Macedonia (also known as Macedon) was an ancient kingdom centered on the present-day region of Macedonia in northern Greece, inhabited by the Ancient Macedonians. At various points in its history the kingdom proper encompassed parts of the present-day Republic of North Macedonia, Albania, Bulgaria and Turkish Thrace. It emerged as the dominant power in Greece during the 4th century BC, when King Philip II successfully united the Greek city-states, such as Athens and Thebes, into the Corinthian League. Philip's son, Alexander the Great, would go on to conquer the Persian Empire a few years later. The Kingdom of Macedonia itself soon lost direct control of Alexander's vast Asian territories during the Wars of the Diadochi, but it broadly retained its rule over Greece itself until defeated by