L’irrequieto Alessandro Magno e l’assassinio di Filippo II di Macedonia

Abstract

Abstract

While ancient sources indicate his wife Olympias as the main person responsible for the assassination of Philip II of Macedonia, modern studies are more inclined to recognize the leading role of his son Alexander, who was determined to do anything to secure the throne. Those who deny the responsibility of Philip’ wife and son instead emphasize that Alexander had no real rivals for the throne and mother and son therefore had too much to lose by plotting a conspiracy against the king. An examination of the sources relating to the last years of Philip’s life seems to reveal that Alexander’s position as heir to the throne was secure, but this does not mean that Alexander felt it in the same way. It therefore does not seem necessary to try to establish what Philip’s intentions were regarding his heir in order to hypothesize or exclude Alexander’s responsibility for his father’s murder, since Alexander’s impulsive nature, as emerges in particular in the affair of the satrap Pixodarus, may have pushed him to accelerate his succession to the throne even in the absence of a real threat to his position as heir.