Philip with Alexander - Heroes and Gods

"King Philip shows a young Alexander the heroes and gods in the caves of Pella.

Although he is often only remembered for being the father of Alexander the Great, Philip II of Macedon (reigned 359 BCE - 336 BCE) was an accomplished king and military commander in his own right, setting the stage for his son's victory over Darius III and the conquest of Persia. Philip inherited a weak, backward country with an ineffective, undisciplined army and molded them into a formidable, efficient military force, eventually subduing the territories around Macedonia as well as subjugating most of Greece. He used bribery, warfare, and threats to secure his kingdom. However, without his insight and determination, history would never have heard of Alexander.

Unlike many of the city-states in Greece, Macedonia was a monarchy, seen as primitive and backward by the rest of Greece. Although the people spoke a Greek dialect, many believed the country was useful only as a source of timber and pastureland. The royal family of this barbaric land was the Argeads who traced their roots to both the isle of Argos and Heracles (Hercules), the son of Zeus. Born around 383 BCE, Philip was the youngest of the three sons of Amyntas III. His older brother Perdiccas III was killed while fighting the Illyrians along the northern Macedonian border. Since the oldest Argead brother, Alexander II, was also dead, Philip was made regent for his nephew Amyntas IV. Philip assumed the Macedonian throne for himself at the age of 23 in 359 BCE. His immediate concern was twofold: to safeguard Macedonia's borders and reorganize the army.

During his conquest of Greece, Philip took time away from the battlefield to marry seven times. The most famous of these marriages was to Olympias, daughter of Neoptolemus of Epirus and mother of the future conqueror of Persia, Alexander (there was also a daughter named Cleopatra). At the time of Alexander's birth in 356 BCE, Philip was away in battle at Potidea. The historian Plutarch in his Life of Alexander wrote of this time, “Just after Philip had taken Potidea, he received three messages at one time, that Parmenio had overthrown the Illyrians in a great battle, that his race-horse had won the course at the Olympic Games, and that his wife had given birth to Alexander ….” However, as Alexander grew and his intelligence became obvious, tension rose between father and son."