Philip II of Macedon

Philip II of Macedon was king of Macedon from 359 to 336 BC and father of Alexander the Great. He transformed Macedon into the dominant power in Greece through military reform, diplomacy and victory at Chaeronea.

In Mary Renault’s Fire from Heaven, Alexander grows up inside the divided court of Philip II of Macedon and Olympias, learning early that family affection, dynastic survival and political loyalty cannot be separated. David Gemmel’s Lion of Macedon places Philip II of Macedon within a narrative shaped by family, marriage and personal loyalty, court politics and dynastic power, and political ambition and government. Other novels featuring Philip II of Macedon include Valerio Massimo Manfredi’s Child of a Dream, Mary Renault’s The Mask of Apollo, and David Gemmel’s Dark Prince.

In non-fiction, Philip II of Macedon is discussed in Diodorus Siculus’s The Library, Books 16-20 and Quintus Curtius Rufus’s The History of Alexander. In Diodorus Siculus’s The Library, Books 16-20, Book 16 traces Philip II’s transformation of Macedon from a vulnerable kingdom into the dominant power of Greece, placing the Sacred War, the struggle for Greek alliances and the Battle of Chaeronea beside upheavals in Sicily.