Philip ( el, Φίλιππος, died about 318 BC) was a

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

Macedonian nobleman who lived during the 4th century BC.

Early life

Philip was the son of Amyntas by an unnamed mother. He served as a military officer in the service of the Greek king

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, wikt:Ἀλέξανδρος, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Maced ...

. Philip was known to have commanded one division of the phalanx in Alexander’s wars and, in particular, he commanded one of the divisions of the

phalanx The phalanx ( grc, φάλαγξ; plural phalanxes or phalanges, , ) was a rectangular mass military formation, usually composed entirely of heavy infantry armed with spears, pikes, sarissas, or similar pole weapons. The term is particularly use ...

at the

Battle of the Granicus The Battle of the Granicus in May 334 BC was the first of three major battles fought between Alexander the Great of Macedon and the Persian Achaemenid Empire. The battle took place on the road from Abydus to Dascylium, at the crossing of the G ...

in May 334 BC. His name does not subsequently appear in the campaigns of Alexander, but can be at least distinctly identified. Based on information provided by

Plutarch Plutarch (; grc-gre, Πλούταρχος, ''Ploútarchos''; ; – after AD 119) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for his ''P ...

(Pyrrhus 4.4), before Philip married

Berenice Berenice ( grc, Βερενίκη, ''Bereníkē'') is the Ancient Macedonian form of the Attic Greek name ''Pherenikē'', which means "bearer of victory" . Berenika, priestess of Demeter in Lete ca. 350 BC, is the oldest epigraphical evidence. ...

he was already married and had children from those marriages. The identities of his first wife and children are unknown.

Marriage to Berenice I

In c. 325 BC, Philip married Berenice I as her first husband.

Pausanias Pausanias ( el, Παυσανίας) may refer to: *Pausanias of Athens, lover of the poet Agathon and a character in Plato's ''Symposium'' *Pausanias the Regent, Spartan general and regent of the 5th century BC *Pausanias of Sicily, physician of th ...

(1.7.1), criticises his marriage to Berenice I and describes him as "a Macedonian but of no note and of lowly origin". The ancient sources don’t say anything else about him and there is no evidence against this. Philip must have been a nobleman of some social status and influence as he married the great-niece of the powerful

Regent A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state '' pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy ...

Antipater Antipater (; grc, , translit=Antipatros, lit=like the father; c. 400 BC319 BC) was a Macedonian general and statesman under the subsequent kingships of Philip II of Macedon and his son, Alexander the Great. In the wake of the collaps ...

and the grandchild of Antipater’s brother

Cassander Cassander ( el, Κάσσανδρος ; c. 355 BC – 297 BC) was king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia from 305 BC until 297 BC, and ''de facto'' ruler of southern Greece from 317 BC until his death. A son of Antipater and a cont ...

. Berenice bore Philip three children: * Son,

Magas Magas (russian: Мага́с) is the capital town of the Republic of Ingushetia, Russia. It was founded in 1995 and replaced Nazran as the capital of the republic in 2002. Due to this distinction, Magas is the smallest capital of a federal subje ...

* Daughter,

Antigone In Greek mythology, Antigone ( ; Ancient Greek: Ἀντιγόνη) is the daughter of Oedipus and either his mother Jocasta or, in another variation of the myth, Euryganeia. She is a sister of Polynices, Eteocles, and Ismene.Roman, L., & Roma ...

* Daughter,

Theoxena Theoxena may refer to: * Theoxena of Syracuse (born before 317 BC; died after 289 BC), a Greek Macedonian noblewoman * Theoxena of Egypt ( 4th/3rd century BC), a Syracusan princess, daughter of Theoxena of Syracuse * Theoxena of Thessaly (fl. 3rd/2 ...

Death

Philip died of unknown causes. After his death, Berenice and her children travelled to Egypt, where they were a part of the entourage of Berenice’s second maternal cousin

Eurydice Eurydice (; Ancient Greek: Εὐρυδίκη 'wide justice') was a character in Greek mythology and the Auloniad wife of Orpheus, who tried to bring her back from the dead with his enchanting music. Etymology Several meanings for the name ...

. Eurydice was then the wife of

Ptolemy I Soter Ptolemy I Soter (; gr, Πτολεμαῖος Σωτήρ, ''Ptolemaîos Sōtḗr'' "Ptolemy the Savior"; c. 367 BC – January 282 BC) was a Macedonian Greek general, historian and companion of Alexander the Great from the Kingdom of Macedon ...

. By 317 BC, Berenice married Ptolemy I and became the queen mother of the

Ptolemaic dynasty The Ptolemaic dynasty (; grc, Πτολεμαῖοι, ''Ptolemaioi''), sometimes referred to as the Lagid dynasty (Λαγίδαι, ''Lagidae;'' after Ptolemy I's father, Lagus), was a Macedonian Greek royal dynasty which ruled the Ptolemaic ...

. As a posthumous honour to Philip, his son Magas, when he served as a priest of the Greek God

Apollo Apollo, grc, Ἀπόλλωνος, Apóllōnos, label=genitive , ; , grc-dor, Ἀπέλλων, Apéllōn, ; grc, Ἀπείλων, Apeílōn, label=Arcadocypriot Greek, ; grc-aeo, Ἄπλουν, Áploun, la, Apollō, la, Apollinis, label= ...

, had dedicated an honorific inscription proudly naming him as "the eponymous priest" and "Magas, son of Philip".Ptolemaic Genealogy: Magas of Cyrene, Footnote 2
/ref>

Family tree of Philip

References

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Sources

4th-century BC Greek people 4th-century BC Macedonians Military personnel of Alexander the Great Soldiers of Alexander the Great Ancient Macedonian soldiers