Philip II of Macedonia (382-336 BC) was a king of Macedonia and father of Alexander the Great dynastic heir to the Argead kin who traced their lineage to Herakles (known as Hercules in Latin), son of the Temenid family for Argos that had ruled Macedonia since the eight century BC , unifier of Greece, author of Greece’s first federal constitution, creator of the first nationals state in Europe, the first general of the Greek imperial age, founder of Europe’s first great land empire and Greece’s greatest general - was one of the preeminent statesmen of the ancient world.
Philip was born at Pella, in Macedon. The youngest son of King Amyntas III and Queen Eurydice I, Philip was taken hostage by Theban troops at age 14 and remained in captivity for the better part of three years until 365 BC.
Captivity was nothing less than arduous, however, as he received diplomatic and military training from General Epaminondas. In 364 BC, Philip returned to Macedon. The deaths of Philip's elder brothers, King Alexander II and Perdiccas III, who died in battle with Illyrian, allowed him to take the throne in 359 BC.
Philip was an ambitious leader who used his skills at warfare and diplomacy the fortunes of his declining kingdom.
Philip turned Macedonia into a powerful centralized kingdom and brought most of Greece under his control.
In 359 BC, Philip bought off the Paeonians and Thracians with tribute, annihilated a force of 3,000 Athenian soldiers and struck the Illyrians a year later, killing King Bardyllis and at least 4000 of his soldiers.
Philip II of Macedon
