Philip II summary

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Philip II, or Philip of Macedon, (born 382—died 336 bc, Asia Minor), Eighteenth king of Macedonia (359–336), father of Alexander the Great. Appointed regent for his nephew, he seized the throne. He initially promoted peace with his neighbours, using the time gained thereby to build his forces and introducing innovations in arms, tactics, and training and stabilizing his western frontier. His movements on the eastern frontier provoked the Greeks into forming a coalition against him. He intervened in the Sacred War to free Delphi from the Phocians, becoming the ally of Thebes and the Thessalian League, whose president he became. Demosthenes turned Athens against him with his Philippics (346–342), and Thebes also came to view Philip as a threat. He defeated both at the Battle of Chaeronea, becoming leader of all Greece. He formed the Greek states into the League of Corinth to attack Persia but was undone by family politics. After he took a second wife, his first wife, Olympias, left him, taking Alexander. Philip was assassinated by a Macedonian nobleman, possibly in collusion with Olympias and Alexander.

Alexander the Great Summary

Alexander the Great king of Macedonia (336–323 bce), who overthrew the Persian empire, carried Macedonian arms to India, and laid the foundations for the Hellenistic world of territorial kingdoms. Already in his lifetime the subject of fabulous stories, he later became the hero of a full-scale

army Summary

Army, a large organized armed force trained for war, especially on land. The term may be applied to a large unit organized for independent action, or it may be applied to a nation’s or ruler’s complete military organization for land warfare. Throughout history, the character and organization of

Battle of Chaeronea Summary

Battle of Chaeronea, (August 338 bce), battle in Boeotia, central Greece, in which Philip II of Macedonia defeated a coalition of Greek city-states led by Thebes and Athens. The victory, partly credited to Philip’s 18-year-old son Alexander the Great, cemented the Macedonian hegemony in Greece and

imperialism Summary

Imperialism, state policy, practice, or advocacy of extending power and dominion, especially by direct territorial acquisition or by gaining political and economic control of other areas. Because it always involves the use of power, whether military or economic or some subtler form, imperialism has