| Alexander I | |
|---|---|
 Silverobol of Alexander I, struckc. 460–450 BC.Obv.: young male head wearingpetasos;rev.: incuse square with four sections. | |
| King of Macedon | |
| Reign | c. 498/497–454 BC |
| Predecessor | Amyntas I |
| Successor | Perdiccas II |
| Died | 454 BC |
| Spouse | unknown |
| Issue more... |
|
| Dynasty | Argead |
| Father | Amyntas I |
Alexander I (Ancient Greek:Ἀλέξανδρος,romanized: Alexandros; died 454 BC), also known asAlexander the Philhellene (Ancient Greek:φιλέλλην;lit. 'Supporter of Greece' or 'Greek/Hellene patriot'[a]),[4][5] was king[b] of theancient Greek kingdom ofMacedonia from 498/497 BC until his death in 454 BC. He was succeeded by his eldest son,Perdiccas II.
._Struck_circa_480-470_BC.jpg)
Alexander was the only son ofAmyntas I and an unknown spouse,[8] whose name was perhaps Eurydice.[9] He had a sister namedGygaea (Greek:Γυγαίη).[10]
According toHerodotus, Alexander married Gygaea to the Persian generalBubares while a vassal of the Achaemenid Empire as a bribe to cover up his murder of a Persian embassy.[11] Even though the marriage of Gygaea seems to be a real event, the story about the murder of the Persian embassy is widely regarded as a fiction invented by Herodotus or, at least, hearsay from his time spent in Macedonia.[12] It is more likely that Amyntas arranged the marriage himself around 510, or that Alexander handled it after his father died.[13]
Alexander came to the throne during the era of the kingdom's vassalage toAchaemenid Persia, dating back to the time of his father,Amyntas I, although Macedon retained a broad scope of autonomy.[14] In 492 BC it was made a fully subordinate part of the Persian Empire byMardonius' campaign.[12] Alexander acted as a representative of the Persian governor Mardonius during peace negotiations after the Persian defeat at theBattle of Salamis in 480 BC. In later events, Herodotus several times mentions Alexander as a man who was onXerxes' side and followed his orders.[12]
From the time of Mardonius' conquest of Macedon,Herodotus refers to Alexander ashyparchos, meaning viceroy.[12] Despite his cooperation with Persia, Alexander frequently gave supplies and advice to other Greek city states, and warned them of Mardonius' plans before theBattle of Plataea in 479 BC. For example, Alexander warned the Greeks in Tempe to leave before the arrival of Xerxes' troops, and notified them of an alternate route into Thessaly through upper Macedonia.[15] After their defeat in Plataea, the Persian army under the command ofArtabazus tried to retreat all the way back toAsia Minor. Most of the 43,000 survivors were attacked and killed by the forces of Alexander at the estuary of theStrymon river.[citation needed] Alexander eventually regained Macedonian independence after the end of thePersian Wars.
Alexander claimed descent fromArgive Greeks andHeracles.[16] After a court ofEleanhellanodikai determined his claim to be true, he was permitted to participate in theOlympic Games[17][18][19] possibly in 504 BC, a right reserved only for Greeks. He modelled his court afterAthens and was a patron of the poetsPindar andBacchylides, both of whom dedicated poems to Alexander.[20] The earliest reference to an Athenianproxenos, who lived during the time of the Persian wars (c. 490 BC), is that of Alexander I.[21] It was around this point that Alexander was given the epithet "philhellene".[22]
Herodotus andPlutarch[23] report another story about Alexander's assistance to the Greeks. On the eve of the decisiveBattle of Plataea (479 BC), the Macedonian king secretly made his way to the Athenian positions at night and informed them of the enemy's plans. In his speech, Alexander indicated the patriotic motives of his actions: "Athenians, I lay up these words of mine as a trust to you, charging you to keep them secret and tell them to no one except only to Pausanias, lest ye bring me to ruin: for I should not utter them if I did not care greatly for the general safety of Hellas, seeing that I am a Hellene myself by original descent and I should not wish to see Hellas enslaved instead of free."[24]
Alexander and his unnamed spouse[8] had at least six children:[25]
Modern historians disagree on a number of details concerning the genealogy of theArgead dynasty.Robin Lane Fox, for example, refutesNicholas Hammond's claim thatPtolemy of Aloros wasAmyntas II's son, arguing that Ptolemy was neither his son nor an Argead.[27] Consequently, the chart below does not account for every chronological, genealogical, and dynastic complexity. Instead, it represents one common reconstruction of the early Argeads advanced by historians such as Hammond,Elizabeth D. Carney, and Joseph Roisman.[28][29][30][8]
(1)Amyntas I (r. c. 513 – 498/497 BC)(2) Alexander I (r. 498/497 – 454 BC)(3)Perdiccas II (r. 454 – 413/2 BC)(4)Archelaus (r. 413/2 – 400/399 BC)(5)Orestes (r. 400/399 – 398/7 BC)Argaeus II (r. 388/7 – 387/6 BC).svg)
Derdas ofElimeaAmyntas II(6)Aeropus II (r. 398/7 – 394/3 BC)(9)Amyntas III (r. 393/2 – 370 BC)Seuthes IBubares{{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
Alexander I Born: ? Died: 454 BC | ||
| Royal titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | King of Macedon c. 498/497–454 BC | Succeeded by |
| Legendary |  | |
|---|---|---|
| Argead dynasty | ||
| Antipatrid dynasty | ||
| Dynastic conflict | ||
| Antigonid dynasty | ||
| Post-Conquest Rebel Kings | ||
Debatable or disputed rulers are initalics. | ||
Rulers in theAchaemenid Empire | ||
|---|---|---|
Family tree - Achaemenid Kingdom | ||
| Kings of Kings of theAchaemenid Empire |  | |
| Satraps ofLydia | ||
| Satraps ofHellespontine Phrygia | ||
| Satraps ofCappadocia | ||
| Greek Governors ofAsia Minor cities | ||
| Dynasts ofLycia | ||
| Dynasts ofCaria | ||
| Kings ofMacedonia | ||
| Kings of Tyre | ||
| Kings of Sidon |
| |
| Satraps ofArmenia | ||
| Satraps ofEgypt | ||
| Satraps ofBactria | ||
| Satraps ofMedia | ||
| Satraps ofCilicia | ||
| Other known satraps | ||
In most territories, Achaemenid rulers were succeeded byHellenistic satraps andHellenistic rulers from around 330 BC | ||
| International | |
|---|---|
| Other | |
