ABSTRACT
At Vergina in 1977, the Greek archaeologist Manolis Andronikos, excavating the royal Macedonian graves of the fourth century bc at Vergina, found a bronze tripod dating from the mid-fth century (Fig. 8.1). is was an heirloom from the time of King Alexander I ‘Philhellene’ as he was later called; it was a prize won at the Argive games to Hera (SEG 29. 652; cp. 11. 330 = 30. 52). It recalls the earlier athletic successes of Alexander at Olympia, as described by Herodotus (5. 22). Alexander had to argue with the authorities before they would let him compete, but he convinced them that he was descended from the royal house of Argos (cp. above, p. 79). He came rst equal in the foot race. is incident raises for the rst time a question which is still being debated, and which arouses passions, two and a half thousand years later: were the Macedonians Greeks?2
