Philip V of Macedon, ‘Erōmenos of the Greeks’: A Note and Reassessment

Abstract

Polybios’ famous description of Philip V of Macedon as “the darling of the Greeks” (ἐρώμeνος … τῶν Ἑλλήνων) comes about at a critical moment in the historian’s narrative of the king’s life: it appears at the end of a summary extolling all of the good characteristics and deeds Philip exhibited and achieved in his early years, when he had inspired great hopes of future magnanimity amongst his Greek allies (4.27.9, 77; 7.11); and just before the king takes a sudden turn for the worse in 215 BC, when he incites revolution in the allied city of Messene and attempts to impose a Macedonian garrison on its citadel. This article sets out to break new ground not only in the study of the Macedonian king, but also in the study of the literary aspects of Polybios’ work, by exploring this statement in more depth and arguing that it retained its significance beyond the structural demarcation of Philip’s change. The imagery that such a title inherently possessed and conveyed helped to define and deepen understanding of the relationship between Philip and his Greek allies in his early years by evoking implicit connotations within the audience.