Philippeion

Ancient Olympia Municipality, Greece

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The Philippeion at Olympia was a circular limestone and marble tholos designed by the Athenian sculptor Leochares in the fourth century BC, commissioned as a monument to Philip II's victory at Chaeronea in 338 BC. Built in the Ionic order, it originally housed chryselephantine statues—rendered in ivory and gold—depicting Philip II, his son Alexander the Great, his wives Olympias, his father Amyntas III, and his mother Eurydice I. Uniquely among structures within the Altis, the sacred precinct of Olympia, the Philippeion honored human figures rather than gods, marking a significant departure from religious tradition and a bold assertion of Macedonian dynastic power at Greece's most important sanctuary.