Greek and Persian Wars | The Rise of Macedon (Lecture 20)

Lecture 20: In the mid-4thcentury B.C., the remarkable Philip II ascended to the throne of Macedon, becoming to his kingdom what Cyrus II had been to Persia. He set about uniting the Greek world using a combination of old and new strategies—conquest combined with diplomacy and dynastic marriages. Philip saw that involvement in foreign conflicts had scattered Greek mercenary armies throughout the Mediterranean. In contrast, he created a professional fighting force that owed allegiance to the king of Macedon alone. He then set out on campaigns to win an empire, tackling the fragmented city-states of Greece one by one until finally defeating the armies of Athens and Thebes at Chaeronea. The Athenian orator Demosthenes had warned his fellow citizens that Philip was a threat to Greek freedom; Isocrates, however, continued to see Philip as the only hope for a unified Greece.

Recommended Reading:
Adcock, The Greek and Macedonian Art of War.
Plutarch, The Age of Alexander: Nine Greek Lives.