In the year 400 from the founding of the City, Philip, son of Amyntas and father of Alexander, obtained the kingdom of the Macedonians and held it for twenty-five years, during which he piled up all these heaps of bitterness and all these masses of evils.
1 Anno ab urbe condita CCCC Philippus Amyntae filius, Alexandri pater, regnum Macedonum adeptus XXV annis tenuit, quibus hos omnes acerbitatum aceruos cunctasque malorum moles struxit.
He was first given as a hostage to the Thebans by his brother Alexander, and for three years was educated in the house of Epaminondas, a most vigorous commander and a supreme philosopher.
2 hic primum ab Alexandro fratre obses Thebanis datus, per triennium apud Epaminondam strenuissimum imperatorem et summum philosophum eruditus est.
When Alexander himself had been killed through the crime of their mother Eurydice — though she had already committed adultery, had first killed another of her sons, and, robbing her daughter of a husband, had contracted marriage with her son-in-law at the price of her own husband’s death — Philip, compelled by the people, took up the kingdom, which he had been guarding for the little son of his murdered brother.
3 ipso autem Alexandro scelere Eurydices matris occiso, quamuis ea iam commisso adulterio et altero primum filio interfecto filiaque uiduata generi nuptias mariti morte pepigisset, conpulsus a populo regnum, quod paruo occisi fratris filio tuebatur, suscepit.
Harassed abroad by the onset of enemies rising up on every side, and at home by fear of plots often detected, he waged his first war against the Athenians.
4 qui cum foris concursu exsurgentium undique hostium, domi autem deprehensarum saepe insidiarum metu fatigaretur, primum bellum cum Atheniensibus gessit.
When they had been defeated, he turned his arms against the Illyrians, and, having slaughtered many thousands of the enemy, captured the most famous city of Larissa.1
5 quibus uictis arma ad Illyrios transtulit multisque milibus hostium trucidatis Larissam urbem nobilissimam cepit.
1Larissa is in Thessaly, not Illyria; Orosius compresses Justin’s account of Philip’s early campaigns.
From there he invaded Thessaly, not so much from love of victory as from ambition to possess the Thessalian cavalry, so that he might mix their strength into his own army.
6 inde Thessaliam non magis amore uictoriae quam ambitione habendorum equitum Thessalorum, quorum robur ut exercitui suo admisceret, inuasit.
Thus, having taken the Thessalians unawares and brought them under his power, by joining together the bravest squadrons of horse and forces of foot he made his army invincible.
7 ita Thessalis ex inprouiso praeoccupatis atque in potestatem redactis, iungendo equitum peditumque fortissimas turmas et copias inuictissimum fecit exercitum.
So, after defeating the Athenians and subjugating the Thessalians, he married Olympias, sister of Arybbas, king of the Molossians. Arybbas, thinking that he would enlarge his own dominion by allying himself with the Macedonians through kinship with their king, was deceived by this very thing and lost it, and grew old as a private man in exile.2
8 igitur uictis Atheniensibus subiectisque Thessalis Olympiadem Arubae regis Molossorum sororem duxit uxorem. qui Aruba cum per hoc, quod societatem Macedonum adfinitate regis paciscebatur, imperium suum se dilataturum putaret, per hoc deceptus amisit priuatusque in exilio consenuit.
2Olympias was the daughter of Neoptolemus of Epirus; Arybbas was her uncle and guardian, not her brother.
Then Philip, while besieging the city of Methone, lost an eye to the blow of an arrow. The city itself, however, he soon stormed and took.
9 deinde Philippus, cum Mothonam urbem oppugnaret, ictu sagittae oculum perdidit. ipsam uero urbem mox expugnauit et cepit.
Next, having outwitted almost all Greece by his schemes, he subdued it by force. For while the cities of Greece each desired to rule, they all lost their rule; and while they rushed without measure to one another’s destruction, only when at last overwhelmed and enslaved did they realize that what each lost singly was lost to all.
10 Exim Graeciam prope totam consiliis praeuentam uiribus domuit. quippe Graeciae ciuitates dum imperare singulae cupiunt, imperium omnes perdiderunt et dum in mutuum exitium sine modo ruunt, omnibus perire quod singulae amitterent oppressae demum seruientesque senserunt.
While Philip watched their mad dealings as from a watchtower and, a cunning craftsman of deceit, fomented their contentions — the kindling of wars — by always offering help to the weaker side, he subjected conquered and conquerors alike to himself.
11 quarum dum insanas conuersationes Philippus ueluti e specula obseruat auxiliumque semper inferioribus suggerendo contentiones, bellorum fomites, callidus doli artifex fouet, uictos sibi pariter uictoresque subiecit.
The opportunity of obtaining domination over all Greece was given him by the immoderate domination of the Thebans, who, having defeated the Lacedaemonians and the Phocians and worn them out with slaughter and plunder, and having moreover burdened them in the common council of Greece with a fine so great that they could in no way pay it, forced them to take refuge in arms.
12 huic autem ad obtinendam totius Graeciae dominationem immoderata Thebanorum dominatio facultatem dedit, qui uictos Lacedaemonios ac Phocenses, caedibus etiam rapinisque confectos, cum insuper in communi Graeciae concilio tanta pecuniae multa onerauissent, quantam illi soluere nullo modo possent, ad arma confugere coegerunt.
And so the Phocians, under the leadership of Philomelus and supported by the auxiliaries of the Lacedaemonians and the Athenians, joined battle, routed the enemy, and took the camp of the Thebans. In the following battle, amid immense slaughter on both sides, Philomelus was killed; in his place the Phocians made Onomarchus their general.3
13 itaque Phocenses Philomelo duce et auxiliis Lacedaemoniorum Atheniensiumque fulti commissa pugna fugatisque hostibus Thebanorum castra ceperunt. sequenti proelio inter inmensas utriusque populi strages Philomelus occisus est; in cuius locum Phocenses Oenomaum ducem creauerunt.
3Onomarchus, Philomelus’s successor as Phocian general; Orosius (with Justin) writes Oenomaus.
Next, the Thebans and Thessalians, passing over a levy of their own citizens, of their own accord sought as their general Philip, king of Macedonia, whom earlier they had laboured to repel as an enemy. Battle was joined, the Phocians were cut down almost to extermination, and the victory went to Philip.
14 Porro autem Thebani et Thessali omisso dilectu ciuium Philippum Macedoniae regem, quem hostem prius repellere laborabant, ultro sibi ducem expetiuerunt. commisso proelio et Phocensibus paene ad internecionem caesis uictoria ad Philippum concessit.
But the Athenians, on hearing the outcome of the war, occupied the pass of Thermopylae, so that Philip should not cross into Greece, on the same principle as they had once done against the approaching Persians.
15 sed Athenienses audito belli euentu, ne Philippus transiret in Graeciam, angustias Thermopylarum pari ratione sicut aduentantibus antea Persis occupauere.
So when Philip saw that he was shut out from entry into Greece by the blocking of Thermopylae, he turned the war he had prepared against his enemies upon his allies: for the cities whose general he had been shortly before, and which lay open to congratulate and receive him, he invaded like an enemy and cruelly plundered;
16 Igitur Philippus ubi exclusum se ab ingressu Graeciae praestructis Thermopylis uidet, paratum in hostes bellum uertit in socios: nam ciuitates, quarum paulo ante dux fuerat, ad gratulandum ac suscipiendum patentes hostiliter inuadit, crudeliter diripit,
and, utterly abolishing all sense of alliance, he sold the wives and children of all of them into slavery, and overturned and despoiled all the temples as well; and yet never in twenty-five years was he defeated, as though by angry gods.
17 omnique societatis conscientia penitus abolita coniuges liberosque omnium sub corona uendidit, templa quoque uniuersa subuertit spoliauitque, nec tamen umquam per XXV annos quasi iratis dis uictus est.
After this he crossed into Cappadocia and there waged war with equal treachery; he killed the neighbouring kings, whom he had captured by guile, and subjected all Cappadocia to the rule of Macedonia.4
18 post haec in Cappadociam transiit ibique bellum pari perfidia gessit, captos per dolum finitimos reges interfecit totamque Cappadociam imperio Macedoniae subdidit.
4Philip never campaigned in Cappadocia; Orosius takes the name from Justin, whose text is mistaken here.
Then, after the slaughter, burnings and plunderings carried out in allied cities, he turned to parricide against his brothers: fearing them, born to his father of his stepmother, as co-heirs of the kingdom, he set about killing them.
19 inde post caedes incendia depraedationesque in sociis urbibus gestas parricidia in fratres conuertit, quos patri ex nouerca genitos cum coheredes regni uereretur, interficere adgressus est.
When he had killed one of them, the other two fled to Olynthus: Philip soon attacked this most ancient and flourishing city as an enemy, filled it with slaughter and blood, emptied it of wealth and men, and also dragged out his brothers and gave them over to punishment and death.
20 cum autem unum ex his occidisset, duo in Olynthum confugerunt: quam mox Philippus hostiliter adgressus urbem antiquissimam et florentissimam, caedibus ac sanguine repletam opibus hominibusque uacuauit, abstractos etiam fratres supplicio et neci dedit.
Then, elated by the destruction of his allies and the murder of his brothers, and thinking that everything he had conceived was permitted him, he seized the gold-bearing districts in Thessaly and the silver mines in Thrace, and, so as to leave no law human or divine unviolated, having taken possession of the sea and dispersed his fleet, he also took up the practice of piracy.
21 dein cum, excidio sociorum et parricidio fratrum elatus, licere sibi omnia quae cogitauisset putaret, auraria loca in Thessalia et argenti metalla in Thracia inuasit ac, ne quod ius uel fas inuiolatum praetermitteret, praeoccupato mari et classe dispersa piraticam quoque exercere instituit.
Moreover, when two brothers, kings of Thrace, quarrelling about the boundaries of their kingdom, had by common consent chosen him as their judge, Philip, true to his character, came to the judgement as if to a war, with an army drawn up, and deprived the unsuspecting young men of life and kingdom.
22 praeterea, cum eum fratres duo Thraciae reges de regni terminis ambigentes iudicem ex consensu praeoptauissent, Philippus more ingenii sui ad iudicium tamquam ad bellum cum instructo exercitu ingressus inscios iuuenes uita regnoque priuauit.
The Athenians, who had earlier repelled Philip’s entry by fortifying Thermopylae, now of their own accord sought peace with him, and so alerted that most deceitful enemy to the neglect of the guard on the pass.
23 Athenienses uero, qui prius Philippi ingressum Thermopylarum munitione reppulerant, ultro pacem eius expetentes fraudulentissimum hostem de neglecta introitus custodia commonuerunt.
The other cities of Greece too, so that they might devote themselves more intently to civil wars, under the guise of peace and treaty voluntarily subjected themselves to foreign domination,
24 ceterae etiam Graeciae ciuitates ut intentius ciuilibus bellis uacarent, sub specie pacis et foederis sponte se externae dominationi subiecerunt,
especially since the Thessalians and Boeotians were demanding that Philip show himself the general he had professed to be against the Phocians and carry on the war he had undertaken, while the Phocians, with the Athenians and Lacedaemonians on their side, were striving by bribes and entreaties to have the war either postponed or called off.
25 maxime cum Thessali Boeotiique poscerent Philippum, ut professum se aduersum Phocenses ducem exhiberet susceptumque bellum gereret, contra Phocenses adhibitis secum Atheniensibus et Lacedaemoniis uel differri bellum uel auferri et pretio et precibus laborarent.
Philip secretly promised opposite things to both: to the Phocians he confirmed by oath that he would grant peace and pardon, while to the Thessalians he pledged that he would soon be there with an army; yet he forbade both sides to prepare for war.
26 Philippus tacite utrisque diuersa promisit, Phocensibus pacem et ueniam se daturum sacramento confirmans, Thessalis uero adfuturum se mox cum exercitu spondet, bellum tamen ab utrisque parari uetat.
So Philip, with his forces drawn up, entered the pass of Thermopylae without hindrance, occupied it, posted garrisons and fortified it.
27 igitur Philippus instructis copiis angustias Thermopylarum securus ingreditur easque occupatas dispositis praesidiis emunit.
Then for the first time not the Phocians alone but all Greece realized that it had been captured: for Philip, breaking faith and trampling on his oath, gave the Phocians over first to unspeakable butchery, and then, ravaging the cities and territories of all, by his bloody presence brought it about that he was feared even when absent.
28 tunc primum se non Phocenses soli, sed omnis Graecia captam esse persensit: siquidem primos Phocenses Philippus rupta fide calcatoque sacramento infandae dilacerationi dedit, inde omnium urbes finesque populatus cruenta praesentia effecit, ut etiam absens timeretur.
When he returned to his kingdom, after the manner of shepherds who drive their flocks now through summer and now through winter pastures, he moved peoples and cities about at his pleasure, as it seemed to him that each place should be filled or abandoned.
29 ubi uero in regnum redit, more pastorum, qui pecora sua nunc per aestiuos nunc per hibernos saltus circumducunt, populos et urbes, ut illi replenda uel relinquenda quaeque loca uidebantur, ad libidinem suam transfert.
Everywhere a pitiable sight met the eye, and the most savage kind of misery: to suffer destruction without invasion, captivity without war, exile without crime, subjection without a conqueror.
30 miseranda ubique facies et atrocissimum miseriarum genus obuersabatur, perpeti excidium sine inruptione, sine bello captiuitatem, sine crimine exilium, sine uictore dominatum.
Amid the goads of these injuries a dread poured over them weighed the wretched down, and their grief grew through its very concealment, sinking the deeper the less those who were afraid were allowed to declare it, lest even their tears be taken for defiance.
31 premit miseros inter iniuriarum stimulos superfusus pauor ipsaque dissimulatione dolor crescit hoc altius demissus quo minus profiteri licet timentium, ne ipsae quoque lacrimae pro contumacia accipiantur.
Some peoples, torn from their homes, he set against the territories of his enemies; others he settled on the farthest borders of his kingdom; some, out of jealousy of their strength, lest they be able to do what they were believed able to do, he split up to make up the numbers of depleted cities.
32 alios populos, auulsos a sedibus suis, finibus hostium opponit; alios in extremis regni terminis statuit; quosdam aemulatione uirium, ne possint quod posse creduntur, in supplemento exhaustarum urbium diuidit.
Thus that once most glorious body of flourishing Greece, its liberty first extinguished, fell apart into many torn fragments.
33 ita gloriosissimum illud quondam florentis Graeciae corpus in multas laceratasque particulas exstincta primum libertate concidit.