A SENATE RESOLUTION

TO RECOGNIZE MARCH 23 AS GREEK INDEPENDENCE DAY AND TO ACKNOWLEDGE THAT THE ANCIENT MACEDONIANS WERE HELLENES, AND THAT THE INHABITANTS OF MACEDONIA TODAY ARE HELLENIC DESCENDANTS AND PART OF THE NORTHERN PROVINCE OF GREECE, MACEDONIA.

Whereas, Philip of Macedonia, his son, Alexander the Great, and his tutor, the philosopher Aristotle, were born and raised in the northern province of Greece, Macedonia; and

Whereas, the language and culture of the ancient Macedonians, the ancestors of the inhabitants of northern Greece today, were Hellenic; and

Whereas, the Macedonians, like the rest of the Hellenes in antiquity, believed in the twelve gods of Olympus and participated with their fellow Hellenes in the Olympic Games; and

Whereas, Pella, the palace where Alexander the Great was born, and Vergina, the burial site of the Macedonian kings, are all located in northern Greece; and

Whereas, the history of ancient Macedonia has been Hellenic for three thousand years and continues to be so today. Now, therefore,

Be it resolved by the Senate:

That the members of the Senate of the State of South Carolina, by this resolution, recognize March 23 as Greek Independence Day and to acknowledge that the ancient Macedonians were Hellenes, and that the inhabitants of Macedonia today are Hellenic descendants and part of the northern province of Greece, Macedonia.

Be it further resolved that a copy of this resolution be forwarded to the Consul General of Greece for distribution to the leaders of the appropriate Hellenic-American organizations in South Carolina.