| Amyntas III | |
|---|---|
 silverstater of Amyntas III | |
| King of Macedonia | |
| First reign | 393/2 – 388/7[1] |
| Predecessor | Pausanias |
| Successor | Argaeus II |
| Second reign | 387/6 – 370 |
| Predecessor | Argaeus II |
| Successor | Alexander II |
| Born | Unknown |
| Died | 370 BC |
| Wives |
|
| Issue | Alexander II Perdiccas III Philip II Eurynoe (wife ofPtolemy of Aloros) Archelaus Arrhidaeus Menelaus Iphicrates (adopted) |
| Father | Arrhidaeus, son ofAmyntas |
| Mother | unknown |
| Religion | Ancient Greek religion |
Amyntas III (Ancient Greek:Ἀμύντας) was king of theancient Greek kingdom ofMacedonia from 393/2 to 388/7 BC and again from 387/6 to 370 BC. He was a member of theArgead dynasty through his father Arrhidaeus, a son of Amyntas, one of the sons ofAlexander I. His most famous son isPhilip II, father ofAlexander the Great.
Polygamy was used by Macedonian kings both before and after Amyntas to secure marriage alliances and produce enough heirs to offset losses from intra-dynastic conflict.[2] Consequently, Amyntas took two wives:Eurydice andGygaea. He first married Eurydice, daughter ofSirras and maternal granddaughter of theLynkestian kingArrhabaeus, probably in a Macedonian effort to strengthen the alliance with both theIllyrians and Lynkestians or to detach the Lynkestians from their historical alliance with the Illyrians, after the Macedonian defeat by Illyrians or an Illyrian-Lynkestian invasion in 393 BC.[3][4][5][6] Through Eurydice, Amyntas had three sons, all of whom became kings of Macedonia one after the other, and a daughter:Alexander II,Perdiccas III,Philip II, and Eurynoe.
The Roman historianJustin relates several, possibly apocryphal, stories about Eurydice and Eurynoe. He claims that Eurynoe prevented her mother and her lover (unnamed, but likelyPtolemy of Aloros) from assassinating Amyntas late in his reign by revealing the plan to her father.[7] However, Eurynoe is not referred to by name in any other source and, moreover, is unlikely to have known the details of this supposedly secret plot.[2][8] According to Justin, Amyntas spared Eurydice because they shared children, but that she would later help murder Alexander and Perdiccas in order to place Ptolemy on the throne.[9] Alexander was in fact killed by friends of Ptolemy at a festival in 368 BC, but the extent to which Eurydice knew of or participated in this plot is opaque.[10] Perdiccas, on the other hand, assassinated Ptolemy in 365 BC only to be killed in battle by theIllyrians in 359 BC.[11]
Amyntas most likely married Gygaea soon after marrying Eurydice, because Gygaea's children made no attempt to claim the throne before the 350s BC, implying that they were younger than Eurydice's children.[12] Additionally, bothDiodorus and Justin call Alexander II the eldest son of Amyntas.[13][14] Through Gygaea, Amyntas had three more sons:Archelaus, Arrhidaeus, andMenelaus. Unlike Eurydice's children, none of Gygaea's sons ascended to the throne and were all killed by their half-brother Philip II.[15]
Amyntas also adopted the Athenian generalIphicrates around 386 BC in recognition of his military services and marital ties with the Thracian king,Cotys I.[16]
Amyntas became king at a troubled time for Macedonia and the Argead dynasty. The unexpected death of his great-grandfather KingAlexander I in 454 BC triggered a dynastic crisis between his five sons:Perdiccas II, Menelaus, Philip,Alcetas, and Amyntas' grandfather, Amyntas.[17][18] Perdiccas would eventually emerge victorious, extinguishing the line of Philip. The elder Amyntas evidently retired to his lands at some point in the conflict and took no part in the exercise of power.[19]Archelaus, Perdiccas' son, ascended to the throne around 413 BC and allegedly murdered Alcetas and his son, thus eliminating that family branch as well.[20] However, Archelaus would himself be killed, possibly murdered, in 400 or 399 BC by his loverCraterus.[18] His death prompted another succession crisis, resulting in five kings ruling in less than seven years, with nearly all ending violently.[21] As Diodorus tells us, the younger Amyntas seized the throne at this point in 393/2 BC after assassinating the previous kingPausanias.[22] Following his accession, Macedonia experienced no major internal political problems for the entirety of Amyntas' reign.[23]
Shortly after he became king in 393 or 392, he was driven out by theIllyrians, but in the following year, with the aid of theThessalians, he recovered his kingdom. Medius, head of the house of theAleuadae ofLarissa, is believed to have provided aid to Amyntas in recovering his throne. The mutual relationship between theArgeadae and the Aleuadae dates to the time of Archelaus.
To shore up his country against the threat of the Illyrians, Amyntas established an alliance with theChalcidian League led byOlynthus. In exchange for this support, Amyntas granted them rights to Macedonian timber, which was sent back to Athens to help fortify their fleet.[24] Withmoney flowing into Olynthus from these exports, their power grew. In response, Amyntas sought additional allies. He established connections withKotys, chief of theOdrysians. Kotys had already married his daughter to the Athenian generalIphicrates. Prevented from marrying into Kotys' family, Amyntas soon adopted Iphicrates as his son.
After theKing's Peace of 387 BC,Sparta was anxious to re-establish its presence in northern Greece. In 385 BC,Bardylis and hisIllyrians attackedEpirus instigated and aided byDionysius I of Syracuse,[25] in an attempt to restore theMolossian kingAlcetas I of Epirus to the throne. When Amyntas sought Spartan aid against the growing threat of Olynthus, the Spartans eagerly responded. That Olynthus was backed by Athens and Thebes, rivals to Sparta for the control of Greece, provided them with an additional incentive to break up this growing power in the north. Amyntas thus concluded a treaty with the Spartans, who assisted him in a war againstOlynthus. First Spartan-Macedonian forces suffered two defeats but in 379 BC they managed to destroy Olynthus.[24] He also entered into a league withJason of Pherae, and assiduously cultivated the friendship ofAthens.[26] In 371 BC at a Panhellenic congress of theLacedaemonian allies, he voted in support of theAthenians' claim and joined other Greeks in voting to help Athens to recover possession ofAmphipolis.[27][28]
With Olynthus defeated, Amyntas was now able to conclude a treaty with Athens and keep the timber revenues for himself. Amyntas shipped the timber to the house of the AthenianTimotheus, inPiraeus.
Amyntas died aged 50, leaving his throne to his eldest son, Alexander II.
One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Amyntas II".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 1 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 900–901.Amyntas III of Macedon Born: ? Died: 370 BC | ||
| Preceded by | King of Macedon 393/2–388/7 BC | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | King of Macedon 387/6–370 BC | Succeeded by |
| Legendary |  | |
|---|---|---|
| Argead dynasty | ||
| Antipatrid dynasty | ||
| Dynastic conflict | ||
| Antigonid dynasty | ||
| Post-Conquest Rebel Kings |
| |
Debatable or disputed rulers are initalics. | ||
| International | |
|---|---|
| People | |
| Other | |
