01. $4,000-too much? Can't afford that two week trip to Greece? Not a problem! Work you way through these 12 galleries, taking about 25 minutes, and you'll have a visual tour of some of the great places in Greece.
02 FOUR STORIES - Philippi, the ancient city, lies close to Neopolis, or modern day Kavala. This beautiful port city faces west towards Asia, and beneath the gentle quiet lie four unique stories.
03. Off the coast, only 10 kms, 7 miles away, is the lovely island of Thasos. Thasos is the largest island of the North-Eastern Aegean, third largest island of Greece, the birthplace of the lyric poet Sappho, the writer Aesop and the philosophers Aristotle and Epicurus.
04. Free photos. You may use all my pictures for free, for education, church or promotion reasons. Please give some of your profit to children in the developing world. Write, "With permission by David Phillips." Photos from web sties are used with permission from others.
05 PART I The story of Philippi is foundational to the formation of the Greek world view, a process called Hellenization. In 359 BC Callistratus and some some Greek colonists came from the island of Thasos.
06. Callistratus was an orator and through his influence the colony of Krenides was established. Engravings illustrate the religious beliefs of the early inhabitants.
07. The invading Macedonian army under Philip conquered it it in 356 BC. Philip saw this as a huge chance to extend Macedonian influence and he took the opportunity to the full.
08. Always decisive in both battle and diplomacy, Philip marched with his armies to Krenides. He sided with the local Macedonians against the invading army from Thrace. He made peace with the city and promised both civil as well as military improvements.
09. Philip had the marshes in the river valley drained. The threat from Thrace, to the north-east, would now be permanently settled in favour of the powerful Macedonians, to the south-west.
10. Philip's strategy was to pay off shortly after his death in 336 BC. His son, Alexander the Great, was able to use Philippi as his base for invading Asia in 334 BC.
11. Philip had earlier marched south into Greece, in 338 BC, and defeated the combined armies of Athenians and Thebans at the Battle of Khaironeia. The following year he persuaded all the city states to swear allegiance to Macedonia with the common purpose of defeating Persia.
12. In Philippi Philip found a perfect site for his Greek theater. This photo shows part of the restoration process under way in the theater. (See my Gallery on "Amphipolis" for more details on how Philip gained control of history.)
13. Philip believed that his Greek culture was superior to that of any of the surrounding nations. Already theatre and entertainment was the best way to spread the world view Greeks in Greece and Macedonia.
14. Even the location of the theatre speaks of Philip's desire to conquer Persia. Not only does the hill behind it provide perfect acoustics but it faces eastward to the Aegean Sea and beyond to Asia.
15. He even built the theatre on to the Via Egnatia, the road that passes through Macedonia and the Balkans as well as Greece. The Via Egnatia would later link Byzantium, or Constantinople, with Rome in Italy.
16. Philip loved the new found power so much that he changed the name from Krenides to Philippi, the City of Philip. (See www.livius.org for further information on Philip.)
17. The remains of enormous stones that held up the roof of a government building, (the Court House?) have the letters PHILIPPI inscribed as a silent witness to the power of a great General.
18.Within a generation the influence of the Greek culture was to spread to Asia, and then through the whole of the Middle East. Alexander, the "boy-general" extended Greek influence with 40,000 soldiers.
19. Alexander the Great, son of Philip II, used Philippi as his base for conquests. He marched into Anatolia, present day Turkey, and within a year had arrived at the Persian camp near Antioch, southern Turkey.
20. Alexander the Great marched from what is present day Greece to what is present day Turkey. The names of the cities at that time are found on the map.
21. Alexander spread Greek influence quickly as he conquered Syria, Palestine, Egypt and founded the city of Alexandria. In his second battle against the Persians Alexander completely defeated Darius III and the Persian army that far outnumbered the Greeks..
22. Within two years Alexander had defeated the Persian army at what is present day Iskenderum, on the Eastern Mediterranean, in present day Turkey. He went on to defeat Egypt.
23. A second great defeat of the Persian army (certainly one of the ten most important battles of history) left the lands to the east open. He marched to what is today Iran, Afghanistan and India, claiming it all for the glory of Greece.
24. Thus Philippi came to be known as the base from which Greek soldiers, merchants, teachers, diplomats, actors, artists, composers and writers would set sail to Asia, using the Greek islands as stepping stones as they sailed across the Aegean Sea.
25. As the Greek culture spread throughout the Mediterranean a new power had arisen in the West. Rome had become stronger with its disciplined military and active political adjustments in the Senate.
26. Following the death of Alexander the Great his far flung kingdom was divided into four, each governed by one of his top four generals.
27. PART II The second part of the story in Philippi shows how the city became a Roman colony.
28. Long seen as a source of wealth to the Greeks, the Roman fleets made a strategic plan to capture the city. Previously, of course, they had expanded to the West. Now they wanted to make inroads into Greece.
29. A major battle took place in 168 BC at the Battle of Pydnaa and Macedonia was defeated. Now Neopolis (Kavala) and Philippi belonged to Rome. .
30. Greece mustered forces on seas as well as on land.
31. The Greeks responded with a long series of rebellions against their new masters. The Achaean League and the Corinthians were defeated in 146 BC. Athens was defeated and looted in 86 BC.
32. Now the whole of Greece and Macedonia were in the hands of Rome, including, of course, Philippi.
33. While history seems to have been lacking dramatic events in Philippi in 44 BC that was not the case in Rome.
34. An assassination was planned against Julius Caesar in 44 BC. One of the perpetrators, Brutus, was caught between his admiration for Caesar, and his anger that his own mother was one of Caesar's lovers.
35. The four armies met on the plains of Philippi in 42 BC. Octavian (Augustus) sided with Mark Anthony. Against them were leaders of the two eastern armies, Cassius and Brutus, conservatives who wanted the Republic of Rome to continue.
36. Julius Caesar had left three quarters of his estate to Octavian, so Octavian was now the new Caesar. For two years Cassius and Brutus built up their armies in the east, and they were the most powerful
37. It was only natural that the plains west of Philippi were to become the theater of an important battle, one of the most important in history.
38. In October 42 BC, two Roman armies approached each other: Brutus and Cassius, the assassins of Julius Caesar and defenders of the Roman republic, arrived with their armies from the east.
39. For details on the Battle of Philippi, go to www.livius.org. This unique source of information on ancient history also has excellent articles on Philip, Alexander the great, Brutus, and all the other persons on this web page.
40. A bit later, the triumvirs Marc Antony and Octavian arrived from the west, wishing to avenge the murder of Caesar. This was more than just a battle between rival factions: it was about the future of the republic
41. The two armies faced each other across the marshes of Philippi. Marc Antony tried to circumvent Philippi by building a causeway through the wetlands to the south of the city.
42. However, Cassius discovered Marc Antony's stratagem and built a transverse dam. While his opponent was thus occupied, Marc Antony unexpectedly ordered his men to storm Cassius' camp.
43. Cassius, believing that all was lost, committed suicide before he could learn that Brutus had at the same time defeated the army of Octavian and had captured the camp of Marc Antony and Octavian.
44. In other words, both sides had won a victory. Both sides had also suffered a defeat. That's what happens when fighting with four armies!
45. A second clash was decisive: a couple of days later, Marc Antony and Octavian were able to lure Brutus into a battle he should not have accepted.. This picture shows Brutus committing suicide after his defeat.
46. Brutus and Cassius were defeated. The Republic was never restored. Rome was in chaos. Would Rome continue as a Republic, or would the rule of one man take effect, that of Caesar? Marcus Junius Brutus was born in 85 BC, and died at the age of 43.
47. Brutus never made it to the top. He was the last defender of the Republic. Instead, Octavian Augusts followed on the path of Julius Caesar. Caesar had changed the government from a Republic to a Monarchy and a truly Mediterranean power.
48. Augustus gave Philippi the name Colonia Julia Augusta Philippensis and settled Roman veterans there. This made Philippi a place of special relationship with Rome, something we see in the book of Philippians.
49. In the summer after Julius Caesar was assassinated a comet brightened the skies of Rome. Marc Anthony claimed it was for him and he accepted the priests' declaration that Marc Anthony was a god.
50. In order to clear up the political confusion in 44 BC after the assassination Octavius, only 18 years old, was chosen to restore the Republic. He was still a teenager, but he gained the support of the army.
51. Augustus managed to control the government behind a republican facade, backed by strong armies. Now, the Empire was divided between three top dictators. Marc Anthony was assigned the Eastern Mediterranean. He went to Egypt and fell in love with Cleopatra.
52. Using the excuse that Marc Anthony had bestowed special privileges upon Egypt that were outside of the control of the Senate, Augustus prepared his navies and armies for a war with Marc Anthony. The Battle of Actium made Caesar Augustus, at age 32, the ruler of the world.
53. Retired soldiers from the Roman army were given land in Philippi and the city gained enormous prestige since so many successful soldiers lived there. (To live through those terrible battles was a success, by any measure of the imagination.)
54. The same age as Alexander the Great when he became the ruler of the known world, he matched Alexander's military skills and lived to implement many of Julius Caesar's plans. The world entered the period known as Pax Romana - a long period of peace and prosperity.
55. Caesar Augusts granted citizenship to people who did not live in Italy. The Roman republic was now a Mediterranean empire. Into this world Jesus Christ was born.
56. The stability of the times encouraged extensive building projects, the movement of many Jews throughout the world, and prepared the Empire for the coming of the news of Jesus Christ.
