Aeropus, as guardian to the young king Orestes, usurps the supreme power, B. C. 400-394. After his death, and the murder of his son Pausanias, 393, the throne was seized by Amyntas II. son of Philip, and brother to Perdiccas II. who was nevertheless unable to maintain his power until he had gained a victory over Argaeus, the brother of Pausanias, who was backed by the Illyrians, 390-369. The war with Olynthus, 383-380, could not be brought to a successful conclusion until he had formed an alliance with Sparta. 6. The three sons of Amyntas II, Alexander, Perdiccas, and Philip, successively ascended the throne after the death of their father; but so violent were the commotions during the reigns of the two former, that the future existence of Macedonia as a kingdom might have been regarded as problematical: it is certain that they were obliged to submit to the payment of tribute to the Illyrians. Alexander, in opposition to his rival, Ptolemy of Alorus, placed on the throne by Pelopidas, sends his youngest brother Philip as hostage to Thebes: in the same year he is deposed by Ptolemy, 368. Reign of Ptolemy, 388-365, with the stipulation imposed, 367, by Pelopidas, that he shall only hold the sceptre in reserve for the two younger brothers. Murder of Ptolemy, 365, by Perdiccas III. who is nearly overwhelmed by Pausanias, another and earlier pretender to the crown; he is at last firmly seated on the throne by the Athenians, under Iphicrates, 364. But as early as 360 he falls in the war against the Illyrians, leaving behind him a son, Amyntas, still a minor, and a younger brother Philip, who escapes from Thebes in order to gain possession of the throne. 7. The reign of Philip, which lasted twenty-four years, is one of the most instructive and interesting in the whole range of history, as well on account of the prudence he displayed, as for the manner in which his plans were arranged and executed. Though it may be difficult to trace in his morals the pupil of Epaminondas, yet it is impossible to view without feelings of astonishment the brilliant career of a man, who, under the almost hopeless circumstances in which he commenced his course, never lost his firmness of mind, and who in the highest prosperity preserved his coolness of reflection. The history of Philip, even in his own days, was distorted to his disadvantage by orators and historians. Demosthenes could not, Theopompus would not, be impartial; and the information contained in Diodorus and Justin is mostly derived from the work of the latter. OLIVIER, _Histoire de Philippe, roi de Macedoine_. Paris, 1740, 2 vols. 8vo. A defence of Philip. DE BURY, _Histoire de Philippe, et d'Alexandre le grand_. Paris, 1760, 4to. A very mean performance. TH. LELAND, _The History of the Life and Reign of Philip king of Macedon_. London, 1761, 4to. Dry, but exhibiting much reading and strict impartiality.