Lysimachus (son of Lysimachus)
Lysimachus also known as Lysimachus Junior[1][2] (Greek: Λυσίμαχος, 297/296 BC[3]-279 BC) was a Greek Prince from Asia Minor who was of Macedonian and Thessalian descent.
Family background
Lysimachus was the second son
His father Lysimachus was one of the
His mother Arsinoe II, was a Ptolemaic Greek Princess who married his father as his third wife and married him as her first husband.[17] She was a daughter born to Ptolemy I Soter and Berenice I of Egypt[18] and was a sister to the Pharaoh Ptolemy II Philadelphus. Ptolemy I was another of the Diadochi of Alexander the Great who later founded the Ptolemaic dynasty of Ancient Egypt and Berenice I was the great-niece of the powerful Regent Antipater.
Life
Lysimachus was born and raised in Ephesus, which was renamed for a time Arsinoea after his mother.[19] In 282 BC, his mother accused his half-brother Agathocles of treason and his father ordered the execution of Agathocles. After the death of his half-brother, Agathocles’ cousin-wife Lysandra with their children fled to Seleucus I Nicator in Babylon. Seleucus I used this bitter dynastic succession feud as an opportunity to expand his dominions. In the Battle of Corupedium in 281 BC, Seleucus I defeated Lysimachus in which his father died in battle. Seleucus I added Asia Minor and part of Thrace to his empire.[20][21]
His mother only held control of the
The union between Arsinoe II and Ptolemy Keraunos was purely political as they both claimed the Macedonian and Thracian thrones. By the time of Lysimachus' father's death, Ptolemy Keraunos' power extended into Greece.
Arsinoe II's marriage to her half-brother wasn't a happy one. Through his marriage to Arsinoe II, Ptolemy Keraunos’ political position was strengthened. As Ptolemy Keraunos was becoming too powerful, Arsinoe II conspired with her sons against him while he was away on a campaign. Ptolemy Keraunos quickly retaliated by capturing Cassandreia and killing Lysimachus and his brother Philip. Arsinoe II and Lysimachus' other brother Ptolemy were able to escape. Later on his brother Ptolemy and his mother fled to Egypt, where his mother married his other maternal uncle Ptolemy II Philadelphus.[24]
Lysimachus’ mother died at an unknown date between 270 and 260 BC. At had some point after his mother's death, Ptolemy II had his children legally declared as the children of Arsinoe II and had the sons of Arsinoe II legally declared as his children.[25]
References
- ^ Lysimachus’ article at Livius.org
- ^ Arsinoe II’s article at Livius.org
- ^ Ptolemaic Genealogy: Ptolemy "the Son", Footnote 6 Archived 2011-11-26 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Ptolemaic Genealogy: Ptolemy "the Son", Footnote 6 Archived 2011-11-26 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Billows, Kings and colonists: aspects of Macedonian imperialism, p.110
- ^ Bengtson, Griechische Geschichte von den Anfängen bis in die römische Kaiserzeit, p.569
- ^ Ptolemaic Genealogy: Ptolemy "the Son", Footnote 9
- ^ Bengtson, Griechische Geschichte von den Anfängen bis in die römische Kaiserzeit, p.569
- ^ Lysimachus’ article at Livius.org
- ^ Lysimachus’ article at Livius.org
- ^ Bengtson, Griechische Geschichte von den Anfängen bis in die römische Kaiserzeit, p.569
- ^ Pausanias 1.10.4
- ^ Bengtson, Griechische Geschichte von den Anfängen bis in die römische Kaiserzeit, p.569
- ^ Bengtson, Griechische Geschichte von den Anfängen bis in die römische Kaiserzeit, p.569
- ^ Ptolemaic Genealogy: Ptolemy Ceraunus
- ^ Ptolemaic Genealogy: Unknown wife of Ptolemy Ceraunus
- ^ Ptolemaic Genealogy: Arsinoe II, Footnotes 4 & 5
- ^ Ptolemaic Genealogy: Arsinoe II
- ^ Arsinoe II’s article at Livius.org
- ^ Lysimachus’ article at Livius.org
- ^ Arsinoe II’s article at Livius.org
- ^ Arsinoe II’s article at Livius.org
- ^ Hölbl, A History of the Ptolemaic Empire, p.35
- ^ Hölbl, A History of the Ptolemaic Empire, p.36
- ^ Ptolemaic Genealogy: Arsinoe II, Footnote 15
Sources
- Lysimachus’ article at Livius.org
- Arsinoe II’s article at Livius.org
- Ptolemaic Genealogy: Arsinoe II
- Ptolemaic Genealogy: Ptolemy "the Son"
- Ptolemaic Genealogy: Ptolemy Ceraunus
- Ptolemaic Genealogy: Unknown wife of Ptolemy Ceraunus
- H. Bengtson, Griechische Geschichte von den Anfängen bis in die römische Kaiserzeit, C.H.Beck, 1977
- R.A. Billows, Kings and colonists: aspects of Macedonian imperialism, BRILL, 1995
- G. Hölbl, A History of the Ptolemaic Empire, Routledge, 2001