PHILIP V, King of Macedon

238–179 b.c., king of Macedon (221–179), son of Demetrius II, successor of Antigonus III. He won fame in a war in Greece (220–217), in which he sided with the Achaean League against the Spartans and the Aetolian League. When Italy was weakened by Hannibal's invasion, Philip tried to take the Roman holdings in Illyria, and he made (215) a treaty with Hannibal. This began the First Macedonian War with Rome (215–205), which ended favorably for Macedon. Philip collaborated (202) with Antiochus III to expand in the Aegean by plundering the territorial possessions of Ptolemy V. However, the frightened states of Rhodes and Pergamum coaxed Rome into entering the Second Macedonian War (200). This ended when Titus Quinctius Flamininus decisively defeated (197) Philip at Cynoscephalae (now Khalkodhónion, hills). From then on Philip collaborated with the Romans. He faced constant Roman interference, however, because of accusations against him from his neighbors. Philip extended his influence in the Balkans by three attacks on that region in 184, 183, and 181. His main efforts during this period were directed at rebuilding his kingdom. He was succeeded by his son Perseus.

See biography by F. W. Walbank (1940, repr. 1967).

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