Phillip II of Macedon Essay

King Philip ruled ancient Greece from 359 BC right up to his death in 336 BC. After his demise, his son, Alexander, took up his fathers mantle and continued his work as a ruler. Thus began the reign of one of the greatest rulers in human history, Alexander the Great, who ruled almost all of the Mediterranean. Alexander’s empire strectched from Greece to India, spreading Greek ideas throughout and many cities were named after the great ruler. Alexander’s reign only lasted 13 years, but his impact has left a mark on human history as many cities throughout Asia, Africa, and Europe still bare his name and the fact that his death triggered the start of a new era.

Phillip II, Alexander’s father had developed the Macedonian phalanx, evolving it from the hoplite phalanx. It was an 8 to 36 men deep rectangular mass formation made for heavy infantry soldiers. The simple Greek formation had been made more adaptable by Phillip II of Macedon and Alexander the Great. The primary unit of Alexander’s phalanx was the syntagma that was usually 16 men deep. Each of these soldiers was armed with the sarrissa, which was a 13-21-foot spear. In formation, the first five of these ranks held their sarissas horizontally facing the advancing enemy, with each of these five ranks being squished together, practically on each others heels. The residual 11 ranks either rested their spears on the shoulders of the men in front of them or they held their sarissas vertically. Due to the unfamiliarity with this formation, opposing soldiers were left intimidated by it.

In 336 BC, Macedonia had a new king. This new king's name was Alexander the Great. He was the son of King Philip II and decided to take over the throne after his father passed away. Not only was he king, he was also a mighty soldier. Alexander took his role as king very seriously. Once he became king, he quickly made his way to Greece and restored Macedonian rule in Northern Greece. Alexander was determined to take over the Persian Empire for his father in order to expand the Macedonian Empire. During his reign, Alexander trained the best army that Macedonian has every had. Alexander led the Macedonian Army to defeat the Persians. Alexander wasn't only king of Macedonia, he was also king of Persia. He eventually married a Persian Princess. The

Alexander had been taught many things from a very young age such as academic subjects, politics, sports, and warfare which made him think very highly of himself. His father Philip of Macedonia made an extremely strong army and took over many Greek polises and wanted to take over the Persian Empire. This struck Alexander’s aspiration to take over the Persian Empire as well. Alexander then inherited his father’s kingdom at the age of 18 after his father

Alexander lll of Macedonia commonly known as Alexander the Great, in recent times many had historians debating whether or not he was truly great. At the young age of 13 Alexander began learning from the famous Greek philosopher, Aristotle, and when he was 20 he inherited the empire from his father. This empire included the Kingdom of Macedonia and the city states of Greece at the time, but he soon began to expand it. Some think Alexander was great because he became so powerful, conquering so much land in a short amount of time, almost never losing a battle. Alexander was in fact great because he was an intelligent military leader, he showed equity and respect, and exhibited appreciation of and spread many cultures.

The era between 350 and 310 BC marked a dramatic change in the Western World from the first, classical Hellenic Age of the Greeks, to the second, Hellenistic Age of the Greek Civilization. This classical period was considered the height of Greek civilization and deemed “The Golden Age” of ancient Greece. The polis (Greek city-state) was the center of Greek political life for the majority of this period. The poleis were small, independent, and self-sufficient; however, too politically divided to survive the blow of the Peloponnesian war. In 338 BC, Greece was concurred by Macedonia and the polis had lost their independence. “The abiding devotion to the polis […] greatly diminished during the fourth century” (Perry 45). The mentality of Greek citizens changed because of their defeat; they were now an individualistic, rational and secular society. People were no longer viewing the law as “an expression of sacred traditions ordained by the gods” but now saw it as merely mortal, obedience to the law faded, leading to a weakened society (Perry 46). The pride and duty of the polis mentality dwindled and emotional and political ties to the city weakened. Subsequently, Alexander the Great’s conquests, in 330 BC, moved the Greek civilization beyond the polis, to the Near East. For the first time, Greeks had to define their existence as part of a much bigger, more complex and alienating world. The death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC marked the end of the Hellenic age and the

Philip II took control of Macedon in 359 BC as Macedon was going through a deep crisis. On the verge of collapse with having recently lost 4,000 men and Persiccas killed in battle against invading Illyrians and his death opening several security threats, Macedon was in desperate need of a ruler. With the heir to the throne only an infant Philip persuaded the officials to recognise him as king in place of his infant nephew. Philip quickly realised the weakness of his country’s army and drew upon past experiences to mould them into a supreme army. He effectively reformed the Phalanx, Cavalry, siege craft and weapons to gain military supremacy and hegemony.

Through many history books and writings, many historians write about Phillip III, or most commonly known as Alexander the Great. Maybe because of how successful he was or maybe just because of how he had such a major impact in history. They tend to focus on the advantages he created, and the success Alexander the Great had as a leader not just in the military aspect of his reign, but also as a leader in the political side. The history shows the impacts and changes brought from the military, from which Alexander the Great lead, and the spreading of Greek culture he influenced through the areas he conquered. As Alexander the Great dedicated his life to further advancing his power, the world would never be same at the time for surrounding villages and empires that tried to defend their land against Alexander the Great with his army and allies.

From Macedon, he united Greece except for Sparta because he respected their military. He united them without going to war instead he used politics. Philip Ⅱ wanted to spread the Greek lifestyle around the known world. Philip wanted to do this because when he was a child, he was a hostage in Thebes and he learned to respect the Greeks way of life. He died at a war meeting to discuss how they would take Persia. While he was on his way to a war meeting unguarded, he was assassinated in 336 B.C(PhilipⅡ of Macedon). King Philip Ⅱ had a war strategy named the phalanx that one day Alexander would use as his war strategy.

When Alexander's father Philip II of Macedonia was young he was held hostage in Thebes. While he was there he received a military and diplomatic education. When he was old enough, he returned to Macedonia then a few years later his oldest brother died and when he did Philip took the throne. With his education and experience Philip brought Macedonia victory. Philip turned

Alexander the Great is dead. In his life time, his Macedonian Kingdom was the biggest empire humanity had seen up at that time. With his death however, this empire would never be the same as many family and friends became worst enemies. These are the war of his successors. On June 11 323 B.C., Alexander the Great passed away in Babylon. He had a left a formidable empire, stretching from Greece to India. Yet its fate was far from certain. Alexander’s only living child was deemed illegitimate. His half brother Aridarus was mentally ill and though one of his wives Roxana was pregnant, there was no guarantee the child would be a boy. A clash with the authority began and one of Alexander’s greatest generals, Perdiccas emerged as the victor. Aridarus became king as Phillip

At an early age Alexander’s father Philip hired a tutor. Alexander’s tutor was Aristotle, Philip II hired him to ensure Alexander had the best education. Aristotle worked with Alexander to help improve his intelligence. Alexander was able to conquer more land than his father. He was a very ambitious man he wanted to conquer the world. After his father was murdered he became ruler of the Macedonia empire (57). Under Alexander’s rule the Macedonia empire had control over Persia, Greece, Egypt, Iran, Afghanistan and some of India (64).

To fully answer this question it is necessary to truly evaluate each of his policies with dealing his enemies and compatriots both foreign and domestic throughout his reign. This essay will attempt to take each main area of conflict in his life and provide clear indications as to the degree of success that Philip achieved.

The death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC marks the beginning of the Hellenistic Period and covers 300 years to the invasion of Egypt by the Romans. The word Hellenic refers only to the Greeks, but the term Hellenistic refers to `the Greek-influenced societies that arose in the wake of Alexander's conquest' (Sacks, 105). The Hellenistic world extended from Greece all the way to Afghanistan and resulted in the beginning of the mass spreading of Greek culture. Its central characteristics were the mass empires created by Alexander and his successors, the mingling of Greek and other cultures and the diffusion of religions

At the battle of Chaeronea, Philip defeated the allied Greek states of the Sacred Band of Thebes in September 338 BC. At that time, Alexander was only 18 and having been placed in command of the left wing of Philip's cavalry, he demonstrated personal courage when he broke the band. It is said he was the first man to charge against the Thebans. Although Philip's army was greatly outnumbered by the Athenian and Theban troops, the Macedonian phalanxes triumphed over them. Athens and Thebes also came under Philip's rule. Sparta remained the only Greek state not under Macedonian control. The courage demonstrated by Alexander made Philip very proud. The subjects started to call him their king before he even took the throne.