Pausanias of Orestis
Pausanias of Orestis was a Macedonian nobleman and member of Philip II’s royal bodyguard who assassinated the king in 336 BCE.
Assassination of Philip II: The killing of Macedonian king Philip II at Aegae in 336 BCE. Pausanias killed Philip during the royal wedding celebrations at Aegae.
Diodorus Siculus: A Greek historian of the first century BCE whose Library of History narrates events from mythical times to his own era. Diodorus gives the fullest surviving narrative of Pausanias’s motive and the assassination.
Olympias: Queen of Macedon and mother of Alexander the Great, active in dynastic politics after Philip II’s death. Some ancient accounts connect Olympias to Pausanias or the protection he received, though her role remains uncertain.
Philip II assassination conspiracy theories: Competing hypotheses that Philip II’s assassination involved political conspirators beyond Pausanias. The evidence does not settle whether Pausanias acted alone or had powerful accomplices.
Aegae: The ancient Macedonian royal capital, near modern Vergina in northern Greece. Pausanias killed Philip at Aegae during celebrations for a royal wedding.
Aristotle: A Greek philosopher whose works shaped logic, biology, ethics, politics, and metaphysics. Aristotle’s brief account attributes the killing to Pausanias’s personal grievance.
Alexander the Great: King of Macedon who succeeded Philip II and conquered the Persian Empire. Ancient suspicions about the assassination sometimes implicated Alexander, but no conclusive proof survives.
Aeschines: An Athenian orator and statesman who was a contemporary of Demosthenes. Aeschines’ surviving references help show what Athenian speakers said about the aftermath.
Macedonian royal bodyguard: The elite attendants and guards who served a Macedonian king, sometimes holding military or political office. Pausanias belonged to Philip’s bodyguard, placing the assassin inside the king’s security circle.
Justinian (historian): A Roman epitomator whose surviving work abridges the lost history of Pompeius Trogus. Justin preserves a version of the story linking Philip’s court and Pausanias’s revenge.