Who do you think was behind Philip's assassination???

[Ptolemy]

As we know the events surrounding Philip's assasination remain at least questionable. A lot of conspiracy theories exists as to who was the master-mind and his/er accomplices behind Philip's death. There are theories involving seperately Olympias, Alexander or both of them since they were those who had most to gain from the outcome.

So what do you think? Did Pausanias of Orestis acted alone or was he a part of a larger plot against King's life?? Do you believe Olympias or Alexander or maybe both had anything to do with the assasination??

[Tsontos]

I dont think Alexander had anything to do with it. For someone as religious as him, patricide would be unthinkable.

[terastios]

I believe that if Olympiada or Alexander wanted Phillip dead they wouldn't do it in public!
They would do it by poison or something else(we know Phillip was a heavy drinker).
I think the assacination as it happened (in public) it was suppose to send a message to others!

[Spartan]

Originally Posted by terastios

I believe that if Olympiada or Alexander wanted Phillip dead they wouldn't do it in public!
They would do it by poison or something else(we know Phillip was a heavy drinker).
I think the assacination as it happened (in public) it was suppose to send a message to others!

I would disagree. I believe they would have done it in public just to cover their own hides. If they would have poisoned him in private and the other royal families found out then they could be removed from a position of authority and even executed. Public worked the best, this way all the people who attended the ceremonies could actually see the killer and make the connection from him to his clan. I don't believe Alexander was complacent in the murder. I believe that it was Olympias who planned it in fear that Alexander would not succeed his father due to Philips latest marriage and a new son from a 'Legitimate" Macedonian royal family.

Olympias just used Philips enemies in order to gain what she wanted, Alexander to become King!

[Truth Bearer]

Olympia had Philip assasinated without Alexander's knowledge.She seduced Pausania's and the minute Philip was hit she went the Philp's newest wife's quarters Attalu's goddaughter Cleopatra and strangled Philip's new born son.Thus preventing Attalu's famous comment "Now legitimate sons, not bastards will be born to kings," .........

[PhiliptheUniterchaeronea]

When Pankration gets back from Greece he should be a huge part if this conversation. In his many hours of research writing his bool PATRIDA, he has gained a superior knowledge of that area, that rivals many with graduate degrees in the field.

[Truth Bearer]

It will be interesting also on what happened to Alexander the Great.Was he murdered,overdosed on alcohol or some rare virus killed him????

[effie]

Last year I visited Pella and the museum there. We had a Greek woman professor from the University in Thessaloniki as our guide. After viewing the beautiful objects on display - and incidentally all the writing on pieces of old tombstones that were used to build up Phillips tomb were in Greek NOT slav - we had a discussion about various books that had been written about Alexander the Great. She told me that the one person we should never believe is the author Mary Renault!!!!!! As my first contact with Alexander the Great had been through this woman's books I was a little nonplussed because I thought I had a fairly good knowledge of this great man.


Anyway, ignoring this professor's opinion....................... can I say that Renault contends that Pausanias was "persuaded" by Olympia to kill Phillip and that Alexander had no knowledge of it.

re Alexander's death, I have read that he had a fever and was given red wine to drink to quench his thirst. It was a mystery how the red wine got into his tent because the doctors had forbidden him drinking anything but water. It is suspected that Antipater paid someone to place the red wine there. This is not from Mary Renault!!! (smile).

Plutarch : " Contempt of divine power makes a man miserable, but, on the other hand, so does superstition. Like water, it seeps in to fill the depressed mind with fear and foolish notions. Alexander drank heavily, and he caught a fever. After suffering for twelve days, he died in Babylon [June 10, 323 B.C.]. 23"

After Hephaiston's death Alexander was depressed and started drinking, something that up to that time he hadn't done. He was famous for his healthy living habits, bathing, drinking and eating only a minimal amount, celibacy (he thought that making love was similar to a "small death"), etc.
He probably caught Typhus fever - this theory is based on his recorded symptoms and has been put forward by a group of present day doctors - and because of his lowered immune system due to the abuse he had subjected his body to, he nearly died. He was recovering though when he drank the forbidden red wine.

Another mystery is what eventually happened to his corpse. It was embalmed and sent to Alexandria. What happened to it afterwards?




We must be extremely careful when looking up references to Alexander the Great on the Internet. Even assumedly reliable sources print things that are not true.

Oh, and he is referred to everywhere as the Macedonian king. As most of the world is ignorant of Greek history, and as FYROM will soon acquire this name officially, the world will now believe that this slav country is Alexander's Macedonia. Why don't we round up all our stupid and incompetent politicians and send them to Iraq or somewhere they can experience at first hand the civilization of the Americans they bow to???????????????????????????

Greek history and civilization apparently is of no importance to them.

Effie

[effie]

Plutarch's history of Alexander the Great :

"Not long after this, Pausanias, having had an outrage done to him at the instance of Attalus and Cleopatra, when he found he could get no reparation for his disgrace at Philip's hands, watched his opportunity and murdered him. The guilt of which fact was laid for the most part upon Olympias, who was said to have encouraged and exasperated the enraged youth to revenge; and some sort of suspicion attached even to Alexander himself, who, it was said, when Pausanias came and complained to him of the injury he had received, repeated the verse out of Euripides's Medea-

"On husband, and on father, and on bride." However, he took care to find out and punish the accomplices of the conspiracy severely, and was very angry with Olympias for treating Cleopatra inhumanly in his absence. "

Full text at :

Plutarch's ALEXANDER

[effie]

A good resource site is :

Internet Ancient History Sourcebook: Full Texts