Editing Theopompus (section)

===History of Philip II===
Theopompus's most significant work, the ''Philippica,'' consisted of fifty-eight books which detailed the reign of Philip II of Macedon. Despite its fragmented state modern scholarship offers insights into its themes and Theopompus's historiographical approach. Unlike many of his peers, Theopompus offered a nuanced portrayal of Philip. He depicts him not merely as a conqueror but as a figure whose reign brought about significant moral and social destruction.<ref name=":1">Conner. p 133-134.</ref> The "''Philippica"'' was more than a historical record. It is moral commentary on the corruption of Philips court. Theopompus criticizes the moral decline which accompanied Philip's expansionist policies. He'd draw parallels between personal vices of individuals and the larger societal corruption.<ref>Connor. p 135-137.

</ref> Also, he detailed accounts of various regions and their political and social conditions. By doing so, he could share his belief in the interconnectedness of moral and political decay in different societies.<ref>Shrimpton. p 137.</ref>

A far more elaborate work was the history of [[Philip II of Macedon|Philip]]'s reign (360–336 BC), with digressions on the names and customs of the various races and countries of which he had occasion to speak, which were so numerous that [[Philip V of Macedon]] reduced the bulk of the history from 58 to 16 books by cutting out those parts which had no connection with [[Macedon|Macedonia]]. It was from this history that [[Gnaeus Pompeius Trogus|Trogus Pompeius]] (of whose ''Historiae Philippicae'' we possess the epitome by [[Junianus Justinus|Justin]]) derived much of his material. Fifty-three books were extant in the time of [[Photios I of Constantinople|Photius]] (9th century), who read them, and has left us an epitome of the 12th book. Several fragments, chiefly anecdotes and strictures of various kinds upon the character of nations and individuals, are preserved by [[Athenaeus]], [[Plutarch]] and others. Of the ''Letter to Alexander'' we possess one or two fragments cited by Athenaeus, criticizing severely the immorality and dissipations of [[Harpalus]].

The artistic unity of his work suffered severely from the frequent and lengthy digressions, of which the most important was ''On the Athenian Demagogues'' in the 10th book of the ''Philippica'', containing a bitter attack on many of the chief Athenian statesmen, and generally recognized as having been freely used by Plutarch in several of the Lives. The ''{{Visible anchor|Marvels}}'' is a lengthy digression inserted into books 8 and 9.<ref>Walker 1911, pp. 787-788.</ref><ref>[[#CITEREFGeorgiadouLarmour1998|Georgiadou & Larmour 1998]], p. 34: "The combining of history and myth is conveniendy illustrated by what we know of the Marvels (Oavndoia), a digression which Theopompus seems to have inserted into books 8 and 9 of his Philippica."</ref><ref>[[#CITEREFNatoli2004|Natoli 2004]], p. 57: "strange and also demeaning to Theopompus, unlike the well attested Marvels and On the Demagogues,"</ref>

Another fault of Theopompus was his excessive fondness for romantic and incredible stories; a collection of some of these was afterwards made and published under his name. He was also severely blamed in antiquity for his censoriousness, and throughout his fragments no feature is more striking than this. On the whole, however, he appears to have been fairly impartial. Theompopus censures Philip severely for drunkenness and immorality while warmly praising [[Demosthenes]].<ref>Walker 1911, p. 788.</ref>