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'''Philip II''' (
382 BC –
336 BC), King of
Macedon (
359 BC –
336 BC)
Olympionike, was the father of
Alexander the Great (Alexander III of Macedon) and
Philip III of Macedon.
Born in
Pella in
382 BC, he was King
Amyntas III of Macedon and Queen
Eurydice's youngest son, but the deaths of his elder brothers Kings
Alexander II of Macedon and
Perdiccas III of Macedon allowed him to take the throne in
359 BC. He was originally appointed as Regent till his infant nephew King
Amyntas IV of Macedon, Perdiccas' son, reached adulthood, but soon he managed to make himself king. His military skills and expansionist vision of Macedonian greatness brought him early success, and it was not until his armies were opposed by
Athens at
Thermopylae in
352 BC that he faced any serious resistance. In
346 BC, he intervened effectively in the war between
Thebes and
Phocis, but his war with Athens continued intermittently. Having defeated an alliance of Thebans and
Athenians at the battle of
Chaeronea in
338 BC, he created and led the
League of Corinth.
Two years later, in
336 BC, when he was about to embark on an invasion of
Persia, Philip was assassinated by a servant/lover named
Pausanias.
His wife, and mother of Alexander, was
Epirote princess
Olympias.
On
November 8,
1977, Greek archaeologist
Manolis Andronikos announced that he had found unopened the tomb of Philip II at
Vergina in the prefecture of
Pieria. The finds from this tomb were later included in the travelling exhibit ''The Search for Alexander'' displayed at four cities in the United States from 1980 to 1982. While the discovery is of great archeological importance, the identification of the tomb with Philip has been disputed.
==External links==
*
A more detailed biography of Philip
*
A family tree focusing in his ancestors
*
A family tree focusing in his descedants
*
Plutarch: Life of Alexander
{| align="center" cellpadding="2" border="2"
|-
| width="30%" align="center" | Preceded by:
'''
Amyntas IV'''
| width="40%" align="center" | '''
King of Macedon'''
| width="30%" align="center" | Succeeded by:
'''
Alexander III'''
|}
da:Philip II af Makedonien
de:Philipp II. (Makedonien)
es:Filipo II de Macedonia
fr:Philippe II de Macdoine
it:Filippo II di Macedonia
he:פיליפוס השני
nl:Philippus II van Macedoni
ja:ピリッポス2世
pl:Filip II Macedoński
