Show 71 - Mania for Subjugation

“In Thebes, he saw too the besetting weaknesses of a democratic city-state, constant party intrigue, lack of a strong executive power, the inability to force quick decisions, the unpredictable vagaries of the assembly at voting time, the system of annual elections which made any serious long-term planning almost impossible, the amateur ad hoc military levies.”— Peter Green (historian)

Philip's Education in Thebes

Strategy & Decision Making · History & Geopolitics · Leadership & Management

DUR_ENDURING

Autocracy's speed beats democracy's deliberation in competition

“Diodorus is supposedly quoting Philip as saying that the expansion of his kingdom owed far more to money than to arms. And then Diodorus later picks up the story and just talks about how the bribes by Philip completely undercut any sort of Greek attempt at unity or a united front against this Darth Vader in the north exerting more and more pressure on the freedom of the Greek city-states.”— Philip II of Macedon

Philip's Bribery Strategy

Strategy & Decision Making · Economics & Markets · Operations & Execution

DUR_ENDURING

Walls unscalable by cash? No such walls

“What's about to destroy Philip is not some enemy that contend with his generalship or his machinations conducting realpolitik or his economic base that he's built over decades now ruling. What's going to hold Philip back and eventually destroy him is his personal life and his family life and who he sleeps with, probably. In this case, it's worth asking what Alexander's feeling at a moment like this. At this point, there's not much that can stop what Philip's about to do here.”— Dan Carlin

Philip's Assassination Context

Leadership & Management · Psychology & Behavior · History & Geopolitics

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Personal life destroys geopolitical success

“Philip's training for power was proceeding along useful if unorthodox lines. His experience as a member of the Macedonian royal household had given him an understandably cynical view of human nature. In this world, murder, adultery, and usurpation were commonplace, as liable to be practiced by one's own mother as by anyone else. In later life, Philip took it as axiomatic that all diplomacy was based on self-interest and every man had his price. Events seldom proved him wrong.”— Peter Green (historian)

Philip's Education in Thebes

Psychology & Behavior · Strategy & Decision Making · Leadership & Management

DUR_ENDURING

Cynicism from survival breeds realpolitik mastery

“Philip is supposed to have marveled in the fact that the Athenians could come up with 10 good generals a year because that's how many they had to elect. He goes, 'When I've only found one good one in my whole life.' He was talking about Parmenio. But when you add the fact that they're going to have a professional army facing an army that has a lot of people who are not professionals in it, you're going to have them commanded by people with tons of experience.”— Philip II of Macedon

Professional vs Amateur Forces

Leadership & Management · Operations & Execution · Strategy & Decision Making

DUR_ENDURING

One great general beats ten rotating ones

“But what if when Icarus's hubris gets the best of him, when the sun melts his beeswax holding the wings together and he falls? What if he falls on a crowd of people? What if it isn't just about Icarus anymore? What if the area where you seek fame and success and distinction involves the lives and destinies of lots and lots of people? That's when this question of this virtue of ambition or desire to be the best can become ultimately at times genocidal.”— Dan Carlin

Opening: Icarus and Ambition

Leadership & Management · Philosophy & Reasoning · History & Geopolitics

DUR_ENDURING

Ambition scales costs when power concentrated

“Philip is a warrior diplomat, which I think is a great term, very descriptive. A good rundown of the things Philip brought to the table. But I would add one more term: warrior, diplomat, fixer. Because in my mind, I envision him showing up to these negotiations and these diplomatic affairs dressed in full military regalia, armed to the teeth, right? And we can do it that way if that's how you want to play it, but also with a lawyer in tow, right?”— Dan Carlin

Philip's Methods

Strategy & Decision Making · Leadership & Management · Business & Entrepreneurship

DUR_ENDURING

Three tools: force, diplomacy, money, all ready

“For Philip, war was first and foremost an instrument of state policy with which to achieve specific strategic objectives. It was always the continuation of policy by other means, in the genuine Clausewitzian sense. The rhetorician Polyanius observed that Philip achieved no less through conversation than through battle, and by Zeus he prided himself more on what he acquired through words than on what he acquired through arms.”— Richard A. Gabriel (historian)

Philip's Strategic Philosophy

Strategy & Decision Making · History & Geopolitics · Leadership & Management

DUR_ENDURING

War as policy tool, not glory quest

“Philip has allowed, and the ancient sources are hard on him, Philip has allowed his personal life here to completely undercut his geopolitical goals that he's been working for forever. I mean, he finally gets Greece where he wants it, United, not fighting amongst itself, going to support him now on this mission to Asia. This is the crowning glory moment of this guy's life, and the sand from the foundation underneath his feet is beginning to just blow away.”— Dan Carlin

Philip's Fatal Mistake

Strategy & Decision Making · Leadership & Management · Psychology & Behavior

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Peak success undone by foundation neglect

“Philip is often credited with the first European combined arms force, although one can make a case that that was also Epaminondas' development. But to this Macedonian cavalry that's great and the Macedonian phalanx that's a missing ingredient, he adds mercenaries, for example. He also starts employing large numbers of allies. He uses a lot of Thracians, employs light troops and skirmishers.”— Dan Carlin

Philip's Combined Arms Force

Operations & Execution · Strategy & Decision Making · Creativity & Innovation

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Combined arms: specialist tool for every job

“And part of what makes all this possible is more of these people that Philip is using in his army are professionals. They're specialists, they're engineers, and more and more of his army's getting paid. The mercenaries obviously get paid right away, but he's starting to pay the guys in the pike phalanx eventually, and he's capturing— I love this part about ancient economics could be so interesting sometimes.”— Dan Carlin

Philip's Professionalization and Financing

Economics & Markets · Strategy & Decision Making · Operations & Execution

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Captured mines funded professional army directly

“Alexander was bound to resent this. The 19-year-old prince was impatient, quick-tempered, determined, and obsessively competitive. All of his future career testifies to these traits, as well as a strong streak of suspicion and jealousy. Whether or not the story is true of his regretting each success won by his father as one less victory he might win, Alexander's relationship with Philip was made all the more complicated and tense because both craved glory.”— Adrian Goldsworthy (historian)

Alexander and Philip's Competitive Dynamic

Psychology & Behavior · Leadership & Management · Culture & Society

DUR_ENDURING

Father's greatness raises son's bar and resentment

“One of the reasons that Philip is so able to exploit these maneuvers done by some of his predecessors is the stability he brings to the leadership question. That's the key issue, if you look at it in hindsight, that's keeping Macedonia from doing better. They can't keep competent leaders on the throne for very long. At one point before Philip takes over, Macedonia is going to have 5 kings in 6 years, and most of them die violently.”— Dan Carlin

Philip's Stabilization of Macedonia

Leadership & Management · History & Geopolitics · Strategy & Decision Making

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5 kings in 6 years, stability first prerequisite

“Philip has a huge advantage over a lot of these other royal families that do the same thing. After all, if you're Henry VIII of England and you're marrying for diplomatic reasons, it's kind of a limitation, isn't it, if you can just marry one wife? Philip didn't have any sort of limitation like that at all.”— Dan Carlin

Philip's Polygamous Diplomacy

Strategy & Decision Making · History & Geopolitics · Culture & Society

DUR_CONTEXTUAL

Polygamy multiplied diplomatic leverage exponentially

“The Macedonian pike phalanx is kind of a hoplite killing machine. It takes the best parts of the hoplite phalanxes and sort of supercharges them in a way that makes them better hoplite phalanxes. He gives them a much longer spear. He packs the human beings even more closely together. He makes the formation deeper.”— Dan Carlin

The Pike Phalanx Design

Technology & Engineering · Strategy & Decision Making · Creativity & Innovation

DUR_CONTEXTUAL

Longer spear, deeper ranks, tighter pack wins

“Philip develops a troop type that makes all the difference in the world, and he develops the pike phalanx. It's interesting to think about one guy developing this because normally weapon systems are cultural in the ancient world. They develop as a part of what's going on in society, and a lot of people fight connected to the land and the kind of enemies they face and the terrain and all sorts of things. Who invented the hoplite, right?”— Dan Carlin

Philip's Military Innovation

Creativity & Innovation · Technology & Engineering · Operations & Execution

DUR_CONTEXTUAL

Philip invented system that dominated 175 years

“If you think the show you just heard is worth a dollar, Dan and Ben would love to have it. How would you like to receive an email whenever a new Hardcore History show is released? Alexander has a lot of benefits in life by virtue of who his parents were, but from here on in, he's on his own. How would you like to receive an email whenever a new Hardcore History show is released? Just sign up for Dan's Substack newsletter. Alexander faces 'great jealousies, terrible hatred, and danger everywhere.'”— Dan Carlin

Closing: Alexander's Inheritance

Leadership & Management · Psychology & Behavior · Strategy & Decision Making

DUR_ENDURING

Inherited advantage requires independent proof

“This is a guy who took the field with his army every single year of his 23-year reign except one. And the one where he didn't, it was because he was recovering from wounds, of which he got several. As Demosthenes said, he's a guy who sacrificed multiple body parts and that was not any sort of a lie. I mean, the man, by the end of his reign, is crippled. He loses an eye. He has a collarbone broken. His hand is supposedly completely mangled.”— Dan Carlin

Philip's Military Record

Leadership & Management · Operations & Execution · History & Geopolitics

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28 campaigns, crippled, never stopped fighting

“The question of ambition is an equally interesting one. It's a very Goldilocks-type concept, this golden mean, right? This porridge is too hot. This porridge is too cold. This porridge is just right. Well, if you're dealing with ambition and not porridge, where is the just right point? It's not easy to pin down, is it? The dictionary defines ambition as an ardent desire for rank, fame, or power.”— Dan Carlin

Opening: Icarus and Ambition

Philosophy & Reasoning · Psychology & Behavior · Leadership & Management

DUR_ENDURING

Ambition as virtue becomes vice at extremes

“Philip has invited everyone. Ever been to one of those parties where everybody's allowed to invite people themselves? But Philip wants everybody there. He's gonna throw a massive festival, multiple days. It sounds like music, great food, entertainment, the whole thing. It's ostensibly for this wedding, so everybody's choreographed into it and plays a part, but it's really going to turn out to be more of a festival for Philip and to sort of bring the Greeks on board.”— Dan Carlin

Philip's Final Festival

Leadership & Management · Culture & Society · History & Geopolitics

DUR_ENDURING

Victory festival becomes assassination theater