Philip Ii of Macedon: Aspects of His Reign
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PHILIP II OF MACEDON: ASPECTS OF HIS REIGN By BENJAMIN DAVID TURNER A Thesis Submitted to The University of Birmingham for the Degree of MASTER OF PHILOSOPHY Institute of Archaeology and Antiquity College of Arts and Law The University of Birmingham January 2012 University of Birmingham Research Archive e-theses repository This unpublished thesis/dissertation is copyright of the author and/or third parties. The intellectual property rights of the author or third parties in respect of this work are as defined by The Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 or as modified by any successor legislation. Any use made of information contained in this thesis/dissertation must be in accordance with that legislation and must be properly acknowledged. Further distribution or reproduction in any format is prohibited without the permission of the copyright holder. Abstract This study will assess whether there is sufficient surviving source material from the reign of PhiliP II of Macedon for the modern scholar to reasonably attemPt a full-length study. It will do this through three seParate case studies. The first is ‘The Military Transformation of Macedon.’ This will examine the nature of the threats that PhiliP faced uPon becoming king in 359 BC, and his achievement in overcoming them. It will attemPt to understand his imPact on the growth in size of the Macedonian army, and thirdly the significance of his introduction of the sarissa, his most celebrated military innovation. The second section is ‘PhiliP and Athens: War and Peace.’ This will attemPt to assess PhiliP’s intentions in his dealings with the Greek city by studying his and Athens’ apProach to the treaty that ended a decade of warfare between the two. The third section, ‘The Murder of PhiliP II’ will examine the circumstances of PhiliP’s assassination. Although the assassin is known to have been a bodyguard, Pausanias, rumours abound in the sources of the involvement of PhiliP’s wife, OlymPias, his son Alexander, and of a consPiracy involving nobles from the UPPer Macedonian kingdom of Lyncestis. For J. E., who guided my first stePs. For G. S., who Pointed me on my way. For N. M., who helPed me comPlete the journey. Contents List of Abbreviations…………………………………………………………………………………………………iii 1. Introduction..……………………………………………………………………………………………….……..1 2. Literary Overview…………………..……………………………………………………………………….…..5 3. The Military Transformation of Macedon I. Introduction……………...…………………………………………..…………………………………16 II. The Historical Context..…………………………………………...………………………………18 III. The Miracle of 359? (i) Outline..………….…………………………………..………………………………………22 (ii) The Athenian Threat..……………………………………...…………………………23 (iii) The Paeonian Threat..…….……………………………...…………………………25 (iv) The Thracian Threat…………………………………………………………………..28 (v) The Illyrian Threat…....………………………………………………………….…….29 (vi) Summary of Findings..……………………………………………………………….33 IV. Military Genius? (i) Numbers.…………………………………………………………………………………….35 (ii) EquiPment and Organisation..………………….…………………………………45 (iii) The Sarissa..……………………………………………………………………………….47 (iv) Summary of Findings..……………………………………………………………….52 V. Conclusions..………………………………………….……………………………………………….55 4. Philip and Athens: War and Peace I. Introduction..…………………………………………..……………………………………….………58 II. War (i) Outbreak of War…………....………………………………………………….……….58 (ii) The Sacred War..………………………………...…………………………….……….62 i (iii) Closing of the War…...…………………………………………………….…………65 III. Peace (i) Lead UP to the Peace…………………………………………………………………..71 (ii) The First Embassy..………………………....…………………………..…………….73 (iii) The Second Embassy………………………………………………………………….76 IV. Conclusions………………………………………………………………………………………......86 5. The Murder of Philip II I. Introduction……………………………………………………………………………………………..90 II. Alexander & OlymPias (i) Heir APParent? ……………………………………………………………………………92 (ii) Queen of Queens? ……………………………………………………………………..93 (iii) A New Wife..………………………………………………………………………………97 (iv) HapPiness Shattered?………………………………………………………………103 (v) Attalus’ Treason………………………………………………………………………..109 (vi) Illyria and EPirus………………………………………………………………………114 III. Persian Satraps and Elder Brothers………………………………………………….……118 IV. Lyncestae and Amyntae (i) Introduction…………………………………….………………………………………..122 (ii) Revolt?.…………………………………………………………………………………….123 (iii) Alexander the Lyncestian…………………………………………………………130 (iv) Murderers?………………………………………………………………………………133 V. Pausanias (i) An Assassin’s Motives………………………………………………………………..135 (ii) An Assassin’s Assistance?………………………………………………………….139 (iii) Summary of Findings……………………………………………………………….142 VI. Conclusions………………………………………………………………………………………….143 6. Conclusions…………………………………………………………………………………………………….146 Bibliography…………………………………………………………………………….……………………………150 ii List of Abbreviations AHB Ancient History Bulletin AJA American Journal of Archaeology AM Ancient Macedonia, Proceedings of the International SymPosia on Ancient Macedonia AncW Ancient World BCH Bulletin de correspondance hellénique BSA Annual of the British School at Athens CJ Classical Journal CQ Classical Quarterly CW Classical World FGrH F. Jacoby, Die Fragmente der griechischen Historiker FHG C. Müller, Fragmenta Historicorum Graecorum G&R Greece & Rome GHI M. N. Tod. A Selection of Greek Historical Inscriptions, Vol. 2 GRBS Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies IG Inscriptiones Graecae JHS Journal of Hellenic Studies IG Inscriptiones Graecae TAPA Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Society iii Introduction Various efforts have been made to directly examine the life of PhiliP II of Macedon, although the achievements of his son, Alexander the Great, have inevitably drawn greater attention from ancient and modern scholars. In addition to the limited attention his reign directly receives in most studies of Alexander’s life, several full biographies of Philip have been Published. However, the level of attention has ultimately been low. Undoubtedly one of the main reasons for this is the relative, at times near comPlete, dearth of evidence for large periods of his reign. It is this Point that Provides the main insPiration for this work. In theory, one can draw certain conclusions from even the sParsest collection of information. Thus an archaeologist can make certain basic assumPtions about the date and Provenance of a handful of stone bricks he finds in a field. If Pressed to offer a wider, more detailed theory on the structure they formed Part of’s size, colour and layout however, he could not be exPected, given the limited nature of the evidence available, to offer an oPinion that was not overwhelmingly conjectural. In the same way, one can attemPt to Piece together a sequence of events from references and descriPtions in source material. However, if the references are scarce or Poorly informed, such overall reconstructions begin to rely overly on conjecture and theorising. Therefore this study will not attemPt to offer a full biographical study of PhiliP, but instead an analysis of whether, given the considerable lack of source material for various asPects of his reign, such a full-length evaluation can realistically be comPleted at all. This will be attemPted through the division of the study into three seParate essays, each of which will focus on a Particular asPect of PhiliP’s rule as a case study for how full a Picture can be drawn of PhiliP’s time as king. The first of these studies will examine asPects of PhiliP’s effect on the Macedonian army. This is of Particular significance as almost all descriPtions of the military come from accounts of the forces Alexander took with him to, and made use 1 of in Asia. Little material is available for PhiliP’s reign itself beyond narrative references to his use of the army, meaning that his imProvements must be largely inferred from the disParity between Alexander’s forces and the few hazy details that survive of military forces in pre-PhiliPPic Macedon. That imProvements occurred seems very likely as descriPtions of Macedon in 359 depict a state on the verge of collapse, and one that had for some time been without any real military forces. Thus the study will be as much an investigation of the accuracy of such early dePictions as of the changes that followed. The second study will focus on Macedon’s relations with Athens. PhiliP’s involvement with the various Greek city-states and the frequently changing factions they made uP is far too lengthy and comPlicated to address in its entirety. Consequently his relations with Athens will be used as a case study of PhiliP’s involvement in Greek Politics; whether his entry marked the beginning of a concerted Plan to manoeuvre into a Position of eventual suPeriority by careful exPloitation of Political divisions, or was more the result of his reacting to circumstances and oPPortunities that occurred largely without his encouragement. Athens offers the best chance for such a study, as it was at war with Macedon for much of PhiliP’s reign, and throughout the Period a crucial record of Athenian views on PhiliP’s intentions are offered in the sPeeches of Demosthenes and Aeschines. The third essay will investigate the fascinating and confusing affair of PhiliP’s murder. Although the assassin, one Pausanias, is known, the surrounding circumstances are far from clear. Almost all ancient sources allege the involvement of his wife, Olympias, and in some cases, Alexander, due to events shortly before the murder offending the former and apParently throwing doubt on the latter’s Position as heir. To this modern scholars have added the Possibility