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Warfare: Generals Who Shaped How Battles are Fought From Ancient Times Through the Gunpowder Age

Khalid Elhassan January 26, 2025 15 min

Warfare - Hannibal Barca — Hannibal Barca. Pinterest

13. The Unheralded King of Macedon

Warfare - Philip II of Macedon — Philip II of Macedon. Pinterest

While Thebes and Sparta fought to dominate Greece in the first half of the fourth century BC, a new power was rising in the north that would soon eclipse both. In 359 BC, 23-year-old Philip II (382 – 336 BC) ascended Macedon’s throne. Within two decades, he changed the face of Greece, and warfare was never the same again. Greeks viewed Macedonians barely civilized folk, who spoke a barely intelligible Greek dialect. Macedon had a lot of potential, both in manpower and resources that far exceeded those of any Greek city state, but had yet to realize its potential. Philip unified Macedon’s fractious tribes, and transformed them into the world’s most respected and feared military machine.

Written by

Khalid Elhassan

A lifelong history buff, I developed a particular passion for WW2 history as a child, when I spent hours listening to my grandfather, enraptured, as he recounted his wartime experiences in the British East African Campaign and with the British 8th Army in North Africa.

I graduated with a history BA from George Mason University, then went on to get a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law. After lawyering for a decade, I moved to sunny Rio de Janeiro and a less demanding career, opening a tourism agency in Copacabana.

A big chunk of my free time is spent blogging (you can follow me on Quora https://www.quora.com/profile/Khalid-Elhassan ) or freelance writing, mostly about my favorite subject, history.