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]
They probably don't remember since it was one edit in one article 8 years ago among many they've worked on, but the new passage communicates the most relevant points of interest using different words. it's called copyediting and composition. Invocation of specific "jargon" is not terribly important one way or the other unless you're trying to forensically identify evidence of concerted efforts to whitewash an aspect of the subject you seem to care an inordinate amount about.
If I may, please drop the accusatory tone here, it's distracting. Editors are not conspiring along the lines you've repeatedly expressed suspicions about. Remsense ‥ 论11:44, 4 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]
It seems that there is a collusion of people trying to promote pro Greek national agenda. I wonder why you've removed a very relevant map in the article about Arvanites that shows the extend of the Albanian inhabitants in Epirus in 1850 before the incorporation into the Greek state and their subsequent Hellenization ... Why would someone want to remove that? SolderUnion (talk) 11:53, 4 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]
If you genuinely think that, then you need to go to ArbCom about it, or somewhere else that's likewise mighty and far away. You've expressly committed yourself to shadowboxing phantom nationalists, and it's a waste of others' time here to try convincing you that that's all you're doing. Remsense ‥ 论12:21, 4 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]
This tangential concern of yours about some map image (LOL) pretty much indicates the real reason you are here. You're not here to argue in good faith, it would seem. You also don't seem to understand copyediting and writing things without quoting texts verbatim. The meaning of the passage by Muller (2010) is captured in the statement of the article. The Greeks generally practiced monogamy, as Muller plainly states on p. 169. The quoted source above also clearly states that we are unsure if Philip II introduced polygamy to Macedonian royal practices or if it was perhaps introduced to them at a slightly earlier date via Achaemenid Persian influence. Pericles of AthensTalk17:35, 5 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]
Let's focus on our subject. There is Wikipedia:No original research. There is no mention of anything similar like ""The Macedonians and Greeks traditionally practiced monogamy"" not ""The Macedonians and the rest of Greeks traditionally practiced monogamy"" hence this cannot be accepted. Phillip didn't introduced polygamy. The summary of the source is "probably influenced by the Achaemenids the Macedonian Royals practiced polygamy which in the eyes of the Greeks who lived in monogamous society was a symbol of "barbarians"" . We should not obscure the fact that the Greek perceive this as a symbol of "barbarians" . No rest of the Greeks but Greeks. Here there is no place for propaganda SolderUnion (talk) 19:14, 5 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]
In the Early Macedonian army section, it says the pezhetairoi may have been around since Alexander I, but the following section states that Phillip II pioneered the pike phalanx. Doesn't pezhetairoi = pike phalanx? My understanding is that Phillip was influenced by the Thebans' deeper phalanx at Leuctra in the creation of the pike phalanx. All of this happened after Alexander I, not before. This needs to be clarified. TheNomad416 (talk) 17:35, 27 November 2025 (UTC)[reply]
level-4 vital article is rated FA-class on Wikipedia's content assessment scale.
