#Kleopatra of Macedon

[jeannereames]

What was Alexander’s relationship with his sisters like?

Short answer: We mostly don’t know.

Longer answer: We have some clues that he may have got on well at least with Kleopatra and Thessalonike. Kynanne is more of a crap-shoot, as she was married to his cousin and rival, Amyntas. But as Philip arranged that marriage, she had little/no say in the matter, so we just don’t know what she thought of her husband-cousin versus her brother. (Not addressing the infant Europe, as she died at just a few weeks.)

First, let me link to an article by Beth Carney, and at the end, I’ll add some links to my own prior entries that address the question too.

Elizabeth Carney, “The Sisters of Alexander the Great: Royal Relics” Historia 37.4 (1988), 385-404.*

Beth’s article discusses Argead marriage policies, and the fate of the women after ATG’s death. I know she’s changed her mind about a few things, but it’s still well worth reading.

Also, a general reminder to folks who may be new to Alexander/Macedonia … Macedonian kings practiced royal polygamy: e.g., they married for politics, not love, and had more than one wife at the same time. Philip married 7 women (the most of any Macedonian king), although there weren’t 7 wives living in the palace at once. There may have been as many as 5 at times, however.

Because of royal polygamy, they did not use the term basilissa (queen) until after Alexander’s death. The chief wife was the mother of the heir; she had the most power. Because of the rivalry inherent in such courts, a woman’s primary allegiance was to her son, not her husband. Her secondary allegiance would be to her father (if living) and/or brothers. This was not unique to Macedonia, but a feature of most courts with polygamous structures.

These are not love matches, although our later sources may present them as love matches. (These authors had their own ideological reasons for such characterizations.) Did love never come after marriage? Perhaps. It would have depended. Also, within the women’s rooms, wives may have allied with each other at points, particularly if several of them. If only two (as seems more characteristic in Macedonia, aside from Philip), they’d have been rivals seeking to produce the heir.

I state all that to explain why Alexander’s sisters may have courted their brother’s affection (and protection), after Philip’s death. Only Kleopatra had a son, and he was 12 at most at Alexander’s death.

In his final year, Philip married off Alexander’s older sister, Kynanne (d. of Audata, ergo half- Illyrian), and Alexander’s younger and only full sister, Kleopatra (d. of Olympias). Kleopatra’s wedding was literally the day before Philip’s assassination. The timing of Kynnane’s marriage is less clear, but Philip married her to Amyntas, his nephew (her cousin), some time after his own marriage to his last wife, Kleopatra Eurydike. Kynnane had a daughter by Amyntas, Hadea (later Hadea Eurydike). We’re not sure if she was born before or after her father’s execution by Alexander, but it does let us nail down her age to c. 12/13 at Alexander’s death.

After he had Amyntas executed, Alexander planned to marry Kynnane to one of his trusted allies, Langaros, king of Agriana, which lay north of Macedonia, between Paionia and Illyria. Agriana was arguably Paionian, but similar to Illyria. Ergo, this may show a bit of thoughtfulness on Alexander’s part, to match his sister to a man who wouldn’t attempt to trammel her. Recall that Illyrian women wielded more power and even fought in battle. Yet Langaros died (perhaps of injury) before Alexander could make good on that.

It would be the last time Alexander planned any nuptials for his sisters. In part because he invaded Persia not long after, but it wouldn’t have stopped him from summoning one of them if he’d really wanted to marry her off.

Kynanne raised her daughter Hadea in traditional Illyrian ways, which Alexander allowed (although he probably couldn’t have stopped her). After his death, she took off to Asia to see Hadea married to her uncle, (Philip III) Arrhidaios. Kynanne was murdered by Perdikkas’s brother Alkestas, because Perdikkas (then regent) didn’t want the marriage. BUT the army (who liked and respected Kynanne) forced Alkestas to allow it anyway. Hadea (now) Eurydike and Philip III Arrhidaios eventually fell under Kassandros’s authority/possession, where she/they opposed Olympias and baby Alexander IV (and Roxane).

It was inevitable that the co-kingship that followed ATG’s death wouldn’t hold, and Hadea, who clearly wore the pants, wasn’t about to step aside for her cousin Alexander IV. Nor did Kassandros want them to, as he could control them. He couldn’t control Olympias. Yet none of that would necessarily reflect how Kynanne and Hadea had felt about their brother/uncle during his lifetime.

So, we must say the jury is out on Kynanne’s relationship with Alexander.

But for Kleopatra and Thessalonike, I do believe we have enough hints that they cared for him and he for them.

Kleopatra’s husband (another Alexander, of Epiros) died in combat in Italy in 332—around the time Alexander was besieging Tyre and Gaza, or four years after their marriage. In that time, Kleopatra produced two children, a girl (Kadmea) and a boy (Neoptolemos). The girl was named to honor her uncle’s victory over Thebes,** which happened at the tail-end of 335. As Alexander of Macedon and Alexander of Epiros both left on separate campaigns in 334, the boy would have to have been fathered not long after Kadmea was born. (It’s possible that Alexander of Epiros didn’t get to Italy until 333.)

After Alexander of Epiros’s death, Kleopatra did not marry again, although after her brother died, she had a couple marriage offers/offered marriage herself. She was THE prize during the early Successor wars���the full sister of Alexander.

Two titbits might suggest she was close to him (even if he didn’t marry her off again). First, the name of her first child is for his victory, not one by her husband. Sure, Alexander of Epiros didn’t have a battle victory at that point to name her for…but he could have insisted on a family name. Instead, he let Kleopatra give the child a name celebrating Alexander of Macedon’s victory. I suspect she fought for that.

Second, an anecdote reports that when Alexander was told his sister was having an affair some years after she’d become a widow, he reportedly replied, “Well, she ought to have a little fun.” This, btw, was viewed as a bad answer…e.g., he didn’t properly discipline her. As Alexander was constantly used for moral lessons (good or bad), we should take it with a grain of salt. But it’s possible his approximate reaction was preserved and became fodder for moralizing about those wild, half-barbarian Macedonians from the north…couldn’t keep their women in check!

As for Thessalonike, data here is also circumstantial. She stayed with Olympias after Alexander’s death and was never married until after Olympias herself was killed by Kassandros—who then forced her to marry him to cement his claim to the Macedonian throne. She had a sad life, at least in her latter years. Her eldest son (Philip) wasn’t healthy and died not long after he became king. Her second son (Antipatros) and her last son (Alexandros) apparently hated each other. After Philip’s death, Thessalonike argued that Antipatros should co-rule with the younger Alexandros. So Antipatros killed his mother! (Matricide, folks, is SUPER-bad.) Then Alexandros killed Antipatros, and was eventually killed in turn by Demetrios Poliorketes.

Well, if Justin can be trusted, and there are problems with Justin. Ergo, it’s possible that internecine spate of murders didn’t go the way Justin reports.

Yet the naming of her youngest boy may tell a story, along with her insistence that he co-rule with his brother.

There’s also the legend of Mermaid Thessalonike, but we can’t take that as any sort of evidence.

Here are some additional posts that also talk about the sisters:

“Writing Kleopatra and Alexander’s Other Sisters” — Although aimed primarily at the novels, it obviously must deal with the girls as historical persons. Pretty short for me.

“What Philip Thought about His Other Children” — A sideways take on this same question. Not long.

“On Amyntas” — About Alexander’s older cousin, his real rival for the throne when Philp was assassinated. Also discusses Kynanne as a matter-of-course. Not long.

“On Kassandros” — Mostly about Antipatros’s son Kassandros, who had Alexander IV murdered, but also discusses Thessalonike, who he forced to marry him. Relatively long.

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* The link takes you to academia.edu, where, by clicking on Beth’s name, you can find more of her articles. Keep in mind the woman has something north of 150, many on women, PLUS a bunch of books. Not everything is uploaded due to copyright, but several of her older articles are, such as this one.

** It was something of a “thing,” at least in Macedon, for daughters to be named in honor of their father’s victories. Kynanne not so much, but Kleopatra means “Glory of Her Father,” and both Thessalonike (Victory in Thessaly) and Europe (Victory in Europe) reflected their father’s triumphs.

[toposopos]

Ancient Greek names of kings of Macedon and Diadochi

1. ALEXANDROS m Ancient Greek (ALEXANDER Latinized) Pronounced: al-eg-ZAN-dur From the Greek name Alexandros, which meant ‘defending men’ from Greek alexein ‘to defend, protect, help’ and aner ‘man’ (genitive andros). Alexander the Great, King of Macedon, is the most famous bearer of this name. In the 4th century BC he built a huge empire out of Greece, Egypt, Persia, and parts of India. The name was borne by five kings of Macedon.

2. PHILIPPOS m Ancient Greek (PHILIP Latinized) Pronounced: FIL-ip From the Greek name Philippos which means ‘friend of horses’, composed of the elements philos ‘friend’ and hippos ‘horse’. The name was borne by five kings of Macedon, including Philip II the father of Alexander the Great.

3. AEROPOS m Ancient Greek, Greek Mythology Male form of Aerope who in Greek mythology was the wife of King Atreus of Mycenae. Aeropos was also the son of Aerope, daughter of Kepheus: ‘Ares, the Tegeans say, mated with Aerope, daughter of Kepheus (king of Tegea), the son of Aleos. She died in giving birth to a child, Aeropos, who clung to his mother even when she was dead, and sucked great abundance of milk from her breasts. Now this took place by the will of Ares.’ (Pausanias 8.44.) The name was borne by two kings of Macedon.

4. ALKETAS m Ancient Greek (ALCAEUS Latinized) Pronounced: al-SEE-us Derived from Greek alke meaning ‘strength’. This was the name of a 7th-century BC lyric poet from the island of Lesbos.

5. AMYNTAS m Ancient Greek Derived from Greek amyntor meaning ‘defender’. The name was borne by three kings of Macedon.

6. ANTIGONOS m Ancient Greek (ANTIGONUS Latinized) Pronounced: an-TIG-o-nus Means ‘like the ancestor’ from Greek anti ‘like’ and goneus ‘ancestor’. This was the name of one of Alexander the Great’s generals. After Alexander died, he took control of most of Asia Minor. He was known as Antigonus ‘Monophthalmos’ (‘the One-Eyed’). Antigonos II (ruled 277-239 BC) was known as ‘Gonatos’ (‘knee, kneel’).

7. ANTIPATROS m Ancient Greek (ANTIPATER Latinized) Pronounced: an-TI-pa-tur From the Greek name Antipatros, which meant ‘like the father’ from Greek anti ‘like’ and pater ‘father’. This was the name of an officer of Alexander the Great, who became the regent of Macedon during Alexander’s absence.

8. ARCHELAOS m Ancient Greek (ARCHELAUS Latinized) Pronounced: ar-kee-LAY-us Latinized form of the Greek name Archelaos, which meant ‘master of the people’ from arche ‘master’ and laos ‘people’. It was also the name of the 7th Spartan king who came in the throne of Sparti in 886 BC, long before the establishment of the Macedonian state.

9. ARGAIOS m Greek Mythology (ARGUS Latinized) Derived from Greek argos meaning ‘glistening, shining’. In Greek myth this name belongs to both the man who built the Argo and a man with a hundred eyes. The name was borne by three kings of Macedon.

10. DEMETRIOS m Ancient Greek (DEMETRIUS Latinized) Latin form of the Greek name Demetrios, which was derived from the name of the Greek goddess Demeter. Kings of Macedon and the Seleucid kingdom have had this name. Demetrios I (ruled 309-301 BC) was known as ‘Poliorketes’ (the ‘Beseiger’).

11. KARANOS m Ancient Greek (CARANUS Latinized) Derived from the archaic Greek word ‘koiranos’ or ‘karanon”, meaning ‘ruler’, ‘leader’ or ‘king’. Both words stem from the same archaic Doric root ‘kara’ meaning head, hence leader, royal master. The word ‘koiranos’ already had the meaning of ruler or king in Homer. Karanos is the name of the founder of the Argead dynasty of the Kings of Macedon.

12. KASSANDROS m Greek Mythology (CASSANDER Latinized) Pronounced: ka-SAN-dros Possibly means ‘shining upon man’, derived from Greek kekasmai ‘to shine’ and aner ‘man’ (genitive andros). In Greek myth Cassandra was a Trojan princess, the daughter of Priam and Hecuba. She was given the gift of prophecy by Apollo, but when she spurned his advances he cursed her so nobody would believe her prophecies. The name of a king of Macedon.

13. KOINOS m Ancient Greek Derived from Greek koinos meaning ‘usual, common’. An Argead king of Macedon in the 8th century BC.

14. LYSIMACHOS m Ancient Greek (LYSIMACHUS Latinized) Means ‘a loosening of battle’ from Greek lysis ‘a release, loosening’ and mache ‘battle’. This was the name of one of Alexander the Great’s generals. After Alexander’s death Lysimachus took control of Thrace.

15. SELEUKOS m Ancient Greek (SELEUCUS Latinized) Means ‘to be light’, ‘to be white’, derived from the Greek word leukos meaning ‘white, bright’. This was the name of one of Alexander’s generals that claimed most of Asia and founded the Seleucid dynasty after the death of Alexander in Babylon.

16. ARRIDHAIOS m Ancient Greek Son of Philip II and later king of Macedon. The greek etymology is Ari (= much) + adj Daios (= terrifying). Its full meaning is “too terrifying”. Its Aeolian type is Arribaeos.

17. ORESTES m Greek Mythology Pronounced: o-RES-teez Derived from Greek orestais meaning ‘of the mountains’. In Greek myth he was the son of Agamemnon. He killed his mother Clytemnestra after she killed his father. The name of a king of Macedon (ruled 399-396 BC).

18. PAUSANIAS m Ancient Greek King of Macedon in 393 BC. Pausanias was also the name of the Spartan king at the Battle of Plataea in 479 BC, and the name of the Greek traveller, geographer and writer whose most famous work is ‘Description of Greece’, and also the name of the man who assassinated Philip II of Macedon in 336 BC.

19. PERDIKKAS m Ancient Greek (PERDICCAS Latinized) Derived from Greek perdika meaning ‘partridge’. Perdikkas I is presented as founder of the kingdom of Macedon in Herodotus 8.137. The name was borne by three kings of Macedon.

20. PERSEUS m Greek Mythology Pronounced: PUR-see-us It derives from Greek verb pertho meaning ‘to destroy, conquer’. Its full meaning is the “conqueror”. Perseus was a hero in Greek legend. He killed Medusa, who was so ugly that anyone who gazed upon her was turned to stone, by looking at her in the reflection of his shield and slaying her in her sleep. The name of a king of Macedon (ruled 179-168 BC).

21. PTOLEMEOS m Ancient Greek (PTOLEMY Latinized) Pronounced: TAWL-e-mee Derived from Greek polemeios meaning ‘aggressive’ or ‘warlike’. Ptolemy was the name of several Greco-Egyptian rulers of Egypt, all descendents of Ptolemy I, one of Alexander the Great’s generals. This was also the name of a Greek astronomer. Ptolemy ‘Keraunos’ (ruled 281-279 BC) is named after the lighting bolt thrown by Zeus.

22. TYRIMMAS m Greek Mythology Tyrimmas, an Argead king of Macedon and son of Coenus. Also known as Temenus. In Greek mythology, Temenus was the son of Aristomaches and a great-great grandson of Herakles. He became king of Argos. Tyrimmas was also a man from Epirus and father of Evippe, who consorted with Odysseus (Parthenius of Nicaea, Love Romances, 3.1). Its full meaning is “the one who loves cheese”.

QUEENS AND ROYAL FAMILY

23. EURYDIKE f Greek Mythology (EURYDICE Latinized) Means ‘wide justice’ from Greek eurys ‘wide’ and dike ‘justice’. In Greek myth she was the wife of Orpheus. Her husband tried to rescue her from Hades, but he failed when he disobeyed the condition that he not look back upon her on their way out. Name of the mother of Philip II of Macedon.

24. BERENIKE f Ancient Greek (BERENICE Latinized) Pronounced: ber-e-NIE-see Means ‘bringing victory’ from pherein ‘to bring’ and nike ‘victory’. This name was common among the Ptolemy ruling family of Egypt.

25. KLEOPATRA f Ancient Greek (CLEOPATRA Latinized), English Pronounced: klee-o-PAT-ra Means ‘glory of the father’ from Greek kleos ‘glory’ combined with patros ‘of the father’. In the Iliad, the name of the wife of Meleager of Aetolia. This was also the name of queens of Egypt from the Ptolemaic royal family, including Cleopatra VII, the mistress of both Julius Caesar and Mark Antony. After being defeated by Augustus she committed suicide by allowing herself to be bitten by an asp. Also the name of a bride of Philip II of Macedon.

26. CYNNA f Ancient Greek Half-sister of Alexander the great. Her name derives from the adj. of doric dialect Cyna (= tough).

27. THESSALONIKI f Ancient Greek Means ‘victory over the Thessalians’, from the name of the region of Thessaly and niki, meaning ‘victory’. Name of Alexander the Great’s step sister and of the city of Thessaloniki which was named after her in 315 BC.

GENERALS, SOLDIERS, PHILOSOPHERS AND OTHERS

28. PARMENION m ancient Greek The most famous General of Philip and Alexander the great. Another famous bearer of this name was the olympic winner Parmenion of Mitiline. His name derives from the name Parmenon + the ending -ion used to note descendancy. It means the “descedant of Parmenon”.

29. PEUKESTAS m Ancient Greek He saved Alexander the Great in India. One of the most known Macedonians. His name derives from Πευκής (= sharp) + the Doric ending -tas. Its full meaning is the “one who is sharp”.

30. ARISTOPHANES m Ancient Greek Derived from the Greek elements aristos ‘best’ and phanes ‘appearing’. The name of one of Alexander the Great’s personal body guard who was present during the murder of Cleitus. (Plutarch, Alexander, ‘The Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romans’). This was also the name of a 5th-century BC Athenian playwright.

31. KORRAGOS m Ancient Greek The Macedonian who challenged into a fight the Olympic winner Dioxippos and lost. His name derives from Koira (= army) + ago (= lead). Korragos has the meaning of “the leader of the army”.

32. ARISTON m Ancient Greek Derived from Greek aristos meaning ‘the best’. The name of a Macedonian officer on campaign with Alexander the Great (Arrian, Anabasis, Book II, 9 and Book III, 11, 14).

33. KLEITUS m Ancient Greek (CLEITUS Latinized) Means ‘calling forth’ or ‘summoned’ in Greek. A phalanx battalion commander in Alexander the Great’s army at the Battle of Hydaspes. Also the name of Alexander’s nurse’s brother, who severed the arm of the Persian Spithridates at the Battle of the Granicus.

34. HEPHAISTION m Greek Mythology Derived from Hephaistos (‘Hephaestus’ Latinized) who in Greek mythology was the god of fire and forging and one of the twelve Olympian deities. Hephaistos in Greek denotes a ‘furnace’ or ‘volcano’. Hephaistion was the companion and closest friend of Alexander the Great. He was also known as ‘Philalexandros’ (‘friend of Alexander’).

35. HERAKLEIDES m Ancient Greek (HERACLEIDES Latinized) Perhaps means ‘key of Hera’ from the name of the goddess Hera combined with Greek kleis ‘key’ or kleidon ‘little key’. The name of two Macedonian soldiers on campaign with Alexander the Great (Arrian, Anabasis, Book I, 2; Book III, 11 and Book VII, 16).

36. KRATEROS m Ancient Greek (CRATERUS Latinized) Derived from Greek adj. Κρατερός (= Powerful). This was the name of one of Alexander the Great’s generals. A friend of Alexander the Great, he was also known as ‘Philobasileus’ (‘friend of the King’).

37. NEOPTOLEMOS m Greek Mythology (NEOPTOLEMUS Latinized) Means ‘new war’, derived from Greek neos ‘new’ and polemos ‘war’. In Greek legend this was the name of the son of Achilles, brought into the Trojan War because it was prophesied the Greeks could not win it unless he was present. After the war he was slain by Orestes because of his marriage to Hermione. Neoptolemos was believed to be the ancestor of Alexander the Great on his mother’s (Olympias’) side (Plutarch). The name of two Macedonian soldiers during Alexander’s campaigns (Arrian, Anabasis, Book I, 6 and Book II, 27).

38. PHILOTAS m Ancient Greek From Greek philotes meaning ‘friendship’. Son of Parmenion and a commander of Alexander the Great’s Companion cavalry.

39. PHILOXENOS m Ancient Greek Meaning ‘friend of strangers’ derived from Greek philos meaning friend and xenos meaning ‘stranger, foreigner’. The name of a Macedonian soldier on campaign with Alexander the Great (Arrian, Anabasis, Book III, 6).

40. MENELAOS m Greek Mythology (MENELAUS Latinized) Means ‘withstanding the people’ from Greek meno ‘to last, to withstand’ and laos ‘the people’. In Greek legend he was a king of Sparta and the husband of Helen. When his wife was taken by Paris, the Greeks besieged the city of Troy in an effort to get her back. After the war Menelaus and Helen settled down to a happy life. Macedonian naval commander during the wars of the Diadochi and brother of Ptolemy Lagos.

41. LAOMEDON m ancient greek Friend from boyhood of Alexander and later Satrap. His names derives from the greek noun laos (λαός = “people” + medon (μέδω = “the one who governs”)

42. POLYPERCHON Ancient Greek Macedonian, Son of Simmias His name derives from the greek word ‘Πολύ’ (=much) + σπέρχω (= rush).

43. HEGELOCHOS m (HEGELOCHUS Latinized) Known as the conspirator. His name derives from the greek verb (ηγέομαι = “walking ahead” + greek noun λόχος = “set up ambush”).

44. POLEMON m ancient Greek From the house of Andromenes. Brother of Attalos. Means in greek “the one who is fighting in war”.

45. AUTODIKOS m ancient greek Somatophylax of Philip III. His name in greek means “the one who takes the law into his (own) hands”

46. BALAKROS m ancient Greek Son of Nicanor. We already know Macedonians usually used a “beta” instead of a “phi��� which was used by Atheneans (eg. “belekys” instead of “pelekys”, “balakros” instead of “falakros”). “Falakros” has the meaning of “bald”.

47. NIKANOR (Nικάνωρ m ancient Greek; Latin: Nicanor) means “victor” – from Nike (Νικη) meaning “victory”. Nicanor was the name of the father of Balakras. He was a distinguished Macedonian during the reign of Phillip II. Another Nicanor was the son of Parmenion and brother of Philotas. He was a distinguished officer (commander of the Hypaspists) in the service of Alexander the Great. He died of disease in Bactria in 330 BC.

48. LEONNATOS m ancient Greek One of the somatophylakes of Alexander. His name derives from Leon (= Lion) + the root Nat of noun Nator (= dashing). The full meaning is “Dashing like the lion”.

49. KRITOLAOS m ancient Hellinic He was a potter from Pella. His name was discovered in amphoras in Pella during 1980-87. His name derives from Κρίτος (= the chosen) + Λαός (= the people). Its full meaning is “the chosen of the people”.

50. ZOILOS m ancient Hellinic Father of Myleas from Beroia – From zo-e (ΖΩΗ) indicating ‘lively’, ‘vivacious’. Hence the Italian ‘Zoilo’

51. ZEUXIS m ancient Hellinic Name of a Macedonian commander of Lydia in the time of Antigonos III and also the name of a Painter from Heraclea – from ‘zeugnumi’ = ‘to bind’, ‘join together’

52. LEOCHARIS m ancient Hellinic Sculptor – Deriving from ‘Leon’ = ‘lion’ and ‘charis’ = ‘grace’. Literally meaning the ‘lion’s grace’.

53. DEINOKRATIS m ancient Hellinic Helped Alexander to create Alexandria in Egypt. From ‘deinow’ = ‘to make terrible’ and ‘kratein’ = “to rule” Obviously indicating a ‘terrible ruler’

54. ADMETOS (Άδμητος) m Ancient Greek derive from the word a+damaw(damazw) and mean tameless,obstreperous.Damazw mean chasten, prevail

55. ANDROTIMOS (Ανδρότιμος) m Ancient Greek derive from the words andreios (brave, courageous) and timitis(honest, upright )

56. PEITHON m Ancient Greek Means “the one who persuades”. It was a common name among Macedonians and the most famous holders of that names were Peithon, son of Sosicles, responsible for the royal pages and Peithon, son of Krateuas, a marshal of Alexander the Great.

57. SOSTRATOS m Ancient Greek Derives from the Greek words “Σως (=safe) +Στρατος (=army)”. He was son of Amyntas and was executed as a conspirator.

58. DIMNOS m Ancient Greek Derives from the greek verb “δειμαίνω (= i have fear). One of the conspirators.

59. TIMANDROS m Ancient Greek Meaning “Man’s honour”. It derives from the greek words “Τιμή (=honour) + Άνδρας (=man). One of the commanders of regular Hypaspistes.

60. TLEPOLEMOS ,(τληπόλεμος) m Ancient Greek Derives from greek words “τλήμων (=brave) + πόλεμος (=war)”. In greek mythology Tlepolemos was a son of Heracles. In alexanders era, Tlepolemos was appointed Satrap of Carmania from Alexander the Great.

61. AXIOS (Άξιος) m ancient Greek Meaning “capable”. His name was found on one inscription along with his patronymic “Άξιος Αντιγόνου Μακεδών”.

62. THEOXENOS (Θεόξενος) ancient Greek Derives from greek words “θεός (=god) + ξένος (=foreigner).His name appears as a donator of the Apollo temple along with his patronymic and city of origin(Θεόξενος Αισχρίωνος Κασσανδρεύς).

63. MITRON (Μήτρων) m ancient Greek Derives from the greek word “Μήτηρ (=Mother)”. Mitron of Macedon appears in a inscription as a donator

64. KLEOCHARIS (Κλεοχάρης) M ancient greek Derives from greek words “Κλέος (=fame) + “Χάρις (=Grace). Kleocharis, son of Pytheas from Amphipoli was a Macedonian honoured in the city of Eretria at the time of Demetrius son of Antigonus.

65. PREPELAOS (Πρεπέλαος) m, ancient Greek Derives from greek words “πρέπω (=be distinguished) + λαος (=people). He was a general of Kassander.

66. HIPPOLOCHOS (Ιππόλοχος) m, ancient Greek Derives from the greek words “Ίππος” (= horse) + “Λόχος”(=set up ambush). Hippolochos was a Macedonian historian (ca. 300 B.C.)

67. ALEXARCHOS (Αλέξαρχος) m, ancient Greek Derives from Greek “Αλέξω” (=defend, protect, help) + “Αρχος ” (= master). Alexarchos was brother of Cassandros.

68. ASCLEPIODOROS (Ασκληπιοδορος) m Ancient Greek Derives from the greek words Asclepios (= cut up) + Doro (=Gift). Asclepios was the name of the god of healing and medicine in Greek mythology. Asclepiodoros was a prominent Macedonian, son of Eunikos from Pella. Another Asclepiodoros in Alexander’s army was son of Timandros.

69. KALLINES (Καλλινης) m Ancient Greek Derives from greek words kalli + nao (=stream beautifully). He was a Macedonian, officer of companions.

70. PLEISTARHOS (Πλείσταρχος) m ancient Greek Derives from the greek words Pleistos (=too much) + Arhos ((= master). He was younger brother of Cassander.

71. POLYKLES (Πολυκλής) m ancient Greek Derives from the words Poli (=city) + Kleos (glory). Macedonian who served as Strategos of Antipater.

72. POLYDAMAS (Πολυδάμας) m ancient Greek The translation of his name means “the one who subordinates a city”. One Hetairos.

73. APOLLOPHANES (Απολλοφάνης) m ancient greek. His name derives from the greek verb “απολλυμι” (=to destroy) and φαίνομαι (= appear to be). Apollophanes was a prominent Macedonian who was appointed Satrap of Oreitae.

74. ARCHIAS (Αρχίας) m ancient Greek His name derive from greek verb Άρχω (=head or be in command). Archias was one of the Macedonian trierarchs in Hydaspes river.

75. ARCHESILAOS (Αρχεσίλαος) m ancient Greek His name derive from greek verb Άρχω (=head or be in command) + Λαος (= people). Archesilaos was a Macedonian that received the satrapy of Mesopotamia in the settlement of 323.

76. ARETAS (Αρετας) m ancient Greek Derives from the greek word Areti (=virtue). He was commander of Sarissoforoi at Gaugamela.

77. KLEANDROS (Κλέανδρος) m ancient Greek Derives from greek verb Κλέος (=fame) + Ανδρος (=man). He was commander of Archers and was killed in Hallicarnasus in 334 BC.

78. AGESISTRATOS (Αγησίστρατος) m ancient greek Father of Paramonos, a general of Antigonos Doson. His name derives from verb ηγήσομαι ( = lead in command) + στρατος (= army). “Hgisomai” in Doric dialect is “Agisomai”. Its full meaning is “the one who leads the army”

79. AGERROS (Αγερρος) M ancient Greek He was father of Andronikos, general of Alexander. His name derives from the verb αγέρρω (= the one who makes gatherings)

80. AVREAS (Αβρέας) m ancient Greek Officer of Alexander the great. His name derives from the adj. αβρός (=polite)

81. AGATHANOR (Αγαθάνωρ) m ancient Greek Som of Thrasycles. He was priest of Asklepios for about 5 years. His origin was from Beroia as is attested from an inscription. His name derives from the adj. αγαθός (= virtuous) + ανήρ (= man). The full meaning of his name is “Virtuous man”

82. AGAKLES (Αγακλής) m ancient Greek He was son of Simmihos and was from Pella. He is known from a resolution of Aetolians. His name derives from the adj. Αγακλεής (= too glorious)

83. AGASIKLES (Αγασικλής) m ancient Greek Son of Mentor, from Dion of Macedonia. It derives from the verb άγαμαι (= admire) + Κλέος (=fame). Its full meaning is “the one who admires fame”

84. AGGAREOS (Αγγάρεος) m ancient Greek Son of Dalon from Amphipolis. He is known from an inscription of Amphipolis (S.E.G vol 31. ins. 616) It derives from the noun Αγγαρεία (= news)

85. AGELAS (Αγέλας) m ancient Greek Son of Alexander. He was born during the mid-5th BCE and was an ambassador of Macedonians during the treaty between Macedonians and Atheneans. This treaty exists in inscription 89.vol1 Fasc.1 Ed.3″Attic inscrip.” His name was common among Heraclides and Bacchiades. One Agelas was king of Corinth during the first quarter of 5 BCE. His name derives from the verb άγω (= lead) and the noun Λαός (= people or even soldiers (Homeric)). The full meaning is the “one who leads the people/soldiers”.

86. AGIPPOS (Άγιππος) m ancient Greek He was from Beroia of Macedonia and lived during middle 3rd BCE. He is known from an inscription found in Beroia where his name appears as the witness in a slave-freeing. Another case bearing the name Agippos in the Greek world was the father of Timokratos from Zakynthos. The name Agippos derives from the verb άγω (= lead) + the word ίππος (= Horse). Its full meaning is “the one who leads the horse/calvary”.

87. AGLAIANOS (Αγλαϊάνος) m ancient Greek He was from Amphipolis of Macedonia (c. 4th BC) and he is known from an inscription S.E.G vol41., insc. 556 His name consists of aglai- from the verb αγλαϊζω (= honour) and the ending -anos.

88. AGNOTHEOS (Αγνόθεος) m ancient Greek Macedonian, possibly from Pella. His name survived from an inscription found in Pella between 300-250 BCE. (SEG vol46.insc.799) His name derives from Αγνός ( = pure) + Θεός (=God). The full meaning is “the one who has inside a pure god”

89. ATHENAGORAS (Αθηναγόρας) m ancient Greek General of Philip V. He was the general who stopped Dardanian invasion in 199 BC. His name derives from the verb αγορά-ομαι (=deliver a speech) + the name Αθηνά (= Athena).

90. PERIANDROS (Περίανδρος) m ancient Greek Son of the Macedonian historian Marsyas. His name derives from Περί (= too much) + άνηρ (man, brave). Its full meaning is “too brave/man”.

91. LEODISKOS (Λεοντίσκος) m ancient Greek He was son of Ptolemy A’ and Thais, His name derives from Λέων (= lion) + the ending -iskos (=little). His name’s full etymology is “Little Lion”

92. EPHRANOR (Ευφράνωρ) m ancient Greek He was General of Perseas. It derives from the verb Ευφραίνω (= delight). Its full meaning is “the one who delights”.

93. DIONYSOPHON m Ancient Greek It has the meaning “Voice of Dionysos”. The ending -phon is typical among ancient greek names.

MACEDONIAN WOMEN

94. ANTIGONE f ancient Greek Usage: Greek Mythology Pronounced: an-TIG-o-nee Means ‘against birth’ from Greek anti ‘against’ and gone ‘birth’. In Greek legend Antigone was the daughter of Oedipus and Jocasta. King Creon of Thebes declared that her slain brother Polynices was to remain unburied, a great dishonour. She disobeyed and gave him a proper burial, and for this she was sealed alive in a cave. Antigone of Pydna was the mistress of Philotas, the son of Parmenion and commander of Alexander the Great’s Companion cavalry (Plutarch, Alexander, ‘The Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romans’).

95. VOULOMAGA (Βουλομάγα) f ancient greek Derives from greek words “Βούλομαι (=desire) + άγαν (=too much)”. Her name is found among donators.

96. ATALANTE (Αταλαντη) f ancient Greek Her name means in Greek “without talent”. She was daughter of Orontes, and sister of Perdiccas.

97. AGELAEIA (Αγελαεία) f ancient Greek Wife of Amyntas, from the city of Beroia (S.E.G vol 48. insc. 738) It derives from the adj. Αγέλα-ος ( = the one who belongs to a herd)

98. ATHENAIS (Αθηναϊς) f ancient Greek The name was found on an altar of Heracles Kigagidas in Beroia. It derives from the name Athena and the ending -is meaning “small”. Its whole meaning is “little Athena”.

99. STRATONIKE f Ancient Greek (STRATONICE Latinized) Means ‘victorious army’ from stratos ‘army’ and nike ‘victory’. Sister of King Perdiccas II. “…and Perdiccas afterwards gave his sister Stratonice to Seuthes as he had promised.” (Thucydides, The Peloponnesian War, Chapter VIII)

100. THETIMA f Ancient Greek A name from Pella Katadesmos. It has the meaning “she who honors the gods”; the standard Attic form would be Theotimē.

Bibliography:

“Who’s who in the age of Alexander the Great: Prosopography of Alexander’s Empire” by Waldemar Heckel“The Marshals of Alexander’s empire” by Waldemar Heckel

[jeannereames]

Having read your recent response about an ethnic Greek marriage for Alexander, and how the Greeks perceived their identity, it left me wondering about this. Didn’t the Ptolemies in Egypt create a very distinct line between Greeks and Egyptians in their kingdom? In the sense that at least for government purposes, the Greeks, specifically, ruled?

What you said about not having a unified sense of Greek ethnicity is completely in tune with what I learned as well, but I can’t conciliate this with how the Ptolemies handled ethnicity since the very beginning, right after Alexander’s death (so the very period you answered about). I’m not gonna pretend I’m a specialist in Ptolemaic Egypt but I never read about a specific Egyptian Greek / Alexandria / Naukratis sense of separate identity for this time period, or even remnants of identities of mainland Greek polities, it’s always dealt as this sorta unified sense of “Greeks” versus Egyptians. Suggesting that this idea of greekness existed since Alexander’s day as well. I’m kinda troubled with that. Thanks so much for the attention!

Macedonian-Persian Marriages after Susa

So let me immediately say that I am not much of a Hellenistic historian. But I do teach a class that deals with race and ethnicity in antiquity, so I’d like to recommend my colleague Denise McCoskey’s Race: Antiquity and It’s Legacy. She has a fair bit in there on Ptolemaic Egypt, in fact, and among the things she points out is the problem with the evidence.

She includes not only literary evidence, but other textual evidence including things like tax records, epigraphy, and archaeological evidence…all of which muddy the waters. Outside of the Ptolemies themselves (and there’s some question about them, especially by the end), there was quite a lot of mixing between Greeks and Egyptians. These “mixed ethnicity” individuals might use a Greek name or an Egyptian name, depending on context, and they might hold relatively high office. So, we actually can’t assume someone is Greek due to use of a Greek name.

This was especially true in Alexandria, but other places in Egypt as well. And it contrasts with what’s being presented in at least some of the literature of the period.

What I love about archaeology and epigraphy is that both continually swoop in and mess up our literary textual history. LOL

I was just reading a really good chapter, “Alexander the Great and the Macedonian and Persian Elite: The Mass-marriages in Susa in Context,” by Krzysztof Nawotka for Legacy of the East and Legacy of Alexander (2023), ed. by Nawotka and Wojciechowska. He takes on the perception, oft repeated, that the Macedonians en masse rejected their Persian brides soon after Alexander’s death. For a long time, accepted perception was that the others divorced very quickly, except for Seleukos and his wife Apama (mother of Antiochus I). But we don’t actually have evidence for that, and a bit of evidence to the contrary.

It’s only Krateros who we know for sure divorced his wife in order to marry Phila (Antipatros’s daughter)…which was a political alliance, not necessarily Krateros’s rejection of a high princess of Achaemenid blood (e.g., Darius’s own niece). In fact, it seems that she agreed to the divorce, and may have come out of it better than poor Phila, who was stuck marrying that dweeb Demetrios Poliorketes. 😂 Amastris married the petty tyrant Dionysios of Herakleia, wound up fabulously wealthy, then later married Lysimachos, and had a city named after her. Next to Apama, Seleukos’s wife, she had one of the most distinguished political careers for the Persian elite women…married to three Macedonian/Greek men in succession. Similarly, it would seem that Eumenes stayed married to his wife Artonis, (despite assumption, there’s no record that he divorced her and remarried); she was given his remains after his death following the Battle of Gabiene. Also, with Peukestis’s role, there’s a VERY high likelihood that he, also, kept his wife.

We might speculate that Perdikkas and Ptolemy put aside their wives as both happily played political marriage games, but we’re not actually told as much—unlike with Krateros. I could see Kleopatra demanding that she be sole wife as part of her marriage proposal to Perdikkas. And quite possibly Antipatros demanded the same on behalf of Eurydike, as it seems Krateros divorced his wife in order to marry Phila. Yet Ptolemy certainly kept Laïs around, possibly as a wife. Then Berenike…so why not just keep on Artakama too? It might have been politically advantageous, at least early in his reign, when nobody knew precisely how things would fall out.

Yet the plain fact is…we just don’t know about c. 80+ of the 92 weddings held in Susa.

Anyway, I’ve been among those who assumed/argued the prior position myself—for widespread divorce. But Nowotka’s chapter made me stop and rethink. This presumption that the ancient Greeks were always of the attitude “We’re Greeks and you’re not…and we don’t want your women either, we want PURE Greek children” isn’t nearly as strong as we’ve assumed from literature. I’ve come around in the last 10 years to thinking the Greeks were less ethnocentric, at least at certain times in their history, than we’ve popularly thought. That’s not to say they didn’t care about ethnicity—they manifestly did—but it was only one of several factors.

What DOES seem to be true is that class mattered more. So elite Persian women married to elite Greek men served a purpose. But I do note that Alexander kept in Persia the native women who’d married Macedonian soldiers, and any children, when those men went back to Macedonia. Arrian says he did so for fear that they wouldn’t be welcome, whereas he would provide for them in Persia. (What became of them after his death is, alas, anybody’s guess. Maybe Seleukos continued with the precedent. I’m not sure that we know.)

But hopefully that adds a bit more context to how we look at those marriages. As noted, this is something about which my own opinion has been evolving.

[jeannereames]

Which "side characters" to Alexander's story are you most interested in both as a historian and as a fiction author?

Well, Hephaistion is obvious. But my interests as an historian and as a writer are slightly different.

As an historian, I could wish for a more unbiased account of Perdikkas. Of Alexander's age cohort, he had the highest appointments at the youngest age. I suspect it owes to equally high birth. We aren't sure, but his father Orontes was probably the prince/once-king of the canton of Orestis. In the sources, he's poorly treated in part due to bad press from the Successor Wars.

Reputedly, he was arrogant and high-handed, and his own officers (led by Seleukos) killed him in Egypt. But was he that bad, or are these reports part of that bad press (and Seleukos's and Ptolemy's ambitions)? If he were a prince, perhaps his arrogance had cause. Alexander seemed to think he was the most competent of those who remained in Babylon and gave him the ring. Would he still have got it if Krateros hadn't been sent away earlier on his own mission? I suspect not, but we just don't know.

And then there's Krateros, who may also have hailed from Orestis and was probably a cousin of Perdikkas. But, again, we can't be sure. I'd like a better sense of Krateros, as well, to evaluate his place at court. Like Perdikkas, our sources attach a bias to him, but in his case, a positive one. I'm as suspicious of that as I am of the negative one assigned to Perdikkas.

After that, it's largely the women. Olympias, yes. But even more Kleopatra, Thessalonike, and Kynanna. Also Philip's mother Eurydike. I expect THAT woman was someone to be reckoned with. As was Audata, Kynanna's mother. And Hadea, the daughter/granddaughter. Roxana, and Darius's daughters.

Oh, I'd like to know a little more about Parmenion's family--where they came from originally (Pelagonia or not?), and the two younger sons. Philotas sucks up all the air in the room.

Last, I wish we knew more about Darius himself: who he was before being raised to the throne. My friend, Scott Oden, has decided to work on a novel about Darius, which I expect to be spectacular. He has a real talent for detailing the losing side with compassion and insight. If you've not read his novel, Memnon, I recommend it, or Men of Bronze. I think he'll do a great job giving Darius a fair shake.

Now, as an AUTHOR, my interests are similar, but I get to include fictional characters, such as Kampaspe. She may be mentioned in our sources, but was almost certainly a Roman-era invention. Also, you'll get to meet a priest of Ammon who'll travel with Alexander. While also fictional, Alexander must have had such officiants, as he regularly included Ammon in his sacrifices. And, of course, Kleopatra will continue as a voice and window on what's happening in Europe while Alexander is out gallivanting around Asia.

Last, there's a fellow in Athens you'll get to hear more about: Phokion. Plutarch wrote a life of him, in which he's portrayed as the last respectable Athenian general, and was nicknamed "the Good," in antiquity. In the novel, Hephaistion meets him in Athens, when he's there the second time, and he becomes one of (several) people Hephaistion corresponds with, besides Aristotle and Kleopatra.

Oh, I forgot…not a side character of Alexander, but I REALLY REALLY wish we knew more about Alexander (I) “the Golden.”

[jeannereames]

Kindle Unlimited

As of January 1st, Dancing with the Lion, with the new covers and updated text, will go on Kindle Unlimited, for three months (until 3-31-24). You should still be able to buy them as a Kindle book, but if you already have Kindle Unlimited, and haven't read them, you can try them out!

[jeannereames]

Hi Dr. Reames, boy do I have a wacky question for you! What cat breeds would you categorize Alexander, Hephaistion, and other related historical figures as, according to their personalities, if they were born as cats (LOL) E.g. I think Hephaistion would be a tabby cat.

Okay, yeah, that’s a new one! LOL.

Ancient History...but Make Them Cats! (It's the internet)

Fortunately, I am also a cat person with some knowledge of cat breeds. (Not sure if you happened to know that, hence the question?)

Anyway, first, there’s a difference between “breeds” and “colors.” Tabby is a color marking, not a breed. That said, there are some personality characteristics associated with at least some color markings…with the usual disclaimer that especially large representations of colors can yield a number of exceptions to rules.

So, with that said….

I would pin a TUXEDO on Alexander. Tuxedos (which is not the most common coloring, although there have been some pretty famous ones) are notorious for three things: their above-average intelligence, their curiosity and mischievousness (as part of that intelligence), and their utter fearlessness. They also, btw, tend to have sweeter-than-average temperaments and are highly social. They may pick a special Person, but usually love-up most people. That said, they can be aggressive to other cats, in part because they are fearless, and they want to play, so they can overwhelm shyer cats.

I considered an Abyssinian, as these are active, intelligent cats (and jumpers…oh, do they love to get to the top of anything, as bad as any Siamese), but they can be rather shy at times, and often wind up picking just a few people they want to (consistently) interact with. They also have tiny voices (ime), and that just isn’t Alexander. Ha.

I could see a Meeser for him (Siamese) with the infamous Siamese Yowl, or possibly a Bengal, but overall, I think a Tuxedo is best.

For Hephaistion…he’s a tortoiseshell. Yeah, yeah, I know 99% of them are females as it’s a gender-tied color trait (and the few males are sterile as they’re XXY), but Hephaistion is SO a tortoiseshell. TORTITUDE to the max. Calicos and especially tortoiseshells have very distinct personalities, IME. In fact, when talking to anybody who’s never had a cat before, I actively dissuade them from taking home a calico/tortoiseshell, pretty though they are. They’re one- or two-person cats, they have Big Ol’ Moods, and they’re just…they have attitude. Although that said, people who like them often really like them, and seek them out precisely for the tortitude.

Olympias is a tortie or calico, too, btw. The reason Hephaistion and Olympias strike sparks is that they have a lot in common, which was part of the fun in the little short story “Two Scorpions” I put up on the website.

Kleopatra is a compact little Burmese. They share a lot of personality traits with a Siamese, including sharp intelligence, and are one of the best breeds to teach tricks! But they are less LOUD, and calmer (ime). They will talk to you about their day, but have a much softer voice, and while they have a personable nature, they know how to get their way without making a drama out of it. (People who like a lot of Siamese traits but not that iconic yowl should look into Burmese, although they’re not so long and svelt.)

I’m going to tag ol’ Philip as a Turkish Van. Considered a Maine Coon, but they’re not smart enough. (I love them, but they’re not the smartest of cats.) The Van has things in common with the Turkish Angora, but is not all-or-mostly white. They have distinctive orange “ticks” on their forehead over the eyes and sometimes what looks like a toupee on the head, and an orange tail. Their coat is SO, SO soft, like a rabbit. These cats are SUPER active, intelligent, and into things. They’re also mischievous, the personality not unlike a tuxedo, but they aren’t as utterly fearless, more quirky, and rarely like to be picked up nor will they sit on laps. They will follow their Person around everywhere, but prefer to perch next to them…or above them…to survey their domain. These guys are excellent hunters/mousers, btw. They feel a bit less domesticated than some breeds, but never underestimate them. They’ll steal the shrimp right out of your skillet when you’re not looking and make off with it. Ha.

That’s all I’ll do, or I’d be here all day. Ha. I tried to think of a cat for Ptolemy, but nothing especially leapt to mind. Maybe an ol’ black kitty. They’re laid-back, easy-going, but can be quite smart. They’re generally excellent at rolling with punches and will land on their feet (pun intended).

(Because black cats are one of THE most common cat colors, their personalities really can vary, but most of the black cats I’ve known are awesome cats. I hate the bad rep they have in folklore. If you want an all-around great cat from the shelter, take home the black one. They’re like Meesers, which have an unfair snooty reputation. Siamese are clown-cats—smart and loud, active and a bit goofy at times. They just want to be around you 24/7 and have you pet them till your arm falls off.)

[jeannereames]

Forgive me if this is a very elementary question (inspired after watching your TikToks!!) but… I’ve always been curious: what exactly was the role of a secretary in the Macedonian court such that Eumenes could wield so much power and influence, especially during the Successor Wars? Like, to the point that the Chilliarch, the second-in-command to the king himself, would have beef with him? I guess when I think of a secretary, I envision the more stereotypical modern version of them, which is like an executive assistant, or the front desk receptionist, or a customer service agent, which obviously seems to be anachronistic. But I’m just struggling to comprehend what would have made Eumenes, or the role he occupied, such a controversial figure.

First, let me point to an important book by my colleague, Ed(ward M.) Anson, Eumenes of Cardia: a Greek among Macedonians (2nd ed., 2015). It’s a quite excellent discussion of Eumenes’s career, and was actually Ed’s dissertation topic. I reckon, like me, he waited a long while before turning the dissertation into a monograph (even the 1st edition). Alas, it’s expensive. Even I don’t own a copy, as I have access to the university library’s. But I do recommend that folks interested request it via Interlibrary Loan (ILL). Even smaller public libraries offer that service, although you might have to pay a (relatively) small shipping fee.

So, Eumenes is an interesting character in many ways. As you suggest, “secretary” gives the wrong impression. The word in Greek is grammateus, and it can mean any sort of scribe, clerk, records keeper…or the official in charge of the whole royal office: official correspondence, what letters the king actually saw, the keeping of the Royal Journal and other state records, etc., etc. A hugely influential position, his might be closer to what we’d call, in the US, the Chief of Staff.

In my opinion, that was the heart of Eumenes’s dislike of Hephaistion. I said it in my dissertation and still think it’s true. When Hephaistion was made Chiliarch, that put him above Eumenes in administration around Alexander. The Chief of Staff got demoted…and didn’t like it. It’s from Susa onward that the two men seem to clash—at least twice that we know about. (I differ with Ed on this; he thinks it was about personalities while I think it was more political- and status- driven.)

That Eumenes was loyal to Alexander—and the Argead family—isn’t in question. But it wasn’t just Hephaistion he had trouble with. We know he also didn’t like Antipatros—one reason he sided with Perdikkas, even when (his friend) Krateros joined Antipatros. He also had a long-standing family beef with Hekataios of Kardia, and later hated Kassandros (as the son of Antipatros). But he seems to have got on with Olympias and Kleopatra—who he tried to get Perdikkas to marry. Perdikkas took his advice and divorced Antipatros’s daughter Nikaia, which eventually led to his downfall. One can’t escape the sense that Eumenes was touchy. Then again, as I’ve said before, they all were. And he had to put up with being constantly looked down on both as a “mere secretary” and as a Greek among Macedonians. He advanced on Alexander’s favor…which probably made others jealous of him. In fact, I think that’s one reason he took Hephaistion’s promotion hard. He’d worked hard for Chief of Staff, and didn’t like Hephaistion butting in. And if Hephaistion was also of Greek descent (as I’ve argued), both may have had a sense that there was room only for one. Or at least Eumenes may have thought so.

Men in his position weren’t normally entrusted with military commands, but he proved to be surprisingly good and, according to Ed, probably had more army assignments during Alexander’s lifetime than he’s credited with. (He was allied with Ptolemy’s enemy, Perdikkas, remember and Ptolemy was Arrian’s chief military source.) When Perdikkas was elevated to Hephaistion’s position, Eumenes took Perdikkas’s old command, and later, was himself Chilliarch. The infantry seems to have liked/trusted him, and later, he was quite successful at securing Cappadocia. In fact, during the early Diadochi wars, it was his stratagem that defeated Krateros’ army and got him killed (perhaps to his own regret, although I think Plutarch exaggerated that account). He also fought—one-on-one—against Neoptolemos … another of Alexander’s officers he couldn’t stand. And beat him. Neoptolemos was a demonstrated military commander.

So he seems to have defied the usual expectation of what a grammateus could do—and become. He was the highest ranking Greek in Alexander’s army, the only one to really rub shoulders with the Macedonian inner circle.

EDIT: I realized I forgot Nearchos. So Eumenes AND Nearchos were the two top-ranked Greeks at Alexander's court at his death. But if anything, Eumenes had edged Nearchos in place.

[jeannereames]

Is it true that Alexander was against is baby sister Europa being killed? Or did he not know/have an opinion about it?

We don’t know when Olympias killed Kleopatra and baby Europa. Probably sooner rather than later; that is, on Alexander’s initial trip to south Greece, after he took the throne. By all accounts (and there aren’t many) he wasn’t in Pella when it happened. Plutarch tells us he was furious upon his return. He probably was, but not just because of the cruelty.

Tim Howe has an interesting theory in “Cleopatra-Eurydike, Olympias and a ‘Weak’ Alexander,” which suggests he’d intended to marry Kleopatra himself. This wouldn’t be the first example of a Macedonian king marrying the young widow of the prior king. Same thing happened with Archelaos who married the widow of his father Perdikkas II. (Ironically, she was also a Kleopatra.) Archelaos then killed his (unnamed) seven-year-old rival half-brother by Kleopatra. Although we can’t be 100% certain it’s the same woman, the likelihood is very high. We don’t know if the marriage occurred before or after he killed the boy. He then had a child himself by Kleopatra (which child, in turn, was murdered after Archelaos’s death and never took the throne).

Welcome to Macedonian politics.

In Alexander’s case, he wouldn’t have needed to kill the infant girl, as she was no threat. But by marrying his father’s widow, he could actively ‘perform’ his announced, “Only the name of the king has changed,” and secure political alliances before marching for Persia.

Yet a potential marriage on the horizon would be a very good explanation for Olympias’s action. On the face of it, the murder seems unduly vicious. An infant girl was, again, no threat—nor was Kleopatra herself. Perhaps Olympias did it purely for retribution, but she rarely acted for “mean” reasons. Killing Kleopatra suggests she was somehow still a threat. Why? Her uncle, Attalos, couldn’t be king (not an Argead), and her child was female. Why kill the widow?

Unless Alexander intended to marry her. What Alexander may have seen as good policy for him was a serious threat to Olympias’s own status. So she eliminated that option.

That would also explain Alexander’s apparent fury. Yes, he probably was horrified by the murder of an infant, but children under a year old already occupied liminal status, waiting to see whether they’d survive to their first birthday. I don’t mean that to be dismissive, but Europa’s life, or death, didn’t impact him much, politically. He may have seen her only a handful of times, so she was probably “nebulous” to him, his emotional reaction generic rather than specific.

His mother being responsible for the death of his father’s widow, however, DID impact him politically, upending any decision to marry her, plus requiring him to eliminate Attalos, who now had a blood feud with him. Supposedly, Attalos tried to tender an olive branch, but probably before he had news of his niece’s murder. So Alexander’s choice to have him assassinated (with Parmenion’s acquiescence) was a political choice necessitated by Olympias’s actions.

It would have been quite a mess, from a diplomatic POV. Olympias acted to safeguard her own security at court. But that, in turn, upset Alexander’s own plans, forcing him to reposition himself, leaving him desperate for Parmenion’s support, leading to high appointments for both Parmenion’s elder sons. It may have been the first serious (political) clash between mother and son. If normally, a mother’s fortunes in polygamous situations depended on her son’s, not always. Here, we see Olympias securing her own position by eliminating a rival…even if that then complicated her son’s political options.

The end result is that Alexander didn’t marry anybody before leaving for Asia.

Given his short life, that, in turn, resulted in a succession problem upon his death. Nobody could have foreseen as much in 336. Sometimes, you’re just trying to stay alive. But it had long-term consequences.

[jeannereames]

Why do you think Alexander prefer the Aquiles archetype over Odyseus?? Was it only because Odyseus was not a renowed fighter in comparison to Aquiles whose mother was a nymph so was not a mere mortal

Why Achilles and not Odysseus has layers, first among them that Alexander believed himself to be descended from Achilles via his mother, Olympias, an Aeacid/Aiakid of the Molossian Royal House of Epiros.* Thus, it makes a natural connection. But—as I’ve argued elsewhere, both HERE and HERE and on TikTok—Herakles was the hero who Alexander most sought to emulate. Even while Macedonia reveled in its Homeric-style culture, which was less Homeric than they liked to pretend, but pretend is the salient part. Homer was ubiquitous in antiquity.

Again, the Herakles emulation also owes to a supposed family link. The Argead (or Temenid) Royal House of Macedon believed themselves descended from Herakles.** Bonus, Herakles was a son of Zeus, just as Alexander later claimed to be one from Zeus-Ammon. In the sources, we have more references to Herakles than Achilles (by far), and in terms of personal iconography, Alexander was most commonly assimilated to Herakles (at least in and close to his own time) followed by Ammon (with the horns). Never seen and Alexander-as-Achilles, or at least, not one obviously so. There’s a sculpture group that might be meant to portray Alexander as Achilles (so Andrew Stewart, if I recall, but my books are packed in boxes, so can’t check). Yet it’s a Hellenistic/Roman piece.

Other than that, we should emphasize the age thing. Alexander was young; Achilles was young. Odysseus was also a talented warrior, but not “the best of the Acheans.” At least not on a battlefield. He was cleverer, that’s for sure, but also twisty. At least early in the campaign, Alexander wanted to capitalize on youth and bravery and forthrightness—more the Achilles bailiwick. Keep in mind that Alexander molded his marketing image to the needs of the moment, so he could cast himself as various heroes. Yet Odysseus just isn’t a choice we find for him. Even when he was being sly, I don’t think he wanted to come off as sly. It wasn’t part of the image he wanted to project. One could speculate some as to why, but that attempts to get into his head and his psychology, which is always tricky to find past the layers and layers of mythos piled on top of him.

* According to myth, Achilles’s son Neoptolemos (a nasty piece of work) took Andromache as his war prize and had a son by her, one Molossos, founder of that dynasty. Even into historical periods, Neoptolemos was a common name in the Molossian family: both Olympias’s father was named that, and her grandson by Kleopatra.

* Temenos, supposed founder of the Macedonian royal house, if you believe the spin they were originally from Argos in the Peloponnesos, was the great-great-grandson of Herakles, and part of the Return of the Heraklaidai, in Greek myth, attacking Mycenae, after which he became the king of Argos. Hence their claim. They were not actually from Argos (at least not the one in the Peloponnesos), but yes, they certainly believed they were.

[jeannereames]

Good morning Dr.Reames.

In Wikipedia, the first line about Thessalonike says she was 3 or 4 years younger than Alexander, but on the same page, it says when Alexander died, she was 21, which means she was 11 or 12 years younger. And about Cassander, Wikipedia says he was one year younger than Alexander, but in most depiction he seems to be older, and Britannica says he was 2 years older. Same for Perdiccas, Wikipedia says he was born in 355BC, but Britannica say 365BC, other pages mention 360BC. Leonnatus has two dates of birth, 356BC and 358BC.

This makes me wonder are the years of birth of these people really accurate? Wikipedia And I am curious which sources are more reliable.

We don’t have a certain year of birth for any of Alexander’s siblings except Europa, and that only because she was a newborn when Philip died in 336. Every other year of birth is a guess; often a pretty solid one, but a guess. So, we think Kleopatra, his full sister, was born about 1.5-2 years after he was, but it’s not anywhere stated. For all we know, she could have been 3-4 years younger. She was of age to marry in 336, which means only that she would have been born by at least 351/0. In his final two years, Philip married off both of his older daughters: Kynanne to her cousin Amyntas (who, himself, was only in his early 20s, being called an “infant” when his father died in 359), and then Kleopatra.

Do not give any credence to the silly story of Philip being turned off Olympias because he found her sleeping with a snake. The tale was introduced later to provide fodder for Alexander’s “son of a god” status. Olympias no doubt kept snakes for her rites, but Plutarch relates the story in his list of omens surrounding ATG’s birth. In Dancing with the Lion, she’s over 2 years younger than her brother.

We have similar issues with Arrhidaios. He was about Alexader’s age, but we’re unsure whether slightly older or slightly younger. It depends on when Philip married his mother. I chose to make him older in the novel, but only because it served my narrative purposes. In truth, I suspect he was a year or so younger. Kyanne was the eldest, and probably born in 358/57-ish, so even she is only 1-2 years older than Alexander. Remember, Philip married his first 5 wives in his first 5 years of rule (with the possible exception of Nikesepolis, discussed below).

Thessalonike presents a specific problem because her name means “Victory in Thessaly.” That gives us two possible range dates for her birth. The first would have been after 353/2, the victory at Crocus Field and his resettlement of Thessaly into tetrarchies. This is also likely when he married both Thessalian wives: Philina from Larissa (Arrhidaios’s mother) and Nikesepolis from Pherae (Thessalonike’s mother). Yet that doesn’t necessarily mean Thessalonike was born on the heels of a marriage. If she were, her birth year is more likely 351, or late in 352.

The Third Sacred War continued after the Battle of Crocus Field—for quite a few years. Philip imposed a permanent peace on the region in 346/5. So, there’s another possible date for a girl with the name “Victory in Thessaly”: after 345.

In Dancing with the Lion, I went with the earlier date because I wanted all the siblings to be roughly the same age range, to have grown up together. Beth Carney favors the later date, as that was a solid/final victory. The real question is whether Nikesepolis was married at the same time as Philina of Larissa (Arrhidaios’s mother). I think she was, and if I remember right, Beth does as well (and I believe changed her mind). But it’s possible that Nikesepolis was married later, in 346/5, making Thessalonike’s birth no earlier than 344—in which case she would not have known Alexander well (or likely Kleopatra, who was married in 456 and left for Epiros). As stated, I didn’t want that, so I went with the higher chronology.

Whoever wrote the Wikipedia article on Thessalonike cannot, apparently, do math. 353/2 is given as her birth year…which is only 3 years after Alexander’s in 356. Yet the same paragraph says she was born when Alexander was studying with Aristotle, was only 6-7 when he left, and only 21 when he died. Clearly the author confused the two potential birth periods, and failed to notice the dates didn’t match. Also, just to be completely clear, nowhere in the ancient sources is it stated that Olympias raised her, but as she was in Olympias’s party when Kassandros captured them at Pydna, it’s assumed Olympias did. (That assumption goes all the way back to Berve’s early prosopography in the 1920s, Das Alexanderreich auf prosopographischer Grundlage.)

Yet this is the eternal problem with Wikipedia. People get on there and write things when they don’t know the material well, don’t understand the nuances of the problem, don’t cite where they get their information…and apparently can’t even use a calculator.

As for the others you mentioned, Kassandros was younger than Alexander by a few years. Seleukos was about the same age, as were Leonnatos and Perdikkas. But remember, the Greeks didn’t celebrate birthdays, and for many of Alexander’s inner circle, we only have a birth year if they survived ATG and went on to become kings in their own right. But for a number of important figures around Alexander, we must guess at their ages: Krateros, Philotas, Harpalos, Kleitos, Nikanor, Erigyios, Nearchos, etc. We know Parmenion only because we’re told he was 70 when he was murdered by ATG in 330. He was a contemporary of Antipatros, so again, older than Philip by more than a decade. We know Antipatros's age because it's given on the Marmor Parium (an important inscription with an eclectic collection of dates.)

In fiction, we do sometimes play with ages to suit the story. In my author’s note, I explained that I altered several on purpose, to limit the number of names floating about. I could introduce early people who would matter later. So Erigyios, for instance, was not even close to ATG’s age, but probably 20+ years older. I stuck closer to real ages with Ptolemy and Philotas, but even so, we have no birth year for Philotas. We do know the youngest of Parmenion’s sons, Hektor, was younger than Alexander, but enough of a contemporary to be a coeval/attend school with him. We think Philotas was probably about the same age as Alexander’s cousin, Amyntas, something that suited me well in the novel.

(Article mentioned is E. Carney, “The Sisters of Alexander the Great: Royal Relics,” Historia 37.4 (1988): 385-404.)

[jeannereames]

I don't know if you answered this before, but how old was Olympias when she married Philip? I'm very interested on your view of her, It's very different than most authors. What asks/articles can I read to understand it better?

Olympias was probably around 15 when she married Philip, and would probably have had Alexander at about 16, at most 17. That was a pretty standard age. Girls were traditionally betrothed after their first menses, and they seemed to start their menses later than we do now. In the case of Olympias, she was actually betrothed to Philip much younger, on the Isle of Samothrace during/after the initiations.

The deal would have been made between Philip's elder brother, King Perdikkas II and Olympias's uncle, who was regent for her younger brother, Alexandros. It would have been a backdoor deal between Macedon and Epiros against the power of Illyria under Bardylis. So contra the story in Plutarch, it was not a love match. 1) She was a little girl at the time, and 2) even if they'd hated each other on sight, the marriage would have been advantageous and gone through. (Beware of the "love matches" in the sources; they usually aren't.)

Driving around Epiros (see image below, 2nd is from Dodona), one gets a better sense of Olympias. It's rough country, compared to the lowlands. Families would have had to pull together there to survive, and the effort and work of women would have been required. The kingdom was not as absolute a kingship, and if the Molossian clan ruled, it was by consent of a council, who could remove kingship too. Alexander states at one point, observing when his mother and sister traded places, that his mother had made the smarter choice as the Macedonians wouldn't consent to be ruled by a woman. Apparently, the Epirotes would. And certainly Kleopatra had a great deal of power as regent for her son, when she was there. In this way, the Epirotes were perhaps closer to the Illyrians--also hill people, and among whom women could fight in combat.

In any case, Olympias would have been accustomed to more freedom and authority than she likely had in Pella. That may be one reason she clashed with Antipatros later, when he was regent, as well as with Philip occasionally. But clashes with Philip were exaggerated. They cooperated as much if not more than clashed, and any clashes were mostly as a result of offenses to the status of Alexander (or herself). In polygamous courts, the most important male in a wife's life wasn't the king but her son. If he didn't survive to take the throne, often she didn't either. So don't read Oedipal nonsense into that relationship. That's one reason I really disliked how Renault wrote Olympias, and how Stone directed Jolie to portray her in the movie (which is basically a direct steal from Renault).

Another important aspect for women in ancient Greece, Macedonia, Epiros, etc., was their role in religious rites. Olympias was a priestess, and Macedonia was rule by CLAN (the Argeads). So the women had specific roles to play, mostly in religion, but also in terms of dedications. We have information showing both Olympias and Kleopatra donating money to temples, etc., as did Philip's mother Eurydice...in her own name, not her husband's. And yes, that suggests some control over their finances, unlike women in Athens. I even put that in the novel; when Olympias interviews Kampaspe, she talks to her about a donation in Larissa, in the hopes of securing cavalry later for her son. That is precisely the sort of thing Macedonian royal women did.

I strongly recommend the work of Elizabeth Carney, if you want to know more about Olympias. Her biography is THE place to start. It's been out a while, so look for a used copy, or see if your local library has it, or can get it. Another article where Beth puts not a pin but a damn sword through the brutal image of Olympias in ancient sources is "Olympias and the Image of the Virago," Phoenix, 47.1 (1993): 29-55. The biography is a later work, but I point to that article as it really threw down the gauntlet to the (mostly male) Alexander scholars, about Olympias. As with the book, ask your local library to get a copy of the article for you via ILL (interlibrary loan).

It was Beth's work on Olympias that influenced how I portrayed her in the novels, even to using her other name, Myrtale, which I did to try to divorce her from ALL the horrible baggage. I did not want her to be a pushover--she manifestly wasn't--but all her actions have reasons, and reasons that aren't either jealousy or petulance. Even her objections to Hephaistion has nothing to do with jealousy of him and everything to do with what she considers a threat to Alexander's place as heir.

That's why I wrote "Two Scorpions," as one of the "outtakes" that occurs between the two novels, released between the publishing of book 1 and book 2. It's a confrontation between Hephaistion and Myrtale, and Hephaistion does not come out the winner, really.

In any case, I tried to make it clear that Myrtale is FAR from hated in the women's rooms. At one point, Alexander says his mother's women would die for her the same as his father's men would for him. And Myrtale is the only one to think of Kampaspe, when Alexander flees after the wedding. Hephaistion helps her, but because he almost falls over her when he goes to Alexander's room. Myrtale actually asks about her. Alexander more or less forgets her in all the hooplah. Myrtale doesn't.

I'll leave you with an interesting tribute to her. When the Greeks decided to build a trireme on the ancient model, back in the '80s, did they name it The Themistokles? Or The Perikles? No, they named her Olympias:

[jeannereames]

How do you think Philip felt about his other children? Arridhaios and the girls? I imagine he didn't bother much with the latter, but if he took Kynane to war with him, he must have had some respect for her?

Do you think the last time Olympias saw Kleopatra was at the wedding? It's sad enough that she didn't see Alexander for the last twelve years of his life, but she must have been so lonely if she couldn't see her daughter!

Philip would almost certainly have been embarrassed by Arrhidaios. In fact, that may be one reason behind the accusations that Olympias poisoned the boy; he wasn’t born that way.

Common assumption in antiquity held that children’s nature was formed by the father’s seed (literally: semen is Greek for seed). I’ve mentioned before that (male) medical writers didn’t really understand internal anatomy, especially female. I wouldn’t be surprised if midwives knew more, but they weren’t writing, or at least, it wasn’t preserved. The ancients tended to view making babies like farming. So the male contributes the semen, and the woman is the field. A good field produces healthy plants…but a good field doesn’t determine what will grow: e.g, if the semen (seed) is winter wheat, one won’t get barley. But one might get weak winter wheat if the soil is poor. (This is one excuse for girls: they’re grown in poor soil, so don’t fully mature—e.g., become male.)

Another funny thing, they didn’t understand where semen came from, thought it was derived from all parts of the body. Although they did understand that removing or (more often) smashing the testicles resulted in a eunuch unable to reproduce. You’d think they’d “get it,” but no. This notion is also behind their belief that babies could inherit what we’d consider non-genetic characteristics of a parent. There’s some mention of babies being born with scars that looked like a father’s, etc. It’s really quite odd, to the modern mind, but it made sense to them. They were trying to make sense of inheritance with no concept of genes.

Understanding all that is important to understanding Philip’s likely attitude towards Arrhidaios, and why he might want to blame Olympias. According to Plutarch, Arrhidaios was supposedly born normal, and only developed some sort of mental issue as a toddler (e.g., after about a year old). Poison (pharmakos) is blamed. Pharmakos is used both for medicine/pharmacology, but also for magic/poison, especially when used by women. These accusations of Olympias as a witch led me to make her a midwife and herbalist in the novels.

Such a rumor, whether or not true, would remove the onus from Philip for possible weak seed. But there may still have been suspicion, especially as he only had one other son (Alexander). The next two children he fathered were girls, and his first was a girl. Then he didn’t father any for some years (or none that were legitimate and that we know of). Once more, Greek medical thought had found a way to blame the mother for it, but there seems to have been double-think, as men still strutted a lot at fathering boys and were ashamed of fathering (too many) girls.

That probably led Philip to forget Arrhidaios as much as possible, until/unless he could be useful, as with the marriage proposal to Pixodaros. This is how I depict it in the novel, and why. As king, enormous pressure would have been on him not just to produce children, but healthy boys. Not doing so left him open to censure. Lots of connections were made between the physical and mental. Inability to produce healthy boys was a black mark on his virility, and thus, a possible indication of weakness as a king.

Many of these assumptions are still around, very deeply embedded in “Western” thought at a knee-jerk level. Consider how even modern men get about fathering a son…

As for the girls, they would have been tagged from day one for marriage alliances. Daughters were reflections on the honor of a family, not just in terms of her virginity, but in general. Notice that Philip’s last two daughters were named to glorify his own victories: Thessaloniki (Victory in Thessaly) and Europa ([victory] in Europe). Kleopatra means, literally, Glory of Her Father. Fathers wanted pretty girls with good weaving skills who didn’t talk much, or have opinions. I had a little fun with that in the novel, with Kleopatra. She’s three of the four: pretty, excellent at weaving, and doesn’t talk much. But notice what she does in book 2 Rise, how she perfectly undercuts Kleopatra (the new wife), and embarrasses Philip in the process, leading him to conclude that she was “her mother’s daughter.”

In any case, back to history, Philip probably just didn’t see his daughters much, Kynanne aside.

As for Kleopatra and Olympias seeing each other after the wedding: remember that she and Alexander of Epiros were still in Aigai when Philip was killed. Alexander of E. was walking right next to Alexander of M, in front of Philip, when the latter was stabbed. I quite doubt Alexander of E. went back home any time soon, so she’d still have been in Aigai, then Pella, at least a month and maybe more. After that, they’d have seen one another periodically. They even, later, switched places, with Kleopatra coming back to Pella while her mother went to Epiros. Alexander remarked his mother had got the better end of that deal, as she knew the Macedonians wouldn’t accept rule by a woman (whereas the Epirotes would, and in fact, Kleopatra had been acting as regent for her son). So they were in fairly frequent contact, and almost certainly saw each other sometimes.

Then again, like Alexander, Kleopatra might have preferred to keep a little distance. LOL.

[jeannereames]

Hi, Dr. Reames. I was wondering something and thought I might as well ask you. In your series 'Dancing with the Lion' you're dealing with so many characters and layers of interaction. If you could develop any character (outside Alexandros and Hephaistion and their immediate families), who would you love to delve deeper into? (As in, who do you find more intriguing?)

Kampaspe!

Easy answer there. Kampaspe will continue to be a main secondary character through the story going forward, and will join Hephaistion’s household, even run it. She becomes like a sister to him.

As I’ve noted, aside from the historical events, I have a pretty good idea of several sub-plots (not historical) that fold into major historical events. There are also some important secondary characters you’ve not met yet, include a Nok priest of Ammon, the brother of Darius, and Hephaistion’s cat. (ha)

After Kampaspe, Kleopatra is a favorite. I know, she’s related to Alexander, but she’ll continue to have an important role going forward. I tell Beth (Carney) she needs to write a novel about Olympias. I’ve tried not to vilify her, but personally, I find her less interesting than Alexander’s sisters. So Kynanne, Thessalonike, and especially Kleopatra will remain in play, even if at a distance. Because they’re not “on site” however, they won’t have the same impact as Kampaspe.

Why Kampaspe? She provides a useful bridge. She was born to the upper classes, but now she’s a slave. So that gives her a unique perspective on what it’s like to be “devalued.” Also, she remains an important female voice.

[jeannereames]

Have you read the series by ruth kozak shadow of the lion? If so what's your opinion about the books? Also how do you feel about alexanders half sisters and neice?

Yes! I’ve read part of the first from “In the Shadow of the Lion” series, Blood on the Moon, and bought the second. The Fields of Hades. I didn’t get to finish the first because it’s quite long, and I had too many real-life commitments related to other things, but I liked what I did read. Ruth writes about a *very* confusing time period, but knows it well. I can think of only two other novels that tackled the era immediately after Alexander’s death: Mary Renault’s Funeral Games (and I split from the pack by liking it perhaps best of her Alexander series), and Jo Graham’s Stealing Fire. So I really liked that Ruth took on that too-often overlooked period, and her knowledge of Greece from having lived there is very much in evidence.

I do hope to get back to finish the novels.

As for his sisters and niece, I write about both Kleopatra and Thessalonike, and to a slightly less degree Kynnane in Dancing with the Lion. Kleopatra is even a POV character (and will continue to be, going forward). I think Kleopatra may be one of the more underappreciated women at the court. *grin*Beth Carney wrote a pretty good article called “The SIsters of Alexander of Alexander the Great: Royal Relics,” Historia 37.4 (1988), 385-404. In it, she examines the straits in which these women had to operate, which ended up pitting some of them against each other.

Of them, Kleopatra probably had the greatest freedom, being a widow, and regent for her children, but even so, notice how after her brother’s death, and her mothers, she has to find someone to protect her. I’ve often thought poor Thessalonike didn’t have much choice about marrying Kassandros. Notice the internicene bloodshed between her second son and the youngest, “Alexander.” Kynnane was just trying to keep her daughter and herself alive. She succeeded in the former, at least, for a time. Hadea’s marriage to her uncle preserved her life, but also necessitated her siding against her cousin Alex IV.

[jeannereames]

Pre-orders out tonight!

The official release of Rise is Monday (10/21), but if you pre-ordered book 2, you should get it tonight! (If you don’t have it already...apparently they’ve hit at least the UK.)

I really hope everybody enjoys the second half.... *bites nails*

Reviews (or ratings) = Love.  Goodreads or Amazon, especially. (There are already a couple on Goodreads if you’re curious.)

Also, if you are among those who did NOT get your copy on Firday (10/18)--a few have not--PLEASE contact Riptide directly so they can get you your book, and have some idea how big the problem is.

[jeannereames]

Meet Kleopatra. Yes, she was named for Alexander’s sister. In Dancing with the Lion, Kleo has dark coloring. Ergo, it seemed the perfect name for my little seal-point baby girl. She’s meant to be a playmate for Cecilia Iphigeneia, my sweet-heart Tuxedo junk-yard cat. They’ve met, with Ceci on a leash. Ceci was her darling self, but Kleo was nervous, understandably. They’ll get more face-time tomorrow. My son has Kleo’s brother, but he doesn’t have a name yet. I doubt Ian will name him Alexander, however. LOL.

I love black cats, and have had several such rescues down the years (right now, Licorice, all black, and Ceci, a tuxie). But I grew up with Meesers, and it’s just not a house without that Meeser YOWL. Yet this is the first seal-point I”ve had. Prior, they’ve been blues, lilacs, and flames (which are technically color-points). Look forward to a new adventure with a new baby! She and her brother are “rescues” of a sort. We took them from a farm, so they weren’t tossed outside to make do on their own. They will be well-loved.