Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 64.djvu/178

178 of the west, the Greeks to the south and the Roumans to the north. Two distinct elements were concerned in the Slavic invasion, the Bulgars and Serbs. The Bulgar and Serb alternated in the supremacy of the country for nearly eight centuries, until the Turk finally conquered both. For the past four hundred years the sultan has ruled the country and his rule has been frequently marked by barbaric cruelty and fanatical race hatred. The Slavic race (Servian or Bulgarian) predominates numerically in Macedonia. The race types that have survived the Slavic invasion and the Turkish conquest (Rouman, Greek and Albanian) are all modified by the infusion of Slavic blood.

Greeks are scattered throughout Macedonia in considerable numbers. They are mostly in the cities and towns engaged in trade and commerce, and are like the Rouman—inclined to let the Slav till the soil. The feeling between Greek and Turk is what might be expected after the race conflict of centuries. The Greek can never consider the Turk as anything but an intruder, and he will never relinquish his cherished dream of a great Greek empire with Constantinople for its capital. Yet many Greeks see their way clear to accept Turkish pay and assist in defeating the revolutionary schemes of their Slavic neighbors, the Bulgars.

The Wallachs, Vlachs or Roumans are a distinct division of the Latin family of peoples and to-day number about 5,000,000, most of them in Roumania; but Roumans are found in Bessarabia, Transylvania, Hungary, Albania and Macedonia. In Macedonia are numerous colonies of Roumans; and the Zintzars, as these Macedo-Roumans are called, are a factor of considerable importance in the question of the future of Macedonia. They are descended from a blended stock made up of Roman colonists and disbanded soldiers, and the Illyrian and Thracian inhabitants of Macedonia at the time of the Roman conquest (146 B. C.). The whole of Macedonia was, up to the seventh century and the coming of the Slav, occupied by a Latin-speaking race. The Slavic conquest forced the Roumans in great numbers to their brothers north of the Danube and many were carried farther by the wave of invasion—as far west as the Tyrol. The supremacy of the Slav did not wipe out the Rouman race, although the races probably blended to some extent. The Rouman exists to-day as a distinct type, speaking a Romance language and possessing in a marked degree the pride of race common to all peoples of Roman blood. In physical appearance the Vlachs are short and dark. They are very industrious and are usually engaged in trade and manufacturing. They are skilled in the building trades and metal working.

The Albanians are probably the chief disturbing element in Macedonia to-day, if we except outside influences. They constitute an important factor in the question, not only because thousands of them live in western Macedonia, but because many thousands more