Philip II's Illyrian Campaigns

Philip's Illyrian Campaigns were several campaigns from 358 BC to 337 BC lead by Philip II of Macedon against several Illyrian tribes/Kingdoms.

Philip's Illyrian Campaigns
Part of The Expansion of Macedonia under Philip II

The Kingdom of Macedon in 336 BC, 1 year after the final Illyrian Campaign of Philip
Date358 BC-337 BC
Location
Illyria
Result Mostly Macedonian victory
Territorial
changes		 Upper Macedonia retaken from the Illyrians, The Dassaretii brought under Macedonian control and Taulantii reduced to only the lands along the Adriatic
Belligerents
Illyrian kingdom
Grabaei
Taulantii
Kingdom of Dardania
Autariatae		 Kingdom of Macedon
Commanders and leaders
Bardylis †
Grabos II
Pleuratus I
Dardanian King
Caeria †
Pleurias		 Philip II of Macedon (WIA)
Parmenion
Hippostratus †
Pausanias †
Cynane
Units involved
Atleast 6 Illyrian armies Ancient Macedonian army
Companion cavalry
Somatophylakes
Strength
Under Bardylis:
10,000 infantry
500 calvary		 Against Bardylis:
10,000 infantry
600 calvary
Against Pleuratus I:
Unknown but described as large
Casualties and losses
Under Bardylis:
2,000-7,000
Under Caeria:
heavy		 Atleast:
300-500 Killed
150 wounded

Background

Macedonian campaigns

In 393 BC Bardylis opposed the agreement of Amyntas III and Sirras and Invaded macedon. Bardylis won a decisive battle against Amyntas III and forced him to leave bardylis also installed a puppet king. The next year Amyntas III Managed to ally himself with the Thessalians and was able to bring macedon again under his rule but that didn't stop the Illyrian raids and in 372 BC he forced macedon to pay him tribute.

In 369 BC Bardylis stopped Alexander II of Macedon from eliminating the Illyrians from Macedon.

In 359 BC the Paeonians began a serious of raids against macedon in support of a illyrian invasion Perdiccas III humiliated from having to pay tribute Perdiccas III marched north with a army .[1] The battle is known as the Battle of Upper Macedon (360 BC) and 4,000 Macedonians were killed in the battle including the king himself.

Battle of Erigon Valley

Main article: Battle of Erigon Valley

When Philip became king Upper Macedonia was still under Illyrian control.To focus on consolidating his rule at home, Philip chose to uphold the treaty that the Illyrians had earlier forced upon Macedonia through military pressure. He further strengthened this agreement by marrying Audata, the great-granddaughter of Bardylis. This move likely prevented a major Illyrian invasion at a moment when Macedonia was especially weak.[2]

Soon Philip mobilised an army and went to fight the Illyrians. The two armies met on a plain in Erigon Valley the two armies were almost equal in size Bardylis having 10,000 infantry and 500 calvary while Philip had 10,000 infantry and 600 calvary. The battle ended in Macedonian victory with Bardylis himself dying Diodorus claims that the Illyrians suffered 7,000 casualties [1][3] but that is considered an exaggeration .After the battle the Illyrians sought for peace and macedon took back Upper Macedonia and land as far as Lake Ohrid.[4]

Campaign against The Grabaei

After Bardylis defeat and death the Grabaei under Grabos II became the strongest Illyrian tribe [5].In 356 BC The Athenians made a alliance with the King's of Illyria Paionia and Thrace to try and block Philip's advance.[6] In 356 BC an army under Parmenion defeated the Grabei under Grabos II [7][8] After the defeat Grabos II became a subject ally of Macedon.[9]

Campaign against the Taulantii

In 345 BC Philip went on a campaign against the Taulantii [10] he invaded Taulantii with a large force capturing many towns and cities[11] But Pleuratus I managed to defeat Philip in battle wounding him in his right leg [12] Philip's advance into Taulantii stopped when he came to peace terms with Pleuratus I[13].After the campaign Taulantii was expelled from the border with Dassaretii and remained indipedent in the Adriatic coast.[14][15][16]

During a similar time between 346 and the end of 343 BC Philip II of Macedon according to historian Justinus defeated the Dardani and took prisoners.[17]

Battle against Caeria

In 344 or 343 BC Cynane accompanied her father Philip II of Macedon in battle against the Illyrian Queen Caeria [18] Cynane killed Caeria in a duel by blow to her throat [19] she also defeated her army with great slaughter[20]

Battle against the Autariatae

In 337 BC Philip wanted to subdue the Autariatae During his balkan campaigns he fought the Autariatae under King Pleurias and he almost succeeded on killing Philip .[21][22][23][24] The Illyrians were victorious in the battle.

Philip's Illyrian Vassals After the campaigns

After the campaigns Cleitus Bardylis son became a vassal of Macedon.[25][15]The Grabaei, Ardiaei and Autariatae are also sometimes considered Macedonian vassals but the evidence of that is weak.[15]

Aftermath

In 335 BC the Taulantii under Glaucias of Taulantii the Dassaretii under Cleitus and the Autariatae under Pleurias made a alliance against macedon.[26][27] 

Main article: Siege of Pelium

Alexander's ally the Agrianes Under Langarus promised to deal with the Autariatae while Alexander went to deal with Cleitus. Langarus soon invaded the Autariatae and defeated them. Alexander now had reached Pelium with 23,000 men and found it under Cleitus control without Glaucias having arrived yet[28] Alexander attempted to siege Pelium before Glaucias arrived but he was stopped by the reinforcements of Glaucias . After that Alexander retreated for 3 day's before coming back at night.Upon Alexander's arrival he found the camp being defenseless without support from the outside Cleitus and his soliders burned down the camp before fleeing to Glaucias realm.[29]

Illyrian revolt of 335 BC

The Plains of Pelium
Date335 BC
Location
Illyria
Result Macedonian-Agrianes victory
Belligerents
Dassaretii
Dardani (maybe)
Taulantii
Autariatae		 Kingdom of Macedon
Agrianes
Commanders and leaders
Glaucias of Taulantii
Cleitus (son of Bardylis)
Pleurias		 Alexander the Great
Langarus
Strength
Unknown 23,000
Casualties and losses
Heavy Unknown

References

  1. ^ a b Ashley, James R. (2004-03-19). The Macedonian Empire: The Era of Warfare Under Philip II and Alexander the Great, 359-323 B.C. McFarland. pp. 111–112. ISBN 978-0-7864-1918-0.
  2. ^ Carney, Elizabeth Donnelly (2000). Women and Monarchy in Macedonia. University of Oklahoma Press. p. 274. ISBN 978-0-8061-3212-9.
  3. ^ Hammond, N. G. L. (Nicholas Geoffrey Lemprière) (1988). A history of Macedonia. Vol.3, 336-167 B.C.:N.G.L. Hammond and F.W. Walbank. Internet Archive. Oxford : Clarendon Press. p. 411. ISBN 978-0-19-814815-9.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: publisher location (link)
  4. ^ Hammond, N. G. L. (1998-08-01). The Genius of Alexander the Great. University of North Carolina Press. p. 11. ISBN 978-0-8078-4744-2.
  5. ^ Hammond, N. G. L. (1994). "Illyrians and North-west Greeks". The Cambridge Ancient History Volume 6: The Fourth Century BC. Cambridge University p. 438.
  6. ^ Buckley, Terry (1996). Aspects of Greek History, 750-323 BC: A Source-based Approach. Psychology Press. pp. 470–472. ISBN 978-0-415-09957-8.
  7. ^ Hornblower, Simon (2002). The Greek World, 479-323 BC. Psychology Press. p. 272. ISBN 978-0-415-16326-2.
  8. ^ Plutarch Alexander, 3.
  9. ^ Cawkwell, George (1978). Philip of Macedon. Faber & Faber. p. 42. ISBN 978-0-571-10958-6.
  10. ^ Cawkwell, George (1978). Philip of Macedon. Faber & Faber. p. 114. ISBN 978-0-571-10958-6.
  11. ^ Diodorus 16.69,7
  12. ^ Zindel, Christian; Lippert, Andreas; Lahi, Bashkim; Kiel, Machiel (2018-02-19). Albanien: Ein Archäologie- und Kunstführer von der Steinzeit bis ins 19. Jahrhundert (in German). Böhlau Verlag Wien. p. 40. ISBN 978-3-205-20010-9.
  13. ^ Polyaenus
  14. ^ The Illyrians to the Albanians - Neritan Ceka pg.83
  15. ^ a b c At/as of Classical History. Routledge p. 63
  16. ^ Vujčić 2021, pp. 497, 499.
  17. ^ Wilkes The Illyrians pp. 121
  18. ^ Lightman, Marjorie; Lightman, Benjamin (2008). A to Z of Ancient Greek and Roman Women. Infobase Publishing (published 101). ISBN 978-1-4381-0794-3.
  19. ^ Mayor, Adrienne (2016-02-09). The Amazons: Lives and Legends of Warrior Women across the Ancient World. Princeton University Press. p. 329. ISBN 978-0-691-17027-5.
  20. ^ Polyaenus, Strategems, Book 8
  21. ^ Hamond, Kingdoms in Illyria
  22. ^ Diodorus (16.93,6)
  23. ^ Readings in Greek History: Sources and Interpretations by D. Brendan Nagle and Stanley M. Burstein, 2006, page 245
  24. ^ The Cambridge Ancient History, Volume 6: The Fourth Century BC by D. M. Lewis, ISBN 0-521-23348-8, 1994, page 785
  25. ^ Vujčić 2021, p. 516.
  26. ^ Arrian [Flavius Arrianus Xenophon](c.AD86-160) (1971-01-01). Arrian: The Campaigns of Alexander.[In 7 books]. *Aubrey de Selincourt,transl;J.R.Hamilton,rev./new intro./notes. Internet Archive. Penguin Books. p. 50.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  27. ^ Ashley, James R. (2004-03-19). The Macedonian Empire: The Era of Warfare Under Philip II and Alexander the Great, 359-323 B.C. McFarland. p. 171. ISBN 978-0-7864-1918-0.
  28. ^ Dodge, 201
  29. ^ Vujčić 2021, pp. 524-525.
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