Great Macedonian Leader:

Phillip II of Macedon

Main Life Accomplishments:

He was an ancient Greek king (basileus) of Macedon from 359 BC until his assassination in 336. He was the father of Alexander the Great, Philip III and possibly Ptolemy I, the founder of the Ptolemaic dynasty in Egypt.

 

Basics:

Born: 382 BC Pella

Died: 336 BC (aged 46) Aigai

Nationality:  Greek

Religion: 

Fields: Politics, Military

Main Accomplishments: His most important innovation was doubtless the introduction of the phalanx infantry corps, armed with the famous sarissa, an exceedingly long spear which was intended mostly to counter cavalry, at the time the most important army corps in Macedonia.

Chronology of Life Events:

382 BC 

Birth of Philip II

 

364 BC

Philip returned to Macedon.

 

359 BC

The deaths of Philip's elder brothers, King Alexander II and Perdiccas III, allowed him to take the throne

 

359 BC
Philip pushed back Paionians and Thracians promising tributes, and crushed the 3,000 Athenian hoplites.

 

358 BC

Philip had married Audata, great-granddaughter of the Illyrian king of Dardania, Bardyllis. However, this did not prevent him from marching against them

 

356 BC

Athens declared war against him, he allied with the Chalcidian League of Olynthus. He subsequently conquered Potidaea, this time keeping his word and ceding it to the League.

 

356 BC

Philip also conquered the town of Crenides and changed its name to Philippi: he established a powerful garrison there to control its mines, which granted him much of the gold later used for his campaigns.

 

356 

Alexander was born, and Philip's race horse won in the Olympic Games.

 

355–354 

He besieged Methone, the last city on the Thermaic Gulf controlled by Athens. During the siege, Philip lost an eye.

 

354 

Despite the arrival of two Athenians fleets, the city fell

 

354–353

Despite the arrival of two Athenians fleets, the city fell in 354. Philip also attacked Abdera and Maronea, on the Thracian sea-board.
summer of 353 he invaded Thessaly, defeating 7,000 Phocians under the brother of Onomarchus.

 

352 to 346 BC

Philip did not again come south. He was active in completing the subjugation of the Balkan hill-country to the west and north, and in reducing the Greek cities of the coast as far as the Hebrus. 

 

349 BC

Philip started the siege of Olynthus, which, apart from its strategic position, housed his relatives Arrhidaeus and Menelaus, pretenders to the Macedonian throne.

 

348 BC

The Macedonian king finally took Olynthus and razed the city to the ground. 

347 BC

Philip advanced to the conquest of the eastern districts about Hebrus, and compelled the submission of the Thracian prince Cersobleptes.

 

346 BC

He intervened effectively in the war between Thebes and the Phocians, but his wars with Athens continued intermittently.

 

342 BC

Philip led a great military expedition north against the Scythians, conquering the Thracian fortified settlement Eumolpia to give it his name, Philippopolis (modern Plovdiv).

 

340 BC

Philip started the siege of Perinthus.

 

339

Philip began another siege of the city of Byzantium.

 

338 BC

He successfully reasserted his authority in the Aegean by defeating an alliance of Thebans and Athenians at the Battle of Chaeronea

 

337 BC

Philip created and led the League of Corinth 

 

336 BC

When the invasion of Persia was in its very early stage, Philip was assassinated, and was succeeded on the throne of Macedon by his son Alexander III.

Early Life:

Born in Pella, Philip was the youngest son of the king Amyntas III and Eurydice II. In his youth, (c. 368–365 BC) Philip was a hostage in Thebes, which was the leading city of Greece during the Theban hegemony. While a captive there, Philip received a military and diplomatic education from Epaminondas, became eromenos of Pelopidas, and lived with Pammenes, who was an enthusiastic advocate of the Sacred Band of Thebes. In 364 BC, Philip returned to Macedon. The deaths of Philip's elder brothers, King Alexander II and Perdiccas III, allowed him to take the throne in 359 BC. Originally appointed regent for his infant nephew Amyntas IV, who was the son of Perdiccas III, Philip managed to take the kingdom for himself that same year.

Philip's military skills and expansionist vision of Macedonian greatness brought him early success. He had however first to re-establish a situation which had been greatly worsened by the defeat against the Illyrians in which King Perdiccas himself had died. The Paionians and the Thracians had sacked and invaded the eastern regions of the country, while the Athenians had landed, at Methoni on the coast, a contingent under a Macedonian pretender called Argeus. Using diplomacy, Philip pushed back Paionians and Thracians promising tributes, and crushed the 3,000 Athenian hoplites (359). Momentarily free from his opponents, he concentrated on strengthening his internal position and, above all, his army.

 

Wife Background:

The dates of Philip's multiple marriages and the names of some of his wives are contested. Below is the order of marriages:

* Audata, the daughter of Illyrian King Bardyllis. Mother of Cynane.
* Phila, the sister of Derdas and Machatas of Elimiotis.
* Nicesipolis of Pherae, Thessaly, mother of Thessalonica.
* Philinna of Larissa, mother of Arrhidaeus later called Philip III of Macedon.
* Oylimpas of Epirus, mother of Alexander the Great and Cleopatra
* Meda of Odessa, daughter of the king Cothelas, of Thrace.
* Cleopatra, daughter of Hippostratus and niece of general Attalus of Macedonia. Philip renamed her Cleopatra Eurydice of Macedon.

Father Background:

Amyntas III (Greek Αμύντας Γ΄ ), (Unknown - 370 BC) son of Arrhidaeus and great grandfather of Philip II, was king of Macedon in 393 BC, and again from 392 to 369 BC.

He came to the throne after the ten years of confusion which followed the death of Archelaus II, the patron of art and literature. But he had many enemies at home; in 393 he was driven out by the Illyrians, but in the following year, with the aid of the Thessalians, he recovered his kingdom. Medius, head of the house of the Aleuadae of Larissa, is believed to have provided aid to Amyntas in recovering his throne. The mutual relations between the Argeadae and the Aleuadae dates to the time of Archelaus.

To shore up his country against the threat of the Illyrians, Amyntas established an alliance with the Chalcidic cities led by Olynthus. In exchange for this support, Amyntas granted them rights to Macedonian timber, which was sent back to Athens to help fortify their fleet. With money flowing into the Olynthus from these exports, their power grew. In response, Amyntas sought additional allies. He established connections with Kotys, chief of the Odrysians. Kotys had already married his daughter to the Athenian general Iphicrates. Prevented from marrying into Kotys' family, Amyntas soon adopted Iphicrates as his son.

After the King's Peace 387 BC, Sparta was anxious to reestablish its presence in the north of Greece. In 385 BC, Bardylis and his Illyrians attacked Epirus instigated and aided by Dionysius of Syracuse, in an attempt to restore the Molossian king Alcetas to the throne. When Amyntas sought Spartan aid against the growing threat of Olynthus, the Spartans eagerly responded. That Olynthus was backed by Athens and Thebes, rivals to Sparta for the control of Greece, provided them additional incentive to break up this growing power in the north. Amyntas thus concluded a treaty with the Spartans, who assisted him to reduce Olynthus (379). He also entered into a league with Jason of Pherae, and assiduously cultivated the friendship of Athens.In 371 BC at a Panhellenic congress of the Lacedaemonian allies, he voted in support of the Athenians' claim and joined other Greeks in voting to help Athens to recover possession of Amphipolis.

With Olynthus defeated, Amyntas was now able to conclude a treaty with Athens and keep the timber revenues for himself. Amyntas shipped the timber to the house of the Athenian Timotheus, in the Piraeus.

By his wife, Eurydice, he had three sons, Alexander II, Perdiccas III and the youngest of whom was the famous Philip II of Macedon. Amyntas died at an advanced age, leaving his throne to his eldest son, Alexander.

 

Mother Background:

Queen Eurydice was a queen of Macedon and mother to Philip II.

She was married to King Amyntas III of Macedon and had four children: Alexander II of Macedon, Perdiccas III of Macedon, Philip II and Eurynoe, Princess of Macedon.

Her mythological ancestry can be traced to the Greek God of the sea Poseidon based on Greek mythology and Greek writings. She died in 365 BC.

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