Philip brought himself from being a petty prince with a questionable claim to the throne of a semi-barbarian kingdom to become the most influential man in the Greek world. His growth in strength and influence was dependent not only upon his reforms (both in Macedonian institutions and in the army) and successful conquests in northern and central Greece, but also to a large degree upon his diplomatic tactics and the manner in which he dealt with the Greek states, particularly Athens. Supposedly of Argive descent, he certainly spent three years of his adolescence as a hostage in Thebes. There he may well have learned military skills from Epameinondas; he certainly learned a great deal about the way the sophisticated and educated southern Greeks thought – not only their philosophy, but also the subtleties of their codes of friendship.