Philip - what are the best books

[Linda]

HiCan anyone advise what are the best books, ancient and modern, to read about Philip - his battles and politics?CheersLinda

[susan]

I've got Nick Hammond's 'The Miracle that was Macedonia' - not brilliant as its title suggests - but not bad - at least Hammond didn't make silly mistakes. The way I usually judge a book's silliness is if it says Roxane is the daughter of Darius. As soon as you see this, you can assume that the author has not done enough work. An awful lot of books get this wrong.The best bit in Hammond's book is that he was with the guerrillas in the Balkans in WWII, so his ideas of Philip's battles are not just armchair.Susan

[Linda]

Hi SusanThanks for that; I had intended to post some info from the Persian women book, but I spotted at least two silly mistakes in the bits about Alexander, which made me doubt the other information - one *was*, I think, that Roxanne was Darius's daughter. :)I am reading Teh Alexander Roamnce at the moment - it is fascinating how truth (or accepted fact) and fiction is moulded together. But I fear my head will never be straight again.

[agesilaos]

Ancient sources for Philip are Diodoros and Justin, supplemented by the speechs of Demosthenes, Isokrates and Aeschines etc.I like Ellis' book 'Philip II and Macedonian Imperialism' which is clearly argued with good notes, even if One doesn't agree with his interpretation he gives you the information to argue against it.

[marcus]

Hi Linda,I've come to this a bit late, having been working away from the office for most of this week without an Internet connection!I would recommend JR Ellis "Philip II and Macedonian Imperialism", particularly for the politics. The only criticism I would make is that Ellis assumes a certain level of base knowledge, which can make some of the material a bit difficult to digest - you have to read sections three or four times to really understand what was going on. I used it extensively when I was doing my degree, and had to write an essay on the Peace of Philocrates... which was really quite interesting... (you can tell I don't get out much!)All the bestMarcus

[Tre]

Linda, I would recommend as well Eugene Borza's 'In The Shadow of Olympus, The Emergence of Macedon.' Probably the best overall view of Ancient Makedon out there with some good stuff on Philip.Regards,Tre

[Linda]

Thanks to everyone - I have found a copy of Ellis in the local library, so I will start there.RegardsLinda

[marcus]

Good recommendation, Tre.I got Borza's book about a year ago - stumbled upon it by chance in the British Museum - I thought it was excellent (and a bit more digestible than Hammond's History of Macedonia!).All the bestMarcus