Ancient Greece: Late Classical Period: Philip II of Macedon (46; r.359-336 BC), Introduction

In 359 BC Perdiccas and four thousand Macedonians were killed in a battle against the Illyrians. He was succeeded by his infant son Amyntas IV (c.30; r.359 BC: d.336 BC), but later in the year Philip (back from Thebes) declared himself king. He was faced with a number of threats: the Paeonians to the north and the Illyrians to the northwest were poised to invade Macedonia; and two Macedonian nobles, Pausanias (supported by Berisades) and Argaeus (supported by Athens), were threatening to usurp the throne. Philip bought off Berisades and the Paeonians, and won over the Athenians by hinting that he had no designs on Amphipolis. 

In the autumn the Athenian general Mantias sailed to Methone. He decided to remain there while Argaeus led a force of mercenaries to the first Macedonian capital Aegae in the hope that the populace would declare him king. When the people rejected him he decided to return to Methone, but was intercepted and defeated by Philip at Livahdi Ridge.

Perdiccas’ defeat and the loss of four thousand troops left Macedonia almost defenceless. Philip, needing time to rebuild the Macedonian army, made peace with his enemies (Paeonia, Illyria and Athens). The Macedonian kings had a cavalry bodyguard, the hetairoi (‘Companions’), and an infantry bodyguard, the pezhetairoi (‘Foot Companions’), which in time of war were augmented by calling up the aristocracy and the peasantry respectively. Using the Greek military developments he had witnessed during his years as a hostage in Thebes, Philip now reorganised his army and subjected it to a thorough training regime. His most important innovation was the changes he made to the phalanx: each man had a smaller shield and a shorter sword than previously; and for a main weapon he had a sarissa, an exceedingly long pike – some eighteen feet in length, twice as long as the hoplite’s spear.