PHILIP II., King of Macedonia, and father of Alexander the great, was b. at Pella in 382 ac. He was the youngest son of Amyntas II. and Eurydice. At Thebes, whither he wini,taken as a hostage by Pelopidas, he spent part of his early life, employing his exile in studying the art of war, and the constitution and laws of the Greek states, as well as the literature and the character of the people—pursuits which were of the great est service to him afterward, when called on to administer the government of the Macedonian kingdom. The assassination of his eldest brother, Alexander II., by Ptolemy Alorites, after a short reign of two years (869-367 n.c.), and the death of his second brother, Perdiccas III., in battie (360 lee.), placed him at the head of affairs in Macedonia, as guardian to his nephew Amyntas, still an infant. In a few mouths Philip made himself king, the rights of Amyntas being set aside. Dangers soon beset him from without and from within. The Blyrians and other neighboring tribes assailed his kingdom on different sides; while two pretenders to the throne, urged on by the Athenians and Thratians;stirred up civil commotion. But foreign and domestic enernies 'soon disappeared before the decision, the energy, and the wise policy of the young king. In the brief space of a year be had secured the safety_of his kingdom, and had gained for himself a dreaded name. At this time he was only 24 years of age. Henceforward his policy was one of aggression, and his every thought was directed to the extension of his empire and the spread of Macedonian influence. The Greek towns on the coast of Macedonia were the first objects of attack. After possessing himself of Amphipolis and Pydna, by means little consistent with the faith of treaties, he handed _over to the Olynthians the city of Potithea, which he had taken from the Athenians. In Thrace he captured the small town Crenides. which, under its new name, PHILIPPI, soon acquired great wealth and fame, and ultinaately became. celebrated in profane as well as in sacred history. The surrounding district was rich in gold-mines, which proved a source of great revenue to Philip (about, say, £250,000 annually), and supplied him plentifully with the means of paying his armies, of bribing traitorous Greeks, and of opening the gates of ninny cities, the sieges of which might otherwise have cost the blood of thousands. After a few years of comparative leisure, he turned, his ambitious views southward; and capturing Methone (at time siege of which he lost au eye), he advanced into Thessaly, and ultimately to the strait of Thermopylw, which, however, he did not attempt to force, as it was strongly guarded by the Athenians. He therefore returned into Macedonia, and directed his arms against the Thracians, waiting for a more hitting occasion to carry out his darling project. Such an Opportunity was not pang wanting. After capturing all the towns of Chaleidice—the last of which was the Important city of Olynthus—he made peace with the Thmcians, and next year with the Athenians, who had been at war with him in defense of their allies the Olynthians. It
was this siege of Olyuthns by Philip which called forth these Olynthiac orations of Demosthenes, which are still admired as efforts of oratorical genius hitherto unequaled in any country. Philip was now requested by the Thebans to interfere in the war (" the sacred war") which was raging between them and the Phoclaus. He marched into Phocis, destroyed its cities, and sent as colonists to Thrace many of the inhabitants (346 u.c.). The place which the Phocians had occupied the amphictyonic council was transferred to Philip. and he was appointed, jointly wall the Thcbans and Thessalians, as president of the Pythian games. His next step was to secure a footing in the Pelo ponnese, by espousing the cause of the Argives, Messenians, and others, against the Spartans. In 339 n.e. the amphictyonic council declared war against the Loerians of Amphissa; and, in the following year appointed Philip commander-in-chief of their forces. The Athenians were alarmed at his approach into Greece in this capacity, and formed a league with the Thehans against him; but their united army was utterly defeated :It the battle of Chicronea (333 n.c.), and all Greece was at the feet of the con queror. Ile was now in a position to enter on the great dream of his later years—viz., to invade the Persian empire, and revenge the injuries of Greece. Deputies from the different states of Greece assembled in congress at Corinth; and after resolving to niako war on the Persian king, chose Philip as leader of their armies. Preparations were in progress fur this great expedition when he was suddenly cut off by the hand of the assassin Pausanias, at a festival cerebrating the marriage of his daughter with Alexander of Epirus (336 n.e.). A private grudge at Philip, for neglect to punish an insult offered Ito Pansanias by Attains, was slid to be the motive which inspired the murderer, though suspicion is not wanting that the deed was done at the instigation of Alexander and his mother Olympias, who had retired from the court in disgust at Philip's marriage, the year previous, with Cleopatra, daughter of Attains, one of his generals. Philip was a man given to self-inthilETIICC and sensuality; he was faithless in the observance of treaty obligations, and unscrupulous as to the means by which he gained his ends; but he had to deal with factious and faithless opponents, which may help to explain if it does not justify his policy; while his clemency as a victor has won the admiration even of the virtuous Cicero, who pronounces him "always great." Of his force and energy of character, his acuteness, fertility of invention, and eloquence, it is impossible to speak too highly. He was at the same time a lover of learning and a liberal patron of learned men. He reigned from 339 to 330 B.C.