PHILIP II of Macedonia

• Philip II of Macedonia was the father of Alexander the Great and laid the groundwork for his son's successes.
• He came to power in 359 BC after the Macedonians had just suffered a defeat at the hands of the Illyrians.Thanks to his military and political efforts, he managed to defeat the Illyrians in 358 BC.
• In 357 BC, he married Olympias, from the royal house of Molossia, and she gave birth to Alexander the next year.
• He re-organised the army giving more power to the hetairoi, or Royal Companions.
• At the battle at Chaeronea in August of 338 BC Philip's army was greatly outnumbered by the Athenian and Theban forces, yet his phalanxes successfully overwhelmed them. Both cities were forced to become subjects of Philip and Macedonia, leaving Sparta as the only Greek state not under Macedonian control.
• After beating Greece, he then won them over and with their support, declared war on Persia to retaliate for the Persian invasion of Greece several generations before.
• In the spring of 336 BC, Philip sent his generals Attalus and Parmenion with 10,000 troops to Asia Minor to begin liberating Greek cities along the coast. Just before Philip himself was to travel, he was assassinated.