The matrimonial policy of Philip II of Macedon: a new look at an old discussion

Philip II, king of Macedonia, was a famous military and statesman of antiquity. One of the important tasks facing the king was to strengthen his own power and ensure the security of the borders. Philip used skillfully not only military forces, but also the conclusion of marriage alliances. The object of this study is the matrimonial policy of King Philip. The subject of the study is the peculiarities of relations between Macedonia and other cities (tribes, states) and their impact on the position of wives and children at the court of the king. The purpose of this work is to determine the role of dynastic unions in the diplomatic practice of the Macedonian king. In addition, it is supposed to resolve the issue of what form a divorce could take, which might make it possible to introduce new arguments into the dispute about Philip's polygamy or monogamy. The article uses a system of methods and principles that are traditional for ancient research. The principle of consistency is necessary to analyze the main controversial issues of the topic, the principle of historicism made it possible to study the phenomenon of interest in its formation and development. The main research methods are general scientific - analysis and synthesis, as well as special ones - comparative historical, comparative genetic and the retrospective methods. The main source is the work of Athenaeus The Feast of the Wise Men; (II century AD). This is the only source that not only lists all seven of Philip's wives, but also indicates the reasons for these marriages. However, the information is rather fragmentary. All sources have significant shortcomings: their data are contradictory, the information is often ambiguous, the authors lived much later than the time described and were of non-Macedonian origin. Therefore the issue of Philip's marriage policy has been raised many times, but the discussions still remain relevant. This problem was addressed by such researchers as J. Worthington, E. D. Carney, A. Tronson, K. A. Kilyashova. Most of them adhere to the traditional point of view about the polygamy of the Macedonian king and the use of marriage as a means of strengthening foreign policy stability. The version about the monogamy of the Macedonian king is not so common in scientific literature. In particular, it is supported by F.W. Walbank and K. A. Kilyashova. The scientific novelty of this study lies in the fact that the authors offer a new look at the matrimonial policy of Philip II of Macedon. The authors come to the conclusion that the reasoning about the polygamy of the Macedonian king is a historiographical construct. The archaic traditions of the Macedonian monarchy allowed the king to easily return wives and enter into new marriages. And the negative ideas of the Greeks about Philip contributed to the spread of rumors about the polygamy of the Macedonian king. The authors declare no conflicts of interests.

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