Philip II is the builder of the great kingdom of Makedonia that whose political work in Greece, will open the way with the conquest of the Persian empire. The study of this character is hardly known for us that by its enemies, and initially by Démosthène whose distribes propagated the image of the barbarian, drunk of blood and wine, who owed his successes only with the chance and the weakness, cowardice or the treason of its adversaries. At Aristote to which it entrusted the education of his son and who was used for to him to advise for réglement Greek businesses, no personal indication; only a passage of the " Policy " speaks about the Macédonian royalty like system with share, distinct all at the same time from the " basileiai " ' (which were hardly but magistratures among the others) and from the Persian autocracy. The king had many historians, and among them Théopompos of Chios, which wrote a long series of " Makédonika "; but they remains only some fragments, and is thus necessary to be satisfied with what " the Universal History " by Diomède of Sicily said, lacunar story, sometimes erroneous, written for readers living under Augustus.

Portrait of Philip high ivory part of 320mm, which decorated the wood bed in the Philip tomb, discovered at Vergina (Greece).

THE ADVENT AND THE REORGANISATION OF THE ARMY

It is with a national catastrophe that Philip, young person twenty-two years old, had to become king of the Macédonians: in summer 360, his elder brother, the king Perdiccas III was killed and his army massacred by the illyrians.

Makedonia was threatened to be absorbed by the evils, which, after the reign shining of Alexander Ist at the time of the medic wars, had maintained it in a certain lowering: covetousnesses of the cruel kings who surrounded the country, Illyrians in North West, Péonians in North(actual FYROM), and Thracians in the East, and compétition of the various applicants, descendants of sovereigns former, of which the ambitions were supported by these kings or quoted Greek of the coast, even by Athens. Philip II started by saving time by buying the withdrawal or désinterestedness ones and others, but, of the 359, it took its revenge on king Bardylis by crushing in his turn the illyrians. Such a reversal is not to allot randomly, nor even with only tactical qualities of the king; undoubtedly is necessary it to also see the first fruits of the military réorganization which was going the best in the world, the macedonian army. Philip accepted an army whose principal force was the " hétairoi " of the companions cavalry, left warlike aristocracy and huntress made up of rich person landowners associated of close with the life of the king.

During the only épisode of its youth that us knows, a stay like hostage at Thèbes whose hoplyte phalanx heavy armoured infantrymen, was at the time the best of Greece, Philip had been able to note the superiority of these battalions. Each man protected with his shield and that from his neighbor from right-hand side, however that its spear threatened the neck or the eye of the adversary. The victory returned to the phalanx which, advancing in command tightened on the battle field, managed to break by its pressure the enemy face; overcome, having lost the protection of their neighbors, did not have any more that to seek their safety in the escape during which many was massacred. If the details and the chronology of the military reforms of Philip II remain to us unknown, it is certain that its philosopher's stone is the development of a national infantry; its men will take the name, which associated them in a certain manner prestige of the aristocracy, of " pezhétairoi ", the feet companions, which formed its guard. It was the favorite weapon of Philip that of with the head of which it often charged, whereas Alexander III fights with the cavalry, and of which it shared the dangers, which was worth four serious wounds to him, of which the loss of an eye during the seat of Méthone.

Macedonian helmet called also " Phrygian ", out of bronze, IVth century BC

FATE OF THE GREEK COLONIES IN GREECE OF NORTH

Another problem accepted a final solution, that of the Greek colonies which, since VIIIth century at least, constituted a belt along the dimension Macédonian, organizing the exchanges between the people of the interior and the Greek world. They occupied the only zone of Makédonia where one can cultivate, with the vine and the olive-tree; it was there also that the mines of richest money and gold were. Two cities had taken an importance exceptional: Amphipolis bolted the low valley of Strymon and, therefore, the access to the basin of Greenhouses and Western Thracia and ordered also the East-West road by the Lakes Mygdonia and Piéria of Pangea when in Olynth it had known to gather around it the chacidians in a powerful federation who covered a good part of the Chalcidic rich person.

At the Vth century, these cities were protected from the hostility of the Macédonians or the thraces by Athens, whose fleet could intervene in force anywhere, any time, and whose diplomacy had known to make invaluable the Athenian support to the princes of the interior. But the hatred of two quoted against Athens because of its excesses imperialist made their situation much more precarious, while at the same time the awkwardness of their interventions in the policy Macédonian, and in particular the support brought into 360 for various applicants, exposed them to the vindication of Philip. This one could play of the contradictory interêts, giving pledges to Chalcidians and rusant with Athens for, into 357, to seize Amphipolis where it had gained partisans; in the same way it annexed Olynth into 349-348 thanks to the intelligences as it had been spared in the place.

Arrow point bearing the name of Philip, out of bronze, found at Olynth (Greece) . The weapons thus marked of the name of the king had been prepared, probably, in a state workshop.

Others quoted Greek were integrated into the kingdom, without losing their identity. Thus, in 357 also, Thasians had believed to be able to base a new city close to their money mines on the continent, causing a reaction of Thracians. Philip II benefitted from this error for refonder the city under the name of Philip thus ensuring himself of large mining incomes and a very strong position at the place where the marsh which extends to the foot from the mountain lock the basin from Drama but it left at the city a broad autonomy.

It is thus a very constrast picture which the Greeks could have of the king at the time when condition of its forces enabled him to intervene in Greece: a will of domination been useful by a military instrument ground and perfectly flexible good; an unrestrained brutality to break the obstacles with its ambition; the absence of scruples in the choice of the means; a political direction which leads it to save the overcome adversary if this one can be used for the consolidation of the system; a deep knowledge of the country allowing him to seize all the occasions and to benefit from the weaknesses of traditional Greece. The principal advantage of Philip II was the sharing of the country in cantons and their antagonism, skilfully poked by Persis, which had known to exhaust the various cities claiming to organize Greek space with their profit, Athens, Sparta and Thèbes . Moreover, the évolution of the military practices since the Péloponnesian War had supported the formation of permanent mercenaries troops, ready to be rented with highest offerer. Anarchy had arrived from there at such a point that does not import tyrant having some financial means could claim with hégémony.

Thus in Thessaly, only the assassination thwarted the ambition of the Phères tyrants.This area, located immediately in the South of Macedonia, for a long time had close contacts with the kingdom and the thessalian aristocracy, impassioned horse and of hunting, carried out a rural life which was not to be appreciably different from the aristocracy Macédonian. It is sigificatif that other Thessalians preferred to be placed under the authority of Philip rather than to undergo the yoke of local tyrants: they elected it Archonte , supreme military head with life, with for mission of regulating the situation with Phères. The spot was difficult and Philip had to be caught there with twice, into 353 and 352, for finally crushing the opposing army, which left on the ground 6000 soldiers and 3000 prisoniers.

The thessalian business is closely related to the épisode perhaps most characteristic of the Greek history of front IVth century BC: the crowned war, thus called because, Phocidians having stripped its richnesses the sanctuary of Apollo at Delphus the remainder of Amphictionie association of the people which managed the sanctuary, flew to the help of the god. In fact, this religious folding screen hides the plays of local and regional tearings badly. The quoted of Delphus independent rich person, excited the jealousy of the remainder of Phocidia but it, itself was divided into clan of which some had supports at Phocidians. In addition, those supported the authority badly that claimed to exert on them the Philistines their Eastern neighbors most powerful. The seizure on Delphus allowed a phocidian head, Onomarchos to constitute into 356, a troop able to attack the Philistines which was worth the " ashamed " support to him, since it was sacrilege, their Athens ennemies and Sparta as well as tyrant of Phères. This last called upon Onomarchos and its Phocidians, while the remainder of Thessaly, united against him, turned to Philip II. The king suffered one failure, but it took its revenge by massacring its enemies at the time of the battle of Crocos into 352. The fate of Delphus arousing only one poor interest in Greece, Phalaikos new king of Phocidians arrived to fighting against the thébans until 346, when the king of Macédonia persuade, once victorious of Thracians and ready to sign peace with Athens, that to consolidate his positions in central Greece, it was necessary for him to put an end to the crisis. The phocidians guilty were exiled and the survivors condemned to an énormous pénalty and Amphictionia reorganized gave Philip II and to his Thessalians a dominating place in the administration of the sanctuary.

Demosthene saw whereas there was not an other solution for Athens only to face the king. The city had run up everywhere against Philip by supporting unhappy claiming, while intervening around Amphipolis and of Olynth, in the wars thraces and when the king had made countryside in the South of Thermopyles And, everywhere, its positions had been very started. Demosthene was right, certainly, to denounce the inconstancy and the insufficiency of military engagement, like the faults made by the leaders, in connection with their legal statute. Indeed the policy of quoted was given less by the magistrates elected annually that by a speaker enjoying the popular confidence and whose consulting and magistrates accepted the authority. This speaker and his principal adversary clashed in verbal sparring matches during great political lawsuits: the court of Héliée popular jury several hundreds of citizens who, thanks to an astute system of drawing of lots, represented perfectly quoted, then designated the candidate from now on invested authority by the majority of the citizens. This mode, ground little by little, after its victory over Eschine, authority and continuity necessary to follow a policy solved during several years, in spite of the annual changes of magistrature.

Athens was baited to continue its imperial dream of the Vth century, when its fleet allowed him to control the dimensions of Aegéan sea. As one saw in Amphipolis and in Olynth these ambitions cause solved oppositions from which Philip profits its progression in Thessaly and central Greece is facilitated by the paralysis of Athens which makes at this time there face up " social war ", revolt of its maritime allies.

The defeat of Athens in 355, puts an end to any structured organization in Aegéan sea, supporting the piracy activity that Philip is shown to support. Against a continental power whose force rested on an quasi-army of trade, the fleet could provide an invaluable support: it blocks first once the passage of Thermopyles makes vain the seats of the coast cities, Périnth or Byzance and protects the island from Thassos remained until the end the allied one of Athens and hostile with Philip. But the oarsmen could not moult themselves in hoplites to be able to be opposed to the Macédonian phalanx: at the time of the final combat, the fleet remained unemployed. There are some pathetic to see quoted the most brilliant of the Greece, most innovative, captive of an old dream, to put the essence of its confidence in an unsuited military instrument.

At the capacity from 343 Démosthène implements its policy. Damming up thanks to the fleet, the attacks of Philip II in Thracia it makes an effort by an tireless diplomatic action, to set up a great terrestrial force with Péléponnésians (but the adhesion of Arcadians and Messénians bring about the refusal of Sparta and with the other traditional adversary, Thèbes. It is only after the decision of Philip into 340, to enter in war and the arrival of the Macedonians forces in Phocidia, that Thèbes agree alliance.

The shock enters the two armies take place in August 338, at Chéronae, the Western limit of Béotia. As a whole, Philip II had silver superiors and man resources but nothing was played: the Macédonian army had shown that it was not invincible and the balance of the forces appears to have been appreciably equal. On the other hand, the command Macedonian was incontestably higher. We do not have a precise account of the battle (what underlines once again how much our information is lacunar) but it is admitted that an operation of Philip who ordered the infantry, broke the unfavourable face; the Crowned Théban Battalion was massacred by Alexander cavalry, the son of Philip II. The Athénians did not have anything any more to oppose to Philip. This one was générous towards Athens, from which the mode was not threatened (but Démosthène lost nevertheless the capacity there) less towards Thébans which lost their dominating role in the béotian confédération and had to accept a Macédonian garrison. Philip also placed troops at Ambraçia, Chalcis and Corinthia whose choice indicated a perfect knowledge of the strategic géography of the country.

The lion of Chéronae; this statue of marble protected collective tomb of the Thébans warriors fallen at the Chéronae battle.

This plated iron armour of gold was found at Vergina (Greece) in the tomb of Philip II .

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