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Philip II of Macedoni
Philip II, king of Macedon, brought his people and
kingdom into the greater orbit of Greek culture. After
successfully uniting much of Macedonia, Philip marched
on Greece and became the first invader to have subdued
the various city-states, a feat not even the powerful
Persian Empire had been able to do. The father of
Alexander the Great, Philip bequeathed to his son not
only a great army, but also an eye looking east towards
Persia.
As king, Philip's brother Alexander II gave Philip as a hostage to the Thebans in order to secure peace.
While in Thebes, Philip learned much of Greek politics and most likely acquired some knowledge of the
great military innovations of Epaminondas, a famous Theban general. The Macedonian phalanx for
example, which brought such success to Philip, and later his son, Alexander, was a modification of the
Theban phalanx. In 359, Philip took control of Macedonia. Ancient sources describe Philip as cunning,
intelligent, devious, and as a man who was unafraid to resort to bribery or murder. While it is true that
Philip used any means to achieve his goals, even murder, his tactics were not uncommon in the
kingdom of Macedonia.
Once king, Philip set about uniting Macedonia and ensuring its borders against hereditary enemies like
the Illyrians and Thracians. That was not an easy accomplishment. Lower Macedonia had long been
the seat of the kings, but even there court politics were treacherous. Northern Macedonia was divided
into various tribal groups, but those, too, Philip overcame. Having gained power over most of
Macedonia, Philip then turned his attention to Greece.
The impressive military success of the Macedonians was due in part to the use of the Macedonian
phalanx. Macedonian soldiers carried long pikes called sarissas, and the Macedonian phalanx
presented an almost impenetrable defense. The foot soldiers would keep the enemy at bay while units
of cavalry attacked the enemy flank. After his victory, Philip organized a meeting of the Greek poleis in
Corinth. The result of the meeting was the League of Corinth, which supposedly was a confederation of
equals under Philip.
Greek feeling about Philip was divided. To the great Athenian orator Demosthenes, Philip represented
a threat, and in a series of speeches, he urged his fellow Athenians to fight against Philip. To many
Greeks, Philip came from an uncouth, barely Greek region, one more like the barbarian Illyrians than
the city-dwelling Greeks of Athens or Thebes. Isocrates, on the other hand, wanted Philip to unite the
Greeks and attack Persia. Isocrates argued that Greeks should stop fighting one another and that all
poleis should band together to invade Persia. However, it was clear that the Greek states would not
stop squabbling, and Isocrates looked to Philip as the man who might prosecute a war in Asia.
Philip did not live to carry out his plan for the invasion of Persia. In 336, he was assassinated. It was
Philip's son, Alexander the Great, who accomplished his father's goal. By 334, Alexander brought fresh
troops to join those his father had already sent to Asia Minor in expectation of the attack. Philip's plan to
attack Persia, like that of Greeks such as Isocrates, was motivated by several factors. First, the
exhaustive and destructive war against Persia in the last century was still fresh in the minds of the
Greeks. Even after the Persian Wars, various Greek states had contended with the mighty king of
Persia. Second, the Greek poleis had long sent colonies east.
Philip II of Macedon set the stage for his son's amazing conquests. Without the thorough and vital
unification of Macedonia, which brought this semi-barbaric territory into the cultural sphere of civilized
Greece, Alexander would not have been able to leave for the Persian expedition. Much of Alexander's
success also stemmed from the military support of a Greece under Macedonian control.
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"Philip II of Macedon." World History: Ancient and Medieval Eras. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 13 Jan. 2010.
<http://ancienthistory.abc-clio.com>