Makedonia was
situated on the borders of the Greek ancient world, they were speaking a
kind of Greek dialect, but the culture development was along time a
little way away and a little behind. Unlike the rest of Greece, they
didn't formed city communities, huge pieces of land were owned by nobles
families. In
the 5
century BC the Kings of these lands tried to get in
contact with the Greek world and
Alexander I
was the first noble who achieve the acceptance
of his house as Greek. His successor Archelaos
extended the infrastructure, build streets and fortresses and invited
Greek artist and poets in his land.
After
the dead of Archelaos
came up confusing
situations and several
power struggles, which ended 359
BC
with the seizure of power by
the just 24 years old Phillip
II.
He managed to eliminate his opponents and he could bundle up all the
individual nobles to a united Macedonian State.
In his youth Phillip was taken away from the
Thebans as a hostage and learned there some military strategies, he used
now to raise up Macedonia to a outstanding military power. He bought
mercenaries, arranged the Phalanx in a deeper stagger, build up huge
cavalry regiment and developed different strategies of siege.
He
conquered Amphipolis,
Rydna and Poteidaia
what ended in a war with Athens, which saw their
interest in those areas in danger. At
the same time, during the 3rd Holy war around the
year 356 BC,
the Phoker were, with the support of Athens, in the
area of Delphi, and during a while they had whole central Greece under
control. Boeotia
and Thessalia
called Phillip for help and
he pushed, 352 BC
the Phoker
out of Thessalia and just kept the new land for
himself.
He
provoked 349
BC a
war with Olynth and the
Chalcidician
Alliance, which ended up in the totally destruction of Olynth and the
connection of the region to the Macedonian Empire.
In 346
BC Athens and Phillip
made piece. He also arranged with Artaxerxes
a non-aggression pact, with the goal to be save
from the northern front line and in the same time to connect Thrace to
his Empire. In 338 BC,
in the fourth Holy war Phillip
provoked, he defeated Athens and
captured central Greece. In the deciding battle near Chaironeia in Boeotien
he won and got the ruler ship also for Lemnos, Imbros, Skyros, Samos
and Delos.
He also
impose restrictions on Sparta and founded 337
BC the Corinthian
Alliance. The members
had to respect all member states, their borders and had to accept the
same friends and enemies. Phillip
didn't become a member but
made assure that he would have the chairmanship lifelong.
He invented this alliance on purpose to extant
his Empire to the east, an attack on Persian. After the Death of Artaxerxes II,
338 BC, in 336
BC the successor Dareios
III
took the power, and in the same year 10.000 Macedonian soldiers crossed
the Hellespont.
But
Phillip couldn't realized his further plans, he got killed by a noble in
336 BC,
during a wedding ceremony.
However he managed all prerequisite
for his son to continue his plans of a huge
Macedonian Empire.
Early History / Archaic Age / Classical Age / Hellenic Age / The Army / Timeline
