Since this popped up in another thread, I will explain the matter of Macedonia here, so those who don't know about it get a basic reference.
There is a people in the Balkans who call themselves Macedonians and their country Macedonia. They are a Slavic people and used to be part of Yugoslavia, and gained independence for the first time in their history in 1992, when Yugoslavia broke up. The Slavs wandered into the Balkans during the past 1500 years.
Neighboring that country, there also is a territory in northern Greece called Macedonia, and has been known by that name for nearly three thousand years now. The inhabitants of this territory are and have always been Greek.
Now, when those whom I shall call the "Slavic Macedonians" (as opposed to the "Greek Macedonians") became independent, they wanted to call their newly independent state "Macedonia", because that was also the name of their administrative district (dubbed "Republic") in Yugoslavia. Naturally, this didn't sit well with the Greek Macedonians, who consider their home the one and only Macedonia. What also fuelled the fire was the Slavic Macedonian usage of Greek Macedonian national symbols, most of all the Star of Vergina -a symbol that has been in use by the Greek Macedonians since antiquity- on their flag. As a temporary settlement, the United Nations officially accepted this new state with the descriptive name of the "Former Yugoslav Republic Of Macedonia"- an inarguable fact, as the country was called "Macedonia" in Yugoslavia.
Since this is a very long and unhandy name, most people use one of two variations, either referring to the country as "FYROM" or as "Macedonia". The latter was used by US president Bush when he visited the country a few years ago, and of course, he pulled the anger of the Greeks on him. That's right- the Greeks.
The "Macedonia is Greek" slogan is not only used by Greek Macedonians, but by all Greeks. While there certainly is some upright solidarity in there, there is a catch- Greek Macedonia was the home of Alexander the Great, Greek national hero.
Since most historians refer to Alexander's empire as the Macedonian one, this has confused many people and led them to ask whether Alexander was Greek or Macedonian. This is where things start to become really ugly.
The Greeks of course, and rightly, say Alexander was Greek- and usually add the suffix "Macedonia is Greek". The Slavic Macedonians have a bit of a problem, however. As I stated earlier, they did not have much of a glorious past, and now have an independent political entity for the first time in their history. As with most people on the Balkans, they are very nationalistic, but without a glorious past to look back on like everybody else, a few have started saying- Alexander was Macedonian, meaning Slavic Macedonian. Or, if they are confronted with the fact that the Slavs simply did not live anywhere close to the Balkans when Alexander lived, say that the Macedonians were actually Illyrian, the Illyrians being considered the ancestors of the Slavs on the Balkans (don't ask me how that works). The Slavic Macedonian usage of Greek Macedonian symbols, as described above, does not make things easier.
This has led to even more absurd claims, including one I once heard by a Serb, claiming that Alexander the Great was Serb, because Macedonia was part of Yugoslavia, which, according to him, was basically Greater Serbia.
However, Greek hatred towards the Slavic Macedonians led them to ask whether these are actually a real people. Some have started claiming that the Macedonian language is actually a dialect of Bulgarian, the Slavic Macedonians thus actually being Bulgarian- a claim of course happily supported by the Bulgarians. The problem only is that the Macedonian and Bulgarian languages are as related to each other as Dutch and German or Spanish and Portuguese- meaning fairly similar, and understandable to a certain degree by both sides, at least if read but different languages with different vocabulary, grammar and the likes.
To sum it up, the basic problems are:
-Slavic Macedonians use Greek names, symbols and, to a degree, history to form their identity
-The Greeks are pissed off because these happen to be some of the most glorious elements of their culture
->The Slavic Macedonians are hated by the Greeks and Bulgarians (and Albanians, but for a different reason)
So, if you ever come across this discussion on a board you post at (and, as I stated elsewhere, it popped up in every board I ever posted at), keep the above in mind- and ignore the discussion. There are Greeks, Bulgarians and Slavic Macedonians who actually do search the web for these discussions and make troll posts there (often bumping threads which are several years old), which are better off ignored. I wouldn't be too surprised if one appeared in this thread as well.
Now, to answer to the above post:
Sparta was founded in ~950 BC, but incorporated and older city called Amyklai in its polis. However, it was never considered the same city.
. As I explained I wasn't talking about people, like the Americans say ' the average Joe'. You forgot China and Iran, and people in the US certainly know more than countries you listed, and if the majority doesn't then that's just sad, and shows just what a good job CNN and others have done to keep Americans obedient. And the uncaring of Americans is one of the world's major problems. You don't care that you are producing the biggest amount of pollution, and don't give a damn about Kyoto agreement. It's 'we're the best, and fuck the rest' kind of attitude right? 
