The Rise of Macedon

The Rise of Macedon, story by story.

1. IMacedonia, 359 to 358 BCE
   

   Chapter I · Macedonia, 359 to 358 BCE

   Philip's Army

   You play Philip II of Macedon

   Your brother is dead with 4,000 men and enemies sit on every border. Can you buy time to build a new army?

   Macedonia, 359 BCE. A small kingdom on the northern edge of the Greek world has just lost its king in battle, and four thousand of its soldiers with him.

   Your first call · Athenian soldiers: 3,000

   Pull your men out of AmphipolisHold Amphipolis against Athens

   Sources

   • Diodorus Siculus, Library of History 16.1 to 16.4 (Philip a hostage in Thebes, reared with Epaminondas; the murders of his brothers' reigns; Perdiccas killed by the Illyrians with more than 4,000 Macedonians; the panic; the Paeonians, the Illyrian invasion army, the pretender Pausanias backed by the Thracian king, Athens backing Argaeus with 3,000 hoplites and a fleet under Mantias; the assemblies and speeches, the drills, 'the compact order and the equipment of the phalanx' (16.3.2); withdrawal from Amphipolis; gifts to the Paeonians and the Thracian king; Argaeus at Aegae and his defeat; peace with Athens; Paeonia conquered; Bardylis's offer, Philip's 10,000 foot and 600 horse against 10,000 picked foot and 500 horse, the flank attack, more than 7,000 Illyrians killed, all Macedonian towns returned), 16.8 (Amphipolis taken; the gold mines at Crenides renamed Philippi), Loeb trans. C. L. Sherman
   • Diodorus Siculus, Library of History 16.53.3 (Philip 'was wont to declare that it was far more by the use of gold than of arms that he had enlarged his kingdom'), Loeb trans. C. L. Sherman
   • Justin, Epitome of Pompeius Trogus 7.5 to 7.6 (Philip a hostage of the Illyrians and then of Thebes, three years in the house of Epaminondas; Perdiccas's infant son; the people make Philip king; 'the poverty of his kingdom, exhausted by a series of wars'; some enemies bought off, others given peace; the Athenians released 'uninjured and without ransom'), 9.8 (Philip died at 47), trans. J. S. Watson (1853)
   • Frontinus, Stratagems 4.1.6 (Philip, organizing his first army, forbade carriages and had each man carry flour for thirty days), Loeb trans. C. E. Bennett
   • Theophrastus, Enquiry into Plants 3.12.2 (the longest Macedonian sarissa is twelve cubits, about 5.5 metres), trans. A. Hort (1916)
2. IIAthens and Thebes, 339 to 338 BCE
   

   Chapter II · Athens and Thebes, 339 to 338 BCE

   Chaeronea

   You play Demosthenes

   Philip is two days from Athens and nobody will speak. Can a speech make Thebes fight beside its old enemy?

   Athens, 339 BCE. For twenty years, Philip of Macedon has been swallowing Greek cities one at a time, with gold when he can and spears when he must.

   Your first call · Philip: two days away

   Ally with Thebes, our old enemyMan the walls and wait

   Sources

   • Demosthenes, On the Crown 169 to 179 (the news of Elatea at evening, the councillors at supper, the trumpeter, the dawn Assembly, 'Who wishes to speak?', no one rising; his speech: Thebes divided, Philip at Elatea to embolden his friends there, march out to Eleusis, send envoys, ask no favour; no opposition, he went as envoy) and 211 to 216 (Philip's envoys heard first at Thebes, the cattle and slaves of Attica; the Thebans invite the Athenians and open their homes; the battle by the river and the winter battle), trans. C. A. and J. H. Vince (1926)
   • Demosthenes, First Philippic 10 to 11 ('Is Philip dead?' 'No, but he is ill.' ... you will soon raise up a second Philip), trans. J. H. Vince (1930)
   • Aeschines, Against Ctesiphon 142 to 151 (the terms: Thebes given the land command, Athens two thirds of the cost; Philip wished to make peace and was sending envoys; the Boeotarchs inclined to peace; Demosthenes opposed it and they turned back to war), trans. C. D. Adams (1919)
   • Plutarch, Life of Demosthenes 4 (the stolen inheritance, the mocking nickname), 11 (pebbles, running uphill, the mirror, from Demetrius of Phalerum who heard it from Demosthenes), 17 to 18 (the league; Thebes the best soldiers, Philip's favours to Thebes; silence in the Assembly after Elatea; Python and the other envoys; 'Philip at once sent an embassy and asked for peace'), 20 to 21 (he cast away his arms and ran, the shield inscribed 'With good fortune'; chosen to deliver the eulogy for the dead), Loeb trans. B. Perrin
   • Plutarch, Life of Phocion 16 (Phocion urged accepting Philip's terms since Philip feared the war; Demosthenes carried the day)
   • Diodorus Siculus 16.53 (Olynthus taken through bribed officials Euthycrates and Lasthenes, its people enslaved and sold)
   • Diodorus Siculus 16.84 to 16.87 (Elatea; alarm all night; the herald's repeated call; the crowd's eyes on Demosthenes; in two days Philip could be in Attica; Python; Chaeronea, Alexander breaks the line, more than 1,000 Athenians killed and 2,000 captured; Demades: 'Agamemnon... Thersites'; the prisoners released without ransom; garrison in Thebes)
   • Plutarch, Life of Alexander 9 (Alexander sixteen in 340, present at Chaeronea, first to break the Sacred Band of Thebes)
3. IIIMacedonia and Greece, 336 to 335 BCE
   

   Chapter III · Macedonia and Greece, 336 to 335 BCE

   Murder at Aegae

   You play Alexander of Macedon

   Your father is stabbed at a wedding. How do you keep the kingdom, and what do you do with your rivals?

   Aegae, Macedonia, 336 BCE. Philip has beaten Greece and is about to invade the Persian Empire, but first there is a royal wedding to throw.

   Your first call · Greece: slipping away

   March on Greece at onceGo gently. Let Greece cool off

   Sources

   • Plutarch, Life of Alexander 9 to 11 (Cleopatra, the girl Philip married, and her uncle Attalus; the toast for a legitimate successor; 'Dost thou take me for a bastard?'; Philip trips; 'preparing to cross from Europe into Asia... from couch to couch'; Olympias taken to Epirus, Alexander in Illyria; Demaratus; Pausanias 'outrageously dealt with' and no justice from Philip; Alexander angry at Olympias's savage treatment of Cleopatra; king at twenty; advisers urge giving up the Greek states and handling the barbarians gently; Demosthenes called him a boy; Thebes offered amnesty, refused; more than 6,000 killed, more than 30,000 sold), Loeb trans. B. Perrin
   • Diodorus Siculus 16.91 to 16.94 (Attalus and Parmenion sent ahead into Asia; the wedding of Philip's daughter Cleopatra to Alexander of Epirus at Aegae; the procession of the twelve gods and Philip's statue as a thirteenth; the white cloak, guards told to keep their distance; Pausanias of Orestis, his outrage at Attalus's dinner, Philip's gifts and promotion instead of punishment; the Celtic dagger, horses at the gates, the vine, killed with javelins)
   • Diodorus Siculus 17.2 to 17.5 (Alexander punishes the murderers; 'the king was changed only in name'; Hecataeus sent to bring Attalus back alive or kill him; Athens rejoices; Thebes votes to expel the Cadmea garrison; Thessaly, Thermopylae, Athens asks forgiveness, Corinth names him general; Attalus sends on Demosthenes's letter with assurances of loyalty and is killed), 17.14 (Thebes razed)
   • Arrian, Anabasis of Alexander 1.1 (Alexander about twenty; Corinth), 1.7 to 1.11 (the rumour of his death in Illyria; Thebes rises; seven days to Pelina and six more to Onchestus; he waits for the Thebans to repent; the storming; the settlement left to the allies, the city razed, the people sold, Pindar's house and descendants spared; Athens's congratulations), trans. E. J. Chinnock (1884)
   • Justin, Epitome 9.6 to 9.7 (Pausanias's grievance against Attalus and Philip's excuses; Olympias forces Cleopatra to hang herself after killing her daughter in her lap), trans. J. S. Watson
   • Justin, Epitome 11.1 to 11.4 (Alexander twenty; 'changed only the person'; the allies' case against Thebes; the city demolished, the prisoners sold), trans. J. S. Watson
   • Plutarch, Life of Demosthenes 22 (Demosthenes appears in public in a garland at the news of Philip's death)
4. IVAsia, 334 to 332 BCE
   

   Chapter IV · Asia, 334 to 332 BCE

   Darius's Offer

   You play Alexander of Macedon

   The Great King offers half his empire and his daughter. Take it, or march on?

   Asia, 334 BCE. Alexander has crossed the sea from Greece with a Macedonian army to invade the vast Persian Empire.

   Your first call · The Persian fleet: still at sea

   Besiege TyreLeave Tyre and march on

   Sources

   • Arrian, Anabasis of Alexander 1.12 (Alexander garlands the tomb of Achilles at Ilium), 1.15 (the Granicus: Spithridates's raised sword, Clitus cuts off his arm), 2.11 to 2.12 (Issus: Darius flees in his chariot, then on horseback, leaving shield, mantle and bow; mother, wife and sister, infant son and two daughters captured; the women's lament; Leonnatus sent: Darius alive, the women to keep their state, retinue and title of queens, the war 'for the empire of Asia', not from hatred), 2.13 to 2.15 (Darius's letter, king to king; Alexander's reply: address me as king of Asia, stand and fight, do not run; Marathus, Byblus and Sidon submit; the Tyrian envoys promise obedience; he wishes to sacrifice to Heracles), 2.16 to 2.20 (Tyre's decree to admit no Persian or Macedonian; his anger and speech on the Persian fleet; the mole; the fire ship of a horse transport with pitch and brimstone; the wider mole; the Phoenician and Cyprian kings bring their fleets), 2.24 to 2.25 (about 8,000 Tyrians killed, about 30,000 sold; during the siege Darius offers 10,000 talents, all land west of the Euphrates and his daughter; Parmenio and the reply), trans. E. J. Chinnock (1884)
   • Diodorus Siculus 17.17 (Alexander flings his spear from the ship and leaps ashore first, receiving Asia as 'a spear-won prize')
   • Diodorus Siculus 17.54 (Parmenion: 'If I were Alexander, I should accept'; 'So should I, if I were Parmenion')
   • Plutarch, Life of Alexander 8 (the Iliad kept with his dagger under his pillow, from Onesicritus), Loeb trans. B. Perrin
   • Plutarch, Life of Alexander 24 (Tyre besieged for seven months), 29 (the offer of ten thousand talents, the land this side of the Euphrates and a daughter; Parmenio's advice and Alexander's reply), Loeb trans. B. Perrin
5. VMesopotamia, 331 BCE
   

   Chapter V · Mesopotamia, 331 BCE

   Gaugamela

   You play Darius III, King of Kings

   You chose the open plain for your chariots. Can you hold when Alexander comes straight for you?

   Mesopotamia, 331 BCE. Darius III, King of Kings, has lost two battles, his coastline and his family to a Macedonian half his age.

   Your first call · Your camp: no ditch, no wall

   Keep the army armed all nightLet them rest. Trust the scouts

   Sources

   • Diodorus Siculus 17.5 to 17.6 (Bagoas poisons Ochus, kills Arses, places Darius on the throne; Darius forces Bagoas to drink his own poison; Darius's single combat with the Cadusian champion; king about the time Philip died), Loeb trans. C. B. Welles
   • Diodorus Siculus 17.53 to 17.61 (two hundred scythe-bearing chariots and their blades; the camp near Arbela; the offer refused; the scythed chariots, javelins and opened ranks; Mazaeus's horsemen seize the Macedonian baggage; Alexander's javelin kills Darius's driver; Darius retreats; Parmenion hard pressed on the left)
   • Arrian, Anabasis of Alexander 2.11 and 2.25 (Issus; the family captured; the offer during the siege of Tyre), 3.7 to 3.15 (the eclipse; Bessus, viceroy of Bactria, leads the Bactrians; 200 scythed chariots and about fifteen elephants; the ground at Gaugamela levelled because Darius was persuaded Issus was lost for its narrowness; armies thirty stades apart; Alexander reconnoitres, orders dinner and rest, refuses Parmenio's night attack; Darius's army stands under arms all night with no entrenched camp; Alexander moves right, almost off the levelled ground; Darius sends his left wing round; the chariots met by javelins and opened ranks; the gap; the wedge; Darius first to flee; the Persian right attacks Parmenio and the baggage; pursuit to Arbela), 3.21 to 3.22 (Bessus and his fellow conspirators arrest Darius; Nabarzanes and Barsaentes wound him; he dies; royal burial; Alexander his son-in-law; about fifty years old), trans. E. J. Chinnock (1884)
   • Plutarch, Life of Alexander 30 to 32 (the queen's death; the eunuch Teireos rides to Darius; Darius beats his head, suspects, is reassured, and prays that if Persia must fall no other man but Alexander sit on the throne of Cyrus; the eclipse; Darius reviews his army under arms by torchlight; Alexander's 'I will not steal my victory'; his deep sleep; Parmenio's distress on the left), Loeb trans. B. Perrin
   • Strabo, Geography 11.13.3 (the Cadusii among the mountaineers of northern Media), Loeb trans. H. L. Jones
6. VIIndia, 326 to 325 BCE
   

   Chapter VI · India, 326 to 325 BCE

   The Hyphasis

   You play Alexander of Macedon

   In India your army refuses to go any further. Push on, or turn back?

   India, 326 BCE. Eight years after crossing into Asia, Alexander has taken the Persian Empire and marched on into India.

   Your first call · Your officers: in tears

   Storm out, and wait them outArrest the loudest complainers

   Sources

   • Arrian, Anabasis of Alexander 5.9 to 5.19 (Porus guards the swollen Hydaspes; the night crossing in a storm of rain and thunder; Porus's 200 elephants; Porus fights on, unlike Darius, until wounded in the right shoulder; 'Treat me, O Alexander, in a kingly way'; his kingdom restored and enlarged; Bucephala named for the horse, who died of toil and old age at about thirty), 5.24 to 5.29 (the reports of the land beyond the Hyphasis and its elephants; soldiers declare they will not follow even if he leads; the speech to the officers: the Ganges, the encircling sea, revolts if they turn back; long silence, repeated invitations to speak; Coenus speaks for the bulk of the army: few left, most dead of disease, longing for parents, wives and children; 'return to thy own land, see thy mother'; 'self-control in the midst of success is the noblest of all virtues'; applause and tears; Alexander breaks up the meeting, says he will go on with volunteers and the rest may go home and report that they deserted their king; three days in his tent; unfavourable sacrifices for the crossing; the return announced; tears of joy, 'by them alone he suffered himself to be conquered'; twelve altars), 6.24 to 6.26 (Gedrosia: Nearchus says he chose the route to rival Semiramis, who escaped with twenty men, and Cyrus, with seven, and to supply the fleet; heat, thirst, sand; the flash flood that killed most of the women and children; sixty days to Pura), 7.25 to 7.28 (the drinking at Medius's house, the fever, his death; he lived thirty-two years and eight months), trans. E. J. Chinnock (1884)
   • Diodorus Siculus 17.93 to 17.95 (Phegeus's report: twelve days of desert, then the Ganges, and the Gandaridae with four thousand elephants; almost eight years of toil; horses' hooves worn thin, arms wearing out, Greek clothing gone and Indian cloth recut; seventy days of rain with thunder and lightning; he lets them plunder, promises the wives a monthly ration and the children a bonus; the speech rejected; the altars), Loeb trans. C. B. Welles
   • Plutarch, Life of Alexander 61 (Bucephalas dies after the battle with Porus, thirty years old; the city Bucephalia), Loeb trans. B. Perrin