The life and reign of King Philip II of Macedon

Macedon was a small kingdom located to the north of Greece, and it had been in a state of conflict with its western neighbor, Illyria, for many years.

The Macedonian royal family was called the Argeads, who claimed descent from the mythical figure of Hercules.

Oddly enough, they also claimed descent from Temenus, a legendary king of Argos.

However, these claims were likely made to strengthen the dynasty's prestige and legitimacy rather than being grounded in historical fact.

Philip II was born around 382 BC and was the third son of the Macedonian king Amyntas III. 

Following the assassination of his eldest brother in 367 BC, Philip was sent as a political hostage to the Greek city-state of Thebes at about 16 years of age. 

During his three-year period of captivity, he was afforded relative freedom to walk through and explore the city and its people.

As a result, Philip learnt military and diplomatic tactics from the famous Theban general, Epaminondas.

In fact, he would draw upon this information later in life when he sought to reorganise Macedon's own military structures.

Philip returned to Macedon in 364 BC. Only a few years later, in 359 BC, Philip's brother, King Perdiccas III, was killed in battle against the Illyrians.

Prior to this, King Perdiccas had specifically appointed Philip as the regent for his son Amyntas IV, until he was old enough to take the throne.

However, after his brother's death, Philip II took the Macedonian throne for himself. He was around 23 years old at the time.

Once secure in his power, Philip turned his attention to his main concern: increasing Macedonia's military strength.

Philip overhauled his army and developed, what has become known as, the Macedonian phalanx.

More precisely, he increased the number of men in each phalanx unit. The expansion of the army increased its overall size from 10,000 to 24,000 men and the cavalry increased from 600 to 3,500.

Now it was no longer an army of free citizens; instead, it was one composed of professional soldiers.

Philip armed his new soldiers with longer spears, called the sarissa. This new spear type was around six metres long, which meant that it reached much further than the traditional hoplite spears used by the other Greek city-states.

This new weapon proved to be extremely effective, and it helped Philip to win a series of military victories against Illyria, Athens, and Thebes. 

Next Philip turned his attention to his capital city of Pella. It had been the capital of Macedonia since the reign of Archelaus I, Philip's great-great uncle, in the late 5th century BC.

However, Philip aimed to develop Pella as a cultural and administrative center.

To increase the prestige of his city, Philip invited the best poets, writers, and philosophers from the Greek world to visit and work there.

Most famously, the philosopher Aristotle was hired to teach Philip's son, Alexander.

In 358 BC, Philip became involved in a conflict with Athens over the city of Amphipolis. 

In just a year, he was able to capture the city and took control of its valuable gold and silver mines. 

Then, Philip conquered the northern Greek cities of Pydna in 357 BC and Potidaea in 356 BC. 

This led to the Third Sacred War (356 -346 BC), which was fought between the Amphictyonic League of northern Greek city states and the Phocians, who had seized control of the Delphic Oracle.

The Amphictyonic League, which was led by the city of Thebes, had asked Philip to assist their attacks, while the Phocians had asked Athens to be their ally.

Macedon joined with Thebes and Philip defeated the Phocian leader Onomarchus at the Battle of Crocus Field in 352 BC.

However, rather than continue to fight, Philip then withdrew his troops to Macedon and let the two sides wear each other down.

After a few more years and a series of devastating battles, the various city-states were nearing exhaustion.

This led to the Peace of Philocrates in 346 BC between Philip II and Athens, which temporarily halted hostilities and officially recognized Philip's conquests in northern Greece.

In fact, by the war's end, Philip had significantly expanded his control over northern Greece, and he had become the most powerful man in Greece. 

However, the sheer number of battles he had been personally involved in had taken a physical toll on Philip.

For example, he had broken a shoulder and was crippled in one leg. The most obvious injury was the loss of his right eye during the Siege of Methone in 354 BC.

The speed and effectiveness with which Philip had risen to power scared and worried the other Greek city-states.

In Athens, a famous politician called Demosthenes, began to give a series of speeches calling for the Greeks to unite and stop Philip's expansion.

In 339 BC, it inspired Athens, along with Thebes and several other city-states formed an alliance against Macedon.

Philip saw this as a direct challenge that needed to be addressed quickly, and so marched his Macedonian army south to face them.

The following year, the two armies met at Chaeronea in Boeotia. The battle was fought on a hot day in August.

Despite being outnumbered by around 20 percent, the Macedonian phalanx made short work of their opponents.

Philip's son, Alexander (who would later become Alexander the Great), played a key role in the victory.

After the end of the battle, all of Greece was effectively under Philip's control.

This victory solidified Macedon's position as the leading power in Greece.

In 337 BC, at the Panhellenic Congress that followed the battle, Philip was declared the leader of all Greece.

He was given the title of 'hegemon', meaning 'leader', of an alliance called the League of Corinth.

In return for his leadership, Philip promised to lead a joint Greek expedition to invade and conquer Persia. 

As part of his early expansions, in 357 BC, Philip married Olympias, a princess from Epirus.

This was an important diplomatic marriage, as it allied Macedon with the crucial region of Epirus in western Greece.

Olympias was a strong and politically astute woman, who is said to have exerted a great deal of influence over her husband.

However, this also made her a very controversial figure, and she earned a reputation for being ruthless and ambitious. 

Nevertheless, the couple had two children together: Alexander and Cleopatra of Macedon.

Then, in 337 BC, after the Battle of Chaeronea, Philip married another princess from a Macedonian family, named Cleopatra Eurydice. 

However, this new marriage caused instant tension between Philip, Olympias and Alexander.

At the wedding celebration, Alexander became angry at his father's embarrassing drunkenness and publicly voiced his frustrations.

Because of his remarks, he and his mother were both exiled from Macedon for a short time: she in Epirus and he in Illyria.

After his victory at Chaeronea, Philip turned his attention to a potential invasion of Persia, which he saw as the next major threat to Macedon.

However, in 336 BC, he was suddenly assassinated by one of his bodyguards, Pausanias, before he could even launch his invasion.

Philip was 46 years old when he died. The reasons for the assassination are complex and still debated by historians.

Some suggest it was due to personal revenge, while others speculate on the possible involvement of Olympias, or even the Persian Empire. 

Regardless, his son Alexander quickly succeeded him as king and went on to become one of the most famous rulers in history.

In fact, Alexander would use Philip's military developments in order to carry out the planned invasion of Persia.

Ultimately, Alexander's success would be based heavily on what Philip had achieved during his lifetime.