Alexander IV of Macedon

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Alexander IV
Pharaoh of Egypt
Reign323/322–309 BC
PredecessorPhilip III
SuccessorPtolemy I
Royal titulary
Horus name
Hunu weser pehty[1]
The youthful one, powerful of strength[1]
G5
V28E34
n		 A17F12S29D40
F9 F9
Nebty name
Mery netjeru, redi en.ef iaut en it.ef[1]
Beloved of the gods, to whom the office of his father was given[1]
G16
nTrwN36r
D36		 n
I9		 O44t
Z1		 n
t		 I9
I9
Golden Horus
Heqa nakht em ta (er)-djer-ef[1]
Victorious ruler in the entire land[1]
G8
HqAq
D40		 Aa15
N16		 M36
I9
Prenomen  (Praenomen)
Haa ib re, setep en imen[1]
Who (continually) rejoices over the mind Re, chosen by Amun[1]
Ra makes the heart rejoice, elected by Amun
M23L2
N5A28W23iY5
n		 U21
n
[2]
Nomen
Aleksindres[1]
Alexandros[1]
G39N5
Arw
k
z		 in
d
r
z
Macedon
DynastyArgead
FatherAlexander III of Macedon
MotherRoxana of Bactria
ReligionAncient Greek religion

Alexander IV (

Macedon) and Princess Roxana of Bactria
.

Birth

Alexander IV was the son of

Macedonian army regarding the order of succession. While the infantry supported Alexander the Great's half-brother Philip III (who had some unknown cognitive disability present throughout his life[7]), the chiliarch Perdiccas, commander of the elite Companion cavalry, persuaded them to wait in the hope that Roxana's child would be male. The factions compromised, deciding that Perdiccas would rule the Empire as regent while Philip would reign, but only as a figurehead
with no real power. If the child was male, then he would be king. Alexander IV was born in late 323 or early 322 BC.

Regents

After a severe regency, military failure in

his senior officers in May or June 321 or 320 BC (problems with Diodorus's chronology have made the year uncertain[8]), after which Antipater was named as the new regent at the Partition of Triparadisus. He brought with him Roxana and the two kings to Macedon and gave up the pretence of ruling Alexander's Empire, leaving former provinces in Egypt and Asia under the control of the satraps. When Antipater died in 319 BC he left Polyperchon, a Macedonian general who had served under Philip II and Alexander the Great, as his successor, passing over his own son, Cassander
.

Civil war

Cassander allied himself with

Eurydice, the ambitious wife of king Philip Arrhidaeus, and declared war upon the Regency. Polyperchon was allied with Eumenes and Olympias
.

Although Polyperchon was successful at first, taking control of the Greek cities, his fleet was destroyed by Antigonus in 318 BC. When, after the battle, Cassander assumed full control of Macedon, Polyperchon was forced to flee to Epirus, followed by Roxana and the young Alexander. A few months later, Olympias was able to persuade her relative Aeacides of Epirus to invade Macedon with Polyperchon. When Olympias took the field, Eurydice's army refused to fight against the mother of Alexander and defected to Olympias, after which Polyperchon and Aeacides retook Macedon. Philip and Eurydice were captured and executed on December 25, 317 BC, leaving Alexander IV king, and Olympias in effective control, as she was his regent.

Cassander returned in the following year (316 BC), conquering Macedon once again. Olympias was immediately executed, while the king and his mother were taken prisoner and held in the citadel of Amphipolis[9] under the supervision of Glaucias. When the general peace between Cassander, Antigonus, Ptolemy, and Lysimachus put an end to the Third Diadoch War in 311 BC, the peace treaty recognized Alexander IV's rights and explicitly stated that when he came of age he would succeed Cassander as ruler.

Death

Tomb III in Vergina, which probably belonged to Alexander IV

Following the treaty, defenders of the

F.W. Walbank in A History of Macedonia Vol. 3 was that Alexander was killed late in the summer of 309 BC, shortly after his alleged half-brother Heracles. However, classical historian Peter Green contends that Heracles was killed after Alexander IV's assassination.[10]

One of the royal tombs discovered by the archaeologist Manolis Andronikos in the so-called "Great Tumulus" in Vergina in 1977/8 is believed to belong to Alexander IV.[11]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Leprohon (2013). Doxey, Denise M. (ed.). The Great Name: Ancient Egyptian Royal Titulary. Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature. p. 176. Retrieved 29 September 2022.
  2. ^ Lepsius, Karl Richard (1849). Denkmäler aus Ägypten und Äthiopien IV. pp. 1a.
  3. ISBN 9780955679001. At Google Books
    .
  4. ^ Ahmed, S. Z. (2004), Chaghatai: the Fabulous Cities and People of the Silk Road, West Conshokoken: Infinity Publishing, p. 61.
  5. ISBN 978-1-907200-02-1
    .
  6. ^ Livius.org. "Roxane." Articles on Ancient History. Page last modified 17 August 2015. Retrieved on 29 August 2016.
  7. ISBN 960-210-310-8
    .
  8. JSTOR 294603
    .
  9. ISBN 978-1-4443-3962-8
    .
  10. ^ Green, Peter. Alexander the Great and the Hellenistic Age. p44, 2007 Ed.
  11. ^ "Royal Tombs: Vergina". Macedonian Heritage. Archived from the original on 10 December 2017. Retrieved 9 July 2013.

Further reading

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Alexander IV of Macedon.
Alexander IV of Macedon
Born: 323 BC Died: 309 BC
Regnal titles
Preceded by
King of Macedon

323–309 BC 		Succeeded by
King of Persia

323–309 BC 		Succeeded by
Pharaoh of Egypt
323–309 BC 		Succeeded by
King of Thrace
323–309 BC 		Succeeded by
King of Asia Minor

323–309 BC 		Succeeded by
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