Born in 382 B.C. Philip II of Macedon was the father of Alexander the Great.

Philip was the son of Amyntas II. In his late twenties Philip was appointed regent of Macedon as the king, Philip's nephew, was only an infant. Philip overthrew his infant nephew and crowned himself king in 359 B.C.

Philip had been a Macedonian hostage living in Thebes during his twenties and grew to think of himself as a Greek rather than as a Macedonian. Here he learned the politics and military strategy that enabled him to become a great General, Conqueror and King. After entering on an ambitious career of expansion by conquest and diplomacy he became king of Greece and was poised to conquer Persia when he was assassinated. Philip's consolidation of his kingdom and his reduction of Greece to relative peace made possible the campaigns of his son, Alexander the Great

Philip II and Alexander the Great never got on well with each other. Although Philip was proud of Alexander for taming Bucephalus, Alexander was closer to his mother Olympias and made no secret of this fact. Philip was a philanderer and Olympias became a very jealous and bitter woman. The family was essentially split when Philip married his second wife, Cleopatra, a Macedonian. It was once said of Philip that he cared more for his troops abroad than for his family at home.

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