Philip (Greek: Φίλιππος, died c. 318 BC) was a GreekMacedonian nobleman who lived during the 4th century BC.
Early life
Philip was the son of Amyntas by a mother whose name is unknown.[1] He served as a military officer in the service of the Greek king Alexander the Great. Philip was known to have commanded one division of the phalanx in Alexander’s wars[2] and, in particular, he commanded one of the divisions of the phalanx at the Battle of the Granicus in May 334 BC.[3] His name does not subsequently appear in the campaigns of Alexander, but can be at least distinctly identified.[4]
Based on information provided by Plutarch (Pyrrhus 4.4), before Philip married Berenice he was already married and had children from those marriages.[5] The identities of his first wife and children are unknown.
In c. 325 BC, Philip married Berenice I as her first husband.[6]Pausanias (1.7.1), criticises his marriage to Berenice I and describes him as "a Macedonian but of no note and of lowly origin". The ancient sources don’t say anything else about him and there is no evidence against this.[7] Philip must have been a nobleman of some social status and influence as he married the great-niece of the powerful RegentAntipater and the grandchild of Antipater’s brother Cassander.[8]
Philip died of unknown causes. After his death, Berenice and her children travelled to Egypt, where they were a part of the entourage of Berenice’s second maternal cousin Eurydice. Eurydice was then the wife of Ptolemy I Soter. By 317 BC, Berenice married Ptolemy I and became the queen mother of the Ptolemaic dynasty.
As a posthumous honour to Philip, his son Magas, when he served as a priest of the Greek God Apollo, had dedicated an honorific inscription proudly naming him as "the eponymous priest" and "Magas, son of Philip".[12]
