Macedon
The kingdom of Macedon, from its rise under Philip II and Alexander the Great to its conquest by Rome in the 2nd century BCE.
Category: States
- 492 BCEMardonius's campaign in Thrace and Macedon
In 492 BCE Mardonius retakes Thrace and makes Macedon a fully subordinate part of the Persian empire. A storm off Mount Athos wrecks his fleet and he returns to Asia.
- 384 BCEAristotle is born
Aristotle is born at Stagira in 384 BCE, the son of a physician to the Macedonian king. At about 17 he joins Plato's Academy in Athens and stays about twenty years.
- 359 BCEPhilip II takes the Macedonian throne
Perdiccas III dies fighting the Illyrians in 359 BCE. Philip, named regent for his infant nephew Amyntas IV, takes the throne himself. He goes on to make Macedon the dominant power in Greece.
- 357 BCEPhilip takes Amphipolis
In 357 BCE Philip besieges and captures Amphipolis, which Athens had long claimed. He keeps it, though he had agreed to lease it to Athens, along with Pydna.
- 356 BCEThird Sacred War
The Amphictyonic League, dominated by Thebes, fines Phocis for farming sacred land, and in 356 BCE the Phocians seize Delphi and use its treasure to hire armies. The war draws in Philip II, who ends it in 346 on his own terms and gains Phocis's seats in the Amphictyonic council.
- July 356 BCEAlexander the Great is born
Alexander is born at Pella in July 356 BCE, probably 20 July, the son of Philip II and Olympias. His tutor will be Aristotle.
- c. 353 BCEBattle of the Crocus Field
Philip II defeats the Phocian general Onomarchos in Thessaly, most likely in 353 BCE, though some place it in 352. Onomarchos dies and about 6,000 Phocians fall. Philip is made archon of Thessaly.
- c. 351 BCEDemosthenes delivers the First Philippic
Around 351 BCE the Athenian orator Demosthenes urges Athens to prepare against Philip II. In 349 the Olynthiacs press Athens to help Olynthus.
- 348 BCEPhilip destroys Olynthus
In 348 BCE Philip takes Olynthus, head of the Chalcidian League, after two leading citizens betray it. He razes the city and sells its people into slavery. Excavations of the abandoned houses have given a detailed picture of a Greek town.
- 346 BCEPhilip takes Thermopylae; peace with Athens
In 346 BCE Philip seizes Thermopylae, Phocis surrenders and its cities are broken up. Athens makes peace with him. Macedon takes the two Phocian seats in the Amphictyonic council.
- 343 BCEAristotle tutors Alexander
About 343-342 BCE Aristotle goes to Macedon to teach the young Alexander. The two later become estranged. Claims that Aristotle had a hand in Alexander's death rest on weak evidence.
- August 338 BCEBattle of Chaeronea
In August 338 BCE Philip II defeats Athens and Thebes in Boeotia, with his 18-year-old son Alexander commanding the left wing. Thebes's Sacred Band is wiped out. Philip becomes master of Greece.
- 337 BCELeague of Corinth
In late 338 or 337 BCE, after Chaeronea, Philip forms an alliance of Greek states, with garrisons as guarantors, that bars attacks and interference. The league declares war on Persia and makes Philip its leader (strategos). Sparta stays out.
- October 336 BCEAlexander becomes king
Aged about 20, Alexander is proclaimed king by the nobles and the army in October 336 BCE, probably 25 October. He secures the throne and the Greek states, which are restless after Philip's death.
- October 336 BCEPhilip II is assassinated
In October 336 BCE, perhaps 25 October, Philip is stabbed by his bodyguard Pausanias at Aegae, at the wedding of his daughter Cleopatra. His planned Persian campaign passes to Alexander. The motive is disputed.
- 335 BCEAlexander destroys Thebes
In 335 BCE Thebes revolts and Alexander punishes it with his Greek allies. The city is razed and its people sold into slavery, except, by tradition, Pindar's house and the temples. Its territory is shared among other Boeotian cities.
- May 334 BCEBattle of the Granicus
In May 334 BCE Alexander beats the Persian satraps at the Granicus river in the Troad. Cleitus the Black saves his life. Greek mercenaries in Persian service are largely killed or captured.
- c. 333 BCEThe Gordian Knot (traditional)
At Gordium in 333 BCE, tradition says, Alexander undoes the knot that was said to give rule over Asia to whoever freed it. Versions differ: he cut it with his sword, or he pulled out the pin. The story is ancient legend.
- November 333 BCEBattle of Issus
In November 333 BCE Alexander routs Darius III near Issus, and Darius flees, leaving his mother, wife and daughters in Alexander's hands. Ancient army numbers are far inflated. The victory opens Syria and Phoenicia.
- January 332 BCESiege of Tyre
From January to July 332 BCE Alexander besieges island Tyre, building a causeway about a kilometre long that still survives. Thousands of Tyrians die and some thousands are sold into slavery. Figures vary by source.
- April 331 BCEAlexander founds Alexandria
In April 331 BCE Alexander founds Alexandria on Egypt's coast, planned on a grid by the architect Dinocrates of Rhodes. After his death Ptolemy makes it his capital, and it becomes a centre of Hellenistic learning.
- October 1, 331 BCEBattle of Gaugamela
On 1 October 331 BCE Alexander defeats Darius III near Gaugamela, in modern Iraqi Kurdistan, and Darius flees. Babylon surrenders. The battle breaks the Achaemenid Empire. Ancient army sizes are unreliable.
- 330 BCEPersepolis is burned
Alexander takes Persepolis in 330 BCE and, after months there, a fire destroys its palaces, thought to have started in Xerxes's. Sources disagree on whether it was a drunken accident or deliberate revenge for the Acropolis; Thais is named in later accounts.
- July 330 BCEDarius III is murdered
In July 330 BCE Bessus, satrap of Bactria, and other nobles wound Darius III and abandon him, as Alexander closes in. Alexander gives him a royal funeral. Bessus takes the name Artaxerxes V; Alexander later has him executed.
- 327 BCEAlexander marries Roxana
In 327 BCE Alexander marries Roxana, a Sogdian or Bactrian noblewoman, against the wishes of his companions. Where it took place is uncertain. Her son Alexander IV is born after Alexander's death in 323.
- c. 326 BCEMutiny at the Hyphasis
After the Hydaspes, Alexander's army refuses to march farther east at the Hyphasis (Beas) river. The river marks the easternmost point of his conquests. He turns back, and the army returns by a southern route.
- May 326 BCEBattle of the Hydaspes
In May 326 BCE (some say July) Alexander defeats the Indian king Porus on the Jhelum river in the Punjab, then confirms him as satrap. His horse Bucephalus dies, and Alexander founds Bucephala in its honour.
- 324 BCEThe Susa weddings
In 324 BCE at Susa Alexander marries Stateira, daughter of Darius III, and perhaps Parysatis, and about eighty of his companions wed Persian and Median noblewomen. Historians now doubt that Macedonians widely resented the unions.
- 323 BCELamian War
On news of Alexander's death, Athens and other Greek states revolt against Macedon in 323 BCE. Antipater is besieged at Lamia, but wins at Crannon in August 322. Athens gets a garrison and an oligarchy; its citizen body falls from about 21,000 to 9,000.
- 323 BCEPartition of Babylon
After Alexander's death in 323 BCE, the infantry back his half-brother Philip Arrhidaeus while Perdiccas holds the signet ring. Philip III and the unborn Alexander IV are made joint kings in name; Perdiccas distributes the satrapies.
- June 323 BCEAlexander dies at Babylon
Alexander dies at Babylon on 10 or 11 June 323 BCE, aged 32, after a short illness. Poison, typhoid and other causes have been proposed; none is proven. He leaves no clear heir.
- October 12, 322 BCEDemosthenes dies
On 12 October 322 BCE, hunted by Antipater's agents after the Lamian War, Demosthenes takes poison at a sanctuary of Poseidon on Kalaureia (Poros) to avoid capture. He was about 62.
- 321 BCEPerdiccas is assassinated
In 321 BCE, after a failed crossing of the Nile into Ptolemy's Egypt, Perdiccas is killed by his own officers, including Seleucus. The regency passes to others and the wars of Alexander's successors begin in earnest.
- 306 BCEThe Successors proclaim themselves kings
In 306 BCE Antigonus and his son Demetrius take the royal crown, and Ptolemy, Seleucus, Lysimachus and later Cassander follow. Alexander's empire is formally split into rival kingdoms. Ptolemy is crowned king and pharaoh about 305-304.
- 305 BCESiege of Rhodes
In 305-304 BCE Demetrius besieges Rhodes for about a year until a Ptolemaic relief fleet arrives. The Rhodians sell his abandoned siege machines for 300 talents and use the money for the Colossus.
- 301 BCEBattle of Ipsus
In 301 BCE Seleucus, Lysimachus and Cassander's forces defeat Antigonus, who is killed. Elephants are decisive. Demetrius escapes. Antigonus's empire is divided among the victors.
- 281 BCESeleucus is assassinated
In 281 BCE Seleucus defeats Lysimachus at Corupedium, and then is murdered in September by Ptolemy Keraunos near Lysimachia.
- 279 BCEThe Gauls invade Greece
Celtic armies kill the Macedonian king Ptolemy Keraunos and push into Greece. In 279 BCE they get past Thermopylae but are defeated at Delphi. Survivors settle in Thrace or cross into Asia Minor, where they found Galatia.
- 214 BCEFirst Macedonian War
After Cannae, Philip V of Macedon allies with Hannibal (215 BCE). Rome keeps him busy in Greece through Aetolian allies until the stalemate ends in the Peace of Phoenice in 205 BCE.
- 197 BCEBattle of Cynoscephalae
In 197 BCE Flamininus's legions defeat Philip V's Macedonian phalanx in Thessaly. Philip accepts Roman terms: he withdraws from the Greek cities, pays 1,000 talents and gives up most of his fleet.
- 196 BCEFlamininus proclaims the "freedom of the Greeks"
At the Isthmian Games of 196 BCE the Roman general Flamininus declares the Greek cities free of Macedonian rule. Rome nonetheless keeps garrisons in Corinth, Chalcis and Demetrias until 194.
- 168 BCEBattle of Pydna ends the Macedonian kingdom
On 22 June 168 BCE Aemilius Paullus beats Perseus of Macedon. The legions break the phalanx on uneven ground; Perseus is paraded in Rome and Macedon is split into four republics.
- 148 BCEMacedonia becomes a Roman province
Andriscus, a pretender, revives the Macedonian kingdom in 150 BCE. He is defeated in 148 by Metellus Macedonicus, who makes Macedonia a Roman province, a process that may have been gradual. Some sources give 146.