#Perdikkas II of Macedon
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What should we make of Alexander I and Perdiccas II both having long 40+ years long reigns, only for all of their successors having substantially shorter ones? And, if you are in the mood, who do you think was the better ruler between the two?
First, I thought Iâd mention one of the cool things to come out of the recent ATG conference is a plan to produce an edited collection: Alexander I and the Making of Macedon. Itâll be a while, but if I can get us a publisher, Iâve got the contributors.
Also of note, Sabine MĂŒller and Johannes Heinrichs are producing a monograph on Alexander I in English. She has a great one on Perdikkas but itâs in German, so I was very happy to hear this.
Finally, I've got a number of racked-up Asks. This answer will answer about three of them. I'll link it to the other questions. :-)
To the questions: itâs really hard to compare Alexander I and Perdikkas II simply because they were dealing with very different circumstances. Alexander I had Persian assistance holding the throne, while Perdikkas was tossed off his throne at least once.
The biggest difficulty is a source problem. ALL our info about these guys (outside archaeology) comes from Greeks, who were chiefly interested in them only when they intersected with the southern Greek world. Thereâs a fair bit about Alex Iâs internal politicking that we just donât know. What we call âLower Macedonâ probably only goes back a couple generations, despite the mythical king list. We find a MARKED change in burial practices c. 570 BCE, which is before Persians were mucking around up there. This suggests a changeâor more likely consolidationâin the lowland Macedonian ruling elite, both west and a bit east of the Axios River.
If Alexander I took over c. 500-495 (coin above), and his father Amyntas (about whom we know nothing but a name) ruled for 20/30-ish years before, then Alexanderâ grandfather (Alketas) or great-grandfather (Airopos) would have consolidated the area around Aigai. Yet ALL names before Amyntas I are essentially fictional. Certainly the âfounderâsâ name changed across time. Itâs Perdikkas when we first hear of it in Herodotos, but may have shifted to Archelaos later (see Euripidesâs play of that name). Later yet (under Philip), it seems to have become Karanos. If Bill Greenwaltâs theories are right. This is not a real person in any historical sense.
The problem with dating Alexander I is that we neither know for sure when he took the throne nor when he died. It was convenient for Alexander to blame his father for any concessions to the Persians, but heânot Amyntasâmarried his sister Gygaia to a Persian (Bubares, son of Magabazus and distantly royal).* More likely he was already on the throne in the 490s but may have been quite young. He seems to have used the Persian presence to further consolidate the (new) Macedonian kingdomâagainst Paionians and othersâadding territory as far away as Amphipolis, at least temporarily, and thus, getting hold of both silver and gold mines to mint coins. The Echedoros River also held gold. All the gold in pre-Alexander Macedonia was pacer mining (panning), not from the gold mines of Mt. Pangaion. Yet gold, while present in the rivers, only became important in graves in Macedonia c. 570âŠitâs part of that startling shift in burials that we see.
We also donât know exactly when Alexander I died and Perdikkas took over. He was still king at the end of the Persian Wars in 479/78, but dead by 450. His death may have been closer to 460, or even earlier. So his reign was probably more like 30-35 years. Perdikkas perhaps reigned longest of allâone reason heâs exceptional. I wonder if the Peloponnesian War itself may have contributed to his success: for all he had his challengers, if Macedon wanted to survive as an independent political entity, they needed to rally around him.
Yet he faced his share of opposition from other Argeads as well as the very powerful Upper Macedonian kingdoms of Lynkestis (Lynkis) and Elimeia, not to mention predatory Illyrians. Thatâs why Perdikkas sought an alliance with Brasidas of Sparta, but apparently couldnât even control his own troops enough to keep them from deserting when facing Illyrians. That earned Brasidasâs wrath. As a result, Perdikkas (coin below) had to make nice with Athens.
Thatâs just one example of Perdikkasâs deal-making during the war. He had quite a job of diplomatic shufflingâno doubt learned from Daddy Alexander. Neither had a kingdom anywhere near strong enough to fend off Persia, or Athens and Sparta later. The fact Perdikkas didnât end up a client king to either Sparta or Athens is a testament to his diplomatic skill.
Perdikkasâs eldest son Archelaos wasnât the âillegitimateâ son of a slave but of a lesser wife, which is why the younger (unnamed) son initially inherited. Archelaos quickly did away with him (plus an uncle and cousin), then proceeded to continue the modernizing work of his father and grandfather. Until he got run through in a hunting âaccident.â After that, the kingdom dissolved into a mess.
The problem of a fast turn-over of rule owed to their inheritance system: any Argead had a claim on the throne. Kings also practiced royal polygamy, although two wives (at most three) seems to have been typical until Philip II. In some ways, it worked well, as it produced multiple heirs from which a strong king could emerge (by surviving).
That was also its problem: no clear method of succession, even if the sons of higher-status mothers apparently had a leg-up. Perdikkas himself was not Alexanderâs eldest son. He had two older brothers and two younger ones. Yet either his mother was the most prominent or he showed the most promise (or both). Despite Archelaosâs age and apparent ability, he was initially passed over, although Plato (who tells the story) means to paint Archelaos poorly. That doesnât mean he didnât kill competing Argeads to take the throne. So had his father, and probably grandfather too (we just donât hear about it).
Yet Archelaosâs unexpected death led to a continuing crisis until Amyntas III, Philâs dad, took and kept the throne. He came from a collateral Argead line descended from Alexander Iâs youngest son. The other lines killed each other off. For all Amyntas wasnât a terribly prepossessing king, he managed not to die. But he, too, was run off his throne at least once, maybe twice. When he did die, it was in his bed of old ageânot a common thing for Macedonian kings. His reign was the first tolerably long one after Archelaos, over 20 years.
By the time Philip came to the throne, there werenât many Argeads left thanks to the catch-as-catch-can method of succession: Philipâs two older brothers were dead and all three of his half-brothers. It was down to just him and his brother Perdikkas IIIâs infant son: Amyntas.
This is the inevitable problem when lacking a clear succession. Yet a clear succession can create its own problems with incompetent heirs, who donât always recognize theyâre incompetent. The free-for-all gave a better shot at a strong kingâostensibly why it developedâbut it also meant the kingdom ran out of âsparesâ after a couple generations. They went from more Argeads than you could shake a stick at following Alexander Iâs death, down to just three at Philipâs death, and two at Alexanderâs death** in a matter of 5-6 generations. Within those 5-6 generations, 12-14 kings reigned! And we have no idea how many brothers/cousins/uncles Alexander I had, and perhaps killed, before he became king. We hear only about the one sister.
Stability was not a hallmark of the Argead dynasty.
ââ
* The story of Alexander killing Persian emissaries is much later fictional propaganda. Didnât happen.
* Alexanderâs son Herakles by Barsine might count as a third, but the army doesnât seem to have considered him viable for whatever reason.
#ancient Macedon#ancient macedonia#Argead Macedonia#Temenids#Argeads#Alexander I of Macedon#Perdikkas II of Macedon#Gygaia#Archelaos of Macedonia#Philip II of Macedonia#Philip of Macedon#Alexander the Great#ancient Greece#Persian Wars#Greco-Persian Wars#Peloponnesian War#Brasidas of Sparta#Classics#tagamemnon#asks#Early Macedonian History
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A house stained with murder
"Should I wait until he murders me, like a lamb ready for slaughter? I don't want to be a lamb. I want to be cruel and terrifying, I want to send him the plague and I want him to die and to feed his corpse to beasts."
(Art by the fabulous Kloh.eh for La FlÚche d'Artémis: Philippos haunted by the Erinyes.)
There is one thing that surprises me, about the fictions dealing with Philip II of Macedon: how unimportant it seems that he killed three of his brothers. Perhaps that's because fratricide and murdering family members is an habit of his clan, perhaps that's because it happened before Alexander enters the story.
It is strange, to me, because this is the kind of crimes that fuelled tragedies.
Let's dwelve into the fratricides, and why I think Alexander's family is perfect to write a tragedy.
Let's go back to his youth. For clarity, I use the name Philip when talking about the historical king of Macedon, and Philippos when I talk about the character in my novel.
Philip had five, or maybe six brothers who reached adulthood. His father reigned for a long time, in a country that had been wrecked by infighting: in one scene of my novel, Parmenion, aged sixty, tells Alexandros eleven king claimed the throne since he was born. That's a rather high number, considering two of them, Philipos and his father, were long lasting.
I said maybe. There's a man called Ptolemaios of Aloros who may have been an elder brother, or maybe just an in law. It's unclear, but it's rather important; at least, the gods would think it's important.
Here is how the story beggins.
Young Philippos is eleven, maybe twelve, when his father dies. He's only the third boy of the king's most powerful wife, a child without the beauty of his elder Alexandros and without the smartness of Perdikkas, the second boy. Alexandros ascends the throne: he's the eldest. And then things don't go as planned; or perhaps, they go as things usually go in Makedonia, and there's tribute to be paid, and the young king, barely old enough to be acclaimed, can't pay it.
So he sends his brother as a hostage. That's the first time, but not the last.
And then he dies.
Philippos comes back home. There's chaos, of a kind. His brother was murdered by Ptolemaios of Aloros, everyone knows that - and Ptolemaios is the new regent, and has married Philippos' mother.
What happens next looks like it's inevitable. What keeps Ptolemaios from murdering young Perdikkas, the new king, like he murdered Alexandros? And the next step would be, obviously, to get rid of Philippos once Perdikkas is gone. But the great city of Thebai is asking for an hostage, because it's the biggest power in Greece and of complicated politics Philippos missed while he was hostage.
But, well, he's thirteen, it's not like anyone cares about what he thinks, when he's shipped to Thebai as an hostage. Again.
What happens next? Who dies first? Should Ptolemaios murder Perdikkas? Or maybe kill the one that's in Thebai first? In both cases, Philippos dies before he reaches adulthood.
In the end, he doesn't. Unexpectedly, young Perdikkas wins and murders Ptolemaios. Was Ptolemaios a brother? If he was, that's two fratricides already. But it takes three years to get to that. Three years of whispers in the night: when is he going to kill me? Will he try to poison me, to make it look like it was mere sickness? A knife in a back alley? Can he reach me here, in Thebai?
Should I wait, weaponless, or should I try to defend myself? ... how do you defend yourself when you are still a boy?
You have the gods. The gods answer, sometimes.
Beware of what you ask.
Ptolemaios will win. He's older, he murdered one king already. Perdikkas will die. It's written, isn't it?
What do you want to ask the gods? What would ensure your survival, what would please the few peoples who believe in you to fight for the throne once Perdikkas is gone and it's your turn?
So you ask: I want to be the most glorious king Makedonia ever knew.
And the gods answer: yes.
But then, Perdikkas wins.
He wins, and the gods promised you his throne.
Because the truth is, the stain was there, from the start. Brothers and cousins have been killing each other for so long, there must be a curse attached to the family. Whispering: should you kill him, before he kills you?
Ptolemaios is gone. Perdikkas is the king. Philippos returns home.
Perdikkas dies during a battle, unexpectedly. Was that his destiny, or did the god grant Philippos what he asked for, but doesn't want anymore?
Did he kill his brother?
He still has three half brothers.
Years after the blood bath, he's forty, and his son Alexandros is finally old enough to join him on campaign. He's a bright boy, promising. So is Philippos' nephew Amyntas. He likes him, and like Alexandros, he would probably be a good king. Philippos knows that: he raised this nephew, almost like a son.
But he hears them. The whispers. Except this time they aren't targetting him, because he has no more half brothers to murder and no more brother to betray: kill him, before he kills you.
His children are going to slaughter each other, and no matter how much he regrets his own crimes, or how many time he got initiated into the gods know how many cults to wash himself of the eternal stain of brothers killing brothers, he knows. He knows there's no way to keep them safe from each other.
Because they are all cursed, all of them, until the end of their line.
PS: My Philippos was actually a nice kid so maybe IDK, when Parmenion met him in Thebai, he should have grabbed him and moved to Spain to raise horses in peace, and everyone would have been happier and less depressed.
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Macedonian coins, Perdikkas II 413 BC (top), Alexander I 454 BC (bottom)
#ancient greece#macedon#ancient greek coins#greek coins#ancient coins#coins#antiquities#alexander i#perdikkas ii
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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 âdefending menâ from Greek alexein âto defend, protect, helpâ and aner âmanâ (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 âfriend of horsesâ, composed of the elements philos âfriendâ and hippos âhorseâ. 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: âAres, 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.â (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 âstrengthâ. 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 âdefenderâ. The name was borne by three kings of Macedon.
6. ANTIGONOS m Ancient Greek (ANTIGONUS Latinized) Pronounced: an-TIG-o-nus Means âlike the ancestorâ from Greek anti âlikeâ and goneus âancestorâ. This was the name of one of Alexander the Greatâs generals. After Alexander died, he took control of most of Asia Minor. He was known as Antigonus âMonophthalmosâ (âthe One-Eyedâ). Antigonos II (ruled 277-239 BC) was known as âGonatosâ (âknee, kneelâ).
7. ANTIPATROS m Ancient Greek (ANTIPATER Latinized) Pronounced: an-TI-pa-tur From the Greek name Antipatros, which meant âlike the fatherâ from Greek anti âlikeâ and pater âfatherâ. This was the name of an officer of Alexander the Great, who became the regent of Macedon during Alexanderâs absence.
8. ARCHELAOS m Ancient Greek (ARCHELAUS Latinized) Pronounced: ar-kee-LAY-us Latinized form of the Greek name Archelaos, which meant âmaster of the peopleâ from arche âmasterâ and laos âpeopleâ. 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 âglistening, shiningâ. 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 âPoliorketesâ (the âBeseigerâ).
11. KARANOS m Ancient Greek (CARANUS Latinized) Derived from the archaic Greek word âkoiranosâ or âkaranonâ, meaning ârulerâ, âleaderâ or âkingâ. Both words stem from the same archaic Doric root âkaraâ meaning head, hence leader, royal master. The word âkoiranosâ 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 âshining upon manâ, derived from Greek kekasmai âto shineâ and aner âmanâ (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 âusual, commonâ. An Argead king of Macedon in the 8th century BC.
14. LYSIMACHOS m Ancient Greek (LYSIMACHUS Latinized) Means âa loosening of battleâ from Greek lysis âa release, looseningâ and mache âbattleâ. This was the name of one of Alexander the Greatâs generals. After Alexanderâs death Lysimachus took control of Thrace.
15. SELEUKOS m Ancient Greek (SELEUCUS Latinized) Means âto be lightâ, âto be whiteâ, derived from the Greek word leukos meaning âwhite, brightâ. This was the name of one of Alexanderâs 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 âtoo terrifyingâ. Its Aeolian type is Arribaeos.
17. ORESTES m Greek Mythology Pronounced: o-RES-teez Derived from Greek orestais meaning âof the mountainsâ. 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 âDescription of Greeceâ, 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 âpartridgeâ. 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 âto destroy, conquerâ. Its full meaning is the âconquerorâ. 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 âaggressiveâ or âwarlikeâ. Ptolemy was the name of several Greco-Egyptian rulers of Egypt, all descendents of Ptolemy I, one of Alexander the Greatâs generals. This was also the name of a Greek astronomer. Ptolemy âKeraunosâ (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 âthe one who loves cheeseâ.
QUEENS AND ROYAL FAMILY
23. EURYDIKE f Greek Mythology (EURYDICE Latinized) Means âwide justiceâ from Greek eurys âwideâ and dike âjusticeâ. 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 âbringing victoryâ from pherein âto bringâ and nike âvictoryâ. 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 âglory of the fatherâ from Greek kleos âgloryâ combined with patros âof the fatherâ. 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 âvictory over the Thessaliansâ, from the name of the region of Thessaly and niki, meaning âvictoryâ. Name of Alexander the Greatâs 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 âdescedant of Parmenonâ.
29. PEUKESTAS m Ancient Greek He saved Alexander the Great in India. One of the most known Macedonians. His name derives from ΠΔÏ
ÎșÎźÏ (= sharp) + the Doric ending -tas. Its full meaning is the âone who is sharpâ.
30. ARISTOPHANES m Ancient Greek Derived from the Greek elements aristos âbestâ and phanes âappearingâ. The name of one of Alexander the Greatâs personal body guard who was present during the murder of Cleitus. (Plutarch, Alexander, âThe Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romansâ). 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 âthe leader of the armyâ.
32. ARISTON m Ancient Greek Derived from Greek aristos meaning âthe bestâ. 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 âcalling forthâ or âsummonedâ in Greek. A phalanx battalion commander in Alexander the Greatâs army at the Battle of Hydaspes. Also the name of Alexanderâs nurseâs brother, who severed the arm of the Persian Spithridates at the Battle of the Granicus.
34. HEPHAISTION m Greek Mythology Derived from Hephaistos (âHephaestusâ Latinized) who in Greek mythology was the god of fire and forging and one of the twelve Olympian deities. Hephaistos in Greek denotes a âfurnaceâ or âvolcanoâ. Hephaistion was the companion and closest friend of Alexander the Great. He was also known as âPhilalexandrosâ (âfriend of Alexanderâ).
35. HERAKLEIDES m Ancient Greek (HERACLEIDES Latinized) Perhaps means âkey of Heraâ from the name of the goddess Hera combined with Greek kleis âkeyâ or kleidon âlittle keyâ. 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. ÎÏαÏΔÏÏÏ (= Powerful). This was the name of one of Alexander the Greatâs generals. A friend of Alexander the Great, he was also known as âPhilobasileusâ (âfriend of the Kingâ).
37. NEOPTOLEMOS m Greek Mythology (NEOPTOLEMUS Latinized) Means ânew warâ, derived from Greek neos ânewâ and polemos âwarâ. 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 motherâs (Olympiasâ) side (Plutarch). The name of two Macedonian soldiers during Alexanderâs campaigns (Arrian, Anabasis, Book I, 6 and Book II, 27).
38. PHILOTAS m Ancient Greek From Greek philotes meaning âfriendshipâ. Son of Parmenion and a commander of Alexander the Greatâs Companion cavalry.
39. PHILOXENOS m Ancient Greek Meaning âfriend of strangersâ derived from Greek philos meaning friend and xenos meaning âstranger, foreignerâ. 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 âwithstanding the peopleâ from Greek meno âto last, to withstandâ and laos âthe peopleâ. 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 (λαÏÏ = âpeopleâ + medon (ÎŒÎÎŽÏ = âthe one who governsâ)
42. POLYPERCHON Ancient Greek Macedonian, Son of Simmias His name derives from the greek word âΠολÏâ (=much) + ÏÏÎÏÏÏ (= rush).
43. HEGELOCHOS m (HEGELOCHUS Latinized) Known as the conspirator. His name derives from the greek verb (ηγÎÎżÎŒÎ±Îč = âwalking aheadâ + greek noun λÏÏÎżÏ = âset up ambushâ).
44. POLEMON m ancient Greek From the house of Andromenes. Brother of Attalos. Means in greek âthe one who is fighting in warâ.
45. AUTODIKOS m ancient greek Somatophylax of Philip III. His name in greek means âthe one who takes the law into his (own) handsâ
46. BALAKROS m ancient Greek Son of Nicanor. We already know Macedonians usually used a âbetaâ instead of a âphiâ which was used by Atheneans (eg. âbelekysâ instead of âpelekysâ, âbalakrosâ instead of âfalakrosâ). âFalakrosâ has the meaning of âbaldâ.
47. NIKANOR (NÎčÎșÎŹÎœÏÏ m ancient Greek; Latin: Nicanor) means âvictorâ â from Nike (ÎÎčÎșη) meaning âvictoryâ. 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 âDashing like the lionâ.
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 ÎÏÎŻÏÎżÏ (= the chosen) + ÎαÏÏ (= the people). Its full meaning is âthe chosen of the peopleâ.
50. ZOILOS m ancient Hellinic Father of Myleas from Beroia â From zo-e (ÎΩÎ) indicating âlivelyâ, âvivaciousâ. Hence the Italian âZoiloâ
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 â from âzeugnumiâ = âto bindâ, âjoin togetherâ
52. LEOCHARIS m ancient Hellinic Sculptor â Deriving from âLeonâ = âlionâ and âcharisâ = âgraceâ. Literally meaning the âlionâs graceâ.
53. DEINOKRATIS m ancient Hellinic Helped Alexander to create Alexandria in Egypt. From âdeinowâ = âto make terribleâ and âkrateinâ = âto ruleâ Obviously indicating a âterrible rulerâ
54. ADMETOS (ÎΎΌηÏÎżÏ) m Ancient Greek derive from the word a+damaw(damazw) and mean tameless,obstreperous.Damazw mean chasten, prevail
55. ANDROTIMOS (ÎΜΎÏÏÏÎčÎŒÎżÏ) m Ancient Greek derive from the words andreios (brave, courageous) and timitis(honest, upright )
56. PEITHON m Ancient Greek Means âthe one who persuadesâ. 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 âÎŁÏÏ (=safe) +ÎŁÏÏαÏÎżÏ (=army)â. He was son of Amyntas and was executed as a conspirator.
58. DIMNOS m Ancient Greek Derives from the greek verb âΎΔÎčÎŒÎ±ÎŻÎœÏ (= i have fear). One of the conspirators.
59. TIMANDROS m Ancient Greek Meaning âManâs honourâ. It derives from the greek words â΀ÎčÎŒÎź (=honour) + ÎΜΎÏÎ±Ï (=man). One of the commanders of regular Hypaspistes.
60. TLEPOLEMOS ,(ÏληÏÏÎ»Î”ÎŒÎżÏ) m Ancient Greek Derives from greek words âÏÎ»ÎźÎŒÏÎœ (=brave) + ÏÏÎ»Î”ÎŒÎżÏ (=war)â. In greek mythology Tlepolemos was a son of Heracles. In alexanders era, Tlepolemos was appointed Satrap of Carmania from Alexander the Great.
61. AXIOS (ÎΟÎčÎżÏ) m ancient Greek Meaning âcapableâ. His name was found on one inscription along with his patronymic âÎΟÎčÎżÏ ÎÎœÏÎčÎłÏÎœÎżÏ
ÎαÎșΔΎÏÎœâ.
62. THEOXENOS (ÎΔÏÎŸÎ”ÎœÎżÏ) ancient Greek Derives from greek words âΞΔÏÏ (=god) + ΟÎÎœÎżÏ (=foreigner).His name appears as a donator of the Apollo temple along with his patronymic and city of origin(ÎΔÏÎŸÎ”ÎœÎżÏ ÎÎčÏÏÏÎŻÏÎœÎżÏ ÎαÏÏαΜΎÏΔÏÏ).
63. MITRON (ÎÎźÏÏÏÎœ) m ancient Greek Derives from the greek word âÎÎźÏÎ·Ï (=Mother)â. Mitron of Macedon appears in a inscription as a donator
64. KLEOCHARIS (ÎλΔοÏÎŹÏηÏ) M ancient greek Derives from greek words âÎλÎÎżÏ (=fame) + âΧΏÏÎčÏ (=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 (Î ÏΔÏÎλαοÏ) m, ancient Greek Derives from greek words âÏÏÎÏÏ (=be distinguished) + Î»Î±ÎżÏ (=people). He was a general of Kassander.
66. HIPPOLOCHOS (ÎÏÏÏλοÏÎżÏ) m, ancient Greek Derives from the greek words âÎÏÏÎżÏâ (= horse) + âÎÏÏÎżÏâ(=set up ambush). Hippolochos was a Macedonian historian (ca. 300 B.C.)
67. ALEXARCHOS (ÎλÎΟαÏÏÎżÏ) m, ancient Greek Derives from Greek âÎλÎΟÏâ (=defend, protect, help) + âÎÏÏÎżÏ â (= master). Alexarchos was brother of Cassandros.
68. ASCLEPIODOROS (ÎÏÎșληÏÎčοΎοÏÎżÏ) 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 Alexanderâs army was son of Timandros.
69. KALLINES (ÎαλλÎčΜηÏ) m Ancient Greek Derives from greek words kalli + nao (=stream beautifully). He was a Macedonian, officer of companions.
70. PLEISTARHOS (ΠλΔίÏÏαÏÏÎżÏ) m ancient Greek Derives from the greek words Pleistos (=too much) + Arhos ((= master). He was younger brother of Cassander.
71. POLYKLES (ΠολÏ
ÎșλΟÏ) m ancient Greek Derives from the words Poli (=city) + Kleos (glory). Macedonian who served as Strategos of Antipater.
72. POLYDAMAS (ΠολÏ
ÎŽÎŹÎŒÎ±Ï) m ancient Greek The translation of his name means âthe one who subordinates a cityâ. One Hetairos.
73. APOLLOPHANES (ÎÏολλοÏÎŹÎœÎ·Ï) m ancient greek. His name derives from the greek verb âαÏολλÏ
ÎŒÎčâ (=to destroy) and ÏÎ±ÎŻÎœÎżÎŒÎ±Îč (= appear to be). Apollophanes was a prominent Macedonian who was appointed Satrap of Oreitae.
74. ARCHIAS (ÎÏÏίαÏ) m ancient Greek His name derive from greek verb ÎÏÏÏ (=head or be in command). Archias was one of the Macedonian trierarchs in Hydaspes river.
75. ARCHESILAOS (ÎÏÏΔÏίλαοÏ) m ancient Greek His name derive from greek verb ÎÏÏÏ (=head or be in command) + ÎÎ±ÎżÏ (= people). Archesilaos was a Macedonian that received the satrapy of Mesopotamia in the settlement of 323.
76. ARETAS (ÎÏΔÏαÏ) m ancient Greek Derives from the greek word Areti (=virtue). He was commander of Sarissoforoi at Gaugamela.
77. KLEANDROS (ÎλÎαΜΎÏÎżÏ) m ancient Greek Derives from greek verb ÎλÎÎżÏ (=fame) + ÎΜΎÏÎżÏ (=man). He was commander of Archers and was killed in Hallicarnasus in 334 BC.
78. AGESISTRATOS (ÎγηÏÎŻÏÏÏαÏÎżÏ) m ancient greek Father of Paramonos, a general of Antigonos Doson. His name derives from verb ηγΟÏÎżÎŒÎ±Îč ( = lead in command) + ÏÏÏαÏÎżÏ (= army). âHgisomaiâ in Doric dialect is âAgisomaiâ. Its full meaning is âthe one who leads the armyâ
79. AGERROS (ÎγΔÏÏÎżÏ) M ancient Greek He was father of Andronikos, general of Alexander. His name derives from the verb αγÎÏÏÏ (= the one who makes gatherings)
80. AVREAS (ÎÎČÏÎαÏ) m ancient Greek Officer of Alexander the great. His name derives from the adj. αÎČÏÏÏ (=polite)
81. AGATHANOR (ÎÎłÎ±ÎžÎŹÎœÏÏ) 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. αγαΞÏÏ (= virtuous) + Î±ÎœÎźÏ (= man). The full meaning of his name is âVirtuous manâ
82. AGAKLES (ÎγαÎșλΟÏ) 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. ÎγαÎșÎ»Î”ÎźÏ (= too glorious)
83. AGASIKLES (ÎγαÏÎčÎșλΟÏ) m ancient Greek Son of Mentor, from Dion of Macedonia. It derives from the verb ÎŹÎłÎ±ÎŒÎ±Îč (= admire) + ÎλÎÎżÏ (=fame). Its full meaning is âthe one who admires fameâ
84. AGGAREOS (ÎγγΏÏΔοÏ) 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 ÎγγαÏΔία (= news)
85. AGELAS (ÎÎłÎλαÏ) 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.3âłAttic inscrip.â 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 ÎŹÎłÏ (= lead) and the noun ÎαÏÏ (= people or even soldiers (Homeric)). The full meaning is the âone who leads the people/soldiersâ.
86. AGIPPOS (ÎÎłÎčÏÏÎżÏ) 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 ÎŹÎłÏ (= lead) + the word ÎŻÏÏÎżÏ (= Horse). Its full meaning is âthe one who leads the horse/calvaryâ.
87. AGLAIANOS (ÎγλαÏÎŹÎœÎżÏ) 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 αγλαÏÎ¶Ï (= honour) and the ending -anos.
88. AGNOTHEOS (ÎÎłÎœÏΞΔοÏ) 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 ÎÎłÎœÏÏ ( = pure) + ÎΔÏÏ (=God). The full meaning is âthe one who has inside a pure godâ
89. ATHENAGORAS (ÎÎžÎ·ÎœÎ±ÎłÏÏαÏ) m ancient Greek General of Philip V. He was the general who stopped Dardanian invasion in 199 BC. His name derives from the verb αγοÏÎŹ-ÎżÎŒÎ±Îč (=deliver a speech) + the name ÎÎžÎ·ÎœÎŹ (= Athena).
90. PERIANDROS (ΠΔÏÎŻÎ±ÎœÎŽÏÎżÏ) m ancient Greek Son of the Macedonian historian Marsyas. His name derives from ΠΔÏÎŻ (= too much) + ÎŹÎœÎ·Ï (man, brave). Its full meaning is âtoo brave/manâ.
91. LEODISKOS (ÎÎ”ÎżÎœÏÎŻÏÎșÎżÏ) m ancient Greek He was son of Ptolemy Aâ and Thais, His name derives from ÎÎÏÎœ (= lion) + the ending -iskos (=little). His nameâs full etymology is âLittle Lionâ
92. EPHRANOR (ÎÏ
ÏÏÎŹÎœÏÏ) m ancient Greek He was General of Perseas. It derives from the verb ÎÏ
ÏÏÎ±ÎŻÎœÏ (= delight). Its full meaning is âthe one who delightsâ.
93. DIONYSOPHON m Ancient Greek It has the meaning âVoice of Dionysosâ. 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 âagainst birthâ from Greek anti âagainstâ and gone âbirthâ. 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 Greatâs Companion cavalry (Plutarch, Alexander, âThe Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romansâ).
95. VOULOMAGA (ÎÎżÏ
Î»ÎżÎŒÎŹÎłÎ±) f ancient greek Derives from greek words âÎÎżÏÎ»ÎżÎŒÎ±Îč (=desire) + ÎŹÎłÎ±Îœ (=too much)â. Her name is found among donators.
96. ATALANTE (ÎÏαλαΜÏïżœïżœ) f ancient Greek Her name means in Greek âwithout talentâ. She was daughter of Orontes, and sister of Perdiccas.
97. AGELAEIA (ÎγΔλαΔία) f ancient Greek Wife of Amyntas, from the city of Beroia (S.E.G vol 48. insc. 738) It derives from the adj. ÎÎłÎλα-ÎżÏ ( = the one who belongs to a herd)
98. ATHENAIS (ÎΞηΜαÏÏ) 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 âsmallâ. Its whole meaning is âlittle Athenaâ.
99. STRATONIKE f Ancient Greek (STRATONICE Latinized) Means âvictorious armyâ from stratos âarmyâ and nike âvictoryâ. Sister of King Perdiccas II. ââŠand Perdiccas afterwards gave his sister Stratonice to Seuthes as he had promised.â (Thucydides, The Peloponnesian War, Chapter VIII)
100. THETIMA f Ancient Greek A name from Pella Katadesmos. It has the meaning âshe who honors the godsâ; the standard Attic form would be TheotimÄ.
Bibliography:
âWhoâs who in the age of Alexander the Great: Prosopography of Alexanderâs Empireâ by Waldemar HeckelâThe Marshals of Alexanderâs empireâ by Waldemar Heckel
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Silver tetrobol of Kingdom of Macedonia, struck under Perdikkas II, with horse (obverse) and incuse square containing Macedonian helmet (reverse)
Greek (minted in Macedonia), Classical Period, 446/5-438/7 B.C.
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
#Macedonia#Ancient Greece#numismatics#ancient coin#ancient coins#silver#coin#tetrobol#Macedon#Macedonian#Perdikkas II#Classical Period#Greek#MFA Boston
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Alexander the Great Ancient Greek Coin Types VIDEO
Alexander III the Great King of Macedonia Ancient Coins & Related
Alexander the Great was king of the Macedonian Kingdom from 336-323 B.C. His father was Philip II, who gave him the most quality education, including with the famous philosopher Aristotle. Trained in battle with his father Philip, Alexander did not stay in his fatherâs shadow and went on to create an empire that is has effects on Western Civilization to this day. The types of coins Alexander introduced, including those in gold, silver and bronze, were used as prototypes of the coins struck hundreds of years after his death. Since his coins were so well known and accepted, for hundreds of years, his types were struck by various other rulers and cities. Coins were struck bearing his portrait and name into the ancient Roman times over 500 years later. Very interesting series of ancient coins to collect. See some great examples of them here.
See all the different types of Alexander the Great coins available.
See ALL the Alexander the Great Coins
See SILVER Alexander the Great Coins
See LARGE SILVER Alexander the Great Coins called Tetradrachms
See Alexander the Great Coins as HERCULES
See Alexander the Great coins with SHIELD and HELMET
See Alexander the Great coins with HORSE and Apollo
See Alexander the Great coins with EAGLE and Hercules
See Alexander the Great coins with his famous horse BUCEPHALUS and the only horse that ever has had a city named after it!
See Alexander the Great coins of MACEDONIA KOINON during Roman times
See many of the Different Types of Ancient Alexander the Great coins
The standard reference that is used to identify most of the coins of Alexander the Great is called: The coinage in the name of Alexander the Great and Philip Arrhidaeus: A British Museum catalogue by M. Jessop Price. So that is what is usually referenced below every coin you will find in my store.
The Coins:
Philip II Alexander the Great Dad OLYMPIC GAMES Ancient Greek Coin Horse i47408
Greek King Philip II of Macedon 359-336 B.C. Father of Alexander III the Great Bronze 18mm (6.41 grams) Struck circa 356-336 B.C. in the Kingdom of Macedonia Commemorating his Olympic Games Victory Head of Apollo right, hair bound with tainia. Youth on horse prancing right, ΊIÎIÎ Î Î΄ above.* Numismatic Note: Authentic ancient Greek coin of King Philip II of Macedonia, father of Alexander the Great. Fascinating coin referring to his Olympic victories.History and Meaning of the Coin
During the times of ancient Greeks, horse racing was one of the events various Greek city-states and kingdoms would have intense competition with each other, as it was of great prestige to participate. Before the time of Philip II, the kingdom of Macedonia was considered barbarian and not Greek. Philip II was the first king of Macedon that was accepted for participation in the event, which was a great honor all in itself. It was an even greater honor that Philipâs horses would go on to win two horse-racing events. In 356 B.C., he won the single horse event and then in 348 B.C. chariot pulled by two horses event. As a way to proudly announce, or what some would say propagandize these honors, Philip II placed a reference to these great victories on his coins struck in all three metals of bronze, silver and gold. The ancient historian, Plutarch, wrote â[Philip of Macedon] ⊠had victories of his chariots at Olympia stamped on his coins.â
PHILIP III Alexander the Great Half Brother Silver Tetradrachm Greek Coin i44563
Greek Coin of Macedonian Kingdom Philip III, Arrhidaeus â King of Macedonia: 323-317 B.C. Struck under Perdikkas Silver Tetradrachm 26mm (16.55 grams) Struck circa 323-320 B.C. Reference: Price P205; SNG MĂŒnchen 971 Head of Alexander the Great as Hercules right, wearing the lion-skin headdress. ÎÎÎŁÎÎÎΩΣ ΊÎÎÎÎ Î Î΄, Zeus Aetophoros seated left, holding eagle and scepter; head of Sol in field to left; KY below thrown.
ALEXANDER the GREAT 90BC Silver Greek Tetradrachm coin of PELLA Macedon i46268
Greek city of Pella in Macedonia Silver Tetradrachm 27mm (16.70 grams) Struck circa 90-75 B.C. Reference: Sear 1439; Price (Coins of the Macedonians) pl. XVI, 84 Head of Alexander the Great right, with horn of Ammon and flowing hair; MAKEÎÎÎΩΠbeneath, B (reversed) behind. AESILLAS / Q. above club between money-chest and quaestorâs chair; all within olive-wreath.
ALEXANDER III the GREAT Pella Antigonos II Tetradrachm Silver Greek Coin i46302
Greek Coin of Macedonian Kingdom Alexander III the Great â King of Macedonia: 336-323 B.C. Struck under Antigonos II Gonatas: Macedonian King: 277-239 B.C. Silver Tetradrachm 27mm (16.80 grams) Pella mint, circa: 275-271 B.C. Reference: Price 621; MĂŒller 230; SNG Copenhagen 713; Mathisen, Administrative VI.6, dies A19/P44 Head of Alexander the Great as Hercules right, wearing the lion-skin headdress. ÎÎÎŁÎÎÎΩΣ AÎEÎANÎÎĄOY, Zeus Aetophoros seated left, holding eagle and scepter; Macedonian helmet in field to left; OK monogram below throne.
Celtic Thrace King KAVAROS Silver Greek Coin name of Alexander the Great i41722
KINGS of THRACE, Celtic. Kavaros (the last Gaulish King in Thrace) â King: 230-218 B.C. Silver Tetradrachm 28mm (16.44 grams) Struck at the Kabyle mint circa 230-218 B.C. In the name and types of Alexander III the Great â King of Macedonia: 336-323 B.C. Reference: Draganov 874â5 var. (unlisted dies); Price 882; Peykov F2010 Head of Alexander the Great as Hercules right, wearing the lion-skin headdress. ÎÎÎŁÎÎÎΩΣ AÎEÎANÎÎĄOY, Zeus Aetophoros seated left, holding eagle and scepter; Artemis Phosphoros in field to left.
ALEXANDER III the GREAT 310BC Hercules Zeus Ancient Silver Greek Coin i46352
Greek Coin of Macedonian Kingdom Alexander III the Great â King of Macedonia: 336-323 B.C. under: Antigonos I Monophthalmos. As Strategos of Asia, 320-306/5 BC, or king, 306/5-301 BC Silver Drachm 17mm (4.10 grams) Lampsakos, Struck circa 310-301 B.C. Reference: Price 1423 var. Head of Alexander the Great as Hercules right, wearing the lion-skin headdress. AÎEÎANÎÎĄOY, Zeus Aetophoros seated left, holding eagle and scepter; mouse in field to left; monogram below throne.
Alexander III the Great as Hercules 336BC Ancient Greek Coin Bow Club i40942
Alexander III the Great â King of Macedonia 336-323 B.C. Bronze 18mm (5.39 grams) Struck under Alexander the Great circa 336-323 B.C. Reference: Sear 6739 var. Head of Alexander III the Great as Hero Hercules right, wearing the lion-skin headdress. Herculesâ weapons, bow in bow-case and club, BA in between.
Alexander III the Great as Hercules 336BC Ancient Greek Coin Bow Club i47432
Alexander III the Great â King of Macedonia 336-323 B.C. Bronze 19mm (5.18 grams) Struck under Alexander the Great 336-323 B.C. Reference: Sear 6739 var. Head of Hercules right, wearing the lion-skin headdress. Herculesâ weapons, bow in bow-case and club, ÎÎÎÎÎÎÎÎĄÎ΄ in between.
Alexander III the Great 323BC Shield Helmet Macedonia Ancient Greek Coin i37411
Alexander III the Great â King of Macedonia 336-323 B.C. Bronze 16mm (4.37 grams) Uncertain mint in western Asia Minor, Struck circa 323-310 B.C. Reference: Price 2801 Macedonian shield with head of Alexander the Great as Hercules 3/4 facing left in center. Crested helmet; BA across fields.
ALEXANDER III the GREAT 336BC Super Rare Shield Helmet Ancient Greek Coin i38104
Alexander III the Great â King of Macedonia 336-323 B.C. Bronze 16mm (3.87 grams) Struck circa 336-323 B.C. Reference: Price 2808 (obverse), Price 2806 (reverse) Macedonian shield with head of Alexander the Great as Hercules right in center. Crested helmet; grain-ear below, BA across fields.
ALEXANDER III the GREAT 325BC Shield Helmet Macedonian Greek Coin RARE i39799
Greek Coin of Macedonian Kingdom Alexander III the Great â King of Macedonia 336-323 B.C. Bronze 1/2 Unit 16mm (4.26 grams) Uncertain mint in Macedon. Possible lifetime issue, struck under Antipater, Polyperchon, or Kassander, circa 325-310 B.C. Reference: Price 417 Macedonian shield; around, five double crescents with five pellets between each; in centre, thunderbolt. B â A on either side of crested Macedonian helmet, Î below.
Alexander III the Great 334BC Shield Crested Helmet Ancient Greek Coin i36441
Alexander III the Great â King of Macedonia 336-323 B.C. Bronze 17mm (4.45 grams) Pella or Amphipolis: 334 B.C. LIFETIME ISSUE! Reference: SNGCop 1120; Liampi M7 Macedonian shield; around, five double crescents with five pellets between each; in centre, thunderbolt. B â A on either side of Crested Macedonian helmet.
ALEXANDER III the GREAT 336BC Hercules Eagle Authentic Ancient Greek Coin i40536
Greek Coin of Alexander III the Great â King of Macedonia 336-323 B.C. Bronze 16mm (3.49 grams) Struck under Alexander the Great 336-323 B.C. Reference: Sear 6743 Alexander III the Great as young Hercules right, clad in lion-skin. ÎÎÎÎÎÎ-ÎÎĄÎ΄, Eagle standing right on thunderbolt, looking back; leaf in upper field to left.
Alexander III The Great 336BC Ancient Greek Coin APOLLO Healer HORSE i32123
Alexander III the Great â King of Macedonia 336-323 B.C. Bronze 15mm (3.15 grams) Amphipolis mint: 336-323 B.C. Reference: Price 338; Sear 6744 cf.; Forrer/Weber 2150 cf. Head of Apollo right, hair bound with tainia. Horse prancing right; ÎÎÎÎÎÎÎÎĄÎ΄ above, torch below.
Alexander the Great under Ptolemy I Soter 305BC Ancient Greek Coin Eagle i36669
Greek King Ptolemy I, Soter â 305-283 B.C. of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt â Bronze 25mm (9.44 grams) Struck in Alexandria in Egypt 305-283 B.C. Reference: Sear 7765; B.M.C. 6.21,66 Head of Alexander the Great right wearing an elephant scalp, symbol of his conquest of India. Î TOÎEMAIOY BAÎŁIÎEΩΣ, eagle standing left on thunderbolt.
Alexander the Great Bucephalus Macedonia Koinon Ancient Greek Roman Coin i42066
Alexander III the Great: Macedonian Greek King: 336-323 B.C. Roman Era, Olympic-Style Games Issue Bronze 26mm (13.73 grams) from the Koinon of Macedonia in Thrace under Roman Control Struck circa 222-235 A.D. under the reign of Roman Emperor Severus Alexander AÎĐÎANÎPOV, Head of Alexander the Great right with loose, flowing hair. KOINON MAKĐÎONΩN NEΩ, Alexander the Great on his legendary horse, Bucephalus, galloping right with cape flowing behind him.* Numismatic Note: Leaders like Julius Caesar and the Romans and the Greeks alike had immense respect for the great accomplishments of Alexander the Great. Macedonia, being the kingdom of Alexander the Greatâs birth, this coin featuring his likeness heralds the Neocorate status of the area, along with the Olympic-style games that accompanied it. Highly-desirable type.
ALEXANDER III the GREAT Olympic type Games Koinon Macedonia Ancient Coin i27404
Alexander III, the Great: Macedonian Greek King: 336-323 B.C. Roman Era, Olympic-Style Games Issue Bronze 27mm (13.00 grams) from the Koinon of Macedonia in Thrace under Roman Control Struck circa 222-235 A.D. under the reign of Roman Emperor Severus Alexander AÎĐÎANÎPOV, Head of Alexander the Great right as Hercules, wearing lion-skin headdress. KOINON MAKĐÎONΩN NĐΩKO B, Agonistic prize table with two urns atop, each containing a palm branch which was a symbol for victory; amphora (vase) below table; B above table.* Numismatic Note: Leaders like Julius Caesar and the Romans and the Greeks alike had immense respect for the great accomplishments of Alexander the Great. Macedonia, being the kingdom of Alexander the Greatâs birth, this coin featuring his likeness heralds the Neocorate status of the area, along with the Olympic-style games that accompanied it. Highly-coveted type.
ALEXANDER the GREAT Roman Macedonia Koinon Greek Area Coin Temples i40532
Alexander III, the Great: Macedonian Greek King: 336-323 B.C. Roman Era, Olympic-Style Games Issue Bronze 25mm (11.31 grams) from the Koinon of Macedonia in Thrace under Roman Control Struck circa 222-235 A.D. under the reign of Roman Emperor Severus Alexander AÎĐÎANÎPOV, Head of Alexander the Great right with loose, flowing hair. B KOINON MAKĐÎONΩN NEΩ, Two temples.* Numismatic Note: Leaders like Julius Caesar and the Romans and the Greeks alike had immense respect for the great accomplishments of Alexander the Great. Macedonia, being the kingdom of Alexander the Greatâs birth, this coin featuring his likeness heralds the Neocorate status of the area, along with the Olympic-style games that accompanied it. Highly-coveted type.
Alexander III the Great Olympic Style Games KOINON Ancient Roman Coin i30609
Alexander III, the Great: Macedonian Greek King: 336-323 B.C. Roman Era, Olympic-Style Games Issue Bronze 25mm (8.61 grams) from the Koinon of Macedonia in Thrace under Roman Control Struck circa 222-235 A.D. under the reign of Roman Emperor Severus Alexander AÎĐÎANÎPOV, Head of Alexander the Great right with loose, flowing hair. KOINON MAKĐÎONΩN B NEΩ, Athena seated left, wearing crested Corinthian style helmet, leaning on shield and holding patera.
ALEXANDER III the GREAT Greek Coin Roman Times KOINON Macedon Coin i28366
Alexander III, the Great: Macedonian Greek King: 336-323 B.C. Roman Era, Olympic-Style Games Issue Bronze 25mm (13.24 grams) from the Koinon of Macedonia in Thrace under Roman Control Struck circa 222-235 A.D. under the reign of Roman Emperor Severus Alexander AÎĐÎANÎPOV, Head of Alexander the Great right with loose, flowing hair. KOINON MAKĐÎONΩN NEΩ, Alexander the Great on his legendary horse, Bucephalus, galloping right, holding spear and cape flowing behind him, star below.
Alexander III the Great Bucephalus Ancient Greek MACEDONIA KOINON Coin i30608
Alexander III, the Great: Macedonian Greek King: 336-323 B.C. Roman Era, Olympic-Style Games Issue Bronze 25mm (12.19 grams) from the Koinon of Macedonia in Thrace under Roman Control Struck circa 222-235 A.D. under the reign of Roman Emperor Severus Alexander AÎĐÎANÎPOV, Head of Alexander the Great right with loose, flowing hair. KOINON MAKĐÎONΩN NEΩ, Alexander the Great on his legendary horse, Bucephalus, galloping right with cape flowing behind him and holding spear.
COMMODUS as HERCULES Megalomania 192AD Ancient Silver Roman Coin Club i43640
Commodus â Roman Emperor: 177-192 A.D. Silver Denarius 17mm (2.50 grams) Rome mint: 192 A.D. Reference: RIC 251; RSC 190; sear5 #5644 L AEL AVREL COMM AVG P FEL, head of Commodus right as Hercules wearing lionskin headdress. HER-CVL RO-MAN AV-GV either side of club of Hercules, all in wreath.* Numismatic Note: This very scarce issue comes from the very end of Commodusâ reign where his megalomania got him to image that he was the re-incarnation of Hercules. Desirable type.
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 Find It Here: Alexander the Great Ancient Greek Coin Types VIDEO An interesting video about world coins. An expert numismatist created this to educate people.
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Whatâs the most underrated pre-Alexander king of Macedon?
Easy. Perdikkas II.
He kept Macedonia independent throughout the long-ass Peloponnesian War. He changed sides 11 times to do so, and Thucydides kinda hated him. So be careful about what Thucydides says about him in his history. It's NOT unbiased. Thucydides wound up exiled due to losing Amphipolis for Athens, which he blamed (partly) on Perdikkas, although it was Brasidas (of Sparta) who orchestrated that.
But Perdikkas managed NOT to be obliterated by either the Athenian or Spartan superpowers--nor the powerhouses of Lynkestis or Elimeia either. Remember, at that point, they were independent Upper Macedonian kingdoms. Apparently, the Elimeian cavalry was even superior to the Macedonian for a while.
Alexander I (Perdikkas's father) was more colorful, and overall probably did the most (before Philip II) to push Macedon forward. And Archelaos (Perdikkas's son) might have topped Alex I, if he hadn't got himself murdered in 399.
BUT ... the most underestimated/underrated king?
That's my man, Perdikkas Alexandrou!
If you can read German, here you go. Best biography on him.
If you can't read German, but can read English, an older but still solid work on Macedonia generally:
#ancient Macedonia#Argead Macedonia#Perdikkas II#Alexander I of Macedon#Archelaos of Macedon#Perdikkas II of Macedon#Alexander the Great#Philip II of Macedon#Thucydides#Sabine Mueller#Eugene N. Borza#asks
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Dr. Reames, hello! It's great to be able to ask you things here, and thank you very much for taking the time to answer them. I was reading Ian Worthington's By the Spear, which inspires this ask.
Alexander the Great is one of those historical figures who have cemented themselves in general culture. Almost everyone knows who he was. My question, however, is about his father, king Philip II. I understand that historiography has privileged Alexander for a long time. But it seems like another current is re-evaluating the reign of Philip II in comparison to his son's, to reach the conclusion that Philip II was in fact the greatest ruler among them.
The argument goes (or implies, or presuposes) that it was Philip II's military prowess and accomplishments that built the Kingdom of Macedonia to a position where the conquest of the Persian Empire was made possible. If not for Philip II's work on the hegemony of Greece, and creating a strong, centralized Macedonian State, Alexander wouldn't have had the necessary conditions for the invasion of Asia.
And the argument goes on to say that while Philip II left a stronger than ever Macedonia, Alexander's reign brought just as much chaos as it brought glory: the Argead Dynasty would soon be extinct, and the realm divided between the diadochi.
First, would you say Philip II's history was overshadowed by Alexander's, and did that affect the historiography of his reign? Second, do you think this view of Philip II's reign (if it new new at all) is warranted, and Alexander's conquests depended on his father's previous success?
âThe Greatest of the Kings of Europeâ: Philip of Macedon
I open with that assessment from Diodoros (16.95.1). I should note that he named Philip that because Alexander, of course, called himself âKing of Asia.â
The debate as to whether father or son was greater isnât new. It raged in antiquity, too. As part of the philhellenic project of the Second Sophistic, Plutarch styled Alexander as a great conqueror and bringer of (Greek) civilization, due to his superior (Greek) culture and paideia. Philip (and later Darius) function as Alexanderâs barbarian foils. Plutarch resurrects standard 4th-century rhetoric that posited Philipâs success as due to luck, not skill, strategy, or virtue. Arrian, who also wrote during the Second Sophistic but is not counted specifically among those rhetoricians, is not so blunt-knuckled about it, but he certainly highlights Alexanderâs Greek virtues.
In contrast, Lucianâwho, interestingly, is also a member of the Second Sophisticâpreferences Philip, which he makes abundantly clear in Dialogues of the Dead: Philip vs. Alexander (12), then Demosthenes vs. Alexander (13). In both, he mocks Alexanderâs claim of divinity, even though his dead-Alexander admits it was all a political ruse. Curtius Rufus also has issues with Alexander, and Justin didnât like either Alexander or his father. For his detractors, Alexanderâs success is also attributed to luck (TychÄ/Fortuna), not skill or virtueâa theme that resurrects itself in a number of modern assessments.
I think the tendency to pit father and son against each other in modern scholarship merely reflects the ancient tendency, as well as, perhaps, the human desire for zero-sum competition.
Instead, we should look at how later Macedonian monarchs built on the successes of previous kings, or sometimes failed to live up to them. This is the approach I take when teaching either my undergrad ATG and the Macedonian Origin class, or my Argead grad seminar. Was there never any interfamilial competition? Well, looking at how Argeads tended to murder each other, of course there was. But that was between living relatives. If we consider Alexanderâs own career, he seemed to be in competition with Herakles or Dionysos, as much as with Philip. That suggests âcompetitionâ was (like copycatting) a form of flattery.
So yes, Alexander wouldnât have been half as great if his father hadnât handed him a trained and seasoned army with unique and highly effective tacticsâplus a (mostly) unified Greece in his rear. But Philip wouldnât have had space to experiment with those new tactics had his brother Perdikkas III not made him archon of a Macedonian canton. Nor would he have had a place to start updating the army if both Archelaos and earlier, Alexandros I, had not begun to implement Greek hoplite divisions, the use of cavalry, as well as improved military infrastructure such as new roads, forts, etc. Not to mention Alexandros I used the Persian invasion to expand Macedonâs borders and absorb what would come to constitute âLower Macedonia.â
Even Amyntas, Philip and Perdikkasâ father, while arguably a weak king, had managed to right the ship and stay in power for an extended period after the chaos following the murder of Archelaos. He (and Eurydike) raised three boys who didnât try to murder each other when their father died (although Philip, at least, had to eliminate half-brothers).
Each kingâs successes from at least Alexandros I forward (c. 497?-450? BCE)* led to the improvement of the Macedonian kingdom, with the exception of turmoil between Archelaos and Amyntas III.
If nobody (except perhaps Alexandros I) could be placed on a par with either Philip II or Alexander III, those two wouldnât have amounted to much if not for earlier Argead kings. And whatever Philip handed to Alexander, Alexander had to know how to use itâand improve on it. Many a talented father has left everything to a son who failed to secure his fatherâs legacy.
Did Alexanderâs extraordinary success suppress his fatherâs memory? Yes, undoubtably. See the little infographic below to get a sense of just what Philip managed:
But again, I think we must resist arguing that Philip was really the greater of the two, as a form of reactionism.** A reminder of what Alexander managed:
Although his conquests are ALSO overblown, so a reminder in a larger, more global context:
What I see here is a RARE case where a wildly successful father managed to raise an even more wildly successful son, at least by ancient criteria. I think it's fair to ask whether conquest should be regarded as "success," but that's a discussion for another post. In ancient terms, yes, Alexander was extraordinary.
In history, that sort of back-to-back success just doesnât happen much. Iâd like to give them both due credit, as well as recognize that both built on the work of kings before them. Neither Alexander nor Philip sprang, fully armed, from the head of Zeus. Sitting back there in the shadows are Alexandros I, Perdikkas II, and Archelaos.
And, by the way, I dare say the shade of Philip was very proud of his son.
ââââââ-
*Whatever you may read on the Internets, we have neither a secure accession nor death date for Alexandros I. He was king by 497 BCE, before the first Greco-Persian War, and dead by 450. Itâs really the best we can say.
** Richard Gabriel, Philip II of Macedonia: Greater than Alexander (Washington DC, 2010). Which is actually a rather good book in terms of showcasing Philipâs accomplishments, but feels overly strident at times in an attempt to elevate Philip over Alexander.
#Philip II of Macedon#Philip of Macedon#Alexander the Great#Alexander I of Macedon#Perdikkas II of Macedon#Archelaos of Macedon#ancient Macedonia#ancient Greece#Second Sophistic#Classics#tagamemnon#Was Philip greater than Alexander?
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How important was it, really, that Alexander didn't have more brothers? He had Karanos, and it there's the gossip that ATG or his mother killed the boy. Philip Arridhaios apparently wasn't seen as a direct challenge and ATG kept him around. But if Philip had more healthy male offspring around Alexander's age, would that have threatened his hold on power, the partition of the empire or even the military campaigns themselves (the brothers becoming generals for example)?
Philipâs (Lack of) Sons
So, first I need to correct the bit about Karanos. He didnât exist. Justin gave baby EuropÄ a sex-change. No historian reports two children for Kleopatra EurydikÄ, and Justin alone names a boy. We get two children when modern historians try to reconcile Justin and Diodoros/others. But Justin gets things wrong a lot. So, where Justin disagrees with other historians, Iâll go with the others (especially if itâs more than one). Justin wasnât simply epitomizing Pompeius Trogus; he had his own agendas and themes, so he changed things when it suited him.
Therefore, âKaranosâ = EuropÄ,* born just a few days (maybe a week or two) before Philipâs murder.
The wives and children of Philip are reported in a fragment from Satyrus preserved in Athenaeus (13.557b-c). Of his (living) children, we have four girls (KynannÄ, Kleopatra, ThessalonikÄ, and EuropÄ), and only two boys (Arrhidaios and Alexander).
I specify living because ancient accounts donât usually list children who died young unless it somehow impacted events. So, the murder of EuropÄ, which led to the suicide of Kleopatra EurydikÄ, means EuropÄ got a mention whereas if sheâd died of some childhood disease, weâd probably not hear about her.
Ergo, itâs possible Philip did sire other children who simply didnât survive long enough to make it into the historiesâespecially if theyâd been born (and died) in his earlier years. In Dancing with the Lion, I invented a son (Menelaos) by the shadowy Phila of Elimeia, who died young, specifically to illustrate that point.
The two-to-four ratio of boys to girls suggests Philip fathered girls more than boys. Would more boys have endangered Alexanderâs place? Certainly, if they were around his age. But not if they were notably youngerâanother point I make in Dancing with the Lion: why Alexander is less upset by Philipâs seventh marriage than his mother. The chance that Kleopatra Eurydike might bear a male child threatened Olympiasâs position far more than Alexanderâs. Even some of my colleagues seem to forget that. While yes, sons and mothers did form a political unit at polygamous courts, that doesnât mean that threats to the motherâs status necessarily entailed threats to a sonâs. Philipâs marriage to Kleopatra EurydikÄ was just such a case. Any son she produced wouldâve been so far behind Alexander in achievements (and thus, a shot at the throne), that the marriage was no threatâwhich is why he attended the wedding. That makes events at the wedding very curious indeed! And convinces me that we donât even begin to have the whole story there.
I made up some things in Rise (no spoilers), precisely because we donât know and I had to come up with something that didnât make Alexander into a reactionary rube. Too often people point to him as a âhotheaded youthâ who made a mountain out of a molehill at his motherâs instigation. Folks, he was eighteen or nineteen. Hotheaded (always), but not some little kid to jump at shadows and Mommyâs tales. Something truly threatening generated that level of reaction from him (and beyond what Diodoros relates at the wedding). It wasnât fear of being replaced by an as-yet-not-even-conceived infant brother--unless Philip had other reasons to replace him, and there werenât any ⊠on the face of it.
Anyway, I want to end by pointing to the Big Pink Elephant in the room that way too many people seem to forgetâŠ.
AMYNTAS PERDIKKA was Alexanderâs chief rival, not Arrhidaios or a fictional infant brother. Amyntas was older than Alexander, the only son of Philipâs older brother Perdikkas (III), whoâd been king before Philip. Amyntas didnât become king when his father died in battle precisely because he was only about a year old, while Philip was c. 23/24, and the kingdom was in crisis. Being a baby was also why Philip didnât kill him. He needed an heir until he could father his own.**
So despite being the eldest Argead after Philip and the legitimate son of a former king, Amyntas spent his life as âthe spare.â Imagine the resentment that would have generated. Itâs not an accident that Alexander had him killed inside six months of taking the throne. And itâs probably in that time frame that Amyntas wouldâve staged a bid for the throne himself. After all, not only was he an Argead, with military experience, he was married to Philipâs eldest child, who was already pregnant, showing he was fertile. He had a really good claim.
Such a clearing out of competing Argeads was standard for any new kingâs first year or so. Itâs what whittled down available Argead males from the five sons (and progeny) of Alexandros I to just three at Philipâs death, a hundred years later: Amyntas, Alexander, and Arrhidaios. Alexander wasnât unique in house-cleaning. Philip had killed his three half-brothers upon taking the throne, keeping only Amyntas, his nephew. This was so typical itâs of note that Alexandros II not only didnât get rid of Perdikkas (III) or Philip (II), but kept around his half-brothers too. It was the exception, not the rule (perhaps because all of them were still too young to be a threat?).
So basically, given Argead patterns, the survival of male siblings/cousins depended on a couple things:
The age of the sibling(s)/cousins. Siblings and half-siblings who were notably younger were likely to be spared if they didnât appear to offer an immediate threat. After all, the new king needed an heir until he could father his own.
The apparent competence of the sibling(s)/cousins. Arrhidaios is our best evidence for this: Alexander took him with him to Asia to keep an eye on himâprevent his use as a stooge in a coupâbut he otherwise kept him alive.
The kingâs personal relationship with the sibling(s)/cousins. This is obviously very hard to determine, as our sources may not tell us, or not tell us honestly, but even if itâs hard, that doesnât mean we should neglect it as a possible motivating factor. It may, in fact, explain why Alexander II (Philipâs older brother) didnât kill his siblings. He may have loved them (and them, him). While we canât say from the evidence, we also shouldnât dismiss that as a possible motivating factor.
Here's an earlier posts about Amyntas, btw.
AMYNTAS PERDIKKA
* The names themselves are a give-away. âEuropÄ,â like âThessalonikÄâ was bestowed in celebration of Philipâs military victories. By contrast, âKaranosâ (which means generic âchiefâ) isnât a royal Macedonian name at all. Bill Greenwalt talks about the nameâs significance in one of his articles, but I canât now recall which.
** There is some question as to whether Amyntas was ever king, however briefly, due to a reference to an âAmyntas IV.â But many of us believe that was part of a challenge to Alexander later, not proof that Amyntas was king briefly, and Philip his regent.
#asks#Philip II of Macedon#Philip of Macedon#Alexander the Great#Arrhidaios#Perdikkas III of Macedon#Alexander II of Macedon#Amyntas Perdikka#ancient macedonia#Argead Macedonia#Inheritance in Argead Macedonia#Karanos#Justin lies
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Can I please ask you about the rise of Antipater and what justifies Philip's & Alexander's trust on him? His backstory seems very obscure for the immense power and senior position he achieved within Macedon & the royal house. Can I also question why he never tried to marry into the royal family all this time even though his son shamelessly vied for the throne?
Antipatros (Antipater), Son of Iolaos
Antipatros was regent across four reigns (Perdikkas III, Philip II, Alexander III, and Philip III Arrhidaios/Alexander V), and possibly five (Alexander II). Thatâs almost unheard of. So yes, his influence was massive.
Aside from being a statesman, he also wrote a history about the reign of Perdikkas III (Philipâs older brother), and two books of letters, some of which were to Aristotle, his close friend. He acted as executor for Aristotleâs will after the latterâs death in 323 (yes, same year as Alexander). He seems to have had an intellectual-philosophic bent and was almost twenty years older than Philip. Thereâs a funny story in Athenaeus (I believe), wherein Philip and Parmenion were playing a game of droughts. Yet when Antipatros entered the room, Philip shoved the gameboard under his chairâlike a naughty boy. It seems Philipâs older brother Perdikkas had a more philosophical bent himself, which may have paired well with Antipatrosâperhaps why Antipatros wrote a history about him (not Philip). If Philip certainly seems to have trusted Antipatros, he doesnât seem to have been as close to him as to Parmenion.
If Waldemar Heckel is correct, Antipatros and Antigonos Monophthalmos were allies, and Parmenion was his/their adversary. As the allyship with Antigonos depends on ties in the Successor Wars, itâs unclear how far back it went however. Alexanderâs death scrambled older partnerships. Eumenes was supposedly a friend of Krateros, but they fought on opposite sides, and it was Eumenesâs tricky tactics that got Krateros killed. That said, I can see Parmenion and Antipatros at political odds, being the two most prominent men at Philipâs court. And, of course, Antipatros famously clashed with Olympias, and with Eumenes (Philipâs, then Alexanderâs secretary).
Antipatros had at least ten kids with (probably) more than one wife. Seven of those were boys, only three girls. Yet as Iâve frequently pointed out, girls are rarely mentioned unless they played a role in history, and all three we know of did: Phila, Nikaia, and (of course) Berenike of Egypt, one of Ptolemyâs wives. Iâm betting on more girls we just donât hear about. The unnamed wife of Alexander of Lynkestis might have been Nikaia or Berenike, but she could easily have been someone else entirely.
If Kassandros eventually became king, it doesnât seem Antipatros was too fond of him. Given that Kassandros was younger than Alexander, but Antipatros notably older than Philip, we may wonder if most of his older kids were female. His fatherâs name was Iolaos, but Kassandros was supposedly his eldest son ⊠which is odd, as in most cases, a man named his eldest son after his own father. If not hard-and-fast, it was extremely common. That Antipatros had a much younger son named Iolaos, this could suggest there was an older boy who died, either in war or diseaseâso Antipatros then named a new son Iolaos, leaving Kassandros as (now) eldest. Several of the daughters also seem to have been older than him.
Anyway, letâs go back to Antipatrosâs own father, Iolaos. Given the naming patterns, I want to point out that an Iolaos was regent for Perdikkas II, back during the Peloponnesian War. Thatâs quite possibly Antipatros father, as Antipatros was born c. 400. (We happen to know his death year from the Marmor Parium: 319 BCE, at 81-ish. Image of the inscription below.)
Weâve good reason to suppose Antipatros was regent for Perdikkas III before Philip, so we may be looking at a family âdynasty,â of top advisors for the king. Iâm skeptical that Alexander was ever truly worried about Antipatrosâs loyalties, but if he was, that might be why: his family had been throne-adjacent so long, he thought it time he sat in it, especially if Alexander was off Great-Kinging it in Persia. Certainly, that family prestige seemed to drive Kassandros.
As for Antipatros not trying to marry into the familyâŠwe donât know that he didnât. I suspect one BIG reason Alexander didnât marry before leaving Macedon is that both Antipatros and Parmenion had convenient daughters of an age to offer him a bride, and he was disinclined to be that much under eitherâs thumb.
Antipatros was a very capable general, if not quite on Kraterosâs levelâone reason he courted Krateros after Alexanderâs death, offering him Phila, Balakrosâs widow. (Balakros had been a satrap in Cilicia.) And of course, after Krateros died on the battlefield, Phila went on to marry Demetrious Poliorketes, so she became the âmotherâ of the Antigonid Dynasty.
Anyway, fun fact, Antipatrosâdespite his very âtraditionalâ mindsetâconsidered Phila exceptional and sought her advice in politics, as if a son. I suspect heâd have handed over the regency to her in a heartbeat, if that had been an option. Instead, he was stuck with Polyperchon ⊠just the-hell-not Kassandros!
A quite interesting historical novel could be written from Antipatrosâs point of view, covering the reign of four Macedonian kings, although from a purely European (not Asian) point-of-view. That, in itself, would make a fantastic way to differentiate such a novel from âall the othersâ (including mine). Not unlike The Shadow King by Harry Sidebottom about Alexander Lynkestis. Iâve not yet read that one, but I bought it and will at some point. I like new takes.
#asks#Antipatros#Antipater#Alexander the Great#Philip II of Macedon#Philip of Macedon#Perdikkas III of Macedon#Antigonos Monophthalmos#Parmenion#officers of Philip of Macedon#ancient Macedonia#Hellenistic Era#Kassandros#Classics#regents of Macedon
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Hello Dr. Reames! Why do you think Alexander never set his sights on the conquest of Sicily - a rich island with longstanding Greek presence? Is it because when he came to the throne the plan to invade Persia was already on its way? I understand that Rome was a backwater town at this point and that Persia was the bigger prize, but Sicily always remained rich and hotly disputed
Inertia had a lot to do with Alexanderâs choice, plus SIZE of the conquest, plus a plausible reason for the attack. Iâm going to address these backwards.
Sicily, at least in the east, wasâas you noteâGreek, itâs largest city, Syracuse, Corinthâs most famous (and successful) colony. If conquest was still a valid reason for war in his world, increasingly parameters were put on it. We may understand these as window dressing concealing motives often economic (âfollow the money,â ancient version). Yet by the 4th century, attacks on âfellow Greekâ city-states needed some sort of rationale beyond naked ambitionâoften a current or historical beef.
Hence, Philipâs reason for attacking Persia (all about the money) was vengeance for the Greco-Persian Wars of over a century prior.
Another example, with Sicily in particular: Athens attacked Syracuse during the Peloponnesian War because she wanted Sicilian timber (for naval construction), after Brasidas of Sparta had convinced Perdikkas II of Macedon to cut off Macedonian timberâwhich had been Athensâ supply since the Greco-Persian Wars. Yet Athens justified the attack because Syracuse was a daughter-city of Corinth and Corinth was a member of the Peloponnesian league. Not to mention the war began due to Athenian-Corinthian aggression. So, by extension, Syracuse was tagged as an enemy of the Delian League (e.g., Athensâ not-so-covert empire), and ripe for hostilities.
Alexander didnât have a ready-made excuse to attack Sicily. He probably could have found one, if heâd really wanted to, but this brings me to my second point.
Sicily is just not that big. And if some of her cities were wealthy enough, they didnât begin to compare to Persia. When it comes to Alexander, âThink smallâ was never his modus operandi. LOL. Sicily would have been regarded like the Greek city-states of Anatolia (Asia Minor): a worthy acquisitionâŠon the way to Bigger and Better. Yet Sicily lay westâŠnot on the way to Bigger and Better. Just then. (more below)
Last, and the real reason: simple inertia.
Persia was the campaign his father had planned for probably a decade, and had fought south Greece to line up support for, culminating in the Battle of Chaironeia and the League of Corinth. Alexander did have to spend his first two years re-pacifying the Thracian and Illyrian north, not to mention re-fight Thebes to keep the south quiet ⊠but PERSIA was what heâd been hearing about for yearsâwhat all Philipâs alliances were formed to pounce on.
To suddenly change and set his sights west on Sicily wouldnât have made much sense, not to mention it would have alienated some of the city-states he needed (particularly his naval allies). He couldnât have sold it as a âPanhellenicâ crusade in revenge for the Greco-Persian War.
So, basically, I doubt it would ever have occurred to Alexander to sail west to attack Sicily when Persia was the biggerâand long planned uponâprize.
Now, let me add thatâif academic speculation is correct and Alexander was setting up a campaign against Carthage near the end of his lifeâitâs quite likely that Sicily, and especially Syracuse, would have figured into thatâŠbut as allies, just as later with Rome. Carthage had long held the western part of Sicily, and struggled with the Greeks in the east for control of the whole. Conflicts with Carthage are why Syracuse invited in Rome for what became the First Punic War.
By the end of his life, and after Agisâs Revolt was crushed, Alexander was such a power, the Greek city-states had mostly given up opposing him. They contented themselves with snarky remarks and symbolic gesturesâuntil after ATGâs death, when they rose up to try and oppose Antipatros in the Lamian WarâŠwhich failed.
Yet if we could suppose Alexander had recovered from his last illness and did attack Carthage, Syracuse (et al.) would have been all over that. Theyâd have stood to benefit handsomely in territorial acquisitions. And at that point in time, Alexander probably was the only power that could have beaten Carthage on the water.
Hope this helps to explain why Alexanderâs focus was always Persia.
A last thing: the nature of the Greek landscape, with the formidable Pindus Mountains down the center, had divided the peninsula east and west for centuries. The city-states on the east fronted the Aegean Sea, while those on the west fronted the Corinthian and Adriatic Seas. This affected both colonization and conquest ambitions. So eastern city-states tended to look east and western (including the Peloponnesos) tended to look west.
Macedon looked east. By contrast, Epiros looked west. Thatâs why Alexander of Epiros went to Italy while his nephew went to Persia. Never underestimate the impact of simple geography on history in the ancient world.
#asks#ancient Sicily#Syracuse#Alexander the Great#ancient Macedonia#ancient Greece#Alexander the Great's campaigns#Philip of Macedon#ancient Persia#Peloponnesian War#Greco-Persian War#Alexander the Great's ambitions#Classics
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Should we (not) read old history books?
And by old I mean academic works from maybe the 1960s onwards. Of course I understand what you always say about dated opinions, advances on historiography & archeology. And I don't dispute in any way, shape or form that we should always read the most recent work.
But is the old academic work really that disposable? Don't we have anything to learn with history books from the 80s, 90s, 2000s? Thanks for your attention.
The problem isnât so much that theyâre old, but thatâif youâre entering an area of history about which you might not know muchâolder books can have pitfalls that newer ones donât. This is hardly to say, just because something is recent, itâs good. Far from it. But my caution on older books was specifically in response to the query about reading pop history, and how to know what to trust.
So thatâs the caveat. In that same post, I mentioned that I still regularly recommend Brian Bosworthâs Conquest and Empire from 1988. Itâs a great fast summary and he tackles several important themes in part II. I also often recommend Gene Borzaâs In the Shadow of Olympus (1991). Until Sabine published her book on Perdikkas, his chapter on Perdikkas there was the best thing in print (and still is in English).
Of course, to me, the 80s arenât old books. Ha. When I think âoldâ books, Iâm thinking 1950s and earlier. Part of that owes to the fact some very important ideological changes happened in history as a discipline in the 1960s and 1970s.
Yet one issue with older booksâeven good onesâinvolves new evidence. The asker alludes to that. Unfortunately, one must already know something about a field to discern what information in an older book is outdated. So, letâs take Geneâs In the Shadow as an example. Two very important changes in evidence have happened since that book came out. First, the matter of language (and thus ethnicity) of the ancient Macedonians. Gene argues that we donât know what language the ancient Macedonians spoke, in large part because we just donât have enough of it to judge. He suggests it might not be Greek (which was how he leaned at the time). That was all trueâŠin 1990. But we do now have enough epigraphical evidence to say the ancient Macedonians spoke a form of Doric Greek (and Attic for court business). That means they were Greeks, however âbackwardsâ politically/culturally, to the Greek mind.*
Similarly, none of us knew then what was about to come out of the ground at Archontiko in the early 2000s. Even what weâd seen at Aigai and Sindos didnât make it clear how astonishing the Archaic Age was, up there. All these recent discoveries have changed what we think we know about Argead Macedonia before Philip and Alexander. Gene hinted at some of it in his assertion that, from Archelaos to Philip, Macedon went through a slump, and Philip brought it back. It didnât just emerge from the swamps with Philip (as Demosthenes and other ancient writers would have one believe). So, Gene was already on the leading curve, but in 1990, none of us had seen enough yet. I remember sending him pictures from Archontiko near the end of his life, and he was very excited, commenting how it would change our ideas about Archaic Era Macedon.
So, if you read his book (and I hope you do), a lot of whatâs in there is still solid material, 30 years later. But a few things are dated. And now you know two things that areâŠbecause I told you.
But if you didnât have me to tell you, how would you know?
Ergo my caution. If youâre entering a field thatâs new to you, start with later articles and work your way backwards. Ironically, thatâs how I got into Macedonian historyâŠreading arguments in the footnotes of articles, especially between the âThree Bsâ (Badian, Borza, and Bosworth), plus Green, Heckel, Carney, Anson, Adams, and Greenwalt. Before I ever knew those guys, I was reading their citations ofâand commentary aboutâeach other. From that, I was able to render my own ideas of what I trusted, and didnât trust, about Alexander, Philip, and Macedonia.
And that brings me to my final point. YES, reading earlier articles and books is very important when you really get into a field, precisely for the HISTORIOGRAPHY. In this case, not ancient, but modern. How did a field develop over time? To grok where Alexander studies are today, one must know a bit about where they began, with the heroizing of Droysen, Tarn, et al. in the late 1800s and pre-war era, down to Badian blowing it all up post-war in the late 1950s and the revolution of the â60s and â70s with Badian, Green, Bosworth, and Schachermeyer and their revisionist view of ATG. About the same time, we get the rise of Macedonian Studies apart from Alexander and Philip, under Edson, Dell, Hammond, and their students. And it all peaked really with the discovery of the Royal Tombs at Vergina when Macedonian archaeology both married and divorced (at the same time) Macedonian history. Itâs really hard to express how radically ATG and Macedonian studies changed in the 1980s and â90s. Then is changed again in the early 2000s when everybody got tired of debating Whoâs Buried in Philipâs Tomb and Macedonian ethnicty. Archaeology turned up new treasures but passed mostly into Greek hands (and was written in modern Greek) while historians started looking more closely at literary trends and Romanization overlay. More recently yet, (some) archaeology is coming back into English, and a wider awareness, welding to new literary approaches to ATG and Macedonian history. And donât forget the important publication of Brillâs New Jacoby, making a huge contribution to source criticism! Where are we headed next? Time will tell!
So yes, reading older texts helps one situate where we are now relative to where we were then, and back then, and even before back then.
That said, if youâre brand new to reading about Alexander the Great, PLEASE please donât pick up either Droysen or Tarnâs history of Alexander and think itâs anything close to accurate.
Weâve come a long way, baby.
âââââââ-
* If youâve read my Dancing with the Lion, you know that I tried to flip that, looking at Greece from the north and giving the Macedonian view of Greeks. So I want to emphasize that each side viewed the other was âlesser.â Iâm not advocating, above, the Greek view as correct.
#asks#more on history books#modern historiography#are older history books valid?#Alexander the Great#historiography of Alexander the Great#what pitfalls older books have#Classics#ancient history
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Can I politely ask for a top 10 best kings of Macedon?
I'm not sure we know of 10 kings. LOL Well, we could name 10, but not 10 who lasted any amount of time.
I'll give you the top 6, from a Macedonian view (which might surprise):
Alexander I (true founder/initial expansion)
Philip II (largest expansion)
Perdikkas II (kept Macedon independent in Pel War)
Alexander III (the Great)
Archelaos (continued modernizing)
Amyntas III (ended the succession madness after Archelaos's death)
For why, HERE is a longer post, largely about Alex I and Perdikkas II, but about the kingdom before Phil II.
#asks#Argead Macedonia#Argeads#Alexander the Great#Philip II of Macedon#Philip of Macedon#ancient Macedonia#Classics
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Hello! I wanted to ask â in polygamous courts in Macedon and the Hellenistic world, were there any formally defined hierarchies when it came to royal wives (or female relatives) or any official titles that any of them were given to denote their precedence and importance? Or was it more unofficial and undefined? I was reading about Demetrius Poliorcetesâs daughter Stratonike, who had the title of queen (ĆĄarratu) but was also formally known as âprincipal wifeâ (hirtu) during her husband Antiochusâs reign, as seen in the Borsippa Cylinder. The chapter said that this was unique among the Seleukids, so I wanted to understand if there was any precedent for a formal title like this, or if it was more specific and singular for Stratonike?
(the chapter was âSeleukid Womenâ by Marek Jan Olbrycht in âThe Routledge Companion to Women and Monarchy in the Ancient Mediterranean Worldâ, for reference!)
Thank you for taking the time to answer so many asks! Iâve learned a lot from your blog!
First, you're welcome. I'm glad people do actually read these posts!
To answer your question on terminology and royal wives... It seems that, starting with Alexander I (Greco-Persian War and pre-War era), the Macedonians borrowed a number of ideas from the Persian court, polygamy probably one of them. Alexander I, with 5 boys, may have had more than one wife; we simply aren't told. Perdikkas II apparently did have two wives. Archelaos is tagged by the Greeks (who were routinely confused by Macedonian polygamy) as a bastard, the son of a slave or concubine. More likely, he's simply the son of the first wife, of lesser status than a later wife, who gave him the son who initially inherited...and who Archelaos had murdered.
Similarly, in other situations, it seems the status of the mother did have an impact on which son was tagged as heir.
Up through Philip II, they aren't called "queens" any more than the king is actually addressed as "King So-and-so." Yet at least he IS called "king" (basileus) in third person. The wives are just "the king's wives," not "basilissa" (queen).
The change occurs after Alexander's death and especially after the last of the Argeads are eliminated (Philip III Arrhidaios & Alexander IV)...when a lot of things changed of necessity.
By then, the Successors had been exposed to Asian courts and Asian ruling patterns, and of course, Seleukos kept his Persian wife Apama, who had a great deal of influence (as Persian women did, and he was sensible enough to take advantage of). I'd also suggest that Kassandros, the first Macedonian king to use the title for himself (not in 3rd person), was especially keen to elevate his WIFE, an actual daughter of Philip--e.g., an Argead--so "queen" was useful.
As for the "chief wife" title, Persian Great Kings DID have a "chief wife," who was mother of the heir. And they were picky about it, too. The Great King could have as many concubines as he wanted, plus apparently some other wives--from wherever he found them--but the Chief Wife had better be Persian, and enjoyed special prerogatives. If you'd like to look into this before the Hellenistic period, I'd recommend the following three books:
Maria Brosius, Women in Ancient Persia, 559-331 BC
Amelie Kuhrt, The Persian Empire: a Corpus of Sources from the Achaemenid Period
M. A. Dandamaev and V. G. Lukonin, The Culture and Social Institutions of Ancient Iran
Hope this helps a bit.
#asks#Persian Women#Macedonian women#Persian royal women#Macedonian royal women#Hellenistic Macedonia#Alexander's Successors#Seleucid Women
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Reading the Wikipedia articles of most Ptolemaic kings, there's a note right at the beginning: "Numbering the Ptolemies is a modern convention. Older sources may give a number one higher or lower. The most reliable way of determining which Ptolemy is being referred to in any given case is by epithet (e.g. "Philopator")".
I did not find a similar note in articles about the Argeads, Seleucids, or any other Hellenistic dynasty, for that matter, even if their members generally had epithets. This made me look into the list of Ancient Macedonian monarchs, as it occured to me that, besides Alexander the Great, I could not name a single pre-Alexander monarch with an epithet! The only ones I could find were Alexander I the Philhellene and Amyntas II the Little.
Hellenistic monarchs seem to have had all sorts of colorful epithets - Soter, Nicator, Epiphanes, Euergetes, Philopator. Even Macedonian kings had them, but most post-Alexander - Poliorketes, Gonatas, Keraunos. Is there a reason why the Macedonian monarchs from the Argead dynasty do not generally have epithets for which they are known?
Tl;dr answer: as the world widened and certain names became increasingly repetitive in ruling families, epithets were an easy way to separate them. The ânumbering systemâ is recent and largely European. It was retrofitted to the medieval and ancient worlds when writing histories about these eras (and sometimes non-European regions too, such as Japan and China).
Epithets, or ânicknames,â became useful when identifying individuals outside their usual sphere of reference, especially if there might be more than one famous person from (say) Macedon named âAlexandros.â
Thus we get the most famous Alexander (III) Magnus/Megalexandros [the Great]/Alexandros ho AnikÄtos [the Undefeated], but also Alexandros (I) ho Philhellenas [the Philhellene]/Alexandros ho Khruseos [the Golden]. The first name listed for each is the one used by posterity, the latter was the name used in their own lifetime. So no, Alexander III was not called âthe Greatâ until a while after his death. đ
Identifying Individuals in Ancient Greece
We find a two- or three-tiered identification system:
Given Name
Fatherâs name in the genitive = [son/daughter] of ____ (patronymic)
Place of origin (also in the genitive = âof ____â)
The first two are all-but-universal, and the third is a common addition, but may be omitted in cases where the place of origin can be assumed. âPlace of origin,â however, can vary. It may be a city-state/nation, or within a city-state, the phratry (clan) or tribe.
So, if you were to travel from, say, Eretria (on Euboia Island) to Athens, youâd identify yourself: Myron Apollodorou Eretrias = Myron, son of Apollodoros, of Eretria. You wouldnât get specific about a phratry because youâre not home. Nobody cares.
Just like when I travel to Greece, I rarely say, âIâm from Omaha.â I usually just say, âIâm from the States,â and if they ask which state, I add âNebraskaââwhich solicits confused looks. LOL If I were to begin with âIâm from Omaha,â theyâd really be confused! Itâs only inside the US that I say Iâm from Omaha, Nebraska. Inside Omaha, I may give my neighborhood. So thatâs a good referent as to how specific they might get, and under what circumstances.
Another fun fact: it was typical (if not absolute) for the first son to be named for his paternal grandfather, the second for his maternal grandfather, and then by various other male relatives. So, for instance, Perdikkas III, the first of Amyntas IIIâs sons to have a son, named the boy Amyntas. Ergo, Philip named Alexander for his elder brother, who didnât live long enough to marry and procreate. Yet, again, itâs not absolute (unlike in Greece today); e.g., Demosthenes, son of Demosthenes; Aristobulos, son of Aristobulos ⊠Alexander (IV), son of Alexander (III).
As for women, theyâre identified by father or husband (or son or brother). Itâs much rarer to see a place identifier, in part because women were assumed not to travel much. We get exceptions: the famous Aspasia, Periklesâs mistress, was identified (in Athens) as âfrom Miletos.â Also, in royal marriages. So, Olympias was daughter of Neoptolomos, of the Molossoi (ruling clan of Epiros): Olympias Neoptolomou Molossou.
When we get to these upper-class families, with their clan designations, we get closer to what, today, weâd call a âsurname.â
Athens had several aristocratic clans, but the most famous/notorious were the Alkmeonidai, of which Kleisthenes, Perikles, Alkibiades, and Plato were all members (some via their mothers). Another Athenian example were the Philaidai (Miltiades and Kimon).
These aristocratic families took their name from a mythical forefather: e.g., Alkmaion, great-grandson of Nestor (yes, from the Iliad). This pattern was true all over Greece, not just Athens. These are largely the descendants of the old kings (basileis) and nobles (aristokratoi) of the Greek dark age/archaic age (e.g., Late Iron Age).
But in some areas, royal families persisted, such as Epiros, Macedon, and Sparta, who also kept the royal clan designation: Molossoi (Epiros), Temenidai (Macedon), Agiadai and Eurypontidai (Sparta). Thessalyâs main cities also has a semi-ruling royal family, such as the Aleuadai of Larissa, traditional allies of the Macedonian royal house.
While youâll often see me refer to the Macedonian royal family as âArgeads,â* the clan name theyâd have used was âTemenidai,â as they believed themselves to be descendants of Herakles (and thus, Zeus) through his great-great-grandson Temenos. Outside Macedonia, however, theyâd use âMakedononâ (of Macedon). We find Alexander referred to on an ancient Roman bust (the Azara Herm) as Alexandros Philippou Makedonon
Non-royal Macedonians would use Patronymics (+ origin place), so Hephaistion is identified in Arrian as Hephaistion Amyntoros Pellais (Hephaistion, son of Amyntor, of Pella). Krateros, however, is identified only by his patronymic in our texts (the most common pattern), so weâre less clear on where he was from: Krateros Alexandrou (Orestidis?).
In the pre-Philip/Alexander era, itâs usually possible to untangle Macedonian kings by patronymic if employed, but even that doesnât always work. The first Alexandros (I) was the son of an Amyntas and so was the second, Philipâs older brother. Fortunately, we find them referenced in such a way that we usually know whoâs meant.
Usually.
Yet take the fragment from Anaximines (FGrH 72 F 4) that says simply âAlexandrosâ created the Pezhetairoi (Foot Companions).
Um⊠WHICH ONE?! Arguments have been made for Alexander I (Wrightson), Alexander II (Greenwalt), and Alexander III (various).
Welcome to the Wild, Wild West of ancient history. We write entire articles arguing âwhich Alexanderâ because the ancient sources didnât identify him beyond a single name.
In any case, once Macedonia emerged onto the âworld stage,â so to speak, it became critical to find better ways to identify the various Successor kings (Diadochi) of the Hellenistic era. All the more so as they frequently reused names (Ptolemies) or alternated (Seleukos/Antiochos). Ptolemy, son of Ptolemy, son of Ptolemy isnât very meaningful! Epithets became an easy way to identify which Ptolemy.
ââââââ
* âArgeadâ is a modern usage for reasons I wonât go into or itâs Rabbit Hole Time about the putative Greekness (from Argos) of the Macedonian royal family. Suffice to say Alexander would be mightily puzzled to be called an Argead.
#asks#ancient royal designations#epithets for ancient kings#alexander the great#macedonian royal house#ancient greece#ancient greek naming patterns#ancient macedonia#classics#temenidae#naming ptolemies#naming seleucids#tagamemnon#royal designations
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Why do you think it took Alexander such a long time to *actively* go about making an heir? I understand that marriage in the early 20's was uncommon but that for him it was especially undiplomatic to tie himself down to one particular faction at court at the start of his reign. His father himself was very quick to marry into peace. Why did it take Alexander so long to address that issue? He could have officiated his union with Staitera whenever. Or had anyone he wanted at 25 after Issus.
First, I've been preparing for, then in New York for some cool things I'll talk about later. But it's slowed down my answers. (Now, I have to catch up for the time spent preparing, so I'll still be slow.)
Also, I realized I answered this once before, so here is the other (somewhat shorter) reply.
Argead Inheritance and Alexanderâs (lack of) Heirs (Take II)
A lot of historians have asked why Alexander didnât marry earlier and put off producing an heir. My own answer involves what I think were some unrecognized attempts mixed with bad luck. To really understand, however, we have to look at the behavior of prior Macedonian kings, and how the Argead Dynasty understood succession. Buckle-up Buttercup, this is a longer one. đ
Letâs begin with Philip (II) and his older brother Perdikkas (III), the only two prior kings whose ages of first marriage we know or can reasonably guess. Let me also preface it by saying that while prior Macedonian kings sometimes had more than one wife, nobody had seven.* (The most Iâm aware of are two, maybe three.) Philipâs military and political success led to an expansion on royal marriage in Macedon.
Perdikkas III ruled c. 5 years. Weâre unsure how much older he was, but 2-3 years and possibly more. At his death, he had a son about a year old (Amyntas). We donât know the name of Perdikkasâs wife, or when he married, but he was married at least 2 years. At his death, he would have been 25-30, probably closer to 30. My guess is he married after coming to the throne (for reasons Iâll skip as this is already long enough).
Philip married 5 times in his first 5-6 years; all were political. He was c. 23/24 when he came to the throne. For his first marriage, he wasnât given much choice. Like Beth Carney, I consider Audata the first wife (not Phila), and he married her as part of a deal with Bardylis to prevent all-out invasion of Upper Macedonia following his brotherâs death (along with half the Macedonian army) on a battlefield in Lynkestis. That marriage made him a client king.
This marriage may explain his rapid second marriage to Phila of Elimeia (independent kingdom until Philip). He probably contracted it shortly after to get the skillful Elimeian cavalry, et al., on his side for a second go at Bardylis just the next year. No grass grew under Philipâs feet.
In addition, Bill Greenwalt has proposed that Philip and Olympias were betrothed some years prior by their brother and uncle, respectively, when she was still a girl and he was in his teensâa backroom alliance against the threat of Bardylis. Obviously, it didnât save Perdikkas. In 360, she still wasnât old enough to bring to Pella, nonetheless, the alliance existed. Philip already had Lynkestis via his mother Eurydike. Andâif Parmenion really was from Pelagoniaâhe also had that kingdom, if not via marriage/family. Thatâs a solid border against Illyria. (See map)
So, his first marriages/betrothal were driven by a need to deal with Illyria. His next marriages, a few years later, reflected a need to settle matters in Thessaly on his southern border. Marriage for him was all about securing the Macedonian borders. Those five marriages produced five surviving children from four wivesâtwo of them boys.
He doesnât marry again for almost a decade, and then itâs to settle matters in northern Thrace.
The last marriage, whatever our sources say, was also almost certainly political, but this time to address apparent internal conflict. Weâre not sure what that was; itâs been lost to layers of drama involving Alexander and Olympias, but it probably owed to tension between Upper and Lower Macedoniaâwhich hadnât been united all that long.
So, Philipâs marriages were politically driven. He got children out of them, but that wasnât the driving reason for him to marryâexcept possibly the last. Internal conflict or not, he may also have married again to father a âbackupâ heir, in case he lost Alexander and/or Amyntas in Persia (more below).
Thatâs the view of [royal] marriage Alexander grew up with: Macedonian kings marry for politicsâŠnot necessarily to secure heirs.
We must also review the crazy method of Argead inheritance.** ANY Argead male could hold the throne. There was a preference for the son of the prior king, or at least a prior king. There also seems to have been a preference for a son by the higher/highest status wife. Yet because any Argead could hold the throne, virtually no Argead king went unchallenged either at the beginning of, or sometimes later in his reign.
Supposedly, on his deathbed, when asked to whom he left his kingdom, Alexander replied, âTo the strongest.â That pretty much sums up Argead inheritance.
For this reason, underage Macedonian heirs/kings usually didnât live/rule long. The one âinfant kingâ tale comes from an era before we have a surviving historical record to know how long he reigned, or if it were all legendary. The list of Macedonian kings before Amyntas I, father of Alexander I, may be semi-mythical, like early Roman kings. See imageâŠhelpfully numbered (by me). Stemma itself from In the Shadow of Olympus, E. N. Borza.
Alexander I (Persian Wars) had five living sons. The line of inheritance went through the third, Perdikkas II (Peloponnesian War era), then down to ArchelaosâŠafter that, things get a bit crazy until Amyntas III (Philipâs father). He descended from Alex Iâs youngest son, which established a new line that lasted until Alexander IV. But in that time, because of the somewhat laissez-faire attitude towards who could inherit, we have a lot of internecine battles every time a king died, which thinned the herd.
The arithmetic of high infant mortality plus death in war meant Macedonian kings needed an âheir and a spare, and the spareâs spare.â Philip had that after his first spate of marriages: Alexander, Arrhidaios, and Amyntas (his nephew). That Arrhidaios was unfit became apparent only over time, but was still good to father sons.
When, post-Chaironeia, Philip prepared to invade Persia, he made a spate of royal marriages first. Arrhidaiosâs betrothal was meant to get an Asian bridgehead/ally, but fell through thanks to Alexanderâs meddling. Amyntas was given his cousin Kynnane, who wound up pregnant quickly. That turned out to be a girl, but it proved both were fertile: more children to come. This marriage may also have been a sop to keep Amyntas loyal. Kleopatra was married off to the king of Epiros to solidify one of Macedonâs closest allies and alleviate any insult to Olympias at Philipâs own final marriage.
As for that wedding, in addition to any internal politics, it gave him opportunity for another son. He had to consider the possibility that he could lose both Alexander and Amyntas in combat, and perhaps even himself, if it all were to go south. Arrhidaios was a stop-gap. An infant son back home could eventually take the throne.âžž
Yet the one person he does NOT prepare nuptials for? Alexander.
Why? He almost certainly planned to marry him to one of Dariusâs daughters. He admitted as much when he dressed down Alexander for having offered himself to marry Pixodarosâs daughter in Arrhidaiosâs place. That would have made an impression on Alexander, perhaps in shame: he was meant for royalty only.
When Alexander ascended the throne, he owed it to the support of the two most important men in Macedon: Antipatros and ParmenionâŠwho, if not open enemies, each had their own factions. Both had eligible daughters, but to avoid giving one side too much power, heâd have had to marry both, or none at all.
OR, as Tim Howe has suggested, he might have decided to marry his fatherâs young widow.
It wouldnât have been the first time in Macedonian history. And it explains, oh, so much better, why Olympias killed Kleopatra-Eurydike. Keep in mind, Kleopatra-Eurydikeâs new husband was dead and sheâd delivered only (another) girl mere days earlier. Olympias may have enjoyed her discomfiture at being sidelined more than her death.
Unless Alexander decided to marry her. She was almost certainly younger than him, and had proven fertile. Maybe he saw the marriage as a way to further solidify support. But it would have challenged Olympiasâs status. I donât know thatâs what happened, but Tim makes a good case, and her decision to kill the girl to remove the threat then becomes intelligible rather than just bloodthristy.
When Mommy Dearest eliminated the option, young Alex was back to square one. Marry a daughter of Antipatros and of Parmenion, or stay unmarried. He chose the latter.
Yes, it left no heir to the throne (other than Arrhidaios), but he didnât have any good options that werenât also a potential political grenade. And unlike his fatherâs situation in 359/8, marriage wasnât foisted on him. He could wait a few years, so he did.
But after Issos, the Persian royal family came into his possession, and by this point, he was 24, the same age his father had been at his first marriage. Pressure began to mount. Here were all these pretty Persian ladiesâŠ. PICK ONE. It wouldnât have been just Parmenion saying so.
Thereâs been some recent speculation that he married Barsine, didnât just take her as a mistress. While possible, Iâm not sure itâs probable. She came with a lot of baggage for a first marriage. Making her his mistress, especially if a palakÄ, provided her with a respectable, recognized status, but still left the door open for a first marriage becauseâŠ.
As the asker alludes to, he almost certainly also bedded Statiera, Dariusâs wife. Why marry the pony horse when you can have the racehorse? Oh, oops. Sheâs still married because her husband is still alive. How inconvenient.
So why didnât he just declare her divorced and make it official?
Politics. However much he didnât really understand Persian affairs of state, he understood optics, and general human reactions. Greeks and Macedonians would want him to bed the queen because thatâs the ultimate piss-in-the-eye of the Other Guy. But after Issos, Alexander was hoping to bring other satraps over to him. By not touching Statiera or her daughtersâat least at firstâhe presented himself as civilized and respectful. He even offered Darius his family back, on one condition. Surrender. Darius had to come as a suppliant to ask for them.
Of course, Darius refused. Nor did Alexander expect him to agree, but the required dance had been performed. When Darius began soliciting a new army, the tacit message was, âYou can have the women.â âžžâžž
While all these negotiations took place, Alexander had Barsine. Keep in mind, the letters would have taken weeks, probably months. The number of letters is unclear, but probably two each. The final exchange occurred sometime in the seven months of Alexanderâs siege of Tyre.
Why do I say he was bedding Statiera, and (probably) planned to marry her? After all, Plutarch is adamant he was too chivalrous even to look at her again after their first meeting! Well, Plutarch also tells usâwithout apparent ironyâthat Statiera died in childbirth along with an infant son just a few weeks before GaugamelaâŠwhich was two years after Issos. That sure as hell wasnât Dariusâs kid. And no, nobody else would have been allowed to touch her. Plutarch lied. Why? Itâs all part of his honorable âSleep-and-sex-remind-me-Iâm-mortalâ Alexander. Itâs also Plutarch who turns the marriage of Roxane into a âlove-at-first-sightâ affair.
In any case, I think Statiera was another marriage that Alexander planned, but fate prevented.
If we count back 40-or-so weeks from her death in mid-September of 331, that puts us in December of 332. Alexander had entered Egypt in November. Itâs doubtful she accompanied him on the trek to Siwah, so his opportunities for impregnating her were at the beginning of his Egyptian stay, or towards the end. Keep in mind that while we know she died in childbirth, we donât know if it was full term. Accounting for Siwah, she was probably either nine months or seven months along. As for when he started sleeping with her, probably any time after the final exchange of letters with Darius.
In the spring of 331, he left Egypt to return to Tyre before moving inland to find Darius. It may be here that he retired Barsine, sending her off to Pergamon (in Asia Minor). If thatâs the case, Herakles definitely wasnât his, as the boy was born some years later. In any case, by the time Alexander left Tyre, Statiera probably knew she was pregnant and would almost certainly have told him.
I think he held off marrying her until he could meet Darius again in battle (and kill him), which he assumed immanent. Yet the Macedonians had no concept of how big the interior was. And Darius wanted to draw Alexander onto the plains of northern Iranâbut not too fast. He burned fields in front of the Macedonians partially, intending to leave them with enough food to continue, but not enough to fill bellies. He assumed a hungry army would be insubordinate, but underestimated both Macedonian discipline and Alexanderâs scouting and intelligence. By September, Alexander had finally caught him up east of ancient Nineveh across the Tigris.
Then Statiera went into labor and died. BOOM, Alexanderâs marry-the-wife plan fell apart for a second time, and he lost a potential heir in the process. Did a lack of food contribute to her death? Maybe. Sheâd had at least 3 healthy children, but was also in her mid/late 30s, possibly early 40s. Lack of food or not, an army camp would hardly be easy on an older woman in late pregnancy. (Had my first at 33; I can speak to that.)
But!, you may be wondering, even if Statiera had lived and Darius had died (as was Alexanderâs ostensible plan), wouldnât a baby born before marriage have been a bastard? Wouldnât matter. First, given the cloistering of highborn Persian women, itâd be easy enough to lie about such things. Second, bastard or not, the child was still an Argead.
It would also explain why he didnât marry immediately after Issosânor after Gaugamela. Plan A died in the birthing bed, and Plan B, the daughters, were too young yet. Furthermore, it wasnât over at Gaugamela. Heâd have to chase Darius furtherâŠ.
He dropped off the girls in Susa for safe-keeping and went after Darius. Again, we must recall, he had no idea how long this would take. He probably assumed heâd be back in Susa in a year or so. Instead, he wouldnât see Susa again for six.
In 327 (c. 3.5 years later). he finally decided to marryâfor political reasons: to achieve peace in Baktria. Now pushing 30, and given how long everything had taken, he chose not to put it off any longer; he could always marry the princess later. Ironically, this marriage was not well-received by the army, although it wasnât much different from his fatherâs marriages. Then again, we have no idea how Philipâs marriages were received at the time. I doubt the army was thrilled to have an armor-wearing, battle-trained Illyrian princess as Philâs first bride.
Whatever the case, Alexander had a wife and, if we can trust the Metz Epitome, he lost little time getting her pregnant. But she miscarried (again, perhaps a boy). He just wasnât having much luck fathering living childrenâŠperhaps because he kept dragging his women through tough conditions. One had a geriatric pregnancy and the other was probably 14-16: neither optimal ages.
In any case, as soon as he was back in Susa, he planned the mass weddings, at which he finally married Dariusâs daughter, Barsine, as well as Parysatis, Barsineâs cousin. Within a year, he had both Roxane and Barsine pregnant, if not Parysatis.
So, we have to shed the moralizing of Plutarchâs narrative and evaluate what was really going on. Alexander may not have married till 29, but he probably angled for it at least once (Statiera) and possibly twice (Kleopatra-Eurydike) before that. Should he have stopped aiming for queens and just married a nice girl to pop out babies? Well, thatâs essentially what he did with Roxana. Maybe he should have started there, back in Macedonia before he left, but he didnât, and at 22, it wasnât a shocking choice.
Yes, Macedonian kings certainly worried about heirs, but to produce an heir was not the primary way Philip, or Alexander, used marriage. It served political goals first, inheritance second.
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* To be fair, he didnât have seven at the same time. We know one (Nikesepolis, Thessalonikeâs mother) was dead before Philip married Meda (#6), and itâs quite possible the mysterious Phila of Elimeia (#2) also died young. At the time of his death, we can be sure only of Olympias and Kleopatra-Eurydike, although at least some of the others were likely still around. My guess is there were four-to-five wives in the womenâs quarters in 336. (In Dancing with the Lion, there are four: Philina, Olympias, Meda, and Kleopatra-Eurydike.)
** An almost prohibitive amount of scholarly debate, most in article/book-chapter form, concerns whether or not Macedonia had a âconstitutional monarchy,â and whatâif anyâsay the army had in choosing a king. While some constitutionalists remain (M. Hatzopoulos most notably), these days the bulk of scholars (not in Greece) favor a position of ânomosâ (custom) but no formal rules. For a bibliography of the debate, at least up through 2002, see Carol Kingâs chapter in Brillâs Companion to Alexander the Great (Roisman, 2003). A new Companion from Cambridge, edited by Daniel Ogden, is currently in the works, probably out in 2023, which will likely update the state of the scholarly conversation.
âžž This is more or less what the army demanded at Alexanderâs death: Arrhidaios for now as Philip III, along with infant Alex IV, whoâd presumably go on to reign alone when of age. But by that point, ambitious generals were happy just to end the Argead Dynasty altogether and form their own. Like most underage Macedonian kings, Alex IVâs days were numbered, even as the last Argead. Once, the gloss of divine descent from Herakles might have saved him, but the Diadochi had grown too jadedâand too successful. They all thought themselves equally worthy.
âžž âžž By ancient criteria, if a man surrendered his kingdom âjustâ to get his wife and children back, it would automatically tag him unfit to be king. Yes, even in Persia, where women had higher status overall. In the ancient near east, nobodyâs life was more important that the kingâs. Statiera would have been well aware of that, so Dariusâs âbetrayalâ was to be expected. In fact, she might have despised him if heâd agreed.
#asks#roxane#statiera#alexander the great#macedonian royal polygamy#ancient macedonia#alexander the great and marriage#kleopatra-eurydike#classics#tagamemnon
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