Letter to President
Barack Obama
May 18, 2009
The Honorable Barack Obama
President, United States of America
White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20500
•
On May 18th, 2009,
200 Classical Scholars from around the world, sent a letter to the President of the
United States of America, Barack Obama. [HERE]
Dear President Obama,
We, the
undersigned scholars of Graeco-Roman antiquity, respectfully request that you
intervene to clean up some of the historical debris left in southeast Europe by
the previous U.S. administration.
On November 4,
2004, two days after the re-election of President George W. Bush, his
administration unilaterally recognized the “Republic of Macedonia.” This action
not only abrogated geographic and historic fact, but it also has unleashed a
dangerous epidemic of historical revisionism, of which the most obvious symptom
is the misappropriation by the government in Skopje of the most famous of Macedonians,
Alexander the Great.
We believe that
this silliness has gone too far, and that the U.S.A. has no business in
supporting the subversion of history. Let us review facts. (The documentation
for these facts [here in boldface]
can be found attached and HERE)
The land in
question, with its modern capital at Skopje, was called Paionia in antiquity. Mts. Barnous and Orbelos (which form today the northern limits of
Greece) provide a natural barrier that separated, and separates, Macedonia from
its northern neighbor. The only real connection is along the Axios/Vardar River
and even this valley “does not form a line of communication because it is divided by gorges.”
While it is
true that the Paionians were subdued by Philip II, father of Alexander, in 358 B.C. they were not Macedonians and did not
live in Macedonia. Likewise, for example, the Egyptians, who were subdued by
Alexander, may have been ruled by Macedonians, including the famous Cleopatra,
but they were never Macedonians themselves, and Egypt was never called
Macedonia.
Rather, Macedonia and Macedonian Greeks have been
located for at least 2,500 years just where the modern
Greek province of Macedonia is. Exactly this same relationship is true for
Attica and Athenian Greeks, Argos and Argive Greeks, Corinth and Corinthian
Greeks, etc.
We do not
understand how the modern inhabitants of ancient Paionia, who speak Slavic – a
language introduced into the Balkans about a millennium after the death of
Alexander – can claim him as their national hero. Alexander the Great was thoroughly and indisputably Greek. His great-great-great grandfather, Alexander I, competed in the
Olympic Games where participation was limited to Greeks.
Even before
Alexander I, the Macedonians traced their ancestry to Argos, and many of their
kings used the head of Herakles - the quintessential Greek hero - on their coins.
Euripides – who died and was buried in
Macedonia– wrote his play Archelaos in honor of the great-uncle of
Alexander, and in Greek. While in Macedonia, Euripides also wrote the Bacchai, again in Greek. Presumably the
Macedonian audience could understand what he wrote and what they heard.
Alexander’s
father, Philip, won several equestrian victories at
Olympia and Delphi, the two most Hellenic of all the sanctuaries in
ancient Greece where non-Greeks were not allowed to compete. Even more
significantly, Philip was appointed to conduct the Pythian Games at Delphi in 346 B.C. In other words, Alexander the Great’s father and
his ancestors were thoroughly Greek. Greek was the language used by Demosthenes
and his delegation from Athens when they paid visits to Philip, also in 346 B.C.
Another northern Greek, Aristotle, went off to study for nearly 20 years in the Academy of Plato. Aristotle
subsequently returned to Macedonia and became the tutor of Alexander III. They used Greek in their classroom which can still be seen near Naoussa in Macedonia.
Alexander
carried with him throughout his conquests
Aristotle’s edition of Homer’s Iliad. [HERE] Alexander also spread Greek language and culture throughout his
empire, founding cities and establishing centers of
learning. Hence inscriptions
concerning such typical Greek institutions as the gymnasium are found as far away as Afghanistan. They are all written in Greek.
The questions
follow: Why was Greek the lingua franca
all over Alexander’s empire if he was a “Macedonian”? Why was the New
Testament, for example, written in Greek?
The answers are
clear: Alexander the Great was Greek, not Slavic, and Slavs and their language were nowhere near
Alexander or his homeland until 1000 years later. [HERE] This brings us back to the geographic area known in antiquity as
Paionia. Why would the people who live there now call themselves Macedonians
and their land Macedonia? Why would they abduct a completely Greek figure and
make him their national hero?
The ancient Paionians may or may not have been Greek, but they certainly became Greekish, and they were never Slavs. They were also not Macedonians. Ancient
Paionia was a part of the Macedonian Empire. So were Ionia and Syria and
Palestine and Egypt and Mesopotamia and Babylonia and Bactria and many more. They
may thus have become “Macedonian” temporarily, but none was ever “Macedonia”. The
theft of Philip and Alexander by a land that was never Macedonia cannot be
justified.
The traditions
of ancient Paionia could be adopted by the current residents of that
geographical area with considerable justification. But the extension of the
geographic term “Macedonia” to cover southern Yugoslavia cannot. Even in the
late 19th century, this misuse implied unhealthy territorial aspirations.
The same
motivation is to be seen in school maps that show the pseudo-greater Macedonia, stretching from Skopje to Mt.
Olympus and labeled in Slavic. The same map and its claims are in calendars,
bumper stickers, bank notes, etc., that have been circulating in the new state ever since it
declared its independence from Yugoslavia in 1991. Why would a poor land-locked
new state attempt such historical nonsense? Why would it brazenly mock and provoke its neighbor?
However one
might like to characterize such behavior, it is clearly not a force for historical accuracy, nor for stability
in the Balkans. It is sad that the United States of America has abetted and
encouraged such behavior.
We call upon
you, Mr. President, to help - in whatever ways you deem appropriate - the
government in Skopje to understand that it cannot build a national identity at
the expense of historic truth. Our common international society cannot survive
when history is ignored, much less when history is fabricated.
Sincerely,
Anagnostis P. Agelarakis, Professor of Anthropology,
Adelphi University (USA)
Ioannis M. Akamatis, Professor of Classical
Archaeology, University of Thessaloniki (Greece)
June W. Allison, Professor Emerita, Department of
Greek and Latin, The Ohio State University (USA)
Georgios Anagnostopoulos, Professor of Philosophy,
University of California-San Diego (USA)
Mariana Anagnostopoulos, Assistant Professor of
Philosophy, California State University, Fresno (USA)
Ronnie Ancona, Professor of Classics, Hunter College
and The Graduate Center, CUNY (USA)
John P. Anton, Distinguished Professor of Greek
Philosophy and Culture University of South Florida (USA)
Dr. Norman George Ashton, Senior Honorary Research
Fellow, The University of Western Australia (Australia)
Lucia Athanassaki, Associate Professor of Classical
Philology, University of Crete (Greece)
Effie F. Athanassopoulos, Associate Professor
Anthropology and Classics, University of Nebraska-Lincoln (USA)
Harry C. Avery, Professor of Classics, University of
Pittsburgh (USA)
Dr. Dirk Backendorf. Akademie der Wissenschaften und
der Literatur Mainz (Germany)
Elizabeth C. Banks, Associate Professor of Classics
(ret.), University of Kansas (USA)
Leonidas Bargeliotes, Emeritus Professor of
Philosophy, University of Athens, President of the Olympic Center for
Philosophy and Culture (Greece)
Alice Bencivenni, Ricercatore di Storia Greca,
Università di Bologna (Italy)
David L. Berkey, Assistant Professor of History,
California State University, Fresno (USA)
Luigi Beschi, professore emerito di Archeologia
Classica, Università di Firenze (Italy)
Josine H. Blok, professor of Ancient History and
Classical Civilization, Utrecht University (The Netherlands)
Alan Boegehold, Emeritus Professor of Classics, Brown
University (USA)
Efrosyni Boutsikas, Lecturer of Classical Archaeology,
University of Kent (UK)
Ewen Bowie, Emeritus Fellow, Corpus Christi College,
Oxford (UK)
Keith Bradley, Eli J. and Helen Shaheen Professor of
Classics, Concurrent Professor of History, University of Notre Dame (USA)
Kostas Buraselis, Professor of Ancient History,
University of Athens (Greece)
Stanley M. Burstein, Professor Emeritus, California
State University, Los Angeles (USA)
Francis Cairns, Professor of Classical Languages, The
Florida State University (USA)
John McK. Camp II, Agora Excavations and Professor of
Archaeology, ASCSA, Athens (Greece)
David A. Campbell, Emeritus Professor of Classics.
University of Victoria, B.C. (Canada)
Paul Cartledge, A.G. Leventis Professor of Greek
Culture, University of Cambridge (UK)
Paavo Castren, Professor of Classical Philology
Emeritus, University of Helsinki (Finland)
William Cavanagh, Professor of Aegean Prehistory,
University of Nottingham (UK)
Angelos Chaniotis, Professor, Senior Research Fellow,
All Souls College, Oxford (UK)
Paul Christesen, Professor of Ancient Greek History,
Dartmouth College (USA)
James J. Clauss, Professor of Classics, University of
Washington (USA)
Ada Cohen, Associate Professor of Art History,
Dartmouth College (USA)
Randall M. Colaizzi, Lecturer in Classical Studies,
University of Massachusetts-Boston (USA)
Kathleen M. Coleman, Professor of Latin, Harvard
University (USA)
Rev. Dr. Demetrios J Constantelos, Charles Cooper
Townsend Professor of Ancient and Byzantine history, Emeritus; Distinguished
Research Scholar in Residence at the Richard Stockton College of New Jersey
(USA)
Michael B. Cosmopoulos, Ph.D., Professor and Endowed
Chair in Greek Archaeology, University of Missouri-St. Louis (USA)
Carole L. Crumley, PhD., Professor of European
Archaeology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill (USA)
Kevin F. Daly, Assistant Professor of Classics,
Bucknell University (USA)
Joseph W. Day, Professor of Classics, Wabash College
(USA)
François de Callataÿ, Professor of Monetary and
financial history of the Greek world, Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes
(Paris/Sorbonne) and Professor of Financial history of the Greco-Roman world,
Université libre de Bruxelles (France and Brussels)
Wolfgang Decker, Professor emeritus of sport history,
Deutsche Sporthochschule, Köln (Germany)
Luc Deitz, Außerplanmäßger Professor of Mediaeval and
Renaissance Latin, University of Trier (Germany), and Curator of manuscripts
and rare books, National Library of Luxembourg (Luxembourg)
Charalambos Dendrinos, Lecturer in Byzantine
Literature and Greek Palaeography, Acting Director, The Hellenic Institute,
Royal Holloway, University of London (UK)
Michael Dewar, Professor of Classics, University of
Toronto (Canada)
John D. Dillery, Associate Professor of Classics,
University of Virginia (USA
John Dillon, Emeritus Professor of Greek, Trinity
College Dublin (Ireland)
Sheila Dillon, Associate Professor, Depts. of Art, Art
History & Visual Studies and Classical Studies, Duke University (USA)
Michael D. Dixon, Associate Professor of History,
University of Southern Indiana (USA)
Douglas Domingo-Foraste, Professor of Classics,
California State University, Long Beach (USA)
Myrto Dragona-Monachou, Professor emerita of
Philosophy, University of Athens (Greece)
Stella Drougou, Professor of Classical Archaeology,
Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (Greece)
Pierre Ducrey, professeur honoraire, Université de
Lausanne (Switzerland)
John Duffy, Professor, Department of the Classics,
Harvard University (USA)
Roger Dunkle, Professor of Classics Emeritus, Brooklyn
College, City University of New York (USA)
Michael M. Eisman, Associate Professor Ancient History
and Classical Archaeology, Department of History, Temple University (USA)
Mostafa El-Abbadi, Professor Emeritus, University of
Alexandria (Egypt)
R. Malcolm Errington, Professor für Alte Geschichte
(Emeritus) Philipps-Universität, Marburg (Germany)
Christos C. Evangeliou, Professor of Ancient Hellenic
Philosophy, Towson University, Maryland, Honorary President of International
Association for Greek Philosophy (USA)
Panagiotis Faklaris, Assistant Professor of Classical
Archaeology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (Greece)
Denis Feeney, Giger Professor of Latin, Princeton
University (USA)
Michael Ferejohn, Associate Professor of Ancient
Philosophy, Duke University (USA)
Kleopatra Ferla, Ph.D. in Ancient History, Head of
Research and Management of Cultural Information, Foundation of the Hellenic
World, Athens (Greece)
Elizabeth A. Fisher, Professor of Classics and Art
History, Randolph-Macon College (USA)
Nick Fisher, Professor of Ancient History, Cardiff
University (UK)
R. Leon Fitts, Asbury J Clarke Professor of Classical
Studies, Emeritus, FSA, Scot., Dickinson Colllege (USA)
John M. Fossey FRSC, FSA, Emeritus Professor of Art
History (and Archaeology), McGill Univertsity, Montreal, and Curator of
Archaeology, Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (Canada)
Dr. Athanasios Fotiou, Adjunct Professor, College of
the Humanities, Greek and Roman Studies, Carleton University, Ottawa (Canada)
Robin Lane Fox, University Reader in Ancient History,
New College, Oxford (UK)
Dr. Lee Fratantuono, William Francis Whitlock
Professor of Latin, Ohio Wesleyan University (USA)
Stavros Frangoulidis, Associate Professor of Latin.
Aristotelian University of Thessaloniki (Greece)
William K. Freiert, Professor of Classics and
Hanson-Peterson Chair of Liberal Studies, Gustavus Adolphus College (USA)
Rainer Friedrich, Professor of Classics Emeritus,
Dalhousie University, Halifax, N.S. (Canada)
Heide Froning, Professor of Classical Archaeology,
University of Marburg (Germany)
Peter Funke, Professor of Ancient History, University
of Münster (Germany)
Traianos Gagos, Professor of Greek and Papyrology,
University of Michigan (USA)
Karl Galinsky, Cailloux Centennial Professor of
Classics, University of Texas, Austin (USA)
Robert Garland, Roy D. and Margaret B. Wooster
Professor of the Classics, Colgate University, Hamilton NY (USA)
Hans-Joachim Gehrke, Prof. Dr., President of the
German Archaeological Institute Berlin (Germany)
Dr. Ioannis Georganas, Researcher, Department of
History and Archaeology, Foundation of the Hellenic World (Greece)
Douglas E. Gerber, Professor Emeritus of Classical
Studies, University of Western Ontario (Canada)
Dr. Andre Gerolymatos, Chair and Professor of Hellenic
Studies, Simon Fraser University (Canada)
Stephen L. Glass, John A. McCarthy Professor of
Classics & Classical Archaeology, Pitzer College: The Claremont Colleges
(USA)
Hans R. Goette, Professor of Classical Archaeology,
University of Giessen (Germany); German Archaeological Institute, Berlin
(Germany)
Sander M. Goldberg, Professor of Classics, UCLA (USA)
Mark Golden, Professor, Department of Classics,
University of Winnipeg (Canada)
Ellen Greene, Joseph Paxton Presidential Professor of
Classics, University of Oklahoma (USA)
Robert Gregg, Teresa Moore Professor of Religious
Studies, Emeritus, Director, The Abbasi Program in Islamic Studies, Stanford
University (USA)
Frederick T. Griffiths, Professor of Classics, Amherst
College (USA)
Dr. Peter Grossmann, Member emeritus, German
Archaeological Institute, Cairo (Egypt)
Erich S. Gruen, Gladys Rehard Wood Professor of
History and Classics, Emeritus, University of California, Berkeley (USA)
Martha Habash, Associate Professor of Classics,
Creighton University (USA)
Christian Habicht, Professor of Ancient History,
Emeritus, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton (USA)
Donald C. Haggis, Nicholas A. Cassas Term Professor of
Greek Studies, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (USA)
Judith P. Hallett, Professor of Classics, University
of Maryland, College Park, MD (USA)
Kim Hartswick, Academic Director, CUNY Baccalaureate
for Unique and Interdisciplinary Studies, New York City (USA)
Prof. Paul B. Harvey, Jr. Head, Department of Classics
and Ancient Mediterranean Studies, The Pennsylvania State University (USA)
Eleni Hasaki, Associate Professor of Classical
Archaeology, University of Arizona (USA)
Rosalia Hatzilambrou, Ph.D., Researcher, Academy of
Athens (Greece)
Miltiades B. Hatzopoulos, Director, Research Centre
for Greek and Roman Antiquity, National Research Foundation, Athens (Greece)
Stephan Heilen, Associate Professor of Classics,
University of Illinois at Urbana- Champaign (USA)
Wolf-Dieter Heilmeyer, Prof. Dr., Freie Universität
Berlin und Antikensammlung der Staatlichen Museen zu Berlin (Germany)
Pontus Hellstrom, Professor of Classical archaeology
and ancient history, Uppsala University (Sweden)
Steven W. Hirsch, Associate Professor of Classics and
History, Tufts University (USA)
Karl-J. Holkeskamp, Professor of Ancient History,
University of Cologne (Germany)
Frank L. Holt, Professor of Ancient History,
University of Houston (USA)
Dan Hooley, Professor of Classics, University of
Missouri (USA)
Meredith C. Hoppin, Gagliardi Professor of Classical
Languages, Williams College, Williamstown, MA (USA)
Caroline M. Houser, Professor of Art History Emerita,
Smith College (USA) and Affiliated Professor, University of Washington (USA)
Professor Carl Huffman, Department of Classics, DePauw
University (USA)
John Humphrey, Professor of Greek and Roman Studies,
University of Calgary (Canada)
Frosen Jaakko, Professor of Greek philology,
University of Helsinki (Finland)
Dr Thomas Johansen, Reader in Ancient Philosophy,
University of Oxford (UK)
Vincent Jolivet, Archaeologist CNRS, Paris [French
School Rome] (Italy)
Georgia Kafka, Visiting Professor of Modern Greek
Language, Literature and History, University of New Brunswick (Canada)
Mika Kajava, Professor of Greek Language and
Literature; Head of the Department of Classical Studies, University of Helsinki
(Finland)
Anthony Kaldellis, Professor of Greek and Latin, The
Ohio State University (USA)
Eleni Kalokairinou, Assistant Professor of Philosophy,
Secretary of the Olympic Center of Philosophy and Culture (Cyprus)
Lilian Karali, Professor of Prehistoric and
Environmental Archaeology, University of Athens (Greece)
Andromache Karanika, Assistant Professor of Classics,
University of California, Irvine (USA)
Robert A. Kaster, Professor of Classics and Kennedy
Foundation Professor of Latin, Princeton University (USA)
Dr. Athena Kavoulaki, Lecturer, Department of
Philology, University of Crete, Rethymnon (Greece)
Vassiliki Kekela, Adjunct Professor of Greek Studies,
Classics Department, Hunter College, City University of New York (USA)
John F. Kenfield, Associate Professor, Department of
Art History, Rutgers University (USA)
Dietmar Kienast, Professor Emeritus of Ancient
History, University of Düsseldorf (Germany)
Karl Kilinski II, University Distinguished Teaching
Professor, Southern Methodist University (USA)
Dr. Florian Knauss, associate director, Staatliche
Antikensammlungen und Glyptothek München (Germany)
Denis Knoepfler, Professor of Greek Epigraphy and
History, Collège de France (Paris, France)
Ortwin Knorr, Associate Professor of Classics,
Willamette University (USA)
Robert B. Koehl, Professor of Archaeology, Department
of Classical and Oriental Studies Hunter College, City University of New York
(USA)
Thomas Koentges, Visiting lecturer, Ancient History,
University of Leipzig (Germany)
Georgia Kokkorou-Alevras, Professor of Classical
Archaeology, University of Athens (Greece)
Ann Olga Koloski-Ostrow, Associate Professor and
Chair, Department of Classical Studies, Brandeis University (USA)
Eric J. Kondratieff, Assistant Professor of Classics
and Ancient History, Department of Greek & Roman Classics, Temple
University (USA)
Dr Eleni Kornarou, Visiting Lecturer of Ancient Greek
Literature, Dept. of Classic and Philosophy, University of Cyprus (Cyprus)
Haritini Kotsidu, Apl. Prof. Dr. für Klassische
Archäologie, Goethe-Universität, Frankfurt/M. (Germany)
Lambrini Koutoussaki, Dr., Lecturer of Classical
Archaeology, University of Zürich (Switzerland)
David Kovacs, Hugh H. Obear Professor of Classics, University
of Virginia (USA)
Prof. Dr. Ulla Kreilinger, Institut für Klassische
Archäologie, Universität Erlangen (Germany)
Dr. Christos Kremmydas, Lecturer in Ancient Greek
History, Royal Holloway, University of London (UK)
Peter Krentz, W. R. Grey Professor of Classics and
History, Davidson College (USA)
Friedrich Krinzinger, Professor of Classical
Archaeology Emeritus, University of Vienna (Austria)
Michael Kumpf, Professor of Classics, Valparaiso
University (USA)
Donald G. Kyle, Professor of History, University of
Texas at Arlington (USA)
Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Helmut Kyrieleis, former president
of the German Archaeological Institute, Berlin (Germany)
Margaret L. Laird, Assistant Professor, Roman art and
archaeology, University of Washington (USA)
Gerald V. Lalonde, Benedict Professor of Classics,
Grinnell College (USA)
Steven Lattimore, Professor Emeritus of Classics,
University of California, Los Angeles (USA)
Francis M. Lazarus, President, University of Dallas
(USA)
Mary R. Lefkowitz, Andrew W. Mellon Professor in the
Humanities, Emerita Wellesley College (USA)
Irene S. Lemos FSA, Professor in Classical
Archaeology,, S.Ioannou Centre for Classical and Byzantine Studies, Oxford
University (UK)
Ioannes G. Leontiades, Assistant Professor of
Byzantine History, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (Greece)
Iphigeneia Leventi, Assistant Professor of Classical
Archaeology, University of Thessaly (Greece)
Daniel B. Levine, Professor of Classical Studies,
University of Arkansas (USA)
Christina Leypold, Dr. phil., Archaeological
Institute, University of Zürich (Switzerland)
Vayos Liapis, Associate Professor of Greek, Centre
d’Etudes Classiques & Departement de Philosophie, Université de Montreal
(Canada)
Hugh Lloyd-Jones, Professor of Greek Emeritus,
University of Oxford (UK)
Yannis Lolos, Assistant Professor, History,
Archaeology, and Anthropology, University of Thessaly (Greece)
Stanley Lombardo, Professor of Classics, University of
Kansas (USA)
Anthony Long, Professor of Classics and Irving G.
Stone Professor of Literature, University of California, Berkeley (USA)
Julia Lougovaya, Assistant Professor, Department of
Classics, Columbia University (USA)
Dr. John Ma, Lecturer in Ancient History, Oxford
University and Tutorial Fellow in Ancient History, Corpus Christi College,
Oxford (UK)
A.D. Macro, Hobart Professor of Classical Languages
emeritus, Trinity College (USA)
John Magee, Professor, Department of Classics,
Director, Centre for Medieval Studies, University of Toronto (Canada)
Dr. Christofilis Maggidis, Associate Professor of
Archaeology, Dickinson College (USA)
Chryssa Maltezou, Professor emeritus, University of
Athens, Director of the Hellenic Institute of Byzantine and Postbyzantine
Studies in Venice (Italy)
Jeannette Marchand, Assistant Professor of Classics,
Wright State University, Dayton, Ohio (USA)
Evangeline Markou, Adjunct Lecturer in Greek History,
Open University of Cyprus (Cyprus)
Anna Marmodoro, Faculty of Philosophy, University of
Oxford (UK)
Richard P. Martin, Antony and Isabelle Raubitschek
Professor in Classics, Stanford University (USA)
Maria Mavroudi, Professor of Byzantine History,
University of California, Berkeley (USA)
Jody Maxmin, Associate Professor, Dept. of Art &
Art History, Stanford University (USA)
Alexander Mazarakis-Ainian, Professor of Classical
Archaeology, University of Thessaly (Greece)
James R. McCredie, Sherman Fairchild Professor
emeritus; Director, Excavations in Samothrace Institute of Fine Arts, New York
University (USA)
Brian McGing M.A., Ph.D., F.T.C.D., M.R.I.A., Regius
Professor of Greek, Trinity College Dublin (Ireland)
James C. McKeown, Professor of Classics, University of
Wisconsin-Madison (USA)
Richard McKirahan, Edwin Clarence Norton of Classics
and Professor of Philosophy, Pitzer College: The Claremont Colleges (USA)
Robert A. Mechikoff, Professor and Life Member of the
International Society of Olympic Historians, San Diego State University (USA)
Andreas Mehl, Professor of Ancient History,
Universität Halle-Wittenberg (Germany)
John Richard Melville-Jones, Winthrop Professor,
Classics and Ancient History, University of Western Australia (Australia)
Marion Meyer, Professor of Classical Archaeology,
University of Vienna (Austria)
Dr. Aristotle Michopoulos, Professor & Chair,
Greek Studies Dept., Hellenic College (Brookline, MA, USA)
Harald Mielsch, Professor of Classical Archaeology,
University of Bonn (Germany)
Stephen G. Miller, Professor of Classical Archaeology
Emeritus, University of California, Berkeley (USA)
Lynette G. Mitchell, Senior Lecturer in Classics &
Ancient History, Exeter University (UK)
Phillip Mitsis, A.S. Onassis Professor of Classics and
Philosophy, New York University (USA)
Peter Franz Mittag, Professor für Alte Geschichte,
Universität zu Köln (Germany)
David Gordon Mitten, James Loeb Professor of Classical
Art and Archaeology, Harvard University (USA)
Mette Moltesen, MA, Curator of Ancient Art, Ny
Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen (Denmark)
Margaret S. Mook, Associate Professor of Classical
Studies, Iowa State University (USA)
Anatole Mori, Associate Professor of Classical
Studies, University of Missouri- Columbia (USA)
William S. Morison, Associate Professor of Ancient
History, Grand Valley State University (USA)
Jennifer Sheridan Moss, Associate Professor, Wayne
State University (USA)
Aliki Moustaka, Professor of Classical Archaeology,
Aristotelian University of Thessaloniki (Greece)
Mark Munn, Professor of Ancient Greek History and
Greek Archaeology, the Pennsylvania State University (USA)
Ioannis Mylonopoulos, Assistant Professor of Greek Art
History and Archaeology, Columbia University, New York (USA)
Alexander Nehamas, Edmund N. Carpenter II Class of
1943 Professor in the Humanities, Professor of Philosophy and Comparative
Literature, Princeton University (USA)
Richard Neudecker, PD of Classical Archaeology,
Deutsches Archäologisches Institut Rom (Italy)
James M.L. Newhard, Associate Professor of Classics,
College of Charleston (USA)
Carole E. Newlands, Professor of Classics, University
of Wisconsin, Madison (USA)
Andrew G. Nichols, Visiting Lecturer of Classics,
University of Florida (USA)
Jessica L. Nitschke, Assistant Professor of Classics,
Georgetown University (USA)
John Maxwell O'Brien, Professor of History, Queens
College, City University of New York (USA)
James J. O'Hara, Paddison Professor of Latin, The
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill (USA)
Martin Ostwald, Professor of Classics (ret.),
Swarthmore College and Professor of Classical Studies (ret.), University of
Pennsylvania (USA)
Olga Palagia, Professor of Classical Archaeology,
University of Athens (Greece)
Beata M. Kitsikis Panagopoulos, Professor of Art
History, Retired, San Jose State University, Caifornia (USA)
Christos Panayides, Associate Professor of Philosophy,
University of Nicosia, (Cyprus)
Vassiliki Panoussi, Associate Professor of Classical
Studies, The College of William and Mary (USA)
Maria C. Pantelia, Professor of Classics, University
of California, Irvine (USA)
Pantos A.Pantos, Adjunct Faculty, Department of
History, Archaeology and Social Anthropology, University of Thessaly (Greece)
Eleni Papaefthymiou, Curator of the Numismatic
Collection of the Foundation of the Hellenic World (Greece)
Maria Papaioannou, Assistant Professor in Classical
Archaeology, University of New Brunswick (Canada)
Anthony J. Papalas, Professor of Ancient History, East
Carolina University (USA)
Nassos Papalexandrou, Associate Professor, The
University of Texas at Austin (USA)
Polyvia Parara, Visiting Assistant Professor of Greek
Language and Civilization, Department of Classics, Georgetown University (USA)
Richard W. Parker, Associate Professor of Classics,
Brock University (Canada)
Robert Parker, Wykeham Professor of Ancient History,
New College, Oxford (UK)
Robert J. Penella, Professor and Chairman, Classics,
Fordham University (USA)
Anastasia-Erasmia Peponi, Associate Professor of
Classics, Stanford University (USA)
Jacques Perreault, Professor of Greek archaeology,
Universite de Montreal, Quebec (Canada)
Patrick Pfeil, magister artium Universität Leipzig,
Alte Geschichte (Germany)
Edward A. Phillips, Professor of Classics at Grinnell
College (USA)
Yanis Pikoulas, Associate Professor of Ancient Greek
History, University of Thessaly (Greece)
Lefteris Platon, Assistant Professor of Archaeology,
University of Athens (Greece)
John Pollini, Professor of Classical Art &
Archaeology, University of Southern California (USA)
David Potter, Arthur F. Thurnau Professor of Greek and
Latin. The University of Michigan (USA)
Daniel Potts, Edwin Cuthbert Hall Professor of Middle
Eastern Archaeology, University of Sydney (Australia)
Robert L. Pounder, Professor Emeritus of Classics,
Vassar College (USA)
Nikolaos Poulopoulos, Assistant Professor in History
and Chair in Modern Greek Studies, McGill University (Canada)
Selene Psoma, Senior Lecturer of Ancient History,
University of Athens (Greece)
William H. Race, George L. Paddison Professor of
Classics, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (USA)
John T. Ramsey, Professor of Classics, University of
Illinois at Chicago (USA)
Christian R. Raschle, Assistant Professor of Roman
History, Centre d’Etudes Classiques & Departement d'Histoire, Université de
Montreal (Canada)
Karl Reber, Professor of Classical Archaeology,
University of Lausanne (Switzerland)
Gary Reger, Professor of History Trinity College,
Connecticut (USA)
Rush Rehm, Professor of Classics and Drama, Stanford
University (USA)
Heather L. Reid, Professor of Philosophy, Morningside
College (USA)
Christoph Reusser, Professor of Classical Archaeology,
University of Zürich (Switzerland)
Werner Riess, Associate Professor of Classics, The
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (USA)
Dr Tracey E Rihll, Senior lecturer, Department of
Classics, Ancient History and Egyptology, Swansea University ( Wales, UK)
Robert H. Rivkin, Ancient Studies Department,
University of Maryland Baltimore County (USA)
Walter M. Roberts III, Assistant Professor of
Classics, University of Vermont (USA)
Barbara Saylor Rodgers, Professor of Classics, The
University of Vermont (USA)
Robert H. Rodgers. Lyman-Roberts Professor of
Classical Languages and Literature, University of Vermont (USA)
Guy MacLean Rogers, Kemper Professor of Classics and
History, Wellesley College (USA)
Roberto Romano, professore di ruolo (II level) di
Civiltà bizantina e Storia bizantina, Università "Federico II" di
Napoli (Italy)
Nathan Rosenstein, Professor of Ancient History, The
Ohio State University (USA)
John C. Rouman, Professor Emeritus of Classics,
University of New Hampshire, (USA)
Dr. James Roy, Reader in Greek History (retired),
University of Nottingham (UK)
Steven H. Rutledge, Associate Professor of Classics,
Department of Classics, University of Maryland, College Park (USA)
Daniel J. Sahas, Professor Emeritus, University of
Waterloo (Canada)
Christina A. Salowey, Associate Professor of Classics,
Hollins University (USA)
Pierre Sanchez, Professor of Ancient History,
University of Geneva (Switzerland)
Theodore Scaltsas, Professor of Ancient Greek
Philosophy, University of Edinburgh (UK)
Thomas F. Scanlon, Professor of Classics, University
of California, Riverside (USA)
Thomas Schäfer, Professor, Institut für Klassische
Archäologie, Universität Tübingen (Germany)
Bernhard Schmaltz, Prof. Dr. Archäologisches Institut
der CAU, Kiel (Germany)
Prof. Dr. Andras Schmidt-Colinet, Professor of
Classical Archaeology, University of Vienna (Austria)
Robert C. Schmiel, Prof. Emeritus of Greek & Roman
Studies, University of Calgary (Canada)
Rolf M. Schneider, Professor of Classical Archaeology,
Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (Germany)
Joseph B. Scholten, PhD, Associate Director, Office of
International Programs/Affiliate Assoc. Prof. of Classics, University of
Maryland, College Park (USA)
Peter Scholz, Professor of Ancient History and
Culture, University of Stuttgart (Germany)
Christof Schuler, director, Commission for Ancient History
and Epigraphy of the German Archaeological Institute, Munich (Germany)
Paul D. Scotton, Assoociate Professor Classical
Archaeology and Classics, California State University Long Beach (USA)
Danuta Shanzer, Professor of Classics and Medieval
Studies, The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Fellow of the
Medieval Academy of America (USA)
James P. Sickinger, Associate Professor of Classics,
Florida State University (USA)
Athanasios Sideris, Ph.D., Head of the History and
Archaeology Department, Foundation of the Hellenic World, Athens (Greece)
G. M. Sifakis, Professor Emeritus of Classics,
Aristotle University of Thessaloniki & New York University (Greece &
USA)
Christos Simelidis, British Academy Postdoctoral
Fellow, Lincoln College, University of Oxford (UK)
Henk W. Singor, Associate Professor of Ancient History
Leiden University (Netherlands)
Prof. Dr. Ulrich Sinn, Professor of Classical
Archaeology, University of Wurzburg (Germany)
Marilyn B. Skinner Professor of Classics, University
of Arizona (USA)
Niall W. Slater, Samuel Candler Dobbs Professor of
Latin and Greek, Emory University (USA)
Peter M. Smith, Associate Professor of Classics,
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (USA)
Dr. Philip J. Smith, Research Associate in Classical
Studies, McGill University (Canada)
Susan Kirkpatrick Smith Assistant Professor of
Anthropology Kennesaw State University (USA)
Antony Snodgrass, Professor Emeritus of Classical
Archaeology, University of Cambridge (UK)
Gina M. Soter, Lecturer IV, Classical Studies, The
University of Michigan (USA)
Slawomir Sprawski, Assistant Professor of Ancient
History, Jagiellonian University, Krakow (Poland)
Stylianos V. Spyridakis, Professor of Ancient History.
University of California, Davis (USA)
Theodosia Stefanidou-Tiveriou, Professor of Classical
Archaeology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (Greece)
Rachel Sternberg, Associate Professor of Classics,
Case Western Reserve University (USA)
Dr. Tom Stevenson, Lecturer in Classics and Ancient
History, University of Queensland (Australia)
Andrew Stewart, Nicholas C. Petris Professor of Greek
Studies, University of California, Berkeley (USA)
Oliver Stoll, Univ.-Prof. Dr., Alte Geschichte/
Ancient History, Universität Passau (Germany)
Richard Stoneman, Honorary Fellow, University of
Exeter (UK)
Ronald Stroud, Klio Distinguished Professor of
Classical Languages and Literature Emeritus, University of California, Berkeley
(USA)
Sarah Culpepper Stroup, Associate Professor of
Classics, University of Washington (USA)
Dr Panico J. Stylianou, Lecturer in Ancient History,
Lady Margaret Hall, University of Oxford (UK)
Thomas A. Suits, Emeritus Professor of Classical
Languages, University of Connecticut (USA)
Nancy Sultan, Professor and Director, Greek &
Roman Studies, Illinois Wesleyan University (USA)
Peter Michael Swan, Professor of History Emeritus,
University of Saskatchewan (Canada)
David W. Tandy, Professor of Classics, University of
Tennessee (USA)
James Tatum, Aaron Lawrence Professor of Classics,
Dartmouth College (USA)
Martha C. Taylor, Associate Professor of Classics,
Loyola College in Maryland (USA)
Petros Themelis, Professor Emeritus of Classical
Archaeology, Athens (Greece)
Eberhard Thomas, Priv.-Doz. Dr., Archäologisches
Institut der Universität zu Köln (Germany)
Michalis Tiverios, Professor of Classical Archaeology,
Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (Greece)
Michael K. Toumazou, Professor of Classics, Davidson
College (USA)
Stephen V. Tracy, Professor of Greek and Latin
Emeritus, Ohio State University (USA)
Prof. Dr. Erich Trapp, Austrian Academy of
Sciences/Vienna resp. University of Bonn (Germany)
Christopher Trinacty, Keiter Fellow in Classics,
Amherst College (USA)
Stephen M. Trzaskoma, Associate Professor of Classics,
University of New Hampshire (USA)
Vasiliki Tsamakda, Professor of Christian Archaeology
and Byzantine History of Art, University of Mainz (Germany)
Christopher Tuplin, Professor of Ancient History,
University of Liverpool (UK)
Yannis Tzifopoulos, Associate Professor of Ancient
Greek and Epigraphy, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (Greece)
Gretchen Umholtz, Lecturer, Classics and Art History,
University of Massachusetts, Boston (USA)
Panos Valavanis, Professor of Classical Archaeology,
University of Athens (Greece)
Eric R. Varner, Associate Professor, Departments of
Classics and Art History, Emory University, Atlanta (USA)
Athanassios Vergados, Visiting Assistant Professor of
Classics, Franklin & Marshall College (USA)
Frederik J. Vervaet, PhD, Lecturer in Ancient History.
School of Historical Studies The University of Melbourne (Australia)
Christina Vester, Assistant Professor of Classics,
University of Waterloo (Canada)
Dr. Zsolt Visy, Leiter Universität Pécs Lehrstuhl
für Alte Geschichte und Archäologie, Archäologisches Seminar (Hungary)
Emmanuel Voutiras, Professor of Classical Archaeology,
Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (Greece)
Speros Vryonis, Jr., Alexander S. Onassis Professor
(Emeritus) of Hellenic Civilization and Culture, New York University (USA)
Michael B. Walbank, Professor Emeritus of Greek, Latin
& Ancient History, The University of Calgary (Canada)
Dr. Irma Wehgartner, Curator of the Martin von Wagner
Museum der Universität Wurzburg (Germany)
Bonna D. Wescoat, Associate Professor, Art History and
Ancient Mediterranean Studies, Emory University (USA)
E. Hector Williams, Professor of Classical
Archaeology, University of British Columbia (Canada)
Peter James Wilson FAHA, William Ritchie Professor of
Classics, The University of Sydney (Australia)
Roger J. A. Wilson, Professor of the Archaeology of
the Roman Empire, and Director, Centre for the Study of Ancient Sicily,
University of British Columbia, Vancouver (Canada)
Engelbert Winter, Professor for Ancient History,
University of Münster (Germany)
Timothy F. Winters, Ph.D. Alumni Assn. Distinguished
Professor of Classics Austin Peay State University (USA)
Ioannis Xydopoulos, Assistant Professor in Ancient
History, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (Greece)
David C. Young, Professor of Classics Emeritus,
University of Florida (USA)
Maria Ypsilanti, Assistant Professor of Ancient Greek
Literature, University of Cyprus (Cyprus)
Katerina Zacharia, Associate Professor and Chair,
Department of Classics & Archaeology, Loyola Marymount University (USA)
Michael Zahrnt, Professor für Alte Geschichte,
Universität zu Köln (Germany)
Paul Zanker, Professor Emeritus of Classical Studies,
University of Munich (Germany)
Froma I. Zeitlin, Ewing Professor of Greek Language
& Literature, Professor of Comparative Literature, Princeton University
(USA)
cc: J. Biden, Vice President, USA
H. Clinton, Secretary of State USA
P. Gordon, Asst. Secretary-designate, European and
Eurasian Affairs
H.L Berman, Chair, House Committee on Foreign Affairs
I. Ros-Lehtinen, Ranking Member, House Committee on
Foreign Affairs
J. Kerry, Chair, Senate Committee on Foreign Relations
R.G. Lugar, Ranking Member, Senate Committee on
Foreign Relations
R. Menendez, United States Senator from New Jersey.
Addenda
3 Scholars added on June 25th 2009:
Jerker Blomqvist, Professor emeritus of Greek Language
and literature, Lund University (Sweden)
Christos Karakolis, Assistant Professor of New
Testament, University of Athens (Greece)
Chrys C. Caragounis, Professor emeritus of New
Testament Exegesis and the development of the Greek language since ancient
times, Lund University (Sweden)
5 Scholars added on June 29th 2009:
Harold D. Evjen, Professor Emeritus of Classical
Studies, University of Colorado at Boulder (USA)
Hara Tzavella-Evjen, Professor Emerita of Classical
Archaeology, University of Colorado at Boulder (USA)
Michael Paschalis, Professor of Classics, Department
of Philology, University of Crete, Rethymnon (Greece)
Vrasidas Karalis, Professor, New Testament Studies,
The University of Sydney (Australia)
Emilio Crespo, Professor of Greek Philology,
Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (Spain)
2 Scholars added on July 8th 2009:
Dr. Zoi Kotitsa, Archaeologist, Scientific research
fellow, University of Marburg (Germany)
Dr. Ekaterini Tsalampouni, Assistant Lecturer
in New Testament, Graeco-Roman antiquity and Koine Greek,
Ludwig-Maximillian University of Munich (Germany)
2 Scholars added on July 18th 2009:
Karol Myśliwiec, Professor Dr., Director of the
Research Centre for Mediterranean Archaeology, Polish Academy of Sciences,
Warsaw (Poland)
Stephen Neale, Distinguished Professor of Philosophy
and Linguistics, John H. Kornblith Family Chair in the Philosophy of Science
and Values, City University of New York (USA)
1 Scholar added on July 20th 2009:
Marsh McCall, Professor Emeritus, Department of
Classics, Stanford University (USA)
1 Scholar added on August 10th 2009:
Georgia Tsouvala, Assistant Professor of History,
Illinois State University (USA)
1 Scholar added on September 3rd 2009:
Mika Rissanen, PhL, Ancient History, University of
Jyvaskyla (Finland)
2 Scholars added on October 10th 2009:
José Antonio Fernández Delgado. Professor of Greek
Philology, Universidad de Salamanca (Spain)
Zinon Papakonstantinou, Assistant Professor of
Hellenic Studies, Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies, University
of Washington, Seattle (USA)
1 Scholar added on October 17th 2009:
Eugene Afonasin, Professor of Greek Philosophy and of
Roman Law, Novosibirsk State University (Russia)
1 Scholar added on October 28th 2009:
Hartmut Wolff, Professor für Alte Geschichte
(emeritus), Universität Passau (Germany)
1 Scholar added on October 30th 2009:
Eleni Manakidou, Assistant Professor of Classical
Archaeology, Aristoteles University of Thessaloniki (Greece)
1 Scholar added on November 3rd 2009:
Pavlos Sfyroeras, Associate Professor of Classics,
Middlebury College (USA)
1 Scholar added on November 11th 2009:
Konstantinos Kapparis, Associate Professor of
Classics, Department of Classics, University of Florida (USA)
1 Scholar added on November 14th 2009:
Prof. Dr. Ingomar Weiler, Professor Emeritus, Ancient
Greek and Roman History, Karl-Franzens-Universität of Graz (Austria)
1 Scholar added on November 15th 2009:
Werner Petermandl, Universitätslektor,
Karl-Franzens-Universität of Graz (Austria)
1 Scholar added on December 4th 2009:
István Kertész, Professor of ancient Greco-Roman
history, Department of Ancient and Medieval History, Pedagogic College in Eger
(Hungary)
1 Scholar added on March 11th 2010:
Nassi Malagardis, chargée de Mission au
Département des Antiquités Grecques, Etrusques et Romaines du Musée
du Louvre, Paris (France)
2 Scholars added on March 25th 2010:
Gonda Van Steen, Professor, Department of Classics,
University of Florida (USA)
Robert Wagman, Associate Professor of Classics,
Department of Classics, University of Florida (USA)
2 Scholars added on March 27th 2010:
Angelos Barmpotis, Ph.D., Director of the Digital
Epigraphy and Archaeology Project, University of Florida (USA)
Eleni Bozia, Ph.D. Visiting Lecturer, Department of
Classics, University of Florida (USA)
1 Scholar added on April 16th 2010:
Timothy Johnson, Associate Professor, Department of
Classics, University of Florida (USA)
1 Scholar added on April 17th 2010:
Christos C. Tsagalis, Associate Professor of Classics,
Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (Greece)
1 Scholar added on August 31st 2010:
Potitsa Grigorakou, Lecturer in Hellenism in the
Orient, Public University of Athens (Greece)
2 Scholars added on September 3rd 2010:
Maurice Sartre, Professor of Ancient History,
emeritus. Université François-Rabelais, Tours (France)
Apostolos Bousdroukis, Researcher, Institute for Greek
and Roman Antiquity, National Hellenic Research Foundation (Greece)
1 Scholar added on September 10th 2010:
Alastar Jackson, Hon. Research Fellow in Ancient
History, Manchester University (U.K.)
1 Scholar added on October 5th 2010:
Frances Van Keuren, Professor Emerita of Ancient Art
History, University of Georgia (USA)
1 Scholar added on December 4th 2010:
Thomas Heine Nielsen, Associate Professor of Ancient
Greek, University of Copenhagen (Denmark)
1 Scholar added on April 18th 2011:
Antonis Bartsiokas, Associate Professor of
Anthropology, Department of History and Ethnology, University of Thrace
(Greece)
1 Scholar added on October 16th 2011:
Thanasis Maskaleris, Emeritus Professor of Classics
and Comparative Literature, San Francisco State University (USA)
1 Scholar added on February 22nd 2013:
Stephen Bertman, Professor Emeritus of Classics, The
University of Windsor (Canada)
1 Scholar added on October 12th 2013:
Helen Karabatzaki, Associate Professor emeritus of
Ancient Greek Philosophy, University of Ioannina (Greece)
ΠΗΓΗ. ΑΡΧΕΙΟΝ ΠΟΛΙΤΙΣΜΟΥ, 19.5.2009.
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