Phillip bust

BUST OF PHILLIP  II OF MACEDON

Phillip bust.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

THE KINGDOM.

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. His major foes were the Illyrians (whom he would eventually defeat in 359 BCE) and the Athenians.

TRANSFORMATION OF HIS ARMY

He completely reorganized Macedonia’s army. He increased its size from 10,000 to 24,000 and enlarged the cavalry from 600 to 3,500. This was no longer an army of citizen-warriors but one of professional soldiers. He created a corps of engineers to develop siege weaponry, namely towers and catapults. To give each man a sense of unity and solidarity, he provided uniforms and required an oath of allegiance to the king.  Each soldier would no longer be loyal to a particular town or province but faithful only to the king.

Next, he restructured the traditional Greek phalanx, providing each individual unit with its own commander, thereby allowing for better communication. Philip changed the principal weaponry from the hoplite spear to the sarissa, an 18 to 20 feet pike; it had the advantage of reaching over the much shorter spears of the opposition. Along with the sarissa, a new helmet, and a redesigned shield. Also each man possessed a smaller double-edge sword, or xiphos, for close-in-hand fighting.