Macedonia briefly became the largest empire in the world under the reign of Alexander the Great in the fourth century B.C. Since the formation of the Republic of Macedonia in 1991, Macedonians and Greeks have sparred over which country gets to claim the history of ancient Macedonia as its own. As of February 2019, the country is officially known as the Republic of North Macedonia. Cassander was one of the diadochoi (\u201csuccessors\u201d), the Macedonian generals who fought over the empire of Alexander the Great after his death in 323. After Antipater\u2019s death in 319, Cassander refused to acknowledge the new regent, Polyperchon. With the aid of Antigonus I Monophthalmus, ruler of Phrygia, Cassander seized Macedonia and most of Greece, including Athens (319\u2013317).<\/p>\n
The next year he retrieved it with a spectacular victory, which forced the Athenians to occupy Thermopylae and bar his path to the south. Under Philip V (reigned 221\u2013179) and his son Perseus (reigned 179\u2013168), Macedonia clashed with Rome and lost. (See Macedonian Wars.) Under Roman control Macedonia at first (168\u2013146) formed four independent republics without common bonds. In 146, however, it became a Roman province with the four sections as administrative units.<\/p>\n
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The elder son of King Philip V of Macedonia, Perseus commanded troops in his father\u2019s wars against Rome (199) and Aetolia (189). After three years of intriguing against his brother Demetrius, accusing him of coveting the succession, Perseus in 180 persuaded the king to have Demetrius executed. On succeeding to the throne in 179, he extended his influence in Thrace and Illyria but made special efforts to win over the Greek world. To this end he resumed control of the Delphic Amphictyony, established excellent relations with Rhodes, and encouraged revolution in Aetolia and Thessaly.<\/p>\n
Philip suffered serious wounds in battle, such as the loss of an eye, a broken shoulder and a damaged leg, according to Worthington. In 334, Alexander embarked on his Asiatic expedition, arriving in Troy that spring. Alexander then faced Persian King Darius III’s army near the Grancius River; Darius’ forces were swiftly defeated. By fall, Alexander and his army had made it across the southern coast of Asia Minor to Gordium, where they took the winter to rest. In the summer of 333, the troops of Alexander and Darius once again went head to head in battle at Issus.<\/p>\n
A Roman army forced him to fight at Pydna (in southern Macedonia), where he was defeated by Lucius Aemilius Paullus. After marching as a captive in Aemilius Paullus\u2019s triumph (167), Perseus spent the brief remainder of his life in captivity. Perseus\u2019s failure revealed his inability to reconcile the needs of Macedonia with the reality of Roman predominance. Throughout his reign, he was able to expand the empire to Asia and India.<\/p>\n
His son Alexander, later known as Alexander the Great, was able to expand Macedonia. In his haste, Darius left much of his family behind, including his mother, wife, infant son and two daughters. Alexander ordered that they be „honored, and addressed as royalty,” Arrian wrote. After the battle, Darius offered Alexander a ransom for his family and alliance, through marriage. Alexander watched his father campaign nearly every year and win victory after victory. Philip remodeled the Macedonian army from citizen-warriors into a professional organization, wrote Ian Worthington, professor of history and archaeology at Macquarie University, in „Philip II of Macedonia” (Yale University Press, 2010).<\/p>\n
Although Alexander’s army was outnumbered, he used his flair for military strategy to create formations that defeated the Persians again and caused Darius to flee. In November of 333, Alexander declared himself the king of Persia after capturing Darius and making him a fugitive. As Alexander was nearing the end of his northern campaign, he was delivered the news that Thebes, a Greek city-state, had forced out the Macedonian troops that were garrisoned there.<\/p>\n
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