Symposia and the Macedonian Elite: The Unmixed Life

This paper will evaluate the degree to which, during the reigns of Philip II and Alexander III (an era which produced most of our evidence about Macedonian drinking), court symposia actually differed from those of southern Greece. It will argue that Macedonian drinking practices were distinctive in some significant respects and reflect upon the relationship between these drinking habits and the nature of Macedonian monarchy and elite culture. It will suggest that the “unmixed” quality of Macedonian elite culture was more than a mere construct of Demosthenes and other Greek authors.