A Dedication of Philip III Arrhidaeus and Alexander IV

Strolling through the temporary exhibition about Samothrace at the New Acropolis Museum in Athens, I was surprised to find two odd-looking objects labeled as Dedications of Philip III and Alexander IV.

When Alexander the Great died in 323 BC, there was no heir to the throne of the King of Asia, and his generals had a rough time agreeing on a successor. Alexander’s son with Roxane had not been born yet, and his earlier son with Barsine was never recognized by Alexander. After many flaring discussions, it was decided that Alexander’s simple-minded half-brother Arrhidaeus would share the throne with Roxane’s baby boy under the respective names of Philip III Arrhidaeus and Alexander IV. Neither was to rule as king, at least not at this very early stage.

Here at the museum, this is the first time I have seen artifacts tied to both kings, and I wonder whether these are the only ones. The Dedication dates from between 323, when their co-kingship was implemented, and 317 BC, the year in which Philip III Arrhidaeus was brutally murdered by Olympias.

Samothrace is, of course, the place where Philip II and Olympias, Alexander’s parents, met during an initiation ceremony to the sacred rites of the most secret Mysteries, but why is this island so important that even young Alexander IV and his simple-minded uncle honor it with a dedication of their own?

According to Diodorus, initiation at the Sanctuary of the Great Gods promised an opportunity to “become a better and more pious person.” Divine forces of earth, sky, and sea played a fundamental role in the mysteries that shrouded (and are still shrouding) the island. From as early as the 7^th century BC all the way down to the 4^th century AD, the Sanctuary provided insight into spiritual, political, and cultural life. The intense activity is shown through the host of monuments erected here since they are all set in selective locations throughout the landscape to enhance the initiates’ experience.

     

 

The marble Doric building where the Dedication of Philip III Arrhidaeus and Alexander IV was found would have been the first significant construction the visitor saw when entering the Sanctuary. It stood nine meters high and welcomed the pilgrims with the dedicatory inscription reading “King Philip [and] Alexander to the Great Gods,” a proof – if needed – that both kings ruled equally. I did not find the inscription at the museum; only a fragment of a monumental eagle’s head and a wing bit from the two large eagles that once adorned the construction, probably as acroteria. The Dedication monument was the work of local craftsmen who used two different kinds of marble. For the façade, which counted six columns, Pentelic marble from Attica had the preference, while the sides and back marble came from the nearby island of Thasos, as was common elsewhere in Samothrace. The open chamber is said to have preserved its mosaic floor with a central panel unusually made of rhomboid marble tesserae, which I have not seen at the museum but may still be in situ.

The construction of such a significant monument by the two kings or whoever acted on their behalf was meant to reinforce their rightful succession to Alexander the Great. Using Pentelic marble for its façade was an iconic reference to other great monuments in Athens and to Athenian dedications in other locations. To the visitors of those days, this Dedication would also be seen as Macedonia’s claim to power over mainland Greece.

After this exciting discovery, I spent more time investigating the other artifacts to learn more about Samothrace. The most valuable tools are an excellent reconstruction of the site and a clear map of all the pertaining buildings.

I find another intriguing testimony of Alexander’s heritage in one of the showcases: a tiny gold applique of a lion of Achaemenid origin, once inlaid with precious stones. It has been dated to the 4^th century BC and may be a trophy one of his soldiers brought back from Persia.

There is also the top part of a stele containing a dedication of King Lysimachos of Thrace from between 288 and 281 BC. Based on the surviving first fifteen lines, Lysimachos is honored for restoring sacred lands on the mainland initially granted to Samothrace by either Philip II and Alexander the Great or Philip Arrhidaeus III and Alexander IV. Boundary stones for said sacred land have been found near Alexandroupolis in Greece. Lysimachos is also honored as a friend and benefactor of Samothrace, hence his title of Lysimachus Euergetes as inscribed on the altar erected in his honor and used during annual festivals.

Just a few years later, between 285 and 281 BC, Ptolemy II built a Propylon, one of the most lavishly decorated entrance buildings from Hellenistic times. This must have been an impressive monument since the metopes were an elegant succession of alternating 100 rosettes and 104 garlanded bucrania or ox skulls. It makes you wonder about the richness of the other details.

To remain with the Ptolemaic dynasty, Arsinoe II built a splendid Rotunda at the Sanctuary. It is not clear, however, whether this Rotunda was made while she was married to Lysimachos of Thrace, mentioned above, and her first husband (288-281 BC) or after she became the wife of her brother Ptolemy II, her third husband (273-270 BC). The meaning of the Dedication thus varies accordingly. If the Rotunda was built during her marriage with Lysimachos, it might stand for the alliance of Egypt with Thrace and the northern Aegean. If erected when she married her brother, it could mean to thank Samothrace for sheltering her after fleeing from her second husband, Ptolemy Keraunas. This Rotunda was also decorated with reliefs of alternating rosettes and bucrania, a favorite theme. A lovely rosette and a strange-looking, round and flat tile from the roof are exhibited here.

Much more recent is the Dedication to the Great Gods of Samothrace by the Thessalian League from 170-140 BC. It tells us that their embassy was led by Damothoinos, son of Leontomenes and a member of a prominent family from Pherae; he was the leader of the league in 161/160 BC. This Dedication shows the importance of the Thessalian League after being freed from Macedonian rule.

The best-known sculpture from Samothrace is the famous Nike, now at the Louvre and recently restored and cleaned for the pleasure of our eyes! It has been dated to the 2^nd century BC and was a gift from the people of Rhodes to thank the gods who protected seafarers and granted them victory in war, maybe in commemoration of the Battle of Myonnissos or the victory over Antiochus III at Side in 190 BC.

Yet the Athens exhibition shows another Nike statue, less flashy than this famous one, which is said to be one of four that stood at each corner of the Hieron built between 325 and 150 BC.

Another piece that caught my attention was this lovely frieze of dancing girls. It was found in an imposing building of 34x23 meters that is neither a temenos nor a propylon and thus has been labeled as the Hall of Choral Dancers after the frieze that was discovered inside. Dating from the middle of the 4^th century BC, this Hall is the first marble structure of the Sanctuary, maybe even the oldest and the largest one. The frieze we see here is only a small section of the continuous row of hundreds of dancing maidens running around the entire building. Besides the dancing figures, female musicians also accompanied the long procession. The wealth exposed in this monument leads experts to believe that it was commissioned by an influential donor and that the name of Philip II, Alexander’s father, has fallen since it was here that he met Queen Olympias.

Because of Philip’s and Olympia’s early presence and the splendid monumental dedications made during the later Hellenistic period, it is generally believed that Samothrace played a crucial role in Macedonia’s legacy. I would even add a pivotal role to Alexander’s legacy!

More wars and end of the Peace Treaty with Athens - Macedonia forged by Philip II - 10

More wars and end of the Peace Treaty with Athens (345-341 BC)

Yet the peace that had been so hard to reach was far from being achieved. The Thebans were unhappy to be left out; the Spartans complained about being isolated, and even the Thessalians resented the peace outcome, for they had expected more. Athens was not faring any better in 345 BC, for Demosthenes did all he could to sabotage the treaty, while Aeschines tried by all means to keep it alive.

Meanwhile, Philip was up north fighting some obscure war against what is now southern Albania, where he broke his collarbone. Details of these encounters are not known, but they led Philip to take the drastic and emphatic decision to submit the conquered peoples once and for all. The facts seem to be related only by Justin. Philip moved entire cities and tribes to areas he felt needed to be populated. Some people were settled right on his borders to serve as a buffer against his enemies, others were moved to the far frontiers of his kingdom, and yet others were used to repopulate some of his cities. His aim apparently was to create one cohesive kingdom with one people instead of the large numbers of tribes and clans spread all over his territories. Although this may be considered as being a useful tactical and political move, the victims of this move were far from content. According to Justin, the overall feeling was that of deep fear, "there was a silent, forlorn dejection, as men feared that even their tears might be taken to signify opposition” – a picture far from the loving and caring king we want to see. But in Philip’s eyes, this decision was a rational one as these new cities served as training grounds for the military where boys would be trained the Macedonian way. They would acquire experience defending the outposts, indirectly adding power to the king’s army. This was also the time when Philip ordered the swampy areas to be drained and turned into agricultural land. He had new roads built that could be used year-round and made sure of the rivers by building dikes. It is important to note that is was the army that undertook most of these projects, creating a kind of engineering corps that would be crucial in later years, especially in Alexander’s conquests east.

[picture graciously shared by Jim]

In the summer of 344 BC, Philip headed south towards Thessaly, which was still sulking over the peace treaty. He had heard enough complaints; he seized Larissa and Pherae and installed Macedonian garrisons in several places. He even went as far as to revive their old administrative system of tetrarchies, meaning that each of the original four tribes was again headed by a governor, appointed by the king, and answerable only to him. In this way, he remained firmly in control.

But then it was the Molossian ruler who created new problems for Macedonia and Philip invaded Epirus to settle the matter once and for all. It turned out to be a bloodless campaign; the Molossian king left for Athens (he had Athenian citizenship) and Philip put Alexander, his brother-in-law, on the throne – a wise move because this Alexander had spent time at Philip’s court and was Olympias’ brother. Macedonia’s southwestern border was now properly secured while the king acquired access to rich timberland and pastureland.

As was to be expected, Demosthenes had done his utmost to convince the Athenians that the peace treaty with Philip was worthless, using every opportunity and trick in the book to manipulate his audience and distort Philip’s words. By 342/341 BC, the famous peace treaty collapsed entirely.

Click here to read the full story about Philip II from the beginning

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The Fall of Olynthus (348 BC)

After his march through Thracia in 351 BC, Philip had given the Olynthians a serious warning, avoiding a direct attack, maybe because they had granted asylum to his half-brothers, Menelaus and Arrhidaeus, and to Machatas, the exiled brother of Phila, Philip’s first wife. But now it seems that even ten years after being crowned king of Macedonia, Philip still felt the need to eliminate possible pretenders to the throne when Olynthus, at the head of a league of about 32 cities, refused bluntly to surrender the possible pretenders to the throne, and a full-scale Macedonian invasion was launched in the summer of 349 BC.

Marching in from the north, Philip’s strategy was to isolate Olynthus, and for that purpose, he attacked the cities around it, picking one after another. He besieged and razed Stagira to the ground as a main warning. Other towns like Stratonikea, Acanthus, Apollonia, and Arethusa got the message and surrendered immediately, but not Olynthus, which called for Athens’ help. It took Athens a while to make up its mind, and when it did, Philip had taken his army away on a short campaign to settle matters with rebellious Pherae in Thessaly. But he returned to Chalcidice a few months later, and a new Athenian force was sent to Olynthus’ rescue; it failed. Philip took Apollonia, then Torone, and shortly thereafter, Mecyberna, the port of Olynthus. Now that reinforcements couldn’t reach Olynthus from the sea anymore, Philip was in a position to sack the city. A last support attempt was made by Athens, sending a huge fleet that was seriously hampered by the Etesian Winds (which blew between May and September) and arrived too late. Olynthus had been taken and leveled entirely, not without putting up a serious fight, as proven by the bolt-heads from catapults that were found carrying Philip’s name. His two half-brothers were executed, and the Athenians present in the city were taken to Pella as prisoners to be negotiated over later on. After Olynthus fell, Philip went to Dion to celebrate the festival in honor of Zeus Olympus with lavish sacrifices, extensive symposia as only he could organize, and spectacular competitions.

It is interesting to see how the sack of Olynthus by Philip, because of their sheltering pretenders to the throne, can be compared to Alexander when razing Thebes to the ground about a decade later for the same reason, since they harbored Amyntas, the legal heir in 359 BC – as suggested by some inscriptional evidence. Alexander has walked further in his father’s footsteps than we may think at first sight.

This meant the end of the Chalcidian League and with it Athens’ chances to recover Amphipolis. Philip now had full control over the peninsula’s rich timber and minerals (gold and silver), and he replaced the local coins with Macedonian coinage, especially the silver tetradrachme and, later, the gold staters that eventually circulated all over the ancient world.

Click here to read the full story about Philip II from the beginning
Click here to see the pictures of Olynthus

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Philip is bouncing back (352 BC)

Philip was not going to sit idle on his hands, of course. He had learned his lesson (one that even Alexander was aware of as we witness later on in history) and his first step was to restore the troops’ morale and their confidence in him as a king. He had to keep his army busy and victorious. Keeping Macedonia’s borders safe was not enough, he needed to expand in Greece or even in Asia.

With his head high, Philip marched his newly inspired army into Thessaly in 352 BC and ordered his men to wear crowns of laurel as they went into battle – a highly symbolic sign to show that he was fighting for a religious cause, on behalf of Apollo “as though the god were going before” (see: Justin, Diodorus) and not merely for revenge or on behalf of his Thessalian allies. In a well-orchestrated attack of cavalry and infantry together with the Thessalians, Philip soon annihilated the Phocians on what is called the Crocus Field. As the story goes, a large number of them simply fled out of guilt when they saw the crowned Macedonians attacking on behalf of their god. Over 6,000 Phocians and mercenaries were killed in battle; 3,000 were captured and drowned to punish them for the sacrilege of seizing Delphi. No mercy, that is clear. This battle restored Philip’s leadership and the confidence of his army, which he never lost again.

Philip immediately saw his opportunity to secure Macedonia’s southern border by stabilizing the situation in Thessaly. An agreement was signed at Pherae, consolidated by his marriage with a local woman named Nicesipolis (she died 20 days after giving birth to their daughter Thessalonica, meaning ‘Thessalian Victory’). It hereby became clear that whoever defected from the Thessalian League of City-states also defected from Philip. His position was so strong now that he was elected archon (leader) for life, a highly exceptional nomination as he was not a Thessalian. The Third Sacred War was at a stalemate.

I am really amazed to see how often the Macedonian army is marching up and down northern Greece, crossing it time and again from east to west or vice versa.

By now, the Athenians had regained their influence over the Chersonese, and eastern Thracia, fickle as ever, had abandoned Philip once again. On top of that Olynthus had sued for peace with Athens. High time for Philip to reassert his presence and chance worked in his favor. In late 352 BC, he was asked to assist a coalition of Central Thracia, Byzantium, and Perinthus (two cities inside the territory of eastern Thracia) in besieging the fortress town of Heraion Teichos, close to Perinthus. He marched his army east, took the town, and returned it to Perinthus, presumably its original owner. This may sound like a trivial intervention but it meant another blow for the Athenians who jealously wanted to keep the corn route from the Black Sea in their hands. We should not forget that each spring Athenian ships loaded with wheat from the Danube and Maritza basins, sailed down via Byzantium, the Hellespont, and further across the Aegean to Athens. On this route, they badly needed safe havens for their precious cargo and now Philip was threatening their supply line.

Philip now turned to Olynthus where it did not come to open war, a stern warning seemed to have done the trick - for now at least. After a short intervention in Epirus where Philip extended his power by taking his nephew Alexander, i.e., Olympias’ younger brother, with him to court at Pella, he turned his full attention again to the peninsula of Chalcidice. The Olynthians still made trouble in spite of their treaty of 357 BC and Philip’s earlier warning.

Click here to read the full story about Philip II from the beginning