Phila of Elimiotis

[Alexias]

Phila of Elimiotis (Elimeia) was Philip's first or second wife. When Philip's brother Perdiccas III was killed in 359 BC in battle against the Illyrians, along with the loss of 4,000 men, much of Upper Macedonia had been lost to the kings at Pella. Not only were the western highlands in the hands of the Illyrians but some of the minor upland kingdoms seem to have reasserted their independence.

Philip seems to have annexed Elimiotis ib 358 BC and consolidated this by marrying Phila, the sister of Derdas II, who appears to have been the king, and Machatas. Philip also approached Larissa, a city in northern Thessaly, towards the east. He married Philinna (Philine), who became the mother of Arrhidaeus. She was a member of the powerful Aleudae family from Larissa, who were practically hegemons of the Thessalian city states, and they had a history of reciprocal assistance with the Macedonian kings.

These alliances may have given Philip the additional troops to take on Bardylis, king of the Illyrians and defeat him. Philip then concluded an alliance with the Illyrians by marrying Audata, Bardylis's daughter or granddaughter, who became the mother of Cynnane (Cynna), who married her cousin Perdiccas's son Amyntas. Their daughter Adea was married to Philip Arrhidaeus, both of whom were killed by Olympias. Audata was given the name Eurydike on her marriage, which Heckel suggests may have made her Philip's official 'queen'. She appears to have been dead by the time Philip married Attalus's niece Cleopatra as she was given the name Eurydike.

There is a tradition in the Alexander Romances, true or not, that Philip's wife and son had died prior to him marrying Olympias. This could have been Philina and an additional child, but it could well be Phila, as we hear of no children of hers. As an Elimiote, Phila was technically a Macedonian, which would have meant that Philip didn't have a Macedonian wife when he married Cleopatra, adding weight to Attalus's jibe about a true-born Macedonian heir.

[system1988]

Phila of Elimiotis seems to have been a calm ,serious figure in Philip' s palace ,although she did not produced a heir .Also her name did not change after her marriage to Philip .Perhaps such a good reputation ,promped Antipater to name a daughter of his with the same name .
Phila A' ,was the daughter of Antipater , sister of Cassander , aunt of Ptolemy Keraunos , wife of Demetrious Poliorketes , mother of Stratonike ( who married Seleucus ,and later his son Antiochus A' ). Phila A' was a very decisive figure in the alliances between the Successors , and a role model for every noble woman in Macedonia in the first decades after the death of Alexander , and was worshiped in Attica as Aphrodite

As for Phila the wife of Philip , the writer Nicholas Guild in his very good historical fiction " The Macedonian" presents Phila in a convincing and charming way

[Alexias]

Yes, Phila Antipater's daughter was an influential woman. She was first married to Craterus, and bore him a son, also called Craterus. It was perhaps Phila, or maybe her son, who ensured that the bronze monument to Alexander and Craterus hunting a lion was erected at Delphi.

It would be interesting to know if Phila of Elimiotis was truly regarded as Macedonian. If she did bear Philip any children, they were presumably among the many sons of Philip who did not reach maturity. Or maybe they were among the 'brothers' that Alexander was said to have executed on his accession.