Table Of Content
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by the spear
Ancient Warfare and Civilization
series editors:
Richard Alston Robin Waterfield
In this series, leading historians offer compelling new narratives of the
armed conflicts that shaped and reshaped the classical world, from the
wars of Archaic Greece to the fall of the Roman Empire and the Arab
conquests.
Dividing the Spoils: The War for Alexander the Great’s Empire
Robin Waterfield
By the Spear: Philip II, Alexander the Great, and the Rise and Fall of the
Macedonian Empire
Ian Worthington
Taken at the Flood: The Roman Conquest of Greece
Robin Waterfield
BY THE SPEAR
Philip II, Alexander the Great, and the Rise
and Fall of the Macedonian Empire
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Ian Worthington
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Contents
Preface vii
Acknowledgments ix
List of Maps and Figures xi
Ancient Works and Abbreviations xiii
Figure 1. Facial reconstruction of Philip II. xv
Figure 2. Head of Alexander the Great (Pella). xvi
Map 1. Greece. xvii
Map 2. Macedonia. xviii
Map 3. The Balkan area. xix
Map 4. Macedonia’s frontiers and Philip’s mines. xx
Map 5. Alexander’s empire. xxi
Introduction: The Architect and the Master Builder 1
1. Greece and Macedonia 7
2. Philip II and the Rise of Macedonia 25
3. The New Player in Greek Politics 47
4. The Gathering War Clouds 67
5. The Downfall of Greece 81
6. Philip’s Assassination and Legacy 103
7. Alexander’s Early Kingship—and Persia 121
8. From Europe to Asia 139
9. Alexander: Master Strategist and Emerging God 163
10. The Fall of the Persian Empire 185
11. The War in Afghanistan 209
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Contents
12. Passage to India 231
13. Retreat from India 251
14. Alexander’s Final Years 273
15. Death in Babylon and Alexander’s Legacy 293
Appendix: The Sources of Information 311
Timeline 321
Cast of Principal Characters 327
Notes 335
Bibliography 365
Select Index 383
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Preface
West met east in the Macedonian Empire of the later fourth
century b.c., which stretched from Greece to the Punjab and as
far south as Egypt. It was the largest empire in antiquity before the Roman
yet was created by only two men: Philip II and his son Alexander the
Great. How they did so is an epic tale of warfare across thousands of miles
and numerous cultures. Before Alexander physically landed in Asia in
334 b.c. he was said to have thrown a spear into the foreign soil, claiming
it as his “spear-won land.” Over the next decade he lived by the spear,
waging bloody battles and sieges against numerically superior foes and
demonstrating generalship skills and a strategic and tactical genius that
arguably no other individual has ever fully matched. Yet his father, Philip
II, had already established Macedonia as an imperial power, also by the
spear. He conquered first the areas that bordered his kingdom and then
Thrace and Greece and was all set to invade Asia when he was cut down
by an assassin’s dagger. Alexander inherited his father’s plan and brought
it to stunning fruition, but more than just defeating his enemies in fierce
battles, his conquests spread Greek language and culture in the East and
facilitated economic and cultural contacts between West and East. Thanks
to him the Greeks were catapulted from the Mediterranean world they
had been accustomed to for centuries into one far larger.
This book is the first to consider the achievements of Philip and Alexan-
der within one set of covers to show how they together formed one of
the most important epochs in Greek history. It is not a biography but,
rather, a study of the rise and fall of their Macedonian Empire, which nec-
essarily explores their reigns, challenges, achievements, and shortcomings.
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Preface
I present Philip as the architect of the Macedonian Empire and Alexander
as its master builder—and destroyer. In keeping with this series’ intersec-
tion of war and civilization, the narrative is also used as a backdrop to
discuss social and cultural matters in the West and East, the impact of an
invading army on the societies and cultures of the conquered, and, as far
as possible, what the Macedonians themselves thought of their empire and
the experience of battle—what fighting in battles and sieges was like for
combatants and how it affected them. Analogies to the modern era are also
made, such as how the problems Alexander faced in dealing with a multi-
cultural subject population and his successes and especially failures can
inform makers of strategy in culturally different regions of the world today.
All dates are b.c. except where indicated.
viii
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Acknowledgments
It hank robin waterfield for inviting me to write this book and for
all his help and advice throughout the writing process. His comments
on the content of various chapters and then on a draft of the whole book
were invaluable. Equally so were those of my editor, Stefan Vranka, at
Oxford University Press, with whom it was a pleasure to work again.
Likewise, I owe much to Sarah Pirovitz at the same press for arranging the
permissions for the illustrations and a myriad of always cheerful e-mails.
I am also grateful to the referees of the book proposal and submitted draft
for their astute suggestions and questions.
I am indebted to the Research Council of my own institution for award-
ing me a Research Leave grant for the 2011–2012 academic year, which
allowed me to finish my Demosthenes of Athens and the Fall of Classical
Greece (Oxford: 2013) and to complete most of a draft of the present book.
Then in 2013 the Research Council continued its generosity by awarding
me a Summer Research Fellowship, thanks to which I was able to com-
plete the final version of this book.
Last, but by no means least, I thank once again my family for putting up
with me—and who might read this book one day.
Ian Worthington
University of Missouri
November 2013
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