No, this isn’t a statue of Richard that he’s been planning of himself for outside the Morrisons in Dereham, it’s Philip II of Macedon, with the whole arrangement being known as ‘the warrior’. It was installed here in 2012 and is not exactly easy to miss, showing the ancient Macedonian king standing with his fist raised and a staff in his other hand. Philip II, who lived from 382 to 336 BC, was the father of Alexander the Great and the ruler who transformed Macedon into the dominant military power in Greece. Alexander went on to become the more famous one, which feels slightly unfair, as Philip did quite a lot of the awkward preparatory work before his son took over the family expansion project to take over most of the then known world.
The statue is controversial, as are quite a few of Skopje’s grander monuments from this period. It formed part of the Skopje 2014 project, a huge and much-debated attempt to reshape the city centre with statues, fountains and neoclassical architecture. The problem, diplomatically speaking, was that ancient Macedonian history was also part of the long-running dispute with Greece over identity, heritage and the name of the country. And this is complex, so entirely over my knowledge base, but the Macedon empire that belonged to Philip II didn’t include what is now Skopje, it was much further south. But, as far as I’m concerned, if Skopje wants to have a statue to Philip II of Macedon then they should be welcome to do so. On that matter, I wonder whether Morrisons would put a little money towards the new statue of Richard he’s planning.