Macedon was a bit cut off from Hellas: in the south it was bordered by Thessaly and several coastal cities which were allied to Athens, in the west its land was bordered by mountains while it had to deal with Illyrians and Paeonians in the north and east. The people were a mixture of the Illyric, Thracic and Dorian elements. For a long time Macedon minded its own business, without any noticeable influence from the outside. But during the fifth century the country got majorly inlfuenced by the Greek culture nevertheless. Thanks to this it gained more unity, and thus more power.

Still, Macedon was seen as an under-developed area by the Greeks during the fifth and the first half of the fourth century BC. Basically it was only good for its wood in the eyes of the Greeks. Macedon was closely related to Hellas in a linguistic way, as its language was very much alike the dialect which was spoken in northern Hellas, but when you look at the other aspects than they were not much alike. Macedon did not have any Poleis, and the social structure was determined by monarchy and an aristocratic feudal militaristic organisation. Yet there was a desire to become more like their big neighbour, and slowly Macedon became more and more Greek.

The title of king was heritable, but the new king had to be approved by a council of the army before he could start with his primary function as commander-in-chief. This council also administered justice during important trials like high treachery. The king was assisted by the nobility of hetairoi, or companions, who formed the cavalry in the army, but who also had much influence in the political area in order to prevent absolute power of the king. These hetairoi were the heads of tribes and houses, and they maintained the unity among their followers with personal loyalty and blood-relationships. The organisation, from farmer to king, was very much patriarchal, and as a result of this depended the power of Macedon on the capability of its king.