Archelaus of Macedon
Archelaus | |
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King of Macedonia | |
Reign | 413–399 BC[1] |
Predecessor | Perdiccas II |
Successor | Orestes |
Born | ? |
Died | 399 BC |
Spouse | Cleopatra[a] |
Issue | Orestes two unnamed daughters Disputed: Amyntas II Argaeus II Pausanias[b] |
Dynasty | Argead |
Father | Perdiccas II |
Mother | Simache |
Personal information | |||||||||||||||
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Born | Tethrippon | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Archelaus (
Biography
Family
Archelaus was the son of Perdiccas II and his wife, Simache, who is thought to have been once enslaved by Archelaus' uncle, Alcetas.[3] Plato, through his interlocutors in Gorgias, wrote that Archelaus murdered both his uncle Alcetas and his unnamed seven year old half-brother to gain the throne, but this can not be confirmed.[4][5] There is evidence to suggest that Cleopatra, the boy's mother and Archelaus' step-mother, was in fact the same person as Archelaus' wife. For example, Aristotle refers to a wife of Archelaus as Cleopatra in Politics.[6] Historian Nicholas Hammond argued that this is only coincidence and that Cleopatra was a common name for girls in Macedonia.[7] However, there is little evidence to suggest that it was actually a frequent name in the fifth-century.[8] Nevertheless, Archelaus had at least one child with a woman called Cleopatra.
Archelaus had at least two daughters. Aristotle reports that Archelaus gave his eldest daughter to the king of Elimea while in a war against the Lyncestae and the younger to the future ruler Amyntas II (whom he labels Archelaus' son).[6] His actual son, Orestes, would go on to be king, but there is confusion over whether or not Archelaus is the father of Argaeus II and Amyntas. Theopompus of Chios wrote that "they call both Argaios and Pausanias Archelaos [sic]" which Hammond emends to read, "they call both Argaeus and Pausanias the son of Archelaus."[9] The possibility that Argaeus was an Argaed is likely and, moreover, scholars are able to account for almost all other descendants of Alexander I.[10] This line of thinking would also have the later royal challenger[11] to Ptolemy of Aloros and Philip II, Pausanias (not the son of Aeropus II nor the assassin of Philip), be the son of Archelaus. However, not all historians are in agreement and the claim remains largely unverifiable.[12][13]
Amyntas was most likely the son of Menelaus, Alexander I's second son, but he could have also been the son of Archelaus. The prevailing view, advanced by Hammond, is that Archelaus married his younger daughter to Amyntas or Amyntas' son in order to stave off a future power struggle with the line of Menelaus.[7][12][13] The argument is based in part on a line from Aelian's Varia Historia about an Amyntas being Menelaus' son.[14] The alternative theory holds that the polygamous Archelaus married his son (Amyntas) to his daughter to cement the branch lines: a half-brother and a half-sister.[15]
Reign
Almost immediately after he took power, Archelaus was faced with a situation which allowed him to completely reverse Macedon's relationship with
Archelaus went on to institute many internal reforms. He issued an abundance of good quality coinage. He built strongholds, cut straight roads (important for movement of the military), and improved the organization of the military, particularly the cavalry and hoplite infantry.
Culture
Archelaus was also known as a man of culture and extended cultural and artistic contacts with southern Greece. In his new palace at
Death
According to Aelian, Archelaus was killed in 399 BC during a hunt, by one of the royal pages, Crateuas.[19] According to Constantine Paparrigopoulos,[20] there were three accomplices: two Thessalians (Crateuas and Ellanokratis) and one Macedonian, Decamnichos. The latter used to be Archelaus' favorite (Aristotle says all three were, at some point.[21]) However Decamnichos once insulted, in front of Archelaus, the tragic poet Euripides for the smell of the poet's alleged bad breath. This outraged Archelaus who allowed Euripides to flog Decamnichos (or have him flogged) in punishment. Decamnichos was permitted to remain in the court of Archelaus; however, he did not forget about this treatment and thus participated in the killing of his king a few years later. Other versions of the king's death are reported by differing sources.
References
Notes
- ^ Possibly the same woman as his step-mother and wife of Perdiccas II
- ^ Not the son of Aeropus II nor the assassin of Philip II
Citations
- ^ March, Duane (1995). "The Kings of Makedon: 399–369 B.C". Historia: Zeitschrift für Alte Geschichte: 280.
- ^ Thucydides, Peleponnesian War II, 100.
- ^ Claudius Aelianus, Varia historia 12, 43.
- ^ Plato. Gorgias. Plato in Twelve Volumes. Vol. 3. Translated by Lamb, W.R.M. Harvard University Press. pp. 470d–471d.
- ^ Roisman, Joseph (2010). "Classical Macedonia to Perdiccas III". In Roisman, Joseph; Worthington, Ian (eds.). A Companion to Ancient Macedonia. Blackwell. p. 154.
- ^ a b Aristotle. "Politics". Aristotle in 23 Volumes. Vol. 21. Translated by Rackham, H. Harvard University Press, 5.1311b.
- ^ a b Hammond, N.G.L. (1979). A History of Macedonia Volume II: 550–336 B.C. Oxford: Clarendon Press. p. 169.
- ISBN 0-8061-3212-4
- ^ Hammond 1979, p. 175.
- ^ March 1995, p.281.
- ^ Diodorus Siculus. "Library". Diodorus of Sicily in Twelve Volumes. Vol. 4–8. Translated by Oldfather, C.H. Harvard University Press, 16.2.6.
- ^ a b Roisman 2010, p. 158.
- ^ a b Carney 2000, p. 250.
- ^ Claudius Aelianus. "Various History". Claudius Aelianus His Various History. Book XII. Translated by Stanley, Thomas (1665), 12.43.
- ^ Fox, Robin Lane (2011). "399–369 BC". In Fox, Robin Lane (ed.). Brill’s Companion to Ancient Macedon: Studies in the Archaeology and History of Macedon, 650 BC–300 AD. Boston: Brill. pp. 216–217.
- ISBN 0691008809
- ^ Chisholm 1911.
- ^ Solinus, 9.16. Pythias et Olympiacas palmas quadrigis adeptus (Hammond and Griffith. A History of Macedonia, 150n5).
- ^ Aelian. Varia Historia, 8.9.
- ^ Paparrigopoulos, Constantine. History of the Hellenic nation, 6 volumes, 1860–1877. Athens: N. G. Passari.
- ^ Aristotle, Politics, 1311a.
Sources
- public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Archelaus, King of Macedonia". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 2 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 362. This article incorporates text from a publication now in the