4 Murder of Philip

							               Quiz Questions
1.Who was Pausanias of Orestis?

2. Who was Olympias jealous of and why?

3. Why did Attalus ask people to pray for “a legitimate heir”?

4. What year was Philip Murdered?

6. Give two events that might indicate Alexander’s
   involvement?

7. Why might Darius have been to blame?

8. What was the name of Philip’s new, younger lover, that
   Pausanias was jealous of?

9. At whose wedding did Philip get killed?

10. What was the name of Philip’s new wife?
Dun dun duunnn….




The Murder of Philip II
              The details
When did it happen?
     • Summer of 336 BC. King Philip was 46 years old.


Where did it happen?
     • Aegae (the old Macedonian capital)


What was going on?
     • The wedding of Philip’s and Olympias’ daughter,
       Cleopatra to Alexander the King of Epirus (brother of
       Olympias)
     • The murder occurred during the elaborate games that
       had been arranged for the following day after the
       wedding feast.
           Whose Wedding?
                    A political wedding.
• Philip had ruined the ties between Macedonia and Epirus by
  cheating on his wife Olympias (from Epirus) and marrying a
  woman from Macedonia (Cleopatra) .
• So, by marrying Philip and Olympias’ daughter (Cleopatra) to
  Olympias’ brother (Alexander) the ties between Epirus and
  Macedonia would be strong once more.



   Cleopatra          Phillip II      Olympias         Alexander
                                                       of Epirus




                          Alexander   Cleopatra
                         the great

                                      Yes, she was marrying her uncle
  How did it happen?

• Philip was making a grand entrance into the theatre
  accompanied by his son, Alexander and new son-in
  law the Alexander the King of Epirus.
  His bodyguards were following further behind.

• Pausanias of Orestes (Philips former
  lover/bodyguard) ran from the crowd and fatally
  stabbed Philip in the chest.

• Pausanias of Orestes then attempted to escape by
  running to the gates where he had a horse waiting.
  However he caught his foot in a vine and fell to the
  ground where he was caught by a group of Philip’s
  bodyguards and immediately speared to death with
  Javelins.
    Aigai / Aegae
  (modern Vergina)




            Movie clip




          Location of the
          murder of Philip


Theatre
 Why did Pausanias of Orestes kill King Philip?


There are many possible motives involving
   different people
1. Because he had a personal grudge
   against Philip
2. Because Olympias told him to
3. Because Alexander told him to
4. Because the Greeks told him to
5. Because Persian King Darius told him to
             The cast.




             King Philip II   Attalus
Pausanias                     (Cleopatra’s
Of Orestis                    Uncle) so      Pausanias
                              Philip’s       The younger
                              Uncle in law
Philip and Pausanias of Orestis were
            happy lovers
 Then Philip dumped Pausanias of Orestis and started
being with Pausanias the Younger. Pausanias of Orestis
                      got jealous.
Pausanias of Orestis was so        Pausanias the Younger was so
jealous of Pausanias the younger   Upset about the harrassment that
that he started harrassing and     He told his friend Attalus about it.
insulting him.
 Pausanias the Younger got so upset about
   being harrassed and insulted that he
committed suicide by throwing himself infront
           of King Philip in battle
Attalus wanted to avenge Pausanias the
Younger’s death. So he came up with a
 plan… deviously clever in its intrickety
Attalus invited Pausanias of Orestis
Around for dinner and got him blindly
Drunk.

                                        He then set his men
                                        On Pausanias of
                                        Orestis who brutally
                                        attacked him and sexually
                                        abused him.
 Pausanias complained to Philip demanding justice for his
  assault, but Philip did nothing because Attalus was too
influential as well as his uncle-in-law. Attalus was also the
      general in charge of the advance guard to Asia.
Philip attempted to appease Pausanias of Orestis
 anger with gifts and promotions but he was not
         satisfied and decided to kill Philip.
   Or was Pausanias put up to it by someone
                     else?
• There is evidence to suggest that Pausanias was not
  acting alone and that other people are to blame.

Because:

  The dates of the battle where Pausanias committed
  suicide and that Pausanias of Orestis was assaulted by
  Attalus’s was 8 years earlier than Philip’s murder.

  Some argue that this is a long time for Pausanias to hold
  a grudge.

              But it is possible.

       If it wasn’t due to personal motive……..

              Who put Pausanias up to it?
         The Suspects
• Alexander

• Olympias

• Darius, King of Persia

• Antipater

• Lyncestian Brothers

• The Greeks
  Suspect 1: Alexander
 The death of Philip came at such an opportune
   time for Alexander because his relationship
     with Philip was rather unstable due to 3
                   reasons . . . .


1. At Philip and Cleopatra’s wedding feast
     • Attalus (Cleopatra’s uncle) called on guests to
       pray for “a legitimate son” – meaning a full
       Macedonian prince to take over Philip’s throne
       (this insulted Alexander (half macedonian and
       half Epirus) and Olympias.
     • Alexander got upset that his father did not
       defend his or his mother’s honour.
Movie clip
               Also…
2. Alexander’s position as heir was
  threatened by Philip’s new wife if she
  gave birth to a son.
•    Cleopatra’s son would be more Macedonian than
     Alexander


3. The Pixodarus affair
  Pixodarus was the ruler of Caria. He was connected with
  the Persian King Artaxerxes III. After King Artaxerxes
     died in 338 BC Pixodarus offered his daughter in a
  marriage alliance with Philip’s other son Philip Arrihaeus
(the half-witted son of Philip and a Thessalian woman). This
 would make political ties between Philip and Caria. A very
                         useful link.




Philip                                          Pixodarus
Arrihaeus                                       daughter
(Alexander’s
Half brother)



        Philip II                          King Pixodarus
Alexander found out and thought he was being undermined

He secretly offered to marry Pixodarus’ daughter instead
            which Pixodarus happily accepted
  Philip found out and was extremely angry at
 Alexander for getting in the way, because his
   marriage alliance would have aided Philip’s
advance into Asia. Philip stopped the wedding.
 To punish Alexander for undermining him,
Philip banished Alexander’s closest friends,
       including ptolemy and nearchus.
   Suspect 2 : Olympias

• She had been replaced as Philip’s favourite wife
   – She was very resentful of Philip’s new wife Cleopatra

• She was determined to see Alexander succeed
  to the Macedonian throne.

• The historian Justin gives some accounts of
  Olympias’ actions after the murder which make
  her seem guilty.

• According to Plutarch, Olympias encouraged
  Pausanias’ resentment of Philip.
                 Suspect 3:
    Darius, The Persian King
• Philip was planning an invasion of Persia
• According to Alexander’s letter to Darius
  in 333 BC, the Persians claimed credit for
  the murder.
                Suspect 4:
                Antipater
•   A Macedonia Noble
•   May have approved plot to kill Philip
•   First to acclaim Alexander as King
•   Disapproved of Philip’s claims of divinity
      Suspect 5
The Lyncestian brothers
• There were 3 Brothers: Arrhabaeus and
  Heromenes and Alexander
• They were memebers of royal family from
  Lyncetis
• Their father had been exiled by Philip
• Alexander blamed 2 of the brothers for the
  death of Philip and they were executed shortly
  after Alexander became King
• The third Lyncestis brother, Alexander, was
  spared only because he was the first to
  recognise Alexander as the new King.
        Suspect 6:
        The Greeks
• Angry at the defeat at the battle of
  Charoneia

• Resist Philip’s leadership under the
  League of Corinth

• Stirred up by Demosthenes of Athens
  who preached against the uncivilised
  state of Macedonia & the evil nature of
  Philip, he encouraged the battle of
  Charoneia, where the Greeks took on
  the Macedonian Army)
So who is guilty??
        Pausanias certainly killed King Philip

• But no real evidence that can confirm whether he
  acted alone or was put up to it.

• We can only speculate as to who may have been
  involved.

• What Diodorus said, sums up Alexander’s and
  Olympias involvement perfectly, “But the death of
  the King occurred at so opportune a moment for
  Alexander and his mother that they were inevitably
  suspected of having instigated Pausanias to kill
  him”.
 Follow up questions
• What was the occation that Philip was
  mudered at?

• What was Pausanias’ reasons for killing the
  king?

• Why might this motive for the murder be
  doubted?

• Who else might have wanted Philip dead and
  why?
     In your workbooks
• ‘The murder of phillip’, read and
  highlight page 19

• Answer questions on the Hamilton
  worksheet on the following page ‘the
  murder of philip’ p. 21

• Answer questions in Paul Artus
  Study notes, p.18