Alexander I
King of Macedon
KINGS of MACEDON. Alexander I. 498-454 BC. AR Obol (8mm, 0.46 g). Struck circa 460-450 BC. Young male head right, wearing petasos.jpg
Coin from the end of the reign of Alexander I, struck circa 460-450 BC. Young male head right, wearing petasos.
King of Macedon
Reign497–454 BC
PredecessorAmyntas I
SuccessorPerdiccas II
Born?
Died454 BC
Spouseunknown
IssuePerdiccas II
Menelaus
Amyntas
Philip
Alcetas
Stratonice
DynastyArgead
FatherAmyntas I
Motherunknown
ReligionAncient Greek religion

Alexander I (Greek: Ἀλέξανδρος ὁ Μακεδών), also known as Alexander "Philhellene" (Greek: φιλέλλην, literally "fond/lover of the Greeks", and in this context "Greek patriot"[1]), was king of Macedonia from 497 BC until his death in 454 BC. He was succeeded by his eldest son, Perdiccas II.

Biography

Coin from near the end of the reign of Amyntas I or the beginning of Alexander I, struck circa 510-480 BC. Goat kneeling right, head reverted.
Coin from near the end of the reign of Amyntas I or the beginning of Alexander I, struck circa 510-480 BC. Goat kneeling right, head reverted.

Alexander was the son of Amyntas I and an unknown mother. He had a sister named Gygaea (Greek: Γυγαίη).[2]

According to Herodotus, Alexander married his sister to the Persian general Bubares while a vassal of the Achaemenid Empire as a bribe to cover up his murder of a Persian embassy.[3] However, this story is widely regarded as a fiction invented by Herodotus or, at least, hearsay from his time spent in Macedonia.[4] It is more likely that Amyntas arranged the marriage himself around 510, or that Alexander handled it after his father died.[5]

Coin of Alexander I in the decade following the Second Persian invasion of Greece (struck in 480-470 BC).
Coin of Alexander I in the decade following the Second Persian invasion of Greece (struck in 480-470 BC).
Silver tetradrachm of Alexander I, struck at the end of his reign, circa 465-460 BC.
Silver tetradrachm of Alexander I, struck at the end of his reign, circa 465-460 BC.

Alexander came to the throne during the era of the kingdom's vassalage to Achaemenid Persia, dating back to the time of his father, Amyntas I, although Macedon retained a broad scope of autonomy.[6] In 492 BC it was made a fully subordinate part of the Persian Empire by Mardonius' campaign.[7] Alexander acted as a representative of the Persian governor Mardonius during peace negotiations after the Persian defeat at the Battle of Salamis in 480 BC. In later events, Herodotus several times mentions Alexander as a man who was on Xerxes' side and followed his orders.[8]

Aristides, commander of the Athenians, informed by Alexander I of Macedon that delaying the encounter with the Persians would help further diminish their already low supplies. Battle of Plataea, 479 BC.
Aristides, commander of the Athenians, informed by Alexander I of Macedon that delaying the encounter with the Persians would help further diminish their already low supplies. Battle of Plataea, 479 BC.

From the time of Mardonius' conquest of Macedon, Herodotus refers to Alexander as hyparchos, meaning viceroy.[8] Despite his cooperation with Persia, Alexander frequently gave supplies and advice to the Greek city states, and warned them of Mardonius' plans before the Battle of Plataea in 479 BC. For example, Alexander warned the Greeks in Tempe to leave before the arrival of Xerxes' troops, and notified them of an alternate route into Thessaly through upper Macedonia.[9] After their defeat in Plataea, the Persian army under the command of Artabazus tried to retreat all the way back to Asia Minor. Most of the 43,000 survivors were attacked and killed by the forces of Alexander at the estuary of the Strymon river. Alexander eventually regained Macedonian independence after the end of the Persian Wars.

Alexander claimed descent from Argive Greeks and Heracles[citation needed]. After a court of Elean hellanodikai determined his claim to be true, he was permitted to participate in the Olympic Games[10][11][12] possibly in 504 BC,[13] a right reserved only for Greeks. He modelled his court after Athens and was a patron of the poets Pindar and Bacchylides, both of whom dedicated poems to Alexander.[14] The earliest reference to an Athenian proxenos, who lived during the time of the Persian wars (c. 490 BC), is that of Alexander I.[15] Alexander was given the title "philhellene" (Greek: "φιλέλλην", fond of the Greeks, lover of the Greeks), a title used for Greek patriots.[16][17]

Family

Alexander had five sons and a daughter:

See also

References

  1. ^ In modern times, philhellene generally means "friend of the Greeks" or "lover of Greek culture", but in antiquity, the term was also used to describe Greeks who patriotically upheld their culture. For more, see: Xenophon, Agesilaus, 7.4; Isocrates, To Philip, 5.22 and Plato, Republic, 470e
  2. ^ Herodotus, Book 5: Terpsichore, 21
  3. ^ "Herodotus, The Histories, Book 5, chapter 21, section 2". www.perseus.tufts.edu. Retrieved 2023-03-01.
  4. ^ Sprawski, Sławomir (2010). "The Early Temenid Kings to Alexander I". In Roisman, Joseph; Worthington, Ian (eds.). A Companion to Ancient Macedonia. Wiley-Blackwell. pp. 136.
  5. ^ Carney, Elizabeth Donnelly (2000). Woman and Monarchy in Macedonia. University of Oklahoma Press. p. 16. ISBN 9780806132129.
  6. ^ Joseph Roisman,Ian Worthington. "A companion to Ancient Macedonia" John Wiley & Sons, 2011. ISBN 144435163X pp 343
  7. ^ Joseph Roisman,Ian Worthington. "A companion to Ancient Macedonia" John Wiley & Sons, 2011. ISBN 144435163X pp 135-138
  8. ^ a b Joseph Roisman,Ian Worthington. "A Companion to Ancient Macedonia" p138
  9. ^ Herodotus (1954). The Histories. Aubrey De Selincourt (trans.). Penguin Group. p. 477. ISBN 9780140449082.
  10. ^ Malcolm Errington, "A History of Macedonia", University of California Press, 1993, p.4: "Ancient allegations that the Macedonians were non-Greeks all had their origin in Athens at the time of the struggle with Philip II. Then as now, political struggle created the prejudice. The orator Aeschines once even found it necessary, in order to counteract the prejudice vigorously fomented by his opponents, to defend Philip on this issue and describe him at a meeting of the Athenian Popular Assembly as being 'Entirely Greek'. Demosthenes' allegations were lent an appearance of credibility by the fact, apparent to every observer, that the life-style of the Macedonians, being determined by specific geographical and historical conditions, was different from that of a Greek city-state. This alien way of life was, however, common to western Greeks of Epiros, Akarnania and Aitolia, as well as to the Macedonians, and their fundamental Greek nationality was never doubted. Only as a consequence of the political disagreement with Macedonia was the issue raised at all."
  11. ^ Herodotus 5.22
  12. ^ Justin-7.2.14
  13. ^ A History of Macedonia. Volume 2 Review: John Cole
  14. ^ Thucydides and Pindar: Historical Narrative and the World of Epinikian Poetry Page 180 By Simon Hornblower ISBN 0-19-924919-9
  15. ^ Conrad Lashley; Paul Lynch; Alison J. Morrison, eds. (2006). Hospitality : a social lens (1st ed.). Amsterdam: Elsevier. p. 25. ISBN 0-08-045093-8.
  16. ^ φιλέλλην, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, on Perseus
  17. ^ Plato, Republic, 5.470e, Xenophon Agesilaus, 7.4 (in Greek)
  18. ^ a b Roisman, Joseph (2010), "Classical Macedonia to Perdiccas III", in Roisman, Joseph; Worthington, Ian (eds.), A Companion to Ancient Macedonia, Blackwell Publishing, p. 158, ISBN 978-1-4051-7936-2
  19. ^ Satyrus the Peripatetic, FGrH 631 fr 2
  20. ^ Carney, Elizabeth (2000). Women and Monarchy in Macedonia. University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 0-8061-3212-4.

External links

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Alexander IArgead dynastyBorn:  ? Died: 454 BC Royal titles Preceded byAmyntas I King of Macedon 497–454 BC Succeeded byPerdiccas II
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