preface
Ancient Macedonia was located in the Balkan Peninsula, when Macedonia was located in the north of ancient Greece, the two sides were not far apart geographically, and there were often some exchanges. But we look at the development paths and discovery processes of the two regions, and there are some big differences.
The pace of Macedonia's development lagged significantly behind that of the ancient Greek city-states
，
While Athens was in a golden age of political, economic, cultural, and military development, Macedonia was still on the threshold of civilization.
We turn our attention to the interior of Macedonia, where the situation in Macedonia was also a mixture of forces, and since it had not yet reached the level of national development, macedonia at that time was only internal
Tribes are numerous
situation. Although the macedonian king held political and military power, it seemed that the power was relatively concentrated, but in fact the entire Macedonian undercurrent was surging.
The local tribes have great autonomy, and they can obey the king when their power has not yet expanded, and once they suddenly become strong, they will inevitably resist the king
。
Before the unification of Macedonia
In the early 5th century BC, Macedonia was once under the rule of the Persian Empire, and the Persian War was also underway.
Therefore, As a neighbor of ancient Greece, Macedonia immediately became the object of mutual contention and co-optation between the two sides
。 Because Persia had always been under strong rule, Macedonia provided Persia with many military secrets of the Greek city-states during the Persian War, which greatly annoyed the Greek city-states. Macedonia also gained a lot of benefits in the transmission of military intelligence to Bopos.
After the defeat of Persia, the Greeks instinctively could have taken the opportunity to eliminate Macedonia to relieve their anger, but because Athens had suffered heavy losses in the war, it was necessary to start rebuilding the city-state. When their strength was almost restored, the Peloponnesian War broke out again, and the Greek city-states simply did not have enough energy to pay attention to the obscure and secretly rapid development of Macedonia in the north.
Therefore, the rise of Macedonia and its gradual emergence as a future great empire has its historical background at that time, of course, it is inseparable from a key figure, that is, Philip II.
The Greek-Persian War
Ascension of Philip II
Because in the Greek-Persian War, Macedonia, as a bystander, gained a lot of military and economic benefits in the middle, so Macedonia made a lot of war wealth and gradually began to rise.
By the 4th century BC, Macedonia had become the most powerful state in the Balkans, undergoing political, economic, and military changes
。 In the subsequent expansion path, Macedonia continued to launch wars of annexation with its strong national strength.
Unified the Balkan Peninsula
The golden age of Macedonia's development must have been during the reign of Philip II, who at first was only the regent of the country, because the king at that time was still young and philip's nephew, so Philip naturally became the de facto ruler of the kingdom. Philip spent many years as a hostage in the Greek city-state of Thebes as a child, and became close friends with the then famous Theban general Ipaminanda.
It follows from this that the flourishing democratic politics of Greece at that time had a profound impact on the young Philip.
Philip II
Many years later Philip became the ruler of Macedonia
However, the monarchy of Macedonia at this time was very unstable, and the king was very young, so Philip's brothers began to covet the rule of the kingdom. Philip, as a ruler who judged the hour and the situation, responded calmly, and quickly eliminated the outlaws with his superb political ability and military command ability.
Subsequently, at the strong recommendation of the nobles of the kingdom, Philip ascended to the throne and became the true ruler of power in Macedonia.
Philip's ascension to the throne became a major event in Macedonian history, and Macedonia began its extraordinary rise under Philip's leadership.
Although this path is full of bloodshed and injustice, it has had an immeasurable effect on the history of the entire classical period of Europe
。 Since then, the entire Balkan Peninsula and the Greek Peninsula have gradually developed close contacts and games under the management of Philip.
Balkans and Greek peninsulas
After Philip came to power, he carried out drastic reforms internally
Philip, who ascended to the throne in a state of support, did not dwell on this
Vanity and pride
in the psychology
Instead, through his understanding of the ills that had existed in Macedonia before, he set out to build his own leadership. During his time in Thebes, Philip witnessed the political flourishing of the Greek city-states and learned from his friends the main measures of the city-state's political and military construction.
Philip did not blindly move the Greek model directly to Macedonia, but carefully crafted it himself to make this model the most suitable system for Macedonian development.
First of all
Philip revolutionized domestic politics in all its aspects
。 He was acutely aware of the instability of the previous king's power, so he started with centralization. There were many tribes within Macedonia, and Philip expanded the base of his rule by co-opting the upper echelons of these foreign tribes through marriage and favors. At the same time, he weakened the nobles of the same surname economically and militarily, so that they no longer had the strength to threaten the king's rule.
In this way, the king can become the veritable leader of the country, and the king who combines many powers can be more authoritative in the governance and expansion of the country.
Macedonian phalanx
secondly
The economy is an indispensable and important factor in the development of the country
, is an important prerequisite for the state to carry out all activities. Philip rectified the complex internal chaos of Macedonia's currency, markets, and economic activities. The most important of these was the development of the Pangeweng Gold Mine, which undoubtedly gave a huge boost to the Macedonian economy. With this,
Philip abandoned the previous Persian currency system and replaced it with a new and stable Thracian coin system
。 Since then, Macedonia's economy has entered a period of prosperity and development.
Reforms for the domestic economy are basically like that,
In addition, for overseas trade, Philip also found the need for reform and adaptation
。 At that time, overseas trade was basically monopolized by the city-states of the Greek Peninsula, and Macedonia, as a rising star, was basically unable to get involved, for which Philip actively engaged in economic negotiations with the Greek city-states, especially Athens, and won the right to trade with Greece and overseas. This gives Macedonia a more say in the capture of economic interests overseas.
Ruins of the Macedonian Empire
Finally, a radical reform of the domestic military has been carried out. Drawing on the advice of the generals he knew in Thebes, Philip continued to carry out military construction, and many military combat facilities were put into use. In the selection of the army, those who are rich and powerful, have military command ability, and are brave in battle are mainly selected. Other than that
Philip returned all the leadership of the army to the center, ensuring that the country's ruling clique could have sufficient military power to consolidate domestic rule and expand overseas
Philip's business strategy for the Greek peninsula
The Greek city-states also saw the rise of their northern neighbor Macedonia, although in the Greek-Persian War, Greece,
In particular, Athens was full of hatred for Macedonia, but its own strength was limited, so it had no ability to take care of Macedonia's strength
。 But not all of these city-states on the Greek peninsula were hostile to Macedonia
Attitudes towards Macedonia are also divided into two factions
, pro-Macedonian and anti-Macedonian, respectively. The two factions engaged in a heated debate over their attitude towards Macedonia, and the politics of the city-states were in chaos.
In this article, I will introduce you to the factions within Athens.
The main members of the pro-Macedonian faction within Athens were the upper echelons of the slave owners
In view of the growing industrial and commercial classes in Athens and the potential to replace themselves, these slave owners placed their hopes on Macedonia and hoped to stabilize the interests of Athenian slave owners with Macedonia's help. whereas
The business owners considered themselves in the ascendant stage of power, and they did not want external forces to interfere with Athens.
Site of the Corinth Conference
These two main factions were seen by King Philip of Macedon, so he believed that he could not rush into action with regard to the internal contradictions of the Greek peninsula, but first let them carry out political attrition and profit on their own. place
Philip set his strategic goal on the Balkans, and through the military strikes in Macedonia, he soon achieved the unification of the Balkans
。 Just as Philip was unifying, factional warfare within Athens escalated. This disagreement in Athens' internal and external attitudes provided an opportunity for Macedonia to invade Greece.
In 350 BC, the leader of the anti-Macedonian faction
Demosthenes
Published famously
Anti-Macedonian speech
, which is expressed inside
Oppose Macedonia's determination to intervene in Athens
request
Athens immediately sent troops to attack Macedonia
to eliminate the aftermath. But the pro-Macedonian faction expressed a clear opposition, and it was precisely because of the internal disunity of Athens that Athens repeatedly lost battles with Macedonia on the front line.
In the end, there was no escape from the fate of being controlled by Macedonia
The Corinthian Conference in 337 BC marked the final realization of Macedonian rule over Greece
Alexander the Great
appraise
We covered it in detail earlier
The social formation and development of Macedonia before its rise, Philip's reforms to the throne, and his business strategy for the Greek peninsula
This fully demonstrates the specific process of a primitive tribe developing into a powerful empire. The rise of Macedonia cannot be said to be a historical necessity, but to a certain extent, it is the indifference of the Greek peninsula city-states to the development of their power. Of course, this is also because Greece, led by Athens, is plagued by internal and external difficulties.
Taken after Philip ascended the throne
Domestic reforms and foreign policy fully demonstrated the inevitability of the kingdom of Macedonia
。 Philip's reforms were not unfounded or arbitrary. Philip, who had lived in the Greek city-state of Thebes, had a clear understanding of the outside world and was the most advanced and glorious of the Greek city-states, which was unimaginable in Macedonia at the time.
In addition, he served as ruler before Philip ascended the throne, which paved the way for him to successfully ascend the throne later.
Philip's reform policies were directed at the most serious and pressing ills within Macedonia at the time
。 The economic basis of the national economy and the people's livelihood, the political basis of the interests of the ruling clique, and the military basis of whether the country's future path to empire can be smoothed became the object of Philip's reforms.
These aspects of reform are macedonia's rebirth, the whole country is united, and all aspects are developing in an orderly manner
This was in stark contrast to the scuffle of the city-states of the southern Greek peninsula at that time.
Philip saw the complex contradictions of the Greek peninsula, so he did not carry out a crazy expansion war, but first set his goal in his own backyard, that is, the Balkan Peninsula. When he was unified, he began to take advantage of the escalating contradictions within Athens to make the next plan. And the anti-Macedonian army led by Athens was really small in the face of the well-trained Macedonian legion, and there was no resistance at all.
With the defeat of the front line, the Macedonian forces had completely invaded the Greek city-states, and a huge empire across Asia, Europe and Africa was about to emerge.