AE 17

Struck: 356 – 336 B.C.
Mint: Macedonian
Size: 16.9mm
Weight: 6.45g
Die Axis: 180°
Grade: VF
Ref: SNG ANS 869

Obv: Head of Apollo right wearing taenia.
Rev: ΦΙΛΙΠΠΟΥ, young male riding horse prancing to right, trident head right below.
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Philip II was born in 382 B.C. and was King of Macedon from 359 B.C. until his assassination in 336 B.C. He might be best remembered as the father of Alexander the Great but Philip was one of the world’s greatest military commanders and perhaps superior to Alexander as a statesman and diplomat.

In October 336 BCE, at Aegae, the ancient capital of the kingdom of Macedon, during the celebration of the marriage between Alexander I of Epirus and Philip's daughter, the king was entering unprotected into the town's theater and was killed by Pausanias of Orestis, one of his seven bodyguards. The assassin immediately tried to escape and reach his associates who were waiting for him with horses at the entrance of the city. He was pursued by three of Philip's bodyguards; tripping on a vine, he died by their hands. The motive is not entirely clear, as there is abundant controversy among ancient historians. The only surviving contemporary account is that of Aristotle who states rather tersely that Philip was killed because Pausanias had been offended by the followers of Attalus, the king's father-in-law.