The development of new fighting techniques and armoury is treated intensively and Philip's introduction of a well-trained and well-organised professional army is convincingly represented as the decisive factor which made for Philip's ability to secure Macedonian borders and for Alexander's military success later on (p. Chapter 4 is devoted to the military reforms Philip carried out after his accession and to the unification of upper and lower Macedonia. The years in Thebes are described as the period where Philip, as the "guest" of the Theban statesman and general Pammenes, learned military tactics and organisation from Epaminondas and by watching the Theban army train. Philip's youth and accession are treated in chapter 3. The incident caused Alexander to leave Pella, thus jeopardizing the whole question of succession. An illustrative example in the case of Philip is when he took Attalus' side in the quarrel between the latter and Alexander: in his attempt to discipline his son, the king drew his sword and fell over his own legs. 10-11), though there is evidence that both, on occasion, acted rashly and foolishly under the influence of alcohol. IW assures us that Philip's and Alexander's extensive use of alcohol never evolved into alcoholism (p. More problematic are the attempts to guard Philip's reputation. 14), phrases that offer a refreshing clarification of the author's approach and provide a catchy opening to the book. IW opens by asking whether Philip was the greatest of the kings in Europe, and concludes, in chapter 2, that he was the miracle divided and troubled Macedonia needed (p. xi, 2), where IW's main aim is to take Philip out of the shadow and to demonstrate his importance to Greek history. This approach to Philip and Alexander is continued in Philip II of Macedonia (p. Another of Philip's gifts was his diplomatic skill that, together with his readiness to wage war, secured Macedonia's leading position in Greece and the Balkans. In his Alexander biography IW points to Philip's ability to unite upper and lower Macedonia and to reform the Macedonian army, which constituted the world's most powerful fighting force. With his two previous books on the 4th century BCE: the anthology Demosthenes: Statesman and Orator from 2000 and Alexander the Great: Man and God from 2003, Ian Worthington established himself as a specialist on this turbulent and exciting period in Greek history. Reviewed by Jesper Majbom Madsen, University of Southern Denmark New Haven/London: Yale University Press, 2008.
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