Diplomatic Genius of Philip of Macedon

foreign [Music] figures of Greek Antiquity was Philip II father of Alexander the Great and the man who ended Greek freedom here's fearsome reputation as a warrior and a military reformer is well known but it also overshadows another key aspect of his success without which the exploits of his son might never have been possible Welcome to our video on the Diplomatic skills and Endeavors of Philip II of Macedon shout out to conquerors blade for sponsoring this video conqueror's blade is a free-to-play tactical MMO for PC that set in a vast open Medieval World where the player becomes a warlord commanding an army of 55 diverse units from cataract Lancers to winged hussars to tertio arcabusius with the ultimate goal of creating an Empire season 3 Soldiers of Fortune has just started prepare for a new era of conqueror's Blade with a new season new class new units and new battle pass the new season adds a mall as the 11th weapon class of the game alongside new units like pavis crossbowmen conduit Cherry guards and a new artillery unit falconetti gunas armed with cutting-edge cannons that will tear through enemies like a hot knife through butter there are 100 new levels of rewards to work through in season three create or join a house to form an alliance with friends and rival players support our Channel and play this excellent medieval game by clicking the link in the description and registering an account everyone who registers through our link gets a free 7-Day premium account which grants extra bronze honor and earned XP for a limited time future Philip II was born in pelar at some point during 382 BC the youngest child of King amintus III of Macedon he grew up in one of the most tumultuous and often downright lethal environments in ancient Greece it was an upbringing which would have Illustrated to him just how crucial it was to develop a pragmatic pitiless political instinct ever since claiming macedon's Throne centuries earlier the argyad dynasty was Riven by internal descent and Civil Wars for example amintus III had been driven from the kingship twice in a decades-long reign as the king ailed in the late 370s Philip witnessed his father almost lose his throne for a third time as an ambitious distant relative Ptolemy of Alaris challenged the king although ptolemy's desire was temporarily sated by a prestigious marriage to one of Philip's sisters he began scheming again immediately after amitus's death in 370. Philip's eldest brother Alexander inherited the throne and Ptolemy waged a civil war against him only failing due to a fever intervention although he tentatively kept the throne for just over a year the King was soon assassinated by Ptolemy supporters and was then replaced by another of Philip's Elder Brothers a teenager known as pedicus Philip II had matured into the man and the king in this kind of dangerous environment Ptolemy and perticus decided that the 15 year old Philip was to be sent to Thebes hegemon of the Greek city-states in 368 BC there he lived and mingled with the best and brightest in thieban society including brilliant generals a paminondus and pelopedus their knowledge was essential for Philips military reforms down the line Philip also learned about the histories and political structures of the Greek States and started to see how it could be exploited by a strong Macedon this later allowed him to tailor specific strategies to deal with specific enemies from the surviving texts we can discern that the future Philip II was gifted enough to exploit the weaknesses he saw traits which must have begun to bloom during his Adolescence in Thebes Philip would become a controversial figure among many Greeks because of what he would do in the future it was probably because of this that most Greek sources portray Philip's personality in a purely negative manner to them he was aggressive and brutish and alcoholic and a craven breaker of Oaths in a word Philip of Macedon was the archetypical uncivilized Barbarian an outsider Unworthy of the moniker of Helene however when an Athenian Statesman called eskinese returned from a diplomatic mission in Pella he had far more positive things to say about the Macedonian King's conduct to his fellow Athenians Philip according to him was an outstandingly good speaker with vast amounts of rhetorical skill moreover he asserted that he had never in all his long life seen so sweet and Charming a man as Philip the whole truth is probably somewhere in the middle while at times Philip must have Unleashed his Macedonian side the harsh drinking violent side he also possessed a more civilized Greek element this was his more diplomatically calculating Charming personality which escanese encountered during such occasions it is only natural that Philip would have wanted to put his best foot forward in fact Philip probably switched between these two acts relatively seamlessly when the need arose although his sponsoring of acting contests and attending the theater was a personal hobby the Future King was himself supposedly a brilliant political actor charming and treacherous in equal measure Philip was Adept at concealing his true intentions even from highly trained emissaries five years after returning from thieves he became the king of Macedon as Philip II in 359 BC Macedon was in a total crisis on the brink of losing its statehood in the Northwestern Uplands the illyrian Army under a Chieftain vitalist had rested control of strategic approaches and Was preparing to take the vulnerable Heartland under the make gold prosperous cities all the way from thessaly to the streaming River were under foreign control and in the north peony and Raiders began making incursions into Macedonian territory these threats were accompanied by the prospect of renewed dynastic turmoil influenced by outside Powers supporting different claimants on top of that Philip II had scarce resources to work with much of his tax base was either under the control of hostile powers or had been raided moreover the Macedonian army depleted by Decades of warfare and internal strife was a pale shadow of what it once was to begin pulling Macedonia away from these existential threats the new king employed his diplomatic skill IP wasted no time in opening peace talks with the illyrian chief realizing that sacrifices would be needed to prevent total collapse Philip agreed to recognize illyrian rule over most of upper Macedonia and paid by the list Rich tribute with the northern barbarians dealt with Philip turned South to deal with the Athenians and his dynastic problems due to Macedonian control of amphipolis a vital trading Port which had access to Rich mineral and Timber reserves Athens back to usurper known as argius who pledged to return the city if he became king another argyad Pretender known as pausanius gained the allegiance of the adrisian king who agreed to install him on the throne if he was given amphipolis Wanda Philip's Three Brothers archalayas gained the support of the khalidian league and also asserted his claim to the throne the solution for that problem was a quick and easy one Philip simply had archelaus assassinated forcing his other half-siblings to flee then Philip II withdrew the Macedonian Garrison from amphipolis hoping to appease Athens however Athens saw this gesture as a sign of Philip's weakness and continues to assemble an invasion Force to support argius realizing a military confrontation might be inevitable no matter what he did the Macedonian Monarch instead shifted his negotiation efforts to the north and east so that he would not have to fight on two fronts both the cotties and the many peonian tribes received envoys bearing generous bribes and Promises from Philip as a mark of his success the usurper personius disappears from history after this moment almost certainly killed in only a few months following his enthronement Philip had used subtle pragmatic statecraft to significantly reduce the threats facing his kingdom with the breathing room he'd earned Philip embarked on his famous military reforms and politically unified Macedonia accomplishing the latter by subjugating and integrating the many independent regions into a centralized Kingdom controlled by him and his trusted subordinates Macedonian influence gradually began radiating outwards Philip's first and foremost Target was thessaly a region bordering his own lands geographically made up of a large plane surrounded by mountains the value of thessaly to macedon's interests was many fold it was one of Greece's largest and richest regions with the thessalian plain serving as Catalyst for productive Agriculture and access to the Sea enabling vast amounts of trade militarily the lands of thessaly could function as an invasion Highway for armies going north towards Macedon or if Philip played his cards right South into Greece proper furthermore vesselian Cavalry was famous as the greatest in the Greek world and the Region's horses were known for their size and stamina when bringing thessaly into the Macedonian fold Philip showed a fine understanding of diplomacy his up-and-coming military might was used to get what he wanted but only in an outwardly benevolent manner thessily never suffered outright Invasion simply because the Macedonian King knew he could do things more efficiently the critical mantra for Philip's diplomatic engagement with thessalian cities was to act with permission at all times between 358 and 352 the Macedonian War Machine never once intervened without the ascent of at least one friend who requested its assistance Philip received his first request of this kind in 358 from the patriarch of a prominent family known as kinius here's a luide clan ruled the city of Larissa founder of the thessalian league who were in a regional war with a rival City Ferry its tyrants LED an opposing Alliance which held hegemony over the area's Coastal settlements at Larissa's invitation Philip II seems to have taken on the role of a neutral Arbiter in peace negotiations between thessalese factions in the role he may have managed to help enact a temporary peace but we know that the country was in a state of conflict for another half decade after nevertheless the Macedonian king would not necessarily have seen this as a loss on the contrary his failed intervention was the landmark moment which Philip had been waiting for it set a crucial precedent establishing him as a legitimate player on the stage of thessalian internal politics one to whom other cities could turn to in times of need and one whose influence would only grow rather than artificially forcing annexation Philip waited patiently for years always keeping one eye on the thessalian internal conflict in the meantime he dealt with other matters that required his attention such as capturing methane and amphipolis thereby bolstering his own realm's power to an even greater degree even as he did the long-term project to ensnare his Southern neighbor with Goodwill never left the king's mind when local disputes broke out in thessaly Philip II would put himself forward as an honest broker offering his services to resolve the dispute always the hedonist the Macedonian King also began throwing massive Banquets parties and other lavish celebrations for himself and his aristocratic Thessalonian friends these were accompanied by vast riches which Philip distributed as gifts or bribes depending on who you talk to to the Region's upper and lower classes in essence he always tried to play the good guy as polianus relates Wendy the thessalians fought with one another Philip always responded positively to requests for Aid when he won he did not Exile the losers take away their arms or knock down their walls he supported rather than destroyed factions took care of the weak brought down the more powerful was a friend to the people and cultivated popular leaders by these stratagems Philip mastered vesely not by arms Philip finally saw an opportunity and pounced in 353 BC crushing the tyrants of ferry in a decisive military engagement after he did the Region's Aristocrats many of whom probably considered their argyad benefactor a savior and honorary thessalion freely elected him archon of the league for life this unprecedented event made Philip II a foreign King the de facto ruler of thessaly without the need for a war of Conquest in addition to giving Philip control over military forces and Taxation it also handed to the argyad a dominant voice in the amphiconic league a religious and politically influential Union of Greek polities in which thessaly controlled a large quantity of votes to cement himself even more firmly with the people of his newly acquired territories Philip II weared a native aristocratic thessalian woman known as nicosipolis in 353 BC this political marriage was doubly successful for Philip's purposes of consolidating the region Not only was nicosipolis another woman from a prominent Thessalonian house now married to Philip a fact we'll discuss shortly but she was also related to the old tyrants of Ferry marrying one of the women from the defeated party may have assisted in putting the defeated foreigns at ease and would have signaled that Philip would include them in his new order if they fell into line the Macedonian King appears to have never forgot about the political nature of his marriage when nicosipolis died giving birth to Philip's daughter in 345 BC the child was named thessalonike or victory in thessaly as a tribute to the land of her origin this kind of diplomatic marriage was nothing new to Philip and the King's expertise in using it to his Advantage was the result of much experience Macedonian monarchs were not expected to be content with just one wife and therefore practiced polygamy a fact which made political engagements even more valuable in fact Philip made Henry VII of England famous for his Six Wives look like an amateur back in 558 BC he joined hands with two women one after the other the first was odata daughter of the defeated illyrian ruler bardelis whose presence in Pella would make any re-emergence of a hostile Northwestern Frontier less likely soon after that wedding Philip dipped his toe into the pool of thessalian diplomacy by marrying Felina of Larissa the first of his two thessalian wives the year after that the Macedonian King married his most famous wife olympius in order to secure his border with emperors including nicosipolis Philip would embark on a total of four additional marriages after olympias the brides ranging from Macedonian Noble women to Wild scythian princesses all of whom were designed to maximize the king's political capital whatever his turbulent personal feelings were towards his seven wives throughout his life Philip's attitude to these weddings was simple as summed up by Greek rhetorician athenaeus Philip always married with war in mind this was a tried and tested approach to diplomacy which had been standard practice in Macedonian politics and in The Wider Mediterranean world for millennia however Philip took the tactic further and exploited it to the greatest extent he could throughout the decade following his essential annexation of thessaly Philip continued using the macedonian's Revolutionary military machine to great effect quelling unrest and expanding his influence only applying Force where it was absolutely necessary and using the threat of force where it was not one of the former occasions took place in 346 when the dardenays and RDA tribes of Illyria attempted to unify against him this didn't last long after hearing of unrest Among The Barbarians on his Northwestern Frontier Philip marched into their territory and smashed them in battle many tribes people were cruelly deported away from their kin in the aftermath forced to intermingle with surrounding populations in order to make them weaker and less likely or able to Rebel again in 342 as Philip was planning for his climactic war against Athens he moves to preempt any possible effort to stab him in the bank marching into Emperors the one-eyed Monarch deposed olympiuses less than trustworthy Uncle arabes from the Regency and installed alexandros on the melosian throne a man who had been educated and raised in Pella specifically for the purpose all the while Philip puppeteered the dominant states of Greece masterfully stabilizing the balance of power in the region as best suited his interests a Macedonian alliance with thieves forced Athens its main rival to keep significant land and Naval forces in Attica and away from Macedonia however because Athens was itself aligned with the militaristic city-state of Sparta Thebes a traditional Invader of Macedon and influencer in its Affairs could not risk redeploying any of its military strength away from the south lest it suffer attack by the lack of demonians the implication was clear Philips subtle interventions in Greece checkmated all of his possible enemies in the region while he only became stronger the summer of 341 BC saw a Macedonian invasion of Thrace which left Philip II in control of the entire region including all of its Rich Greek cities mineral wealth and Manpower reserves from the Aegean Coast to the Balkan Mountains while the thracian campaign was ongoing Athens began actively supporting Philip's enemies in yuboya and sending more colonists or clerks to the kyrenees along with a naval Expedition under the epiphes which engaged in piracy against Macedonian shipping rather than immediately responding with Force Philip sent an Envoy of protest to the Athenian assembly requesting that the apothes be recalled and punished however demosthenese's belligerent faction convinced the assembly to refuse despite the blatant acts of War perpetrated against him Philip took no retaliatory action what might seem like obvious weakness was instead motivated by a far greater diplomatic consideration the akamenid empire the Persian Colossus had suffered a period of internal crisis throughout most of Philip's Reign but by the late 340s King of Kings artezerxes III managed to restore central control over all the Empire's lands before embarking on his March to the hellespond in 342 Philip made a deal with his Persian counterpart in which the latter pledged not to intervene in Thrace or at Sea while Philip promised a passive policy towards Asia still Philip was cautious of the vast resources of the akumenits and feared any alliance between Athens and the Empire he allowed events to run their course and acted as was appropriate in early summer of 340 Athens did indeed send an Envoy to Susa seeking a defensive Alliance when it was politely refused and sent home with financial gifts macedonia's last restraint was removed two years later Philip decisively defeated a military Alliance consisting of Athens and his former hosts Thebes at chironia resulting in the unification of Greece in the Hellenic league in just over 20 years the Macedonian Kings a Droid combination of diplomacy and military force had carried the Kingdom from near disintegration to preeminence over all Greece in a poetic twist it was one of Philip's small efforts in statecraft which eventually led to his untimely death the day after his daughter's wedding in July of 336 BC A procession of 12 Divine statues were towed into the theater of agai followed by a magnificent depiction of Philip II of Macedon following them was the king himself wearing a beautiful white cloak shadowed by his bodyguard whom he had orders to remain at a distance Philip wished to show that he was not some Tyrant who required the protection of armed thugs he was the leader of Greece's Hellenic League by consent and a loved Monarch as the king strode into the center of the theater a single Rogue member of his bodyguard Strode forth and stabbed Philip in the chest killing him and changing the course of history in the crowd that day was a young up-and-coming heir to the newly minted Macedonian Throne known as Alexander soon to be known as Alexander the Great we are planning more videos on the Hellenic world so make sure you are subscribed to our Channel and have pressed the Bell button we would like to express our gratitude to our patreon supporters and channel members who make the creation of our videos possible now you can also support us by buying our merchandise by the link in the description 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Channel: Kings and Generals

Views: 579,213

Keywords: Philip, diplomacy, genius, Macedon, alexander, Macedonia, ancient history, alexander the great, philip ii, ancient greece, historia civilis, animated documentary, history lesson, kings and generals, full documentary, documentary film, world history, ancient macedonia, ancient macedon, history documentary, alexander of macedon, military history, roman empire, decisive battles, king and generals, olympia

Id: yVTrkESkuTw

Length: 23min 25sec (1405 seconds)

Published: Thu Apr 23 2020