Mακεδονία - Macedonia - Macedoine - Makedonija - Македония - Македонија

Documentary. Year of production - 1984
Taken from the You Tube channel of  DocumentaryMacedonia
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=er8JWfyStuc

Macedonia ( [ˌmæsəˈdoʊniə], Greek: Μακεδονία, Makedonía, IPA: [makʲe̞ðo̞ˈnia]) 
is a geographical and historical region of Greece in southeastern Europe. Macedonia is the largest and second most populous Greek region. The region and that of Thrace are often together referred to informally as northern Greece.

This northern Greek region incorporates most of the territories of ancient Macedon, the kingdom ruled by the Argeads whose most celebrated members were Alexander the Great and his father Philip II. The name Macedonia was later applied to identify various administrative areas in the Roman and Byzantine Empires with widely differing borders. Under the Ottomans, the name disappeared altogether.

Even before the establishment of the Modern Greek state in 1830, it was identified as a Greek province, even though Macedonia had no geographical borders [1][2][3] By the mid 19th century, the name was becoming consolidated informally, defining more of a a distinct geographical, rather than political, region in the southern Balkans. At the end of the Ottoman Empire most of the region known as Rumelia or "Turkey in Europe" was divided by the Treaty of Bucharest of 1913, following the Ottoman defeat in the Balkan Wars of 1912-1913. Greece, Serbia, Bulgaria and Albania each took control of portions of the territory, with Greece obtaining the largest portion.

Macedonia was an administrative subdivision of Greece until the administrative reform of 1987, when the region was subdivided into the peripheries of West Macedonia and Central Macedonia and part of the periphery of East Macedonia and Thrace, the latter containing also the whole of the region of Thrace.

 PART I - MΕΡΟΣ Α'

PART II - ΜΕΡΟΣ Β'

PART III - ΜΕΡΟΣ Γ'

PART IV - ΜΕΡΟΣ Δ'

PART V - ΜΕΡΟΣ Ε'

THE UNITED STATES, GREECE, AND THE MACEDONIAN ISSUE

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

THE TITO LEGACY THAT HAUNTS THE SOUTHERN BALKANS 

By CHRIS C. PARKAS
U.S. Army Retired Reserve
One of the last unresolved issues from the breakup of former Yugoslavia is the Macedonian name dispute between Greece and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, FYROM. The Macedonian name has a complex background of 4,000 years of history, culture, and geographic region. These three elements comprise a single Macedonian identity, unless a differentiation or redefinition is made to accommodate Greece and FYROM. Hopefully, a name compromise between the two sides will be reached through current mediation, but the United States and the West need to examine Tito's political and historical contribution to the Macedonian problem. We have alienated an historic ally, Greece, in the southern Balkans and jeopardized the stability of that region. In the worst case scenario, what happened in Bosnia could happen in former Yugoslav Macedonia. In such a case, Greek support in the southern Balkans may prove vital in preserving FYROM and the region's stability.

THE TITO LEGACY
Essentially, the Tito legacy was a combination of Communist and nationalist disinformation that created its own version of Macedonian history in which FYROM seeks international recognition. Since 1944, when Tito created the Socialist Republic of Macedonia as a new republic in the Yugoslav Federation, a revisionist history of Macedonian studies has been developed promoting the concept of a non-Greek Macedonian nation that encompasses all aspects of Macedonian civilization. The Tito revisionist campaign was nothing new: it was part of the Marxist-Leninist ideology of disinformation that Lenin introduced as a method of political warfare. Tito merely pursued this strategy as a Communist and nationalist against Greece during the Greek Civil War in 19441949. Now, the Tito legacy is the main obstacle in resolving the Macedonian name dispute.

The cornerstone of FYROM's Communist disinformation program was that the ancient Macedonians were not Greek, but were a separate race from which FYROM claimed historical continuity. The logical conclusion to this thesis led FYROM to present itself to the world community as the legitimate heir to the ancient Macedonian kingdom and its territory, and to Alexander the Great's legacy. The history being taught in Macedonian schools is that the Greek and Bulgarian Macedonian regions were occupied ancestral lands that belonged to FYROM. From its creation, it became FYROM's historical mission to "liberate" these regions into a Greater Macedonia. FYROM maps and stamps appeared depicting a "unified" Macedonia with the Greek port city of Thessaloniki as its capital. As long as FYROM stayed in the Yugoslav Federation, this newly-created Macedonian issue remained dormant. But when it sought UN recognition with the name Macedonia, the potential legalization of FYROM's disinformation history suddenly aroused not only the Greek state, but struck at the identity of citizens of the worldwide Hellenistic community.

ANCIENT AND MODERN MACEDONIANS
Who then were the ancient Macedonians, and what is the real Macedonian record? History (from Herodotus to the leading Macedonian historian, Nicholas G. L. Hammond of Cambridge University) has identified the ancient Macedonians as Dorian-Makednoi Greeks who spoke with an Aeolic dialect, which was common to the Greek-speaking tribes of the present eastern mainland Greek region. The Macedonians worshipped the same gods as the southern Greeks. They participated in the Olympic games, which was an exclusive Greek privilege. However, unlike the southern Greeks with their city-state system of government (excluding Sparta with its dual kingship), the Macedonians had established a constitutional monarchy, which was a remarkable forerunner of the constitutional monarchies that evolved in our own Western state system. And as in the Western monarchies, the Macedonians preserved their institutions and customs in freedom. As northern Greeks, the Macedonians also interacted with other border ethnic peoples, and in some cases, these peoples lived within Macedonia's geographic region under Macedonian sovereignty. Macedonia eventually united the ancient Greek city-states as one Greek nation, and under Alexander the Great (356-323B.C.) conquered and Hellenized the ancient world.

In a 1994 press interview given at the municipal city hall in Thessaloniki, Greece (as reported by the Greek daily Proini, 22 April 1994), Professor Hammond told reporters that the people of FYROM have no connection historically or ancestrally with the ancient Greek Macedonians. He also explained that during the reigns of Phillip II and Alexander the Great the present FYROM region (or former southern Yugoslavia) was inhabited by the Paeones, another people who lived under Macedonian rule. Professor Hammond then stated that a more historic and accurate name for the FYROM region was Paeonia. He also made it clear that the present FYROM state was Tito's creation. It is of historic importance to note that it was Professor Hammond who first identified the Vergina region in northern Greece as being the ancient Aegeae, the early capital of ancient Macedonia and the location of the Royal Macedonian Tombs. Acting on Professor Hammond's suggestion, the late archeologist Manolis Andronicos excavated the Vergina site. The subsequent discovery of the tomb of Phillip II among the other tombs of the royal Macedonian dynasty in Vergina in 1977 (with Greek inscriptions and art treasures) revealed Macedonian Hellenism to the modem world.

This discovery changed the historical perspective of ancient Macedonia to that of a more sophisticated Hellenic civilization than originally thought, leading in the classic designs of palace and tomb construction, paintings, mosaics, architecture, and armor production. Fundamentally, therefore, the archeological discoveries of Vergina also confirmed what was known of the Macedonian Greeks who inhabited the Macedonian area for 2,000 years before the appearance of the first Slavs. Although the Bulgar Slavs appeared in the Macedonian region around the sixth century A.D., the native Greek inhabitants still retained their cultural Hellenism.

Historically and politically, the major milestone for ancient Macedonia was the Roman conquest of that region in 146 B.C. Thereafter, Macedonia ceased to exist as an ethnic Greek kingdom and became a Roman province that in 2,000 years experienced several foreign invasions and two major empires (Byzantine and Ottoman). But the region never constituted a nation. However, while various ethnic peoples inhabited historic Macedonia, the two primary cultures that dominated the region were Greek and Slavic.

Following the break-up of Ottoman rule during the Balkan wars of 1912-1913, the ancient Macedonian region was divided between Greece (51 percent), Serbia (38 percent), and Bulgaria (11 percent). These three national territories were not entirely homogeneous, although Greece and Bulgaria, through a subsequent population exchange, added to the ethnic homogeneity of their respective Macedonian regions. There was also a significant Albanian and Bulgarian population in Serbian Macedonia, a factor that would later influence Tito's policy for that region in the formation of the Second Yugoslavia.

ONE VERSUS TWO MACEDONIAN IDENTITIES
From the beginning of this Macedonian debate, the Western governments ignored a crucial point in this volatile issue: There exist not one, but two Macedonian identities--Greek and Slav--with different histories. Considering former Communist Yugoslavia's propaganda campaign, the difference between these two histories is like night and day. The result is confusion and a distortion of the Macedonian record, which brings us to the crux of the Macedonian issue. The Macedonian problem was not so much a historical dispute (although that is a major factor now), but a political one of competing nationalisms and bitter wars between Greeks and Slavs and Slavs against Slavs over a strategic piece of territory with an outlet to the Aegean Sea. In Tito's Yugoslavia, a revisionist history promoted a Macedonian nation as a strategy toward a political end: for a greater Macedonian nationalism encompassing the Bulgarian and Greek Macedonian territory to the Aegean. But that was one aspect of Tito's strategy in creating FYROM.
Basically, Tito carved out a new republic from south Serbia in 1944 and called it Macedonia for three reasons: to counter Bulgaria's strong ethnic claims on the Bulgarian population of the region; to use FYROM and the Macedonian name as a foundation to grab Greece's Macedonian territory for a Greater Yugoslav Macedonia; and to reduce the size of the Serbian Republic and break the Serbian Loyalist guerrilla movement as an act of revenge against the Serbs who fought the Communist partisans in World War II. The people of FYROM are ethnic Bulgarian Slavs with an Albanian minority and a small percentage of Serbs and other groups. It should be noted that the Bulgarian government did recognize FYROM as a state, but not as a Macedonian nation, because Bulgaria considers the people of FYROM and its language (a borrowed Bulgarian dialect) as ethnic Bulgarian. Ethnically, therefore, the inhabitants of FYROM can be called Slav-Macedonians or geographically, Vardar-Macedonians. To retain their ethnic identity, Albanians could be referred to as Albanian or Illyrian Macedonians.

Politically and diplomatically, the international community never clearly understood FYROM's complicated ethnic and geographic background, or the historical disinformation of the Macedonian record emanating from post-World War II Communist Yugoslavia. The only exceptions were the foreign policy offices in some of the Western governments, which saw in FYROM's history and nationalism a convenient diplomatic tool. There were a few voices in academia that spoke out against FYROM's revisionist history, but they were ignored. In some cases, they were contradicted within academia by emigre FYROM historians, who were developing their own Macedonian studies supporting FYROM's version of Macedonian history.

Thus, a great majority of diplomats, political leaders, members of the press, and even cold war analysts failed to understand that a new version of Macedonian history had been developed since FYROM's creation in 1944, and two different Macedonian histories, cultures, and nationalisms exist. There is the conventional Greek history of Herodotus up to the present historical research and archeological evidence of Nicholas G. L. Hammond and Manolis Andronicos, opposed to FYROM's Slavic-oriented Macedonian history (of a non-Hellenic ancient Macedonian race). What has emerged is a historical and political collision between Greece's Macedonian Hellenism and FYROM's Slavic-Macedonian culture in which FYROM seeks sole possession of the Macedonian name as a single Macedonian nationality.

In their effort to resolve this stalemate, statesmen of the international community did not comprehend that the Macedonian name, with its complex history of politics and nationalism, had to be divided along ethnic lines, as between Greek and Slav-Macedonians. This issue is pivotal and needs to be understood: There is no single Macedonian nationality, but two Macedonian cultures (Greek and Slav), whose people inhabit the ancient geographic Macedonian region. If we are going to talk in terms of nationality, then we would have to define both a Greek and Slavic Macedonian nationality (except Albanians).

In 1994, facing mounting violence between the Greek and Slav communities in Australia, the Australian government made a differentiation between ethnic Greek and FYROM nationals, and conditioned the opening of a FYROM consulate in Australia on its not using "a contentious flag" such as the Greek Macedonian Star of Vergina. Australia's Macedonian policy was a temporary measure, pending a final settlement. Yet the Australians, whether they understood it or not, were correctly dividing the Greek and Slav cultures of the Macedonian name.

Washington, however, refused to make this crucial Australian differentiation and pursued a single Macedonia policy: using the Macedonian name and its 4,000-year history as a diplomatic and political expedient to keep FYROM with its mixed population of Albanians, Serbs, and Bulgarians from falling apart. But the real issue for FYROM's minorities, especially its large Albanian minority, was not how FYROM was recognized in the UN, but securing minority guarantees, jobs, and government representation within FYROM. The Macedonian name became academic, except to FYROM's Slav nationalists, who sought to displace Greece's Macedonian Hellenism.

As it turned out, it was a combination of FYROM's global propaganda claim to a single ethnic Macedonian identity and Washington's flawed single Macedonia policy that aroused the Greeks to block FYROM's official recognition with the name Macedonia. The trouble started when Greek opposition led to a Western misconception that Greece did not want FYROM to exist, which was not the case at all. In fact, the opposite was true: Greece did not want FYROM disintegrating into a Greater Albania and Bulgaria in the Greek northern border, along with the massive refugee problem that would follow. Actually, the present Greek dilemma with FYROM is how to preserve the state without its greater Macedonia nationalism (including a monopoly of the Macedonian name), while preserving Greece's Macedonian civilization. Initially, the Greeks sought a name change for FYROM. Currently, they are inclined toward adding a qualifier to the Macedonian name that would differentiate between Greece's Macedonian Hellenism and FYROM's identity. Greece also wants to ensure that FYROM's nationalism stops at the Greco-FYROM border, which means stronger international guarantees of that border, which has been a highway for invaders for centuries.

THE GRECO-SLAV FACTOR
It should be noted that from the period of Byzantine Greece in the sixth century A.D. to the present, northern Greece experienced several Slavic invasions. Except for the Ottoman centuries of imposed peace, the most bitter wars were fought between Greeks and Slavs over the Macedonian area and the Greek mainland.

During World War II, Bulgaria occupied Greece's eastern Macedonian region, while Tito made three attempts to annex Greek Macedonia to Yugoslavia. The first attempt was in 1943, when Tito vigorously pursued a Greater Balkan Headquarters Plan to put Greece's Macedonian region under Yugoslavian partisan operational control with the eventual aim of annexing the Greek-Macedonian region to Yugoslavia. The second attempt was during the German evacuation of Greece in 1944, when Tito laid plans for armed intervention in Greek-Macedonia, ostensibly to support the Greek Communists' control of northern Greece. Its real objective, though, was to annex the Greek-Macedonian region to the newly created Yugoslav-Macedonian Republic. The third attempt was Tito's long-term support of the Greek Communists during the Greek Civil War in 1944-1949, where, in exchange for aiding a Communist victory, a Communist Greece would cede Macedonian territory to Yugoslavia. This was a critical period. Yugoslavia was an armed state with 300,000 men in four infantry divisions and one armored division in south Serbia near the Greek frontier. With Greek Communist guerrillas using Yugoslavia as a sanctuary, any Greek hot pursuit of Communists into Yugoslavia was the pretext Tito wanted to invade northern Greece.

Tito's military goal of a greater Yugoslav Macedonia was defeated when the Greek Communists lost the civil war. Some political analysts have argued that with the end of the civil war and the passing of Tito, the old Greco-Slav feud ended, but the feud was not only alive, it was far stronger than ever. What was not understood at the end of the civil war, or even now, was that Tito's Communist disinformation program continued through FYROM, developing over the decades a nationalism and a revisionist history that embodied the fourteen-century Slavic goal of a Greater Macedonia to the Aegean. In fact, with the dissolution of former Yugoslavia, FYROM's nationalism became even more dangerous.

THE END OF FORMER YUGOSLAVIA AND THE STATUS OF FYROM
The breakup of Yugoslavia eliminated it as a military threat to Greece, which had thawed after the Greek Civil War, but now in an ironic twist, FYROM threatened itself with dissolution. There are four political factors in FYROM's nationalism that could prove deadly to its own survival and could mean real trouble for the southern Balkans and perhaps, even the Aegean Sea.

FYROM's Greater Macedonia nationalists have rejected any compromise with Greece on a first name qualifier before the Macedonian name (such as Slav or Vardar Macedonia), along with the Greek offer of economic and political support. With the walls of its house falling down, FYROM's nationalists are prepared to face self-annihilation. But they are gambling on Western support, as long as they achieve a monopoly of the Macedonian name and do not compromise their nationalism for a Greater Macedonia or their version of the 4,000-year Macedonian record.

Externally, "the recovery of lost lands" is the kind of nationalism that causes wars and would certainly entangle FYROM with any hostile power or regional Balkan alliance against Greece. Because FYROM considers Greece's Macedonian region as occupied ancestral land, its growing natural alliance with Turkey has mutual interests and advantages: FYROM could destabilize Greece and "liberate its lost Macedonian territory," and Turkey could "recover islands in the Aegean," which Turkish nationalists maintain were lost to Greece. Thus, it is possible that a Greco-Turkish confrontation in FYROM or elsewhere in the Balkans could spark a Greco-Turkish conflict in the Aegean Sea.

Internally, FYROM's nationalists have no flexibility on minority rights under their repressive civil rights policy, which radicalized its Albanian, Serbian, and Bulgarian minorities. For a small, landlocked country, this nationalist policy amounts to national suicide--with ethnic Albanian, Serbian, and Bulgarian minorities breaking away to link their regions with their adjacent national countries. FYROM could then become a battleground between its neighboring states for control of this strategic region between the Albanian coast on the Adriatic and the Bulgarian coast on the Black Sea. Externally and internally, FYROM's self-destructive nationalism not only endangers its own survival, but threatens to turn the southern Balkans into another Bosnia.

THE MACEDONIAN PROBLEM IN CLEAR PERSPECTIVE
In the background of fourteen centuries of Greco-Slav hostility over control of the Macedonian region, the Greek reaction to protect its own Macedonian civilization and geographic area was predictable. But the West never understood it as part of an ancient conflict between Greeks and those Slavs who created their own version of Macedonian consciousness and whose nationalism sought to displace Greece's Macedonian Hellenism. We have a clear picture of the Macedonian problem when we recognize this long, bitter contest of Greek against Slav over the Macedonian name, its region, and its history. What is lacking is a clear Western perception of Tito's legacy and the political fundamentals on which FYROM was established.
Unlike Australia's two-ethnic Macedonian policy, Western identification of FYROM as the only Macedonia has created a bitterness in Greece against the West that has cost it vital Greek cooperation and support. FYROM's main trade runs through Greece, which the West should have used as the main logistical artery to sustain FYROM. Since FYROM's declared independence, the main U.S. priority should have been to gain Greek support, which the Greeks were willing to give. But the United States and the West never understood the Greek sense of humiliation and betrayal that was caused by the West's attempted sell-out of Greece's Macedonian history and culture to FYROM. It was this silent Western denial of a Greek Macedonian civilization and the West's policy of using the Macedonian name to officially recognize FYROM as a single Macedonia that shocked the Greeks.

The outcry from Greece was "We've had enough!" To the Greeks, it was a revival of the age-old Macedonian conflict with the Slavs, now fought diplomatically in the Western and UN corridors of power instead of on the battlefield. The Slav-Macedonians, having failed since the sixth century to conquer the ancient geographic Macedonian region by force, now sought to claim it through Western and UN recognition as the only Macedonia. For Greece, a single Macedonian representation in the UN amounted to a de facto recognition of FYROM's revised version of the Macedonian record and the greater Macedonian claims taught in its schools as official history--in effect, disenfranchising Greece of its entire Macedonian history and civilization.
Thus, the Greek embargo against FYROM would never have occurred if the Western governments had made a legal, political, and diplomatic differentiation between Greece's Macedonian history and culture and that of FYROM. By ignoring the depth of the Greek outrage over the potential extinction of Greece's Macedonian history begun under Tito, the United States and the West created the worst of both ends it was trying to avoid: an embittered Greece and an unstable FYROM.

THE PRESENT AND THE FUTURE
Recent negotiations between Greece and FYROM have resulted in lifting the Greek embargo against FYROM, while FYROM has eliminated certain expansive clauses from its constitution. But the heart of the Macedonian problem is the name.
In light of the Tito disinformation legacy of the Macedonian record and the bitter Greek reaction that has created an anti-American climate in Greece, Washington's policy makers need to make an objective and realistic reevaluation of the Macedonian record, especially the complex history, politics, and meaning behind the Macedonian name.

It was a mistake to ignore the Greek humiliation over the discrediting of its 4,000-year Macedonian history and culture, especially when the United States and the West had so much to benefit from Greek cooperation in the southern Balkans. Consequently, applying a single Macedonian identity and name to FYROM, which occupies only 38 percent of the ancient Macedonian territory, with no historic or ancestral relationship to the ancient Hellenic Macedonians, was not only historically inaccurate and politically inequitable, but proved counterproductive, considering the outraged Greek reaction that provoked the Greek embargo against FYROM. As a result, the United States and the West need to recognize that the people who presently call themselves Macedonians are not a single Macedonian entity (nor do they have any connection to Alexander the Great or his Hellenistic legacy) but in reality represent the Slav-Macedonians of the old southern Serbian region, which Tito created as a Yugoslavian Republic in 1944.

It is also critical to understand that the current Greco-FYROM dispute over the Macedonian name is a diplomatic continuation of the Greco-Slav conflict over Macedonia's history and region that has been contested for fourteen centuries. The West should define the three basic elements of what Macedonia really is--history, culture, and an ancient geographic region--and formulate a two-ethnic Macedonia policy, based on two Macedonian identities (along the Australian lines), Greek and Slav/Vardar Macedonia. This differentiation has the correct ethnic and geographic identifiers before the name Macedonia for FYROM and would preclude a single ownership of the Macedonian name, which was the main Greek objection.
If the present Greco-FYROM stalemate continues, then Greece might legally redefine its name as Greece-Macedonia in the UN (reflecting a Greek-Macedonian nationality instead of the current Greek nationality), while FYROM would still negotiate a first name qualifier before the name Macedonia. The common denominator in both cases--U.S. policy and UN recognition--is that they would be applying a two-Macedonia policy between Greece and FYROM, whose histories and cultures would be defined and protected by international law.

The basic error in U.S. policy on the southern Balkans is that it alienated the one ally, which geopolitically is the key to FYROM's survival and the region's stability. The United States and the West should have worked with Greece from the beginning as an active partner in promoting the stability of the southern Balkans.
However, to promote a FYROM-Turkish axis on the Greek northern border is to inflame an existing "flash-point" for conflict in the southern Balkans and the Aegean, between Greece and Turkey. On the other hand, the geopolitical option of working with Greece is still there and should be used to develop a Greco-FYROM Balkan defense relationship. Once the United States and the West, under UN auspices, recognize Greece's Macedonian civilization, the Greeks, who have a vital interest in maintaining a stable southern Balkan region, will make it their business to preserve FYROM as a buffer state on their northern border. Presently, this is the most equitable and viable policy objective the United States and the West can pursue in the southern Balkans.
~~~~~~~~
By CHRIS C. PARKAS

Chris C. Parkas is foreign area officer for Greece/Macedonia, the Aegean, and Cyprus in the U.S. Army Retired Reserve.

Macedonian names and makeDonski pseudo-linguistics: The case of the name Sopolis

Miltiades Elia Bolaris

Το παρόν άρθρο πρωτοεμφανίστηκε στο Αμερικανικό διαδικτυακό περιοδικό Αμέρικαν Κρόνικλ, στις 5 Ιανουαρίου του 2010.

http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/view/134835

Balkan Illusion - phantasia archaica:

"...it 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). "Sopol(is). This ancient Macedonian name is mentioned by the Greek historian Arrian as the name of a Macedonian officer in the army of Alexander the Great. It obviously contains the root "sopol" (a strong spring) from the so called "Old Slavic language"[sic]. The name Sopol is present in todays' Macedonian onomasticon." Quote taken from: "Similarities between ancient Macedonian and today's' Macedonian Culture (Linguistics and Onomastics)" quote by Aleksandar Donski, celebrity historian and propagandist of pseudo-Makedonism in FYROM.

Sopolis / Σώπολις

An original and very informative book was published by Blackwell Publications in 2005: "Who's Who in the Age of Alexander the Great"; edited by Waldemar Heckel. This book includes more than eight hundred brief biographies of persons from the age of Alexander the Great; names of Alexander´s commanders and soldiers as well as other Greek or Asian personages, found in the literary or epigraphic record. It is widely viewed as the only complete collection of its kind printed in the English language. It is in this book that we find a biography on a Macedonian commander named Sopolis.

Sopolis Hermodorou/Σώπολις Ερμοδώρου (= son of Hermodoros) appears as one of the ilarchs (Ἰλαρχος-cavalry squadron leader) of Alexander's companion cavalry the Hetairoi/Εταίροι.

We first hear of him in the Balkan campaign of Alexander, against the Triballians, leading the ile (cavalry squadron) of Amphipolis, along with Heracleides son of Antiochos, in 335 BC.

Ἡρακλείδην δὲ καὶ Σώπολιν τοὺς ἐκ Βοττιαίας τε καὶ Ἀμφιπόλεως ἱππέας κατὰ τὸ εὐώνυμον κέρας ἐπάγειν ἔταξε. ΄Αρριανοῡ ΄Αλεξάνδρου ΄Ανάβασις, Βιβλίον A',2

Heracleides and Sopolis, who were leading the cavalrymen from Bottiaea and Amphipolis, he ordered them to take up position at the left flank.

Arrian, Alexander Anabasis, Book I,2

We next hear him at his most glorious moment, leading once again the cavalry squadron of the city of Amphipolis against the Persians, at the decisive battle of Gaugamela, in 331 BC.

Ἀλεξάνδρῳ δὲ ἡ στρατιὰ ἐκοσμήθη ὧδε. τὸ μὲν δεξιὸν αὐτῷ εἶχον τῶν ἱππέων οἱ ἑταῖροι, ὧν προετέτακτο ἡ ἴλη ἡ βασιλική, ἧς Κλεῖτος ὁ Δρωπίδου ἰλάρχης ἦν, ἐπὶ δὲ ταύτῃ ἡ Γλαυκίου ἴλη, ἐχομένη δ' αὐτῆς ἡ Ἀρίστωνος, ἐπὶ δὲ ἡ Σωπόλιδος τοῦ Ἑρμοδώρου, ἐπὶ δὲ ἡ Ἡρακλείδου τοῦ Ἀντιόχου, ἐπὶ ταύτῃ δὲ ἡ Δημητρίου τοῦ Ἀλθαιμένους, ταύτης δὲ ἐχομένη ἡ Μελεάγρου, τελευταία δὲ τῶν βασιλικῶν ἰλῶν ἧς Ἡγέλοχος ὁ Ἱπποστράτου ἰλάρχης ἦν. ξυμπάσης δὲ τῆς ἵππου τῶν ἑταίρων Φιλώτας ἦρχεν ὁ Παρμενίωνος.
΄Αρριανοῡ ΄Αλεξάνδρου ΄Ανάβασις Βιβλίον Γ',11

Alexander's army was marshaled as follows: The right wing was held by the cavalry Companions, in front of whom had been posted the royal squadron, commanded by Kleitos, son of Dropidas. Near this was the squadron of Glaucias, next to it that of Ariston, then that of Sopolis, son of Hermodoros, then that of Heraclides, son of Antiochos. Near this was that of Demetrios, son of Althaemenes, then that of Meleagros, and last one of the royal squadrons commanded by Hegelochos, son of Hippostratos. And Philotas led the whole of the companion cavalry, the son of Parmenion.
Arrian, Alexander Anabasis, Book III,11

It is obvious from the text that Sopolis was a high standing member of the Macedonian aristocracy and his son Hermolaos was one of Alexander's Royal Pages (Βασιλικοί Παίδες/Basilikoi Paides). Hermolaos later became involved in the "pages conspiracy" and was executed for it.

Sopolis, the Macedonian aristocrat and cavalry leader was not the only man with that name that left his mark in history. Several other men by this name have come down to us. One of them is mentioned by Isocrates/Ισοκράτης, the celebrated Athenian speech writer of antiquity. Isocrates is the man who wrote the Panegyric speech and the letters addressed to Philip II and to Alexander the Great of Macedonia, urging each of them to unite all other Greeks under their leadership and lead them on an expedition against the Persian empire.

In Isocrates' Aeginiticos/Αίγινητικός, probably the best of his forensic speeches, we hear of a man born of an Athenian father and a mother from the island of Seriphos, in the Cyclades.

9] μετὰ δὲ ταῦτ' ἔγημεν ἐκ Σερίφου παρ' ἀνθρώπων πολὺ πλείονος ἀξίων ἢ κατὰ τὴν αὑτῶν πόλιν, ἐξ ἧς ἐγένετο Σώπολις καὶ Θρασύλοχος καὶ θυγάτηρ ἡ νῦν ἐμοὶ συνοικοῦσα.

Iσοκράτους Αιγινητικός,

9] After this, he married a woman of Seriphos, belonging to a family of greater consequence than might be expected of a native of their island. Of this marriage were born Sopolis, Thrasylochos, and a daughter, who is my wife.

Isocrates, Aeginiticus, translation by George Norlin

The name Sopolis also appears in art, namely in theater. In the second century AD, Lucian(os) of Samosata (Λουκιανός o Σαμοσατεύς) writes his comedy Lexiphanes, where one of main characters appears to be a man named Sopolis:

ΣΩΠΟΛΙΣ Τί δὲ νοσεῖ, ὦ Λυκῖνε, Λεξιφάνης;

SOPOLIS Lycinos, what is the matter with Lexiphanes?

ΛΥΚΙΝΟΣ Αὐτὰ ταῦτα, ὦ Σώπολι. οὐκ ἀκούεις οἷα φθέγγεται; καὶ ἡμᾶς τοὺς νῦν προσομιλοῦντας καταλιπὼν πρὸ χιλίων ἐτῶν ἡμῖν διαλέγεται διαστρέφων τὴν γλῶτταν καὶ ταυτὶ τὰ ἀλλόκοτα συντιθεὶς καὶ σπουδὴν ποιούμενος ἐπ᾽ αὐτοῖς, ὡς δή τι μέγα ὄν, εἴ τι ξενίζοι καὶ τὸ καθεστηκὸς νόμισμα τῆς φωνῆς παρακόπτοι.

ΛΥΚΙΝΟΣ

Αὐτὰ ταῦτα, ὦ Σώπολι. οὐκ ἀκούεις οἷα φθέγγεται; καὶ ἡμᾶς τοὺς νῦν προσομιλοῦντας καταλιπὼν πρὸ χιλίων ἐτῶν ἡμῖν διαλέγεται διαστρέφων τὴν γλῶτταν καὶ ταυτὶ τὰ ἀλλόκοτα συντιθεὶς καὶ σπουδὴν ποιούμενος ἐπ᾽ αὐτοῖς, ὡς δή τι μέγα ὄν, εἴ τι ξενίζοι καὶ τὸ καθεστηκὸς νόμισμα τῆς φωνῆς παρακόπτοι.

LYCINOS

This indeed is the matter, Sopolis, don't you hear what he says? He leaves us his contemporaries, and goes a thousand years off to talk to us, which he does by twisting his tongue and exercising in fact extraordinary ways—taking pride on this in fact, as if it were a great thing to disguise as a stranger yourself, and mutilate the currency of conversation.

Lexiphanes by Lucianus 2nd c AD / Λουκιανού Λεξιφάνης, Β' αιων μΧ.

The Greek epigraphic record is full of mentions of men with this name. We chose a few from very different places. The first is from Athens and it is a list of names of athletes and their respective sport that they won first place:

Regions : Attica (IG I-III) : Attica
IG II² 2313
Att. — Athens: Akr. — 194/3
lines 26-31, only, where Sopolis appears]

Ἀλ]κ[α]ῖος Λευκίππου Ἀλικαρνασ[σεύς]
πάλην
— — —ς Ἡγησιάνακτος Κολοφώνιος
πυγμήν
Ἀρισ]ταῖος Σωπόλιδος Ζμυρναῖος
παγκράτιον

Alcaeos son of Leukipos an Alicarnaseus
Wrestling
— — —s son of Hegesianax a Colophontian
Boxing
Aristaios son of Sopolis a Smyrnaian.
Pangration wrestling

From the city of Eretria, on the island of Euboea, is the following inscription:

IG XII,9 249
Euboia (IG XII,9) : Eretria

Λάκ[εθ]ε[ν]· Σώπολις Φιλίππου.
Φίλιππος Σωπόλιδος. . . .
ἐκ Κωμαιῶν·
Σώπολις Σωκρίτο(υ).
Ταμύνηθεν·

from Lakei
Sopolis son of Philippos
Philippos son of Sopolis
from Komai
Sopolis son of Socritos
From the Tamyne

From Thessaly:
SEG 16:375
Thessaly (IG IX,2) : Malis

Σώπολις Εὐκ-
ρατίδα.

Sopolis son of Euk-

ratidas

From the city of Didyma, with its celebrated temple of Apollon, close to Ephesos, in what is now Turkey, comes a dedicative plaque to a man, named Sopolis that helped built the temple:

The Temple of Apollon at Didyma, now part of Turkey

Didyma 179
Ionia

Σώπολις Ἀντιγόνου τοῦ Εὐκράτου
προνοήσας τῆς οἰκοδομίας τοῦ ναοῦ

Sopolis son of Antigonos from the town of Eucratis
who oversaw the building of the temple

South of Ephesos and Didina, but still in ionia, in the city of Miletos we encounter a long list of Greek names, of the eponymous crown-carriers (stephanephoroi) at the temple of Apollo during the second part of the first cBC:

Regions : Asia Minor : Ionia, Miletos 108
List of eponymous stephanephoroi from 53/2 to 18/7 BC; cut
annually: *Milet I 3, 126 (PH). Ion. — Ephesos(?) — Kat.23 — Milet I 3, 126

Πραξίας Πραξίου
Ἀριστέας Λυσιμάχου
Σώπολις Λυσιμάχου,
Διονύσιος Ἑκαταίου
Λυσίμαχος Λυσιμάχου
Σώπολις Ἀντιγόνου
Ἡγήμανδρος Ἡγημάνδρου

Praxias son of Praxias
Aristeas son of Lysimachos
Sopolis son of Lysimachos ,
Dionysios son o Hecataios
Lysimachos son of Lysimachos
Sopolis son of Antogonos
Hegemandros son of Hegemandros

Further north, by the Crimean peninsula (Chersonesos), close to Kherson of modern Ukraine, a man named Sopolis appears on an inscription as the husband of a woman named Arkeso:

Ruins of the Greek city of Chersonesos-Kherson in the Crimea, in Ukraine

Regions : North Shore of the Black Sea\  NEPKh II 125
N. Black Sea — Chersonesos — 3rd c. BC

Ἀρκ̣ε̣σ̣ὼ̣ Ιπ․․․․λ̣[ι]ος
Σω̣π̣[ό]λιος̣ γυ̣ν̣ὰ
ἱ̣ε̣ρ̣ᾶ̣[ι] Σ̣ω̣τ̣[ε]ί̣[ρ]α̣ι̣.

Arkeso daughter of Hip….lis
wife of Sopolis
to the holy Savior

Ιn the Sicilian city of Segesta/Σεγέστα, close to Palermo, the ancient Panormos/Πάνορμος, we locate a funerary plaque dedicated by a son to his mother:

Sicily, Sardinia, and neighboring Islands
Regions : Sicily, Italy, and the West (IG XIV) : Sicily, IGLPalermo 47
Sikelia — Segesta — 2nd c. BC — IG XIV 288ii

Σώπολις Φαλάκ[ρου τ]ὰν αὐτοῦτα ματέρα
— — — —]αν Φαλ[ακρ]ίαν εὐνοίας ἕνεκα.

Sopolis son of Phalacros to his own mother
— — — —]an Phalacrian for the sake of benevolence/good will.

Another Sicilian man appears on an inscription found Delphi, in Central Greece:

FD III 4:127[2]
Delphi

Σώπολις Νουμηνίου Συ[ρακόσιος]· ...
Sopolis son of Noumenios a Syracusan;...

Southeast of Sicily, in the Greek city of Cyrenaica/Κυρηναϊκή in Libya, yet another Sopolis appears in the epigraphic record:

Regions : Egypt, Nubia and Cyrenaïca : Cyrenaïca
SEG 20:735
Cyrenaica — Cyrene — end 4th bc

Σῶσις — — — — —

Sosis

Πολιάνθης — — — — —

Polyanthes

Χάρων — — — — —

Charon

Σώσιππος — — — — —

Sosippos

Φιλόξενος 

Philoxenos

Πράταρχος Ἰάσονος 

Pratarchos son of Jason

Σώστρατος Πρατάρχω 

Sostratos son of Pratarchos

Ἀριστοτέλης Π̣ρ̣α̣ξιτίμω
Aristoteles son of Praxitimos

Σώπατρος Ἀριστοτέλε[υς
Sopatros son of Aristoteleus

Ἀσκλαπιόδοτος Ἁλιοδώρω 

Asclapiodotos son of Aliadoros

Σώπολις Καρταγόρα
Sopolis son of Kartagoras

Incidentally, Cyrenaica in Libya was also the home city of one of the most illustrious poets and literary critics of Hellenistic antiquity, Callimachos of Cyrene / Καλλίμαχος ὁ Κυρηναίος (310 BC/305 BC-240 BC). He was a prominent scholar at the Great library of Alexandria, in Egypt, under the Greek Pharaohs Ptolemaios II, Philadelphos and Ptolemaios III Euergetes. Although he never became the chief Librarian (his student Apollonios of Rhodos / Ἀπολλώνιος Ῥόδιος did, to Callimachos´ great distress), he is credited with compiling the first catalogue, called the Pinakes/Πίνακες, the Tables of all the manuscript volumes in the library of Alexandria. One of Callimachos´ famous epigrammatic poems is an epitaph, a funerary poem, for a youth that drowned in the Sea. A cenotaph, an empty tomb, was erected in his memory:

Ωφελε μηδ´ ´εγένοντο θοαί νέες ού γάρ άν ημείς
παίδα Διοκλείδου Σώπολιν εστένομεν
Νύν δ´ο μέν είν αλί που φέρεται νέκυς αντί δ´εκείνου
ούνομα και κενεόν σάμα παρερχόμεθα
Σώπολις, Καλλίμαχος

Would that swift ships had never been,
for we should not have bewailed Sopolis son of Diocleides;
but now somewhere in the sea he drifts dead,
and instead of him we pass by a name on an empty tomb.
Sopolis (An empty tomb), by Callimachus

Sopolis is not a unique Greek name, it is rather typical. As a matter of fact, numerous names of similar phonetics and etymology can be found throughout the Greek world. On a recent trip to Monastiri/Bitola, in FYROM, I bought a book Eпнграфски сведоштва за жителите на Cтибера/Epigrafski svedoshtva za zhitelite na Stybera, by the local archeologist Весна Калпаковска/Vesna Kalpakovska, on ancient epigraphy from the ancient Paionian / Macedonian city of Stybera/Στύβερα.

Ancient Greek statues from Stybera used as crude pseudo-makedonist

propaganda props in front of Nikola Gruevski's offices in Skopje

Stybera was originally a Paeonian city, whose population, after their inclusion by Philip II into the Macedonian state, was eventually absorbed becoming completely Hellenized. Its ruins lie in the plains midway between the modern cities of Prilep/ Περλεπἐς/Прилеп and Monastiri/Μοναστήρι-Bitola/Битола, the ancient Heracleia/Ηράκλεια. Both Prilep and Bitola, as well as Stybera, lie now within the borders of former Yugoslavia and FYROM. The area in ancient times was called Pelagonia/Πελαγονία, meaning the "great prairies", a name derived from the word pelages/πέλαγος, signifying "a wide flat area" - in land or sea (see: archipelago). The Modern Slavic inhabitants of FYROM have in fact kept the ancient Greek name for the area, slightly altered to accommodate south-Slavic phonetics: Pelagonija/Пелагонија (same case as with the Hellenic name Macedonia/Μακεδονία which in south Slavic dialects is pronounced Makedonija/Македонија). Stybera/Στύβερα is incidentally the archaeological site from which the Gruevski regime took the ancient Greek statues that it so carelessly and in a very third world parochial way is now exhibiting (exposed to the elements and pollution) in front of the Presidential building in Skopje, in a shameless attempt to make a connection with ancient Macedonia.

Searching for names similar to Sopolis, names that start with So- (Greek: Σω-), in the epigraphic record of Stybera, we soon discover some exciting finds. A funerary dedication on a marble plaque of a certain Ailianos Pantauchos who lived and died in the 3rd c AD we find the female name Sosipatra/Σωσιπάτρα (in masculine form: Sosipatros/Σωσίπατρος):

Αιλιανόν Πάνταυχον
Αιλιανή Σωσιπάτρα
η αδελφή καί οι αδελφίδεις
Μενεκράτης καί Μαξι
μα...

To Ailianos son of Pantauchos
Ailiane Sosipatra
by (his) sister and nephews
Menekrates and Maxi
ma...

Again in Stybera on a marble stele of 41-48 AD we read a long list of names of the city's ephebe (teenage boys) who were exercising in the Gymnasion under the Ephebarch ("leader of the teenagers", an official trainer, appointed by the city council) Epigenos son of Aperos, at the time when Treasurer (Tamias) was Paramonos son of Philippos and member of the council were Apollodoros son of Diocles, etc etc:

ετους,,,,
αλειφουσης της πολεως
εγλαβοντος.............
αλειψαι
κυαθω ηλιψεν δρακτω απο
ωρας τεταρτης αχρι ωρας
δεκατης πωλουμενου
τριων ανεγραψε τους εφεβους
εφεβαρχουντος Επιγενου του Απερος
ταμιευοντος Παραμονου του Φιλιπου
πρωτοσταται Απολλοδω
ρος Διοκλεως Ρουφος Απολ
λλοδωρου Παραμονος Με
νελαου...

and we go down the list of the names until we find the name:

Σωσιστρατος Φιλωνος
Sosistratos Philonos (Sosistratos son of Philon).

On a list of a few years later, from 74-75 AD we find a possible descendant of Sosistratos, most probably his son, named Φιλων Σωσιστρατου / Philon Sosistratou / Philon son of Sosistratos among other names such as Νεικαρχος Φιλωτα / Neikarchos son of Philotas, Απολλωνιος Ευβουλιδου / Apollonios son of Euboulides, Επιγενης Παρμενιωνος / Epigenes son of Parmenion and Ευτυχος Κλεαρχου / Eutychos son of Klearchos, etc etc.

Then on a similar list of the city's ephebe from 74-75 AD, among such poetic Greek names as Αντιγονος Ολυμπιαδου (Antigonos son of Olympiades) and Υμνος Ερωτος / Hymnos son of Eros (a very poetic name, incidentally, whose name in Greek can also be read as: "Hymn to Eros") we find also a certain Παραμονος Σωσιστρατου / Paramonos Sosistratou (Paramonos son of Sosistratos).

In Stybera, among the more than 300 or so names that the epigraphists have been able to discover, we encounter several other Greek names that start with So- / Σω-. Besides the ones mentioned above, we also find: Aιλιανή Σωσιπάτρα / Ailiane Sosipatra (daughter of Sosipatras) and Διονύσιος Σωπάτρου / Dionysios Sopatrou (son of Sosipatros).

Let us isolate for a moment these two names, along with Sosistratos which we encountered above and look at them closer. The similarities between Sopolis, Sopatras, Sosipatros and Sosistratos are obvious and striking: So-polis, So-patras Sosi-patros, Sosi-stratos. To demonstrate this case even further , I would like to mention the name of the :

"International Institute of Ancient Hellenic History" / 

"Διεθνές Ινστιτούτο Αρχαίας Ελληνικής Ιστορίας", also known as: 

"Σωσίπολις / Sosipolis"

Here is how and why the Institute chose its name:

"The International Institute of Hellenic History names "Sosipolis" from "Sosipolin".Sosipolis: According to Pausanias, Sosipolis was worshipped as a local demon in Elis. Tradition holds that during a raid on Elis by the Acardians the attackers were frightened off by the naked infant that the Elians placed at the front of their forces. When the Arcadians attempted to approach the child it turned into dragon. Disturbed by this sight, the Arcadians ran away, leaving the Elians as the victors, who thus named the god Sosipolis. They established a sanctuary at the point where the dragon entered the earth after the battle, and worshipped him alongside Eileithuia (a goddess who assisted in childbirth) as they believed that it was she who brought this child to the people.
The International Institute of Ancient Hellenic History “Sosipolis” is a legal private entity and a non-profit organisation based in the prefecture of Ilia."
http://www.sosipolis.gr/site/content.php?sel=173

Polis/Πόλις in Greek means city and patros/πατρός means "of the father" - father, in the genitive form. Nominative:pater/πατήρ – genitive:patros/πατρός, as it appears in Anti-patros/Ἄντίπατρος (better known in English as: Antipater). Antipatros/ Ἄντίπατρος, a famous Macedonian name, was the name of of Alexander the Great´s viceroy). Stratos/Στρατός means army. The word Strategos/Στρατηγός means the leader of the army, and hence the word strategy, the art of leading an army to victory.

To be more precise, we open a dictionary of the Greek language and we find the nown Sos / Σώς (which in various ancient Greek dialects also appears as Soos / Σώος and Saos / Σάος) which means: safe, sound, someone that keeps far and away from danger. 

Polis/πόλις, as we said earlier means city. I hardly need to explain this word. It has entered many other languages. The American cities Indianapolis and Minneapolis, the Brazilian cities Florianopolis and Petrópolis, Istambul (paraphrase of Constantinoupolis/Κωνσταντινούπολις) and Gelibolu (paraphrase of KallipolisΚαλλίπολις) in Turkey, Lazaropolis/ЛАЗАРОПОЛЕ/Λαζαρόπολη in FYROM, Plovdiv/Пловдив (a paraphrase of Philipoupolis/Φιλιππούπολις), Actopol/Акторол (Actopolis/Ακτόπολις) in Bulgaria, Tarabulus/Tripolis/Τρίπολις in Lebanon, Libya and also in Greece, Napoli of Italy (Neapolis/Νεάπολις) and also again in Greece, Simferopol/Сімферополь/Симферополь (Symferoupolis/Συμφερούπολις) in Ucraine and also Alexandroupolis/Αλεξανδρούπολις in Greece, all have one thing in common: they are all cities containing this word in the end: Polis, meaning city. On top of that, we also keep in mind how Greeks name the fort on the upper part of a city of any city, but most famously the one in Athens: Acropolis/Ακρόπολις (acron + polis) meaning "the citadel".

Sopolis/Σώπολις now makes perfect sense: it is "He who saves (protects) the city": Sopolis=Savior-of-the-city!

Likewise, Sopatros, Sopatras and the variant Sosipatros all mean savior/protector of his father. Sosistratos / Σωσίστρατος (Sos + stratos = army) means savior of the army.

In Stybera we encounter yet more similar sounding Greek names :

We find a certain Lysis Sosistratou / Λύσις Σωσιτράτου / Lysis son of Sosistratos : Lysis is the first name and and it appears in nominative form while the patronym Sosistratos appears in genitive: Sosistratou (the patronym in Greek always appears in the genitive form : i.e. Alexandros Philippou (son of Philippos). In Greek onomastics the patronym played the role of today's last name.

Still in Stybera, in Vesna Kalpakovska´s informative book we find still more marble inscriptions with names such as: Παράμoνος Σωσιστράτου / Paramonos Sosistratou / paramonos son of Sosistratos, Σωσιας Ευβουλίδου / Sosias Euboulidou, Sosias son of Euboulides, Σωσιας Λυσία / Sosias Lysia, Σωσίας Διοσκουρίδου / Sosias Dioskouridou / Φίλων Σωσιτράτου / Philon Sosistratou.

We open Ioannes Stamatakos' monumental Lexicon of the Ancient Greek Language (Lexicon tes Archaeas Hellenikes Glosses, Athens, 1971) and a river of names runs out of it that comes to join Sopolis / Σώπολις:

Sozon / Σώζων=the one who saves.

Sosias / Σωσίας=the one who has been saved.

Sosas / Σώσας=he who has saved someone.

Sobios / Σώβιος=the savior of life (Sos=savior + bios=life).

This name also appears as: Sosibios / Σωσίβιος.

(Sosibio / Σωσίβιο (sos+bios=life) is incidentally the word used in modern Greek for "life jacket", the life-saving floating devise found on boats).

Sogenes / Σωγένης=the savior of the family-tribe (Sos+genos=tribe/family).

This name also appears as Sosigenes / Σωσιγένης

Sodemos / Σώδημος=the savior of the people (Sos+demos=people).

This name also appears as Sosidamos / Σωσίδαμος and Sosidemos / Σωσἰδημος.

Sophilos / Σώφιλος = the one who saves his friends

Sophron / Σώφρων=the one who has safe mind (prudent) (Sos+Phren=mind).
This name also appears as: Σωφρώνιος.

Sotimos / Σώτιμος=savior/protector of the honor (Sos+time´/τιμή=honor).

Sotheos / Σώθεος=savior/protector of the Gods (Sos+Theos/Θεός=God) or, more loosely, of the religion.

Sosandros / Σώσανδρος=savior or men (Sos+aner/ανήρ [genitive: Andros/ανδρός]=man).

Soterios / Σωτήριος=of the Savior.

Socrates, from a Roman fresco

Socrates / Σωκράτης = the one who saves (holds, controls) his strength (Sos+kratos=strength).

This of course is also the name of the Athenian philosopher, Socrates, the teacher of Plato, who put the foundations of Western Philosophy.

Somachos / Σώμαχος=the one who saves/protects in battle (Sos+mache/μάχη=battle).

Sooikos / Σώοικος=savior/protector of the home (Sos+oikos=home).
This name appears also as Sooekides / Σωοικίδης.

Sopatros / Σώπατρος=savior of his father (Sos+patros/πατρός=father).

Sostratos / Σώστρατος=savior of the army (Sos+stratus/στρατός=army).

Soter / Σωτήρ=Savior (a prosonym of Ptolemaios I – Soter Πτολεμαίος Α' – Σωτήρ (The savior), given to him by the Rodians for saving them through his assistance during the siege by Demetrios Poliorketes. The same prosonym was also given to the King of Seleucid Syria Antiochos I, Soter (The savior) /Αντίοχος Α΄ Σωτήρ (324 -261 BC) for his defeat of the Gauls in 275, by the appreciative Ionians.

Soter / Σωτήρ=Savior is now as a prosonym for Christ – The Savior, in Italian: Salvatore, in Spanish: Salvador). The early Christians used the fish as a symbol of their faith, along with the cross. This is because in Greek fish is called Ichthys and it is spelled as: ΙΧΘΥΣ. It was used as an acronym for Ιησούς Χριστός Θεού Υιός Σωτήρ -Iesous Christos Theou Yios Soter, meaning: Jesus Christ God´s Son Savior: Soter / Σωτήρ=Savior.

Sopolis/Σώπολις as the literary and epigraphic record indicates is not a name found exclusively in Macedonia. It is a typical Greek name used throughout the Hellenic speaking word, from Athens to Macedonia to the southern Aegean and from Asia Minor and Syria to Southern Italy. The Greek name Sopolis has obviously no connection whatsoever with the Slavic root "sopol" (a strong spring), as professor Donski claims. If he insists, we will have to ask him to find a Slavonic meaning for all the other "So-"/Σω and "-polis"/πολις derived Greek names, starting with Socrates/Σωκράτης, and Amphipolis/Αμφίπολις and continuing with all the names we found at Stybera. 

If he had looked into it a bit further, he would have found that the Bulgarian (and Slavomacedonski) word "sopol/сопол" he is thinking about, is derived from the Old Church Slavonic vъ-slěpljǫ, which is also related to Slavonic*solpъ and Slovenian slâp meaning "waterfall, surge"; Also to Slavic *selpjǫ, *sьlpati `spring' in ds., Infin. and to Church Slavonic slьpati. The original root/lemma, according to Julius Pokorny´s Indo-European Dictionary is: sel-4, which means "to spring". The Slavonic vъ-slěpljǫ is distantly related to the Latin word saltus "sprung", and curiously also to salax "horny, lustful", to the Lithuanian word sálti "flow" and to the Greek ἅλλομαι "spring" from (*seli̯ō), ep. Aor. ἆλτο, Verbaln. and ἅλμα "Sprung", the jump.

http://dnghu.org/indoeuropean.html

It is obvious that professor Donski has the wrong "sopol/сопол" in mind.

The Greek name Sopolis/Σώπολις on the other hand is derived from a completely different root. We look at Pokorny again as our source. The original meaning is derived from the Indo-European root / lemma: tēu-, tǝu-, teu̯ǝ-, tu̯ō-, tū̆- ,, meaning "to swell" but later acquiring the connotation of "being strong". Material, according to Julius Pokorny´s Indogermanisches Etymologisches Woerterbuch is as follows:

Greek σάος (kypr. ΣαFοκλέFης), Kompar. σαώτερος, contracted ion. att. σῶς, σῶος `heil, unversehrt; certainly' (from *tu̯ǝ-u̯o-s); compare M. Leumann Gedenkschrift Kretschmer II 8 f.; in addition hom. σα(F)όω, hom. att. σώζω (*σωΐζω), Fut. σώσω `retten, receive', σωτήρ `Retter' etc; (`voll an Körper = fit, healthy'); σῶμα n. `body' (*tu̯ō-mṇ `Gedrungenes'), σωματόω `fest make, verdichten'; σώ-φρων (*σαό-φρων) `fit, healthy an Geist, vernünftig'; This, as we find in Pokorny, is in turn related to Old Indian tavīti "strong, in battle", and tavás- `strong, stalwart ', tavásā meaning "power, strength"; taviṣá- "strong", Avestani Persian tavah- n. "power, force".

From Apollonia/Sozopolis

How would someone translate Sopolis into a Slavonic Language? In one case at least they left it un-translated, as it happened with the Black Sea town of Sozopol/Созорол/Sozopolis/Σωζόπολις, the ancient Greek city of Apollonia/Απολλωνία. Apollonia during Byzantium was renamed Sozopolis/Σωζόπολις an etymological counterpart to Sopolis (Sozopolis refers to the city, "saved or protected by the Savior" while Sopolis refers to "the man who saves/protects the city"). After its incorporation into Bulgaria, following the Balkan wars, its Greek inhabitants were exchanged for Bulgarians who left Greece, during the 1920´s population exchange between Greece and Bulgaria. Sozopol/Sozopolis the Savior – city, is now a Black Sea resort, only a few kilometers south of Varna/Варна, Bulgaria´s main port city. If I were to translate Sopolis, in Slavic, Russian in particular, I would probably use the words Город /Gorod or Грaд/Grad for city and Cпас/Spas or Cпасител/Spasitel, both meaning savior. As I understand an exact monolectic expression does not exist in Russian. We can probably say: Spasitel Goroda/Сраситель Города. We actually in the same situation if we try to translate Sopolis/Σώπολις in English, since we will be forced to use at least either two or four words to convey the meaning of Sopolis: "City Savior", or "Savior Of The City". If I were to translate the expression Σωτήρ Νεαπόλεως/Soter Neapoleos, to use another example, meaning Savior of the New-city, in Russian, the words I would use would be Cпас/Spas or Cпасител/Spasitel for Savior and Но́вгород /Novgorod for New-City. Finally, Ιησούς Χριστός Σωτήρ/Iesous Christos Soter, Jesus Christ Savior translated into Bulgarian would give us: Иисус Xpистoс Cпасител/Iesous Christos Spasitel.

When I recently visited FYROM, I visited the main national Museum, which is built on the acropolis of Skopje, across from an old Turkish motel, next to the city´s medieval castle. There is also a church nearby, in Skopje´s kule, (kule=Turkish for "castle") on thus hill which is overlooking Skopje. The church is named after Sveti Spas/Cвeти Спас, the Holy Savior. In the courtyard of the Sveti Spas church is the tomb of Gotche Deltchev/Гоце Делчев (1872-1903). Gotche Deltchev is revered equally by both Bulgarians and Slavomakedonci as being the well-known Bulgarian komitatzi and revolutionary who organized against the Ottomans, and was killed in the service of Bulgaria´s irredentist interests. Someone could now easily argue that this hero/protector of Bulgarism, eternally resting on Skopje-grad/Скопје-град´s Acropolis, is FYROM´s adopted Bulgarian Sopolis, FYROM´s own Spacitel´ Goroda / Cпасител´ Городa / State-Savior.

P.M. Nikola Gruevski in front of Gotche Deltchev's tomb, with the irredentist map of "United Makedonija" hanging from above. The church of Sveti Spas/Cвeти Спас-the Saviour/Σωτήρ/Soter in the background

The only problem I see in this is that Nikola Gruevski/Никола Груевски, the corrupt, chauvinistic and dictatorial Pseudo-Makedonist prime minister of FYROM is already vying for the title!

Reference:

ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΣΩΤΗΡΟΣ: The coin at the beginning of the article is of the Greek King of Bactria (Modern Afghanistan Pakistan and Northern India) Menandros/Μένανδρος (Menander in English, Milinda in Hindu texts) (155-130 BC). The legend reads: ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΣΩΤΗΡΟΣ ΜΕΝΑΝΔΡΟΥ (BASILEOS SOTEROS MENANDROU), of KING SAVIOR MENANDROS. The Bactrian kingdom, known also as Indo-Greek Kingdom, was set up after the break-up of the empire of Alexander the Great and it was for centuries a beacon of Hellenism in South Asia. It outlasted all other Hellenistic kingdoms, and was finally conquered by the Scythians about 30BC.

Who's Who in the Age of Alexander the Great, by Heckel, Waldemar (ed). Blackwell Publishing, 2005

΄Αρριανού ΄Αλεξάνδρου ΄Ανάβασις / Alexander Anabasis by Arrian

Aeginiticos by Isocrates / Ισοκράτους Λόγοι, Δικανικοί Λόγοι, Αίγινητικός

Λουκιανού Λεξιφάνης / Lexiphanes by Lucianus

Callimachus, Hymns and Epigrams

Ulrich von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff, Ed.

Eпнграфски сведоштва за жителите на Cтибера, by Весна Калпаковска, Bitola, 2004

Λεξικόν τής Αρχαίας Ελληνικής Γλώσσης, Ιωάννης Σταματάκος,Athens, 1971

http://dnghu.org/indoeuropean.html

Indogermanisches Etymologisches Woerterbuch, by Julius Pokorny, 1959

Руско Aнлийуский Cловарь / Russian-English dictionary by V.K. Mueller and S.K. Boyanus, Moscow, 2004