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So how did my father become king?

In 359 BC – three years before I was born – the Macedonian King Perdiccas III was killed during a battle by the invading Illyrians. His infant son succeeded him; while his twenty-two year old brother, my father Philip, was made the infant’s regent.

My father’s training was second to none. When he was fifteen years old, he was sent off as a hostage to ensure peace with Thebes, at the time the dominant force in the region. There, he studied under the general Epaminondas who had defeated the mighty Spartans.

Upon his return, Philip nudged the infant son to the side and began to consolidate power. He proceeded to proclaim himself king, entitling himself Philip II.

Over time, my father married numerous times in order to galvanize his power base. Suffice to say his generation did not marry for love. One of his wives was Olympias, daughter of king Neoptolemus of Epirus, or modern day Albania. He married her in 357 BC. Shortly thereafter, Olympias gave birth to a wonderful son, namely, me.

Before being known as Alexander the Great, I was Alexandros III Philippou Makedonon.

Away from family life, Philip championed Greek ways amongst Macedonians. In turn, his numerous military conquests impressed the Greeks. As a result, some Greek philosophers would support Philip. My father was very shrewd: he knew that that Macedonia’s rich natural and human resources would prove essential to his monarchy. While the Greek city-states appealed culturally and philosophically to my father’s vision, it was Macedonia’s resources and penchant for war that would take Philip’s vision of a Greek Empire from concept to reality.

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