PHILIP

From Agepedia

PHILIP, king of Macedon, father of Alexander the Great, flourished in the middle of the fourth century before the Christian era. He went to Thebes as a hostage, when he was very young, and received an excellent education in the house of the celebrated Epaminondas. At the age of twentytwo, B. C. 361, he ascended the throne of Macedonia, which lie found tottering and surrounded by numerous enemies. His genius soon succeeded in establishing it, and raising it to a pitch of greatness which it had never before attained. He freed himself from his enemies, partly by concessions, and partly by force of arms. In a short time, he made war also upon his peaceful neighbors; and, encouraged by his successes in Thessaly and Thrace, he sought gradually to extend his dominion over all Greece. The dissensions of the different states favored his designs. The subtle Philip well knew what use to make of this division. When, therefore, he was summoned to aid the Thebans against the Phocians who had plundered the treasury of the temple at Delphi, he did not neglect this opportunity to carry into effect his ^ambitious purposes. The subjugation of the Phocians was very soon accomplished; but the treacherous conduct of Philip towards his allies opened the eyes of the Greeks; several states formed a league with the Athenians to oppose him, while others condescended to use the most disgraceful flattery towards the artful conqueror. A wound which he received on his return from a campaign against the Scythians, delaj^ed the blow which was to prostrate the liberty of Greece, till, at last, the great victory at Cheronaea (B. C. 338) decided its fate. Philip assembled at Corinth the deputies of all the Grecian states, and dictated the terms of peace, which deprived them of freedom. When he was on the point of causing himself to be chosen commanderinchief of the army which was to march against the Persians, he was assassinated, in the fortyseventh year of his age, by Pausanias, a young Macedonian, who was hired to commit this act by the Persians. This prince, the inventor of the Macedonian phalanx (q. v.), united, with the highest talents of a commander, the intrepidity of the bravest soldier. But ambition and 'ove of power were the most prominent features in his character, which often led him to the most unwarrantable actions.