Alexander II of Macedon

Alexander II of Macedon
King of Macedon
Reign	371–369 BC
Predecessor	Amyntas III
Successor	Perdiccas III
Father	Amyntas III
Mother	Eurydice I of Macedon

Alexander II of Macedon (Greek: Ἀλέξανδρος Β΄) was king of Macedon in 371–369 BC, following the death of his father Amyntas III.

Family

He was the eldest of the three sons of king Amyntas and Queen Eurydice I.

Reign

Although he had already attained his majority, Alexander was very young when he ascended to the throne in 371 BC. This caused immediate problems for the new king as enemies to the dynasty resumed war. Alexander simultaneously faced an Illyrian invasion from the north-west and an attack from the east by the pretender Pausanias. Pausanias quickly captured several cities and threatened the queen mother, who was at the palace in Pella with her young sons. Alexander defeated his enemies with the help of the Athenian general Iphicrates, who had been sailing along the Macedonian coast on the way to recapture Amphipolis.

At the request of the Thessalian Aleuadae, Alexander intervened in a civil war in Thessaly. He successfully gained control of Larissa and several other cities but, betraying a promise he had made, put garrisons in them. This provoked a hostile reaction from Thebes, the leading military power in Greece at the time. The Theban general Pelopidas drove the Macedonians from Thessaly. He then neutralized Alexander by favoring the ambitions of Alexander's brother-in-law Ptolemy of Aloros, and forced Alexander to abandon his alliance with Athens in favor of Thebes. As part of this new alliance, Alexander had to hand over hostages, including his younger brother Philip.

Alexander was assassinated during a festival at the instigation of Ptolemy. Although Alexander's brother Perdiccas III became the next king, he was under age, and Ptolemy became regent.

Sources

Smith, William (1867). "Alexander II". In William Smith. Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. 1. Boston: Little, Brown and Company. pp. 118–119.

External links

Alexander II of Macedon Argead dynasty Born: Unknown Died: 368 BC
Preceded by Amyntas III	King of Macedon 370–368 BC	Succeeded by Perdiccas III

Kings of Macedon

Argead	Caranus Coenus Tyrimmas Perdiccas I Argaeus I Philip I Aeropus I Alcetas I Amyntas I Alexander I Alcetas II Perdiccas II Archelaus I Craterus Orestes / Aeropus II Archelaus II Amyntas II Pausanias Argaeus II Amyntas III Alexander II Perdiccas III Amyntas IV Philip II Alexander III (Alexander the Great) Philip III Alexander IV

Regents	Ptolemy of Aloros Perdiccas Peithon and Arrhidaeus Antipater Polyperchon Cassander

Antipatrid	Cassander Philip IV Alexander V Antipater II Antipater Etesias Sosthenes

Antigonid	Demetrius I Antigonus II Demetrius II Antigonus III Philip V Perseus Andriscus (Philip VI)

Non-dynastic	Lysimachus Pyrrhus Ptolemy Keraunos Meleager

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 5/16/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.