Philip II





Philip II (of Macedonia) (382-336BC), king of Macedonia (359-336BC) and father of Alexander the Great, born in Pella. From 367 to 365, Philip was a hostage in Thebes, and during that period he observed the military techniques of Thebes, then the greatest power in Greece. In 364 he returned to Macedonia. In 359 he was made regent for his infant nephew Amyntas; later that year he seized the throne for himself.

Faced by internal dissensions and attacked on all sides, Philip reorganized the Macedonian army on the model of the Theban phalanx. In less than two years he had secured the safety of his kingdom and firmly established himself on the throne. From then on his policy was aggressive. In 357 he conquered the Athenian colony of Amphipolis in Thrace, gaining possession of the gold mines of Mount Pangaeus, which financed his subsequent wars. In 356 he captured Potidaea in Chalcidice and Pydna on the Gulf of Thermaïkós. In 355 he captured the Thracian town of Crenides, which, under its new name, Philippi, soon acquired great wealth and fame.

In 354 Philip conquered Methone and then advanced into Thessaly. By 352 he had reached the pass of Thermopylae, which he did not attempt to take, because it was strongly guarded by the Athenians. In 351 the great Athenian orator Demosthenes delivered the first of his Philippics, a series of speeches warning the Athenians about the Macedonian menace to Greek liberty. By 348 Philip had conquered Thrace and Chalcidice. Two years later he made peace with Athens, which had been at war with him in defense of its ally, the Chalcidian city Olynthus. Philip was next requested by the Thebans to interfere in the sacred war against Phocis. He marched into Phocis in 346 and destroyed its cities. Thereafter Macedonia replaced Phocis in the Amphictyonic League, giving Philip the right to participate in Greek political affairs; in 338 the council appointed Philip commander of the league forces. The Athenians, aroused by Demosthenes, united with the Thebans against Philip, but their combined army was utterly defeated in 338 at the Battle of Chaeronea. Philip's victory made him complete master of Greece. Two years later, while preparing to invade Persia, he was assassinated.

Philip was the greatest statesman and general of his time. He laid the foundation of the Macedonian military power employed by his son, Alexander the Great, to conquer and Hellenize the Middle East. A treasure-filled royal tomb, believed to be Philip's, was excavated at Vergina, near Thessaloníki, Greece, in 1977.


Battle of Chaeronea

Military engagement fought in 338 BC in which Philip II of Macedonia defeated the Athenians and Thebans in their last struggle for Greek independence from Macedonia. Chaeronea was located in what is now the Greek Department of Attica and Boeotia.