Lecture 15: The 4th century B.C. in Greece was a tumultuous and violent period. In the quest for overall hegemony, the Athenians, Spartans, and Thebans fought each other to a standstill. The military and political impasse provoked innovations in the…
Lecture 15: The 4th century B.C. in Greece was a tumultuous and violent period. In the quest for overall hegemony, the Athenians, Spartans, and Thebans fought each other to a standstill. The military and political impasse provoked innovations in the deployment of the traditional phalanx, particularly at Thebes under the brilliant generalship of Epaminondas and Pelopidas. An eyewitness to their initiatives was a young prince, Philip, heir to the throne of the northern barbarian kingdom of Macedon. As king, Philip II would take the Theban desire to revitalize the phalanx to new lengths and, thereby, forge a fearsome military machine that was to dominate the eastern Mediterranean and Asia for more than two centuries. In this lecture, we examine Macedonian military innovations and Phillip’s shrewd use of them in expanding Macedonian control over his neighbors, including the Greeks. Particular attention is paid to the Battle of Chaeronea (338 B.C.), which ended the era of the independent Greek city-state and saw Greece made subordinate to Macedonian interests. In the able hands of Phillip’s son, Alexander III (a.k.a. “the Great”) the new Macedonian army was to be the instrument of Achaemenid Persia’s demise.
Essential Reading:
Diodorus Siculus, Library of History, 16.85–86.
Polyaenus, Stratagems of War, 4.2.2 and 4.2.7 (Chaeronea).
Connolly, Greece and Rome at War, pp. 64–83.
Gabriel and Boose, The Great Battles, pp. 150–172.
Supplemental Reading:
Ashley, The Macedonian Empire, pp. 22–54 (Macedonian army) and pp. 153–158 (Chaeronea).
Cawkwell, Philip of Macedon, especially pp. 13–49 and pp. 138–183.
Hammond, Philip of Macedon.
Lecture 16: https://www.bitchute.com/video/BSdW5LJnPLBk/
