The Courts Of Philip Ii And Alexander The Great

Recent scholarship has recognized that Philip II and Alexander the Great adopted elements of their self-fashioning and court ceremonial from previous empires in the Ancient Near East, but it is generally assumed that the advent of the Macedonian court as a locus of politics and culture occurred only in the post-Alexander landscape of the Hellenistic Successors. This volume of ground-breaking essays by leading scholars on Ancient Macedonia goes beyond existing research questions to assess the profound impact of Philip and Alexander on court culture throughout the ages. The papers in this volume offer a thematic approach, focusing upon key institutional, cultural, social, ideological, and iconographical aspects of the reigns of Philip and Alexander. The authors treat the Macedonian court not only as a historical reality, but also as an object of fascination to contemporary Greeks that ultimately became a topos in later reflections on the lives and careers of Philip and Alexander. This collection of papers provides a paradigm-shifting recognition of the seminal roles of Philip and Alexander in the emergence of a new kind of Macedonian kingship and court culture that was spectacularly successful and transformative.

The careers of Philip II and his son Alexander the Great (III) were interlocked in innumerable ways: Philip II centralized ancient Macedonia, created an army of unprecedented skill and flexibility, came to dominate the Greek peninsula, and planned the invasion of the Persian Empire with a combined Graeco-Macedonian force, but it was Alexander who actually led the invading forces, defeated the great Persian Empire, took his army to the borders of modern India, and created a monarchy and empire that, despite its fragmentation, shaped the political, cultural, and religious world of the Hellenistic era. Alexander drove the engine his father had built, but had he not done so, Philip's achievements might have proved as ephemeral as had those of so many earlier Macedonian rulers. On the other hand, some scholars believe that Alexander played a role, direct or indirect, in the murder of his father, so that he could lead the expedition to Asia that his father had organized. In short, it is difficult to understand or assess one without considering the other. This collection of previously unpublished articles looks at the careers and impact of father and son together. Some of the articles consider only one of the Macedonian rulers although most deal with both, and with the relationship, actual or imagined, between the two. The volume will contain articles on military and political history but also articles that look at the self-generated public images of Philip and Alexander, the counter images created by their enemies, and a number that look at how later periods understood them, concluding with the Hollywood depiction of the relationship. Despite the plethora of collected works that deal with Philip and Alexander, this volume promises to make a genuine contribution to the field by focusing specifically on their relationship to one another.

Philip II was not only the father of Alexander the Great, but in many respects was also the father of his son's incredible career. It was the father who unified Macedonia into the first European nation and who created the army with which his son conquered the Persian Empire and inaugurated the Hellenistic Age. This volume is not the standard biography, but rather an examination of the major controversies concerning his life and reign. How did Philip in roughly twenty years transform a divided territory and little more than a geographical conception into a national state? How did he change the very nature of ancient Western warfare? How did he transform this formerly exploited region into the master of the Greek world? Each chapter discusses one of the major academic controversies surrounding this transformative figure, bringing new clarity to the career of a man whose reputation has been so overshadowed by his illustrious son.

A unique military and cultural history that chronicles the reigns of Philip and Alexander the Great in one sweeping narrative.

Describes the efforts of Philip II of Macedonia and his son, Alexander the Great, to unify the different parts of Greece and to establish a vast Greek empire.

This definitive biography of one of history's most influential father-son duos tells the story of two rulers who gripped the world -- and their rise and fall from power. Alexander the Great's conquests staggered the world. He led his army across thousands of miles, overthrowing the greatest empires of his time and building a new one in their place. He claimed to be the son of a god, but he was actually the son of Philip II of Macedon. Philip inherited a minor kingdom that was on the verge of dismemberment, but despite his youth and inexperience, he made Macedonia dominant throughout Greece. It was Philip who created the armies that Alexander led into war against Persia. In Philip and Alexander, classical historian Adrian Goldsworthy shows that without the work and influence of his father, Alexander could not have achieved so much. This is the groundbreaking biography of two men who together conquered the world.

Philip II of Macedon is a unique compilation of fragments of ancient writings, epitomies, and passages from the orators that together form a contemporary biography of one of the most influential figures of the ancient world. Alfred Bradford has collected, translated, and integrated all the significant classical writings about Philip II, the father of Alexander the Great, and he presents them in a readable and lively manner, telling the story of Philip from his precarious childhood, when his life was threatened by his own mother, to his bloody death, when he was murdered by a bodyguard. Philip II, the conqueror of Athens, was the dominant man of his time. A great military tactician and strategist--as evidenced by the analysis of the Battle of Chaeronea provided in this book--Philip built the army that Alexander the Great used to conquer the known world. Knowledge of Philip's life and military achievements is requisite for an understanding of Macedonia and Greece during the Age of Philip. Illustrated with maps by Alfred Bradford and drawings (based on ancient artifacts) by Pamela Bradford, this compelling biography will be of interest to students of ancient history as well as to military historians.

Story of King Philip II of Macedonia and his multiple romances and marriages. He was a brilliant military strategist in the many successful battles he fought, some of which were with the divided Athenian city-states. He unified them into the League of Corinth and appointed himself as their Captain-General. His greatest accomplishment was in his fourth marriage with the Molossian princess Olympias, who bore him a son who became King Alexander III, "The Great." He surpassed his father in military genius with the battles he fought conquering most of the known world in his search for the Persian King Darius III to make him and his ancestors pay for their past destruction of Greece. In the area of romance, he was completely different from his father. He wooed, in a tender romance, and won the beautiful Persian princess Roxane.