Chapter IV

Philip II and Alexander III

Artemis Absence
Two very famous things happened on the night of July 20th, 356 BC. First, an arsonist, wishing to have his name live forever, set ablaze one of the seven wonders of the ancient world: the Temple of Artemis of Ephesus. That very same night, as the temple was being consumed in flames, Alexander the Great was born. Little remains of the Temple of Artemis today except a single column, restacked in the marshy swamp where the temple once stood. Located on the western coast of Turkey, the city of Ephesus pre-dates Christianity by over 1,000 years, and was an Eastern outpost of Greek culture in Ionia. Older than Apollos shrine in the nearby city of Didymaitself a place of pilgramage and worship to the Greeks, the Temple of Artemis was finished in the 6th century BC, when that land was controlled by the kingdom of Lydia. It was re-built many times over the course of the next few hundred years, and was in its fourth version (called temple D) when Alexander was born in 356 BC. A staggering 220 feet wide and 425 feet long, the temple was enormous, supported by 127 columns that stretched like a forest of tall trees, 60ft up into the sky. To put it in more American terms, the temple was 1 football fields long, 2/3 of a field wide. If the columns were laid flat, they would stretch from the end zone to mid-field. It was not only the largest temple in the world, but it also exerted significant political and financial influence in Ephesus.

On that fateful night in 356 BC, an arsonist named Herostratus set ablaze the great temple, wishing to have his name live forever by commiting this act of intentional destruction. As the later Roman historian Valerius Maximus said:

A man was found to plan the burning of the temple of Ephesian Diana (Artemis) so that through the destruction of this most beautiful building his name might be spread through the whole world. (Valerius Maximus, VIII.14.ext.5)

In their hatred, the Ephesians ordered Herostratus put to death, and anyone who spoke his name to share the same fate as the arsonist. In the aftermath of the destroyed temple, the Ephesians decided yet again to rebuild the famous temple. The re-building of the temple was not purely for religious reasons. It must not be overlooked that the temple was sacred and a money maker for the Ephesians. Worshippers and admireres came from all over the Greek world to see this amazing sight, and the business it created for the local economy was immense. Rebuilding a templeeven a modest onew as never a quick process, and the Temple of Artemis was still under reconstruction when Alexander marched through with his Macedonian army twenty-two years later in 334 BC. He even offered to pay for its rebuilding, with an eye probably towards the public relations gain of such a gesture. However, they politely refused his offer, and continued on their own, finishing it eleven years later. For another three hundred and fifty years people came to Ephesus to see the Temple of Artemis. Then, in the first century AD of the Roman Empire, the Apostle Paul stopped at Ephesus to preach the gospel. The Temple of Artemis supported a bustling local business in iconography1, which is described in the Biblical chapter titled Ephesians. Paul feared going into the city because a local silversmith, Demetrius, had stirred up resentment to Paul and his message. Changing to a different faith meant a cut, if not elimination, of the local merchants livelihood, since they relied on selling the iconic images of the Temple of Artemisthose lovely trinkets all tourists and would-be pilgrims pick up from famous sites. In other words, Demetrius was an early advocate for been there, got the t-shirt. Pauls companions, Gaius and Aristarchus, were shoved into the theatre (Paul himself dared not step foot inside the city
1

Iconography in Ephesus was the business of selling images of the Temple of Artemis.

because of the mobs anger). Once inside, they faced the real possibility of being killed by the enraged merchants. However, a town-clerk managed to calm the crowd, and eventually everyone dispersed. A legend arose the night the temple burned: it was said that the goddess Artemis, who always watched over her temples safety, left her beloved sanctuary and traveled across the Aegean to witness the birth of Alexander. In her absence, Herostratus found everlasting infamy.

Theatre of Ephesus

Achilles Fate
As the fire burned through the wooden timbers and brought the temple roof crashing down, so too did the birth of Alexander begin a fire that would spread across Asia. Alexander was the son of twenty-year-old Olympias (375-316 BC), a princess from the kingdom of Epirus, and Philip II (382-326 BC), the twenty-six year old king of Macedonia. The young Alexander spent his childhood hearing the stories of Homers Iliad, and the tales of the gods on Mount Olympus. To him they were real.

Alexander grew up knowing in his heart that the fate of a man lies not within himself or his own deeds, but with the will of the gods. Olympias constantly told him of his ancestry, and that he was a descendant of Achilles and Herakles. She herself could claim her bloodline back to Andromache, wife of Hector, who was taken back to Greece by Achilles son, Neoptolemeus. Alexander intended to surpass in glory these heroes of history and mythology, but he would also share Achilles fate. Once he left Greece for his famous march into Persia, he would never see her shores again. Alexander, whether he knew it or not, had chosen kleos over nostos, as had Achilles. Alexander felt the gods governed a mans fate, and he would die when the gods deemed it his time. At heart, he was a deeply religious man.

Philip II

Pella, the capital city of Macedonia, was in the northernmost reaches of Greece, roughly four days travel north of Mt. Olympus. The Athenians and other Greeks of central and southern Greece looked upon the Macedonians as semi-barbaric, hard drinkers, who shamelessly had a history of offering invading Persian armies fire and water. As it has been mentioned earlier, such symbols of submission were demanded of Alexander I, who ruled Macedonia during the Persian Wars. Essentially snubbed as Greek groupies by the Athenians and other older city-states of central Greece, the Macedonians werein a manner of speakingthe loud out of town
Philip II of Macedon

guests who move in to a loft apartment above some gentile older couple. It was under the leadership of Philip II, Alexanders father, that the Greek city-states would be united under one, single rulehis own. Philip II spent his early years as a hostage in Thebes, receiving an education from its leading general Epaminondas. This was the same general who smashed the Spartan army at the Battle of Leuctra. In 364 BC, at age 18, Philip returned to Macedonia. Five years later, after the deaths of his two elder brothers, he ascended to the throne of Macedonia. In that same year, he secured his kingdoms western border, which had been invaded by Thracians, and

defeated a force of 3,000 Athenians, who were trying to put their own puppet king on the Macedonian throne. He spent these crucial early years reforming the Macedonian army into one of the most powerful military forces of the ancient world. Philip instituted changes to the standard Greek hoplite, radically changing phalanx warfare. His soldiers were no longer the temporary farmer-soldier. He paid his them, and made them train all year round.2 They even trained during winter, in an effort to strengthen their endurance. The phalanx was deepened from the traditional depth of 8 to 16 men, forming a square of 256 soldiers called a syntagma. The large hoplite shield, which had changed very little for the past thousand years, was reduced in size. Now, with the addition of a shoulder strap, it could be wielded without using the left hand. This left both hands free to hold the new spear, the sarissa. Philip ordered the traditional spear length doubled, making it roughly 14-17 feet long, and took both hands to use. This turned a phalanx into a rolling pin cushion. Before an enemy could even touch the first man in a syntagma he had to get through the first five rows of sarissae that bristled out in front. Behind them, the remaining men of the syntagma held their spears at a 45 degree angle to help block incoming missiles. Questions and Reflection
1. What was the name of the arsonist who burned down the Temple of Artemis? What year was Alexander the Great born? What city did Philip II spend his early years as a hostage? What is the name for the 256 man phalanx formation?

2.

3.

4.

Reflection Essay 1. Compare Alexanders birth and destruction of the temple to someone having been born on th September 11 , 2001.

This classifies Philip IIs army as professional, since their sole occupation became was war, and they were paid , unlike the Spartans.

Consolidation of Power
Philip spent the next 13 years in an almost constant state of war and diplomacy, usually against Athens and her allies. He ruthlessly expanded his control in nearly every direction of the compass, however, it was not without sacrifice. In 355 Philip besieged the Athenian city of Methone, and lost an eye from a nearly fatal arrow. The year before he lost an eye, he gained a son. Portents and signs preceded Alexanders birth3. Philip dreamt that he tried to seal up Olympias womb, and engraved on the seal was the figure of a lion. The lion has long been a sign of kingship, and it was believed that this was a sign that Philips son would become king. Olympias also suffered strange dreams before giving birth. She awoke one night, having dreamt that lightning struck her womb with a thunderous crash, and a blinding light thereupon shone from it. On the day Alexander was born, news was brought to Philip that his right-hand general and old friend, Parmenio, won a great victory over the Illyrians in the north. Word also reached him that his horse won in the Olympic Games. As the saying goes, everything happens in threes. Olympias was not Philips first wife, nor his second, or even his thirdshe was in fact his fourth4. More of a political arrangement, Philips marriage to Olympias linked him to the royal bloodline of King Arymbas of Epirus; she was the kings niece. The marriage with Olympias helped to strengthen Philips ties to that kingdom and secure his western border, allowing him to focus on his Thracian and Athenian problems.

Bucephalus
As Alexander grew up under Philips watchful eye, Philip continued waging war and expanding Macedonian territory. In 346 BC a tentative peace was made with Athens, and Philip turned to threaten Sparta. Even though Spartas military prestige was shattered at Leuctra in 371 BC, they were still a military power to be worried about. Philip sent a message to Sparta,
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Alexander the Great was named Alexander III. Olympias name was, according to the historian Plutarch, originally Polyxena, but it was changed Myrtale due to her initiation in the secretive cult of Dionysius. He also claimed that she loved to sleep with snakes, which were symbolic of the cult. When Philips horse won at the Olympic Games, her name changed yet again.

You are advised to submit without further delay, for if I bring my army into your land, I will destroy your farms, slay your people, and raze your city. The Spartans, in their customary Laconic language, sent a simple reply: if. Philip left Sparta alone. As Philip was consolidating his power in 346 BC, Alexander was a young, ten-year-old boy. He greeted some Persian ambassadors who came to Pella seeking an audience with Philip. Charmed by the inquisitive young prince, they happily answered all his questions. Alexander asked what the extent of the Persian Empire was, its military strength, and who was its king and how did he rule the lands. The Persian ambassadors did not feel threatened. After all, he was just a boy. Hindsight is truly 20/20. There is another story that gives an insight into the young boys character, and it concerns perhaps Alexanders closest friendhis horse Bucephalus. A horse trader came to sell Philip a black horse of immense size and volatile temperament. It had a single, distinguishing white mark on his head the shape of an ox, and for that it got its name, Bucephalus (translates as ox-head in Greek).5 The trader demanded 13 talents from Philip for the horse, a staggering amount, since it amounted to 858 pounds of silver. The horse would not let anyone ride him, and could not seem to be broken.6 When Philip tried and gave up in frustration, Alexander offered his father a wager (it is important to remember that he is only ten-years-old). He told his father that if he could not ride the horse, he would pay for it himself. As Philip and his entourage looked on, Alexander carefully walked up to the horse, and with the gentlest of motions, turned him to face the sun. The young prince noticed something no one else had; Bucephalus was afraid of his own shadow. When Bucephalus shadow disappeared, Alexander slipped onto his back, and rode him away at a gallop. Things were tense for Philip, as Plutarch says:
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The other story is that the horses extreme stubbornness was the origin of its name. A wild horse had to be broken before it could be rode. This meant taming the horse so a rider could mount on its back without being thrown.

Philip and his friends looked on at first in silence and anxiety for the result, till seeing him turn at the end of his career, and come back rejoicing and triumphing for what he had performed, they all burst out into acclamations of applause; and his father shedding tears, it is said, for joy, kissed him as he came down from his horse, and in his transport said, "O my son, look thee out a kingdom equal to and worthy of thyself, for Macedonia is too little for thee."

While John Drydens translation of Plutarch is a bit old fashioned, one can still see in Alexander a keen awareness of things that others would miss, and an exceptional fearlessness he would have all his life.

Education
Growing up, Alexander had an early tutor named Leonidas, who was exceedingly strict. One day as a young boy, Alexander was offering sacrifice, and heaped a large amount of incense on the altar fire. Leonidas scolded the young Alexander for throwing too much and said that when he conquered all the spice bearing lands could he then afford to be so generous to the gods. Many years later, in 332 BC, Alexander conquered the city of Gaza on his way to Egypt. Gaza was a key city on the spice trade between Persia and Egypt. Leonidas awoke to find that six hundred talents of frankincense and myrrh had been shipped to himthats nearly 40,000 pounds! Again, a childhood episode
Aristotle

gives a glimpse into how Alexander thought. He could harbor a grudge for years, and was patient and calculatinga very dangerous combination. When Alexander was fourteen, Philip hired the famous philosopher, Aristotle, to continue tutoring the young prince. In a quiet grove, along with some of Alexanders closest friends, Aristotle taught him rhetoric, astronomy, biology, politics, ethics, logic, and many other

wide ranging subjects. Aristotle was, after all, Platos most brilliant pupil; and Plato himself was a pupil of Socrates. Things do indeed happen in threes. Questions and Reflection
5. 6. 7. What was Buchephalus afraid of? What kingdom was Olympias from? What were the names of Alexanders two tutors?

Reflection Essay 2. How is having multiple wives for Philip II different than modern polygamist marriges?

The Battle of Chaeronea

When Alexander was eighteen, he took part in a battle with his father against a united army of Athenians, Thebans and their allies. They fought to prevent Macedonian hegemony over Greecethe Spartans, of course, did not show. The Battle of Chaeronea in 338 BC had two significant events: first, this battle ended the Greek effort for independence and recognized

Philip as Captain-General of Greece itself. Second, while Alexander was still in his teens, when most American students are just graduating high school, he led a cavalry charge that was decisive in bringing about Philips victory. Seeing a gap between the Athenian and Theban lines, Alexander charged through it and broke the enemy charge. While Plutarch suggests that Alexander may have been in charge of a division of the phalanx and not cavalry, the result was still the same. The Athenians lost over 1,000 men, while the Theban Sacred Band, a fierce contingent of 300 homosexual lovers who were known for their skill and tenacity in combat, died nearly to the man. Philip, in honor of the Sacred Bands courage, erected a lion monument where they were buried.

With this victory, Philip secured himself as the leader of the Greeks, albeit tenuously. Given the right opportunity, Thebes and Athens would surely revolt. Then there was Sparta, known for stirring up trouble for any city-state with dreams of grandeur. For the moment, with shortage of allies, she stayed quiet down in the Peloponnese. Philip now set about for his grandest plan: the invasion of Persia.

Family Trouble
Olympias was not the last wife of Philip. In fact, in 337 BC Philip II married Eurydice, niece of Attalus, an officer and nobleman in the Macedonian army. She was wife number eight, and a hated rival of Olympias. Eurydice, unlike Alexanders mother, was of pure Macedonian blood. Thus, if a child came of that marriage, it would have a greater hereditary claim to the throne than Alexander. This argument nearly came to blows at a dinner banquet, when Attalus made a toastin front of Alexanderthat he hoped Philips new marriage would result in a legitimate heir. Insulted, Alexander got into a shouting match with Attalus, and asked if he took Alexander to be a bastard. Alexander then threw his wine glass at him. Infuriated, Philip drew his sword to strike at Alexander for this insult. However, Philip unsurprisingly had too much wine that night, and he tripped and fell over a table. With a bit of smugness, Alexander said to the dinner crowd, Look, men, here is the man who was getting ready to cross from Europe to Asia, and he cannot even cross from one table to another without falling down. This incident prompted Olympias to return to Epirus7 and Alexander to campaign up north. Soon, however, Philip realized he needed Alexander, as he was a good soldier and able leader in Philips absence. If Philip was going to lead his great invasion into Persia, he would need his son at his side. Fate, however, had a different plan for him. In 336 BC, Philip ordered Attalus set out with an advance force into Asia Minor in preparation for the invasion of Persia. Philip decided now was the appropriate time to visit Delphi and seek confirmation before setting out against Persia. The Oracles advice was typically cryptic, and said Wreathed in the bull, all is done. Philip took the message to mean that King Darius III of Persia was going to be offered up as a sacrifice on the altar. Now satisfied, he had one more thing to do before setting out on his Persian campaign in the spring of the following year.8 Philip decided to arrange one more marriage; this time for his daughter, Cleopatra. She was Olympias and Philips daughter, born the same year as Alexander, and his sister. She was to marry Alexander I of Epirus, Olympias own brother. That meant that Cleopatra was going to marry her own uncle. Putting aside the obvious familial issues here, one can see that Philip was motivated by political reasons. By making Alexander I of Epirus his son-in-law, Philip tightened his grip on the kingdom of Epirus. Olympias was, in a manner of speaking, having the political door shut in her face.
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Her brother, also named Alexander (I), had been placed as king by Philip a few years before. 335 BC.

Philip IIs Assassination

Theatre of Aegae

In celebration of this marriage, Philip arranged a public ceremony in the theatre of Aegae (pictured above) in October of 336 BC. Appearing with Alexander I of Epirus on one side, and Alexander III, his son, on the other side, Philip made his way through the city to the theatre. Here representatives of almost all the major Greek city-states were present. Philips rule over Greece was tenuous at best, despite his claim that he was about to wage war on behalf of all Greeks for the atrocities of the Persian Wars over a century earlier. As Philip entered the theatre, Pausanias, chief of Philips Royal Guard, approached him when he was alone, and stabbed him.9 Running from the theatre to a waiting horse, Pausanias tripped and was stabbed to death by Philips loyal guards who had given chase to the assassin. Cleopatra and Alexander I had the good instinct to leave back to Epirus. Alexander, age twenty, was proclaimed king the next day by the Macedonian army. Olympias, feeling secure in

Pausanius was one of seven soldiers in Philips Royal Bodyguard. His motivation for killing Philip was officially that he was on the Persian take, while another darker reason was that he was avenging being spurned by Philip when his sexual advances were denied.

her position, had Eurydice and her new infant killed.10 Enraged at his mothers actions, Alexander felt that Attalus was now a threat to his rule. He was at that time over in Asia Minor, preparing for the forthcoming invasion of Persia. Alexander also learned that Attalus was in conversation with Demosthenes, Athens most famous orator and outspoken critic of Philip and the Macedonian hegemony over Greece. It would not take much convincing for Athens to throw off Alexanders rule, and Attalus conversations with Demosthenes were enough of a danger to order his assassination. The Greek world held its collective breath to find out what was going to happen next.

Questions and Reflection

8. What two city-states fought against Philip at Chaeronea? 9. What did Philip do to commemorate the Sacred Band that died at Chaeronea? 10. What Greek city-state did not recognize Philip as the Captain-General of Greece? 11. What was the name of Philips assassin? Reflection Essay 3. How is being thrown the keys to a new car an apt analogy for Alexanders ascension to the throne in 336 BC?

Demosthenes of Athens

P Philip II's burial larnax11

10

It is uncertain if there was a child, but the name Europa is given. Some sources say that Olympias had them burned alive, forced to hang themselves, or dragged over a burning brazier. While the method is not clear, the result is all the same. 11 In Vergina (Aegae), the box (larnax) holding Philip IIs remains is on display in the museum there.