Dr Adrian Goldsworthy

After civil war, regicide and Cromwell's Republic, the monarchy returned.

But Britain would never be the same.

I'm Professor Susanna Lipscomb, and this month on Not Just the Tudors, we're transported back to the age of restoration royalty, from Charles II to Queen Anne and the birth of the Empire.

Join me on Not Just the Tudors from History Hit, wherever you get your podcasts.

Yes.

I mean, it's the war that Philip has already started because Philip had sent an advance guard, really, to Asia Minor several years before and was planning to join them.

But now Alexander has had to wait till he's secured his control on power, his control of the Macedonian throne.

But eventually, this is the big project.

This is

how he can outdo his father.

There's the story about the younger Alexander hearing news of Philip's latest victory, looking depressed, and his friends asking him and saying, because he's leaving me so little to do.

This is the one big thing that Philip had only just started and hasn't done, the challenge of facing Persia, the superpower of the world then, and beating them.

So this is the great event, the great adventure.

Yes, although Philip has broken the rules in recent years by organising a supply train for his army and keeping some of the mercenaries being paid, some of them Macedonians that will be willing to serve throughout.

So even though he campaigns with fewer soldiers in winter, he has kept on fighting all the year round, which means...

It's very hard to face him.

People think they'll get a bit of rest, relief.

Philip's up their throats all the time, and particularly when he's blockaded or besieged towns, he can keep that up throughout the year.

And that's been fairly rare beforehand.

But it's still much, much easier to keep an army in the field going when the grass is there and you can graze your, not so much cavalry horses that matters, it's all the transport animals you need to pull the baggage train.