The Children of Adam and Eve

From 367 to 365, Philip was a hostage in Thebes, and during that period he
observed the military techniques of Thebes, then the greatest power in
Greece. In 364 he returned to Macedonia. In 359 he was made regent for his
infant nephew Amyntas; later that year he seized the throne for himself.

Faced by internal dissensions and attacked on all sides, he reorganized
the Macedonian army on the model of the Theban phalanx. In less than two
years he had secured the safety of his kingdom and firmly established
himself on the throne. From then on his policy was aggressive. In 357 he
conquered the Athenian colony of Amphipolis in Thrace, gaining possession
of the gold mines of Mount Pangaeus, which financed his subsequent wars.
In 356 he captured Potidea in Chalcidice and Pydna on the Thermaic Gulf.
In 355 he captured the Thracian town of Crenides, which, under its new
name, Philippi, soon acquired great wealth and fame.

In 354 Philip conquered Methone and then advanced into Thessaly. By 352 he
had reached the pass of Thermopylae, which, However, he did not attempt to
take, because it was Strongly guarded by the Athenians. In 351 the great
Athenian orator Demosthenes delivered the first of his Philippics, a
series of speeches warning the Greeks about the Macedonian menace to Greek
liberty. By 348 Philip had conquered Thrace and Chalcidice. Two years
later he made peace with Athens, which had been at war with him in defense
of its ally, the Chalcidian city Olynthus. Philip was next requested by
the Thebans to interfere in the sacred war against Phocis. He marched into
Phocis in 346 and destroyed its cities. Thereafter Macedonia replaced
Phocis in the Amphictyonic League, giving Philip the right to participate
in Greek political affairs; in 338 the council appointed Philip commander
of the league forces. The Athenians, aroused by Demosthenes, united with
the Thebans against Philip, but their combined army was utterly defeated
in 338 at the Battle of Chaeronea. Philip's victory made him complete
master of Greece and ended Greek independence. Two years later, while
preparing to invade Persia, he was assassinated.

Philip was the greatest statesman and general of his time. He laid the
foundation of the Macedonian military power employed by his son, Alexander
the Great, to conquer and Hellenize the Middle East. A treasure-filled
royal tomb, believed to be Philip's, was excavated at Vergina, near
Thessalon?, Greece, in 1977.