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Part 2: daniel-gleebits.deviantart.com…

Famous Factual Facts:

- Athens played a very precarious game here. To some degree it's probable that they believed that Philip would never actually invade, but simply exert his authority as a political tool. Greek politics had been like this for centuries; sure you have battles and stuff to see who's top dog, but you don't usually see city states going into other cities and razing them to the ground or conquering them. That just wasn't done.
The war with Byzantion really was the final straw for Phillip though. Because he was losing that one.

- The Battle of Charonea is arguably one of the most important of its time, but one for which we have few details. What we do know is that Phillip used the ill discipline of the Athenian hoplites by pulling back his lines, thus causing the Athenian half of the enemy line break in two. Alexander then charged this gap with the Companion Cavalry.
The Athenians mostly retreated, but the Theban elite Sacred Band was utterly destroyed and their power broken forever.

- Thebes' complaint here stems from an idea I thought a little funny. Typically when a Greek city became powerful, that influence lingered on for a while. Thebes on the other hand had barely a decade of dominance before Macedon marched in and crushed them.

- The dude in the winged helmet is an amalgam of other cities that allied with Athens and Thebes. They didn't contribute much and stayed quiet after the fact, many of the southern Greek cities actually welcoming the Macedonians.

- As I say, Thebes was just utterly crushed. Their military power never truly returned, although they were able to put up a terrific fight when Alexander became king. They were nonetheless destroyed when Macedonian troops found a way into the city, dividing the Theban forces and allowing for their defeat.
Phillip let Thebes live, but Alexander had it destroyed, selling its people into slavery and allowing the surrounding cities to plunder its ruins. Thebes never rose again.

- You can probably imagine the sphincter moment Athens had after THAT. They immediately surrendered and threw themselves upon the mercy of Phillip, who surprisingly let them off. All they had to do was disband the Athenian League and bend the knee. They didn't even have to hand over anti-Macedonian politicians, which was usually a must.
Now a number of ideas have been put forth as to WHY Phillip let Athens off. He may simply have been trying to show his magnanimity, he might have been aware that doing anything to Athens like he had to Thebes wasn't very astute on the Greek political scene, or... or maybe they had something that he wanted, and wanted them to owe him.
We can't KNOW his reasoning, but I personally think it was a little of everything.
Certainly he needed the Athenian navy, since Macedon didn't really have one, and Phillip intended to invade Iran (Persia). For that he knew that he would need naval forces.
But pacifying the home-front was important too.

- Don't be fooled by Athens little play-acting at the end there. When Phillip died they immediately revolted against Macedon, and Alexander had to march right back down and bend them over again. He didn't invade them either, though, the Athenians were good at 11th hour anxiety management, and always apologised before Macedon could even get one demand out.

concept and art: ©Daniel-Gleebits

Description
Part 2: daniel-gleebits.deviantart.com…

Famous Factual Facts:

- Athens played a very precarious game here. To some degree it's probable that they believed that Philip would never actually invade, but simply exert his authority as a political tool. Greek politics had been like this for centuries; sure you have battles and stuff to see who's top dog, but you don't usually see city states going into other cities and razing them to the ground or conquering them. That just wasn't done.
The war with Byzantion really was the final straw for Phillip though. Because he was losing that one.

- The Battle of Charonea is arguably one of the most important of its time, but one for which we have few details. What we do know is that Phillip used the ill discipline of the Athenian hoplites by pulling back his lines, thus causing the Athenian half of the enemy line break in two. Alexander then charged this gap with the Companion Cavalry.
The Athenians mostly retreated, but the Theban elite Sacred Band was utterly destroyed and their power broken forever.

- Thebes' complaint here stems from an idea I thought a little funny. Typically when a Greek city became powerful, that influence lingered on for a while. Thebes on the other hand had barely a decade of dominance before Macedon marched in and crushed them.

- The dude in the winged helmet is an amalgam of other cities that allied with Athens and Thebes. They didn't contribute much and stayed quiet after the fact, many of the southern Greek cities actually welcoming the Macedonians.

- As I say, Thebes was just utterly crushed. Their military power never truly returned, although they were able to put up a terrific fight when Alexander became king. They were nonetheless destroyed when Macedonian troops found a way into the city, dividing the Theban forces and allowing for their defeat.
Phillip let Thebes live, but Alexander had it destroyed, selling its people into slavery and allowing the surrounding cities to plunder its ruins. Thebes never rose again.

- You can probably imagine the sphincter moment Athens had after THAT. They immediately surrendered and threw themselves upon the mercy of Phillip, who surprisingly let them off. All they had to do was disband the Athenian League and bend the knee. They didn't even have to hand over anti-Macedonian politicians, which was usually a must.
Now a number of ideas have been put forth as to WHY Phillip let Athens off. He may simply have been trying to show his magnanimity, he might have been aware that doing anything to Athens like he had to Thebes wasn't very astute on the Greek political scene, or... or maybe they had something that he wanted, and wanted them to owe him.
We can't KNOW his reasoning, but I personally think it was a little of everything.
Certainly he needed the Athenian navy, since Macedon didn't really have one, and Phillip intended to invade Iran (Persia). For that he knew that he would need naval forces.
But pacifying the home-front was important too.

- Don't be fooled by Athens little play-acting at the end there. When Phillip died they immediately revolted against Macedon, and Alexander had to march right back down and bend them over again. He didn't invade them either, though, the Athenians were good at 11th hour anxiety management, and always apologised before Macedon could even get one demand out.

concept and art: ©Daniel-Gleebits