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King of Macedonia
The Vergina Sun, as depicted on the larnax of Philip II
Alexander the Great, the most famous Macedonian king
Details
Style	King of the Macedonians, Basileus
First monarch	Perdiccas I
Last monarch	Perseus
Formation	c. 650 BC
Abolition	168 BC
Residence	Aegae, Pella, and Demetrias

Macedonia, also called Macedon, was ruled continuously by kings from its inception around the middle of the seventh century BC until its conquest by the Roman Republic in 168 BC. Kingship in Macedonia, its earliest attested political institution, was hereditary, exclusively male, and characterized by dynastic politics.

Information regarding the origins of the Argeads, Macedonia's founding dynasty, is very scarce and often contradictory. The Argeads themselves claimed descent from the royal house of Argos, the Temenids, but this story is viewed with skepticism by some scholars as a fifth century BC fiction invented by the Argead court "to 'prove' Greek lineage". It is more likely that the Argeads first surfaced either as part of a tribe living near Mount Bermion who, possibly under the authority of Perdiccas, subjugated neighboring lands, or, according to Herodotus, were of a Doric race that originally resided in Pindus. During their reign, Macedonia would not only come to dominate Greece, but also emerge as one of the most powerful states in the ancient world with the conquest of the Persian Empire under Alexander the Great. However, Alexander's untimely death in 323 BC triggered a series of civil wars and regents for his young son Alexander IV, ultimately leading to the Argead dynasty's demise.

Cassander, the ostensible regent of Macedonia, murdered Alexander IV in 310 and installed the Antipatrids as the ruling house. His dynasty was short-lived, however, as his death in 297 triggered a civil war between his sons that further destabilized the kingdom. The following decades saw a rapid and violent succession of Diadochi from various dynasties, each vying for the Macedonian throne. This chaos continued until the death of Pyrrhus in 272 and the accession of the Antigonids under Antigonus II Gonatas.

Following decades of continuous conflict, the Antigonids saw the temporary renewal of the kingdom's fortunes, but were destroyed by Rome after Perseus' defeat at the battle of Pydna in 168 BC.

Argead dynasty (c. 650 BC – 310 BC)

Legendary

There are two separate historical traditions relating the foundation of Macedonia and the Argead dynasty. The earlier, documented by Herodotus and Thucydides in the fifth century BC, records Perdiccas as the first king of Macedonia. The later tradition first emerged around the beginning of the fourth century BC and claimed that Caranus, rather than Perdiccas, was the founder. Aside from Satyrus, who adds Coenus and Tyrimmas to the list, Marsyas of Pella, Theopompos, and Justin all agree that Caranus was Perdiccas' father. Furthermore, Plutarch claimed in his biography of Alexander the Great that all of his sources agreed that Caranus was the founder. This unhistorical assertion, like the Argive connection, is rejected by modern scholarship as court propaganda, possibly intended to diminish the significance of the name 'Perdiccas' in rival family branches following Amyntas III accession.

Historical

Herodotus mentions the names of the five kings preceding Amyntas I, but provides no other information. Consequently, the reign dates and activities of the early Argead kings can only be guessed at. By allowing thirty years for the span of an average generation and counting backwards from the beginning of Archelaus' reign in 413 BC, British historian Nicholas Hammond estimated that the dynasty began around 650 BC. Amyntas I and his son Alexander I are the earliest kings for which we have any reliable historical information, and even then, only in the context of their relationships with Achaemenid Persia and Greeks.

Antipatrid dynasty (310–294 BC)

Dynastic conflicts (294–272 BC)

Antigonid dynasty (272–168 BC)

Non-dynastic rebel kings (150–93 BC)

Family tree

See also

• List of ancient Macedonians

References

Notes

1. There is some confusion among the sources about the name of Orestes' successor: Eusebias and Syncellus mention an 'Archelaos' while Diodorus records an 'Aeropus'. However, it is likely that Aeropus simply adopted the name 'Archelaos' after Orestes' death.
2. Theopompus of Chios wrote that "they call both Argaios and Pausanias Archelaos " which historian Nicholas Hammond emends to read, "they call both Argaeus and Pausanias the son of Archelaus." However, not all historians are in agreement and the claim remains largely unverifiable.
3. Modern scholars disagree on whether Ptolemy should be considered a king in his own right or simply regent for Perdiccas III. The confusion stems from contradictory comments by our primary sources: Plutarch refers to Ptolemy as a regent in Pelopidas, yet Diodorus refers to him as king. As noted by Hammond, all coins from this period bear the name Perdiccas rather than Ptolemy, suggesting a non-royal status for the latter. Moreover, the demotic 'Alorus' implies that Ptolemy was not an Argead and therefore would be ineligible for the throne.
4. Antigonus' regnal number stems from his grandfather, Antigonus I Monophthalmus
5. It is unclear who ruled Macedonia in the short time between Sosthenes death and Antigonus's accession. Porphyry mentions a Ptolemy and an Arrhidaeus having some kind of authority.
6. Pyrrhus's reign, brief and unpopular, is omitted from Porphyry's list of Macedonian kings and is mentioned only in Syncellus's Chronography

Citations

1. Fox 2011b, pp. 359–360.
2. Errington 1990, p. 218.
3. Roisman 2010, p. 373.
4. Hammond & Griffith 1979, p. 152.
5. Eder & Renger 2006, pp. 188–190.
6. Borza 1990, p. 82.
7. Errington 1990, pp. 2–3.
8. Asirvatham 2010, p. 101.
9. Sprawski 2010, pp. 132–133.
10. Hammond & Griffith 1979, pp. 27–28.
11. Herodotus. Histories, 1.56.2–3.
12. Herodotus, 8.137.
13. Thucydides, 2.99.
14. ^ Greenwalt 1985, pp. 43–49.
15. ^ Sprawski 2010, pp. 128–129.
16. Plutarch, Alex. 2.1.
17. ^ Hammond & Griffith 1979, pp. 4–5.
18. ^ Sprawski 2010, pp. 130–131.
19. Borza 1990, p. 98.
20. Herodotus, 8.138.3.
21. Christesen & Murray 2010, p. 432.
22. Sprawski 2010, p. 135.
23. Sprawski 2010, p. 142.
24. Roisman 2010, p. 154.
25. Roisman 2010, pp. 156–157.
26. ^ Errington 1990, pp. 28–29.
27. Diodorus, 14.37.6.
28. ^ March 1995, p. 280.
29. Aristotle, Pol. 5.1311b.
30. Diodorus, 14.89.
31. ^ Hammond & Griffith 1979, p. 179.
32. Hammond & Griffith 1979, p. 175.
33. Roisman 2010, p. 158.
34. Carney 2000, p. 250.
35. Roisman 2010, p. 159.
36. Errington 1990, p. 35.
37. Roisman 2010, p. 162.
38. Borza 1990, p. 191.
39. Fox 2011a, p. 260.
40. Hammond & Griffith 1979, p. 183.
41. Anson 2009, pp. 276–286.
42. Hammond & Griffith 1979, p. 182.
43. Diodorus, 16.2.
44. Hammond & Griffith 1979, p. 185.
45. Müller 2010, p. 166.
46. Müller 2010, p. 182.
47. Diodorus, 16.94.4.
48. Gilley & Worthington 2010, p. 198.
49. Errington 1990, p. 60.
50. ^ Adams 2010, pp. 216–218.
51. ^ Errington 1990, pp. 147–148.
52. Cancik; et al. 2006, "Antipater".
53. Errington 1990, p. 150.
54. Hammond & Walbank 1988, p. 217.
55. Wheatley & Dunn 2020, p. 449.
56. Hammond & Walbank 1988, pp. 242–243.
57. "Ptolemaic Dynasty -- Ptolemy Ceraunus". instonebrewer.com. Retrieved 2023-02-24.
58. Errington 1990, pp. 159–160.
59. ^ Hammond & Walbank 1988, p. 253.
60. Hammond & Walbank 1988, p. 256.
61. ^ Gabbert 1997, p. 60.
62. Hammond & Walbank 1988, p. 262.
63. Kuzmin 2019, p. 78.
64. Plutarch, Aem. 8.2.
65. Errington 1990, pp. 183–184.
66. Errington 1990, p. 212.
67. Plutarch, Aem. 37.
68. Livy, 45.42.4.
69. ^ Nigdelis 2006.

Bibliography

Primary sources

• Aristotle (1932). "Politics". Aristotle in 23 Volumes. Loeb Classical Library. Vol. 21. Translated by Rackham, Harris (1944 ed.). Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.
• Diodorus Siculus (1963–1971). Diodorus of Sicily in Twelve Volumes. Loeb Classical Library. Translated by Oldfather, Charles H.; et al. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.
• Herodotus (1920–1925). The Histories. Loeb Classical Library. Translated by Godley, A. D. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. Retrieved 26 January 2024.
• Livy (1919). The History of Rome. Translated by Foster, Benjamin. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.
• Plutarch (1923). Plutarch's Lives. Translated by Perrin, Bernadotte. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.
• Thucydides (1874). The Peloponnesian War. Translated by Crawley, Richard (1910 ed.). New York: J. M. Dent & E. P. Dutton. Retrieved 26 January 2024.

Secondary sources

• Adams, Winthrop Lindsay (2010). "Alexander's Successors to 221 BC". In Roisman, Joseph; Worthington, Ian (eds.). A Companion to Ancient Macedonia. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell. pp. 208–224. ISBN 978-1-4051-7936-2.
• Anson, Edward (2009). "Philip II, Amyntas Perdicca, and Macedonian Royal Succession". Historia: Zeitschrift für Alte Geschichte. 58 (3): 276–286.
• Asirvatham, Sulochana R. (2010). "Perspectives on the Macedonians from Greece, Rome, and Beyond". In Roisman, Joseph; Worthington, Ian (eds.). A Companion to Ancient Macedonia. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell. pp. 99–124. ISBN 978-1-4051-7936-2.
• Borza, Eugene (1990). In the Shadow of Olympus: The Emergence of Macedon. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press.
• Cancik, Hubert; et al., eds. (2006). Brill's New Pauly. Translated by Salazar, Christine F.; Gentry, Francis G. Brill Reference Online.
• Carney, Elizabeth (2000). Women and Monarchy in Macedonia. University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 9780806132129.
• Christesen, Paul; Murray, Sarah C. (2010). "Macedonian Religion". In Roisman, Joseph; Worthington, Ian (eds.). A Companion to Ancient Macedonia. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell. pp. 428–445. ISBN 978-1-4051-7936-2.
• Eder, Walter; Renger, Johannes, eds. (2006). Chronologies of the Ancient World. Boston: Brill. ISBN 9789004153202.
• Errington, Robert (1990). A History of Macedonia. Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-06319-8.
• Fox, Robin Lane (2011a). "The 360's". In Fox, Robin Lane (ed.). Brill's Companion to Ancient Macedon: Studies in the Archaeology and History of Macedon, 650 BC – 300 AD. Leiden: Brill. pp. 257–269. ISBN 978-90-04-20650-2.
• Fox, Robin Lane (2011b). "Philip of Macedon: Accession, Ambitions, and Self-Presentation". In Fox, Robin Lane (ed.). Brill's Companion to Ancient Macedon: Studies in the Archaeology and History of Macedon, 650 BC – 300 AD. Leiden: Brill. pp. 335–366. ISBN 978-90-04-20650-2.
• Gabbert, Janice J. (1997). Antigonus II Gonatas: A Political Biography. Routledge. ISBN 9780415018999.
• Gilley, Dawn L.; Worthington, Ian (2010). "Alexander the Great, Macedonia and Asia". In Roisman, Joseph; Worthington, Ian (eds.). A Companion to Ancient Macedonia. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell. pp. 186–207. ISBN 978-1-4051-7936-2.
• Greenwalt, William (1985-03-01). "The Introduction of Caranus into the Argead King List". Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies. 26 (1): 43–49.
• Hammond, N.G.L.; Griffith, G.T. (1979). A History of Macedonia Volume II: 550-336 B.C. Oxford: Clarendon Press. ISBN 9780198148142.
• Hammond, N.G.L.; Walbank, F.W. (1988). A History of Macedonia Volume III: 336-167 B.C.. Oxford: Clarendon Press. ISBN 9780198148159.
• Kuzmin, Yuri (2019). "King Demetrius II of Macedon: In the Shadow of Father and Son". Živa Antika/Antiquité Vivante. 69 (78): 59–84. doi:10.47054/ZIVA19691-2059k. S2CID 245577438.
• March, Duane (1995). "The Kings of Makedon: 399-369 B.C.". Historia: Zeitschrift für Alte Geschichte. 44 (3): 257–282.
• Morby, John (2002). Dynasties of the World: A Chronological and Genealogical Handbook. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-860473-0.
• Müller, Sabine (2010). "Philip II". In Roisman, Joseph; Worthington, Ian (eds.). A Companion to Ancient Macedonia. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell. pp. 166–185. ISBN 978-1-4051-7936-2.
• Nigdelis, Pandelis (2006). "Roman Macedonia (168 BC - AD 284)" (PDF). In Koliopoulos, Ioannis (ed.). The History of Macedonia. pp. 51–87.
• Roisman, Joseph (2010). "Classical Macedonia to Perdiccas III". In Roisman, Joseph; Worthington, Ian (eds.). A Companion to Ancient Macedonia. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell. pp. 145–165. ISBN 978-1-4051-7936-2.
• Sprawski, Slawomir (2010). "The Early Temenid Kings to Alexander I". In Roisman, Joseph; Worthington, Ian (eds.). A Companion to Ancient Macedonia. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell. pp. 127–144. ISBN 978-1-4051-7936-2.
• Wheatley, Pat; Dunn, Charlotte (2020). Demetrius the Besieger. Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press.

v t e Kings of Macedon
Legendary	Caranus Coenus Tyrimmas
Argead dynasty	Perdiccas I Argaeus I Philip I Aeropus I Alcetas Amyntas I Alexander I Perdiccas II Archelaus Orestes Aeropus II Amyntas II Pausanias Amyntas III Argaeus II Alexander II Ptolemy of Aloros Perdiccas III Amyntas IV Philip II Alexander III (the Great) Philip III Alexander IV
Antipatrid dynasty	Cassander Philip IV Antipater I Alexander V
Dynastic conflict	Demetrius I Pyrrhus Lysimachus Ptolemy Ceraunus Meleager Antipater II Sosthenes Antigonus II Pyrrhus
Antigonid dynasty	Antigonus II Demetrius II Antigonus III Philip V Perseus
Post-Conquest Rebel Kings	Andriscus Pseudo-Alexander Pseudo-Philip/Pseudo-Perseus Euephenes
Debatable or disputed rulers are in italics.

• Lists of monarchs in Europe
• Ancient Macedonian monarchs
• Government of Macedonia (ancient kingdom)
• Macedonia (ancient kingdom)