Radvnyi Rka.

Domination of Philip II

Domination of Philip II
After the collapse of the polis system and the
Greco-Persian Wars the Greeks became more and
more confused because of their disunity. People felt
the necessary of reunion to ease the inner tension and
to get new markets. Then Philip II came into sight from
Macedon.

He had born at 382 BC in Pella as the youngest

son of the king Amyntas III and Eurydice I. In his youth
he was held as a hostage in Thebes, where he received a military and
diplomatic education from Epaminondas. In 364 BC he returned to
Macedon, and after the death of his brothers he took the throne in 359 BC
but just as the tutor of his infant nephew Amyntas IV. He became the king
of Macedon officially in 355 BC but then he had already reorganised the
army and started his conquests.

His reorganisations consisted of the following inventions:

introduction of the Macedon phalanx: hoplites in triangle-shape

cavalry on the two side of the phalanx

introduction of selective service

sarissa: 4,6 m long spear, the most important army corp in Macedon

Philip II is not only famous for his military inventions but for also his
conquests. His aim was not to invade the Greek cities but to unite them. At
first he involved in the Third Sacred War which had broken out in Greece,
in 353, and invaded Thessaly.

Later he completed the subjugation of the Balkan hill-country to the

west and north, and reduced the Greek cities of the coast to the Hebrus.
Philip started the siege of Olynthus in 349 BC, and one year later he razed
every city of the Chalcidian peninsula to the ground.

With key Greek city-states in his hands, he turned to Sparta; and sent
them a message, "You are advised to submit without further delay, for if I
bring my army into your land, I will destroy your farms, slay your people,
and raze your city." For this message the laconic reply of the Spartans:
"If". After this Philip (and Alexander too) left them alone.
 Radvnyi Rka. 2

Domination of Philip II

In 340 BC, Philip started the siege of Perinthus. He began another

siege in 339 of the city of Byzantium, and after their failure, Philip's
influence all over Greece was established.

The League of Corinth was created and led by him from 337 BC.
Members of the League agreed never to attack each other, unless it was
to suppress revolution. Philip was elected as its leader, and became the
hegemon In 336 BC, he wanted to start a war against the Persian
Empire, but when the invasion was in its very early stage, Philip was
assassinated, so he could not reach his goals anymore...

According to Diodorus, Philip was hosting a party before the war

against Persia. He wanted his march into the theater to be triumphant,
and he asked his bodyguards to stand back and out of the way to show
that he had nothing to fear. At that very moment, a man called Pausanias
rushed forward from the crowd and stuck a knife in Philip's chest. During
his escape, Pausanias tripped and fell and was killed on the spot.

After the death of his father, Alexander III took his fathers throne,
and started to govern and extend the prosperous kingdom of Macedon.i
i
Source: http://www.wikipedia.com
http://wso.williams.edu/~junterek/philip.htm
http://faq.macedonia.org/images/PHILIP.jpg