Philip II of Macedon

382–336 BCE · Macedonian Greek · Classical Greece

Known for: United Greece under Macedonian rule and created the army Alexander used to conquer the world

Philip II transformed Macedonia from a backwater kingdom into the dominant power in Greece. He invented the sarissa-armed phalanx that became the deadliest military formation of antiquity, conquered or diplomatized his way through every Greek city-state, and was preparing to invade Persia when he was assassinated.

He was a brilliant military innovator, a cunning diplomat, and a prodigious drinker. He lost an eye in battle and walked with a limp from a lance wound, but kept fighting. He unified Greece through the League of Corinth—using charm, threats, and bribery in roughly equal measure.

He was murdered at his daughter's wedding by a bodyguard named Pausanias. The motives are debated—personal grievance, Olympias's scheming, or Alexander's ambition. His death handed his son the perfect army and the perfect plan.

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