Definition: Philip II (382 - 336 B.C.) of Macedon became king in 359 B.C. after his brother Perdicas III died in 360. He proceeded to conquer neighboring lands, including Amphipolis, which he took from Athens in 357. He sold the citizens of Potidaea (356) and Olynthus (348) into slavery. In 351, Demosthenes delivered the first of three "Philippics" against Philip, exhorting the Athenians to resist the Macedonian conqueror. Philip signed a peace treaty with Athens in 346. In 344, Demosthenes delivered the second Philippic and then he delivered his third in 341. Eventually, with the help of his son Alexander at the Battle of Chaeronea, in August 338, Philip conquered Greece, putting an end to the independent Greek polis.
Philip was about to try to conquer Persia when he was assassinated. Philip's son Alexander succeeded him as ruler of Macedonia.


