Agathocles ( grc-gre, Ἀγαθοκλῆς; between 320–310s – 284 BC) was a prince of Macedonian and

Thessalian Thessaly ( el, Θεσσαλία, translit=Thessalía, ; ancient Thessalian: , ) is a traditional geographic and modern administrative region of Greece, comprising most of the ancient region of the same name. Before the Greek Dark Ages, Thessa ...

descent. He was the son of

Lysimachus Lysimachus (; Greek: Λυσίμαχος, ''Lysimachos''; c. 360 BC – 281 BC) was a Thessalian officer and successor of Alexander the Great, who in 306 BC, became King of Thrace, Asia Minor and Macedon. Early life and career Lysimachus was b ...

and his first wife,

Nicaea Nicaea, also known as Nicea or Nikaia (; ; grc-gre, Νίκαια, ) was an ancient Greek city in Bithynia, where located in northwestern Anatolia and is primarily known as the site of the First and Second Councils of Nicaea (the first and seve ...

a daughter of

Antipater Antipater (; grc, , translit=Antipatros, lit=like the father; c. 400 BC319 BC) was a Macedonian general and statesman under the subsequent kingships of Philip II of Macedon and his son, Alexander the Great. In the wake of the collaps ...

, the regent of

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, wikt:Ἀλέξανδρος, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Maced ...

's Empire. His full blooded siblings were his younger sisters

Eurydice Eurydice (; Ancient Greek: Εὐρυδίκη 'wide justice') was a character in Greek mythology and the Auloniad wife of Orpheus, who tried to bring her back from the dead with his enchanting music. Etymology Several meanings for the name ...

and

Arsinoe I Arsinoe I ( el, Αρσινόη Α’, 305 BC – after c. 248 BC), Footnote 10 was queen of Egypt by marriage to Ptolemy II Philadelphus. Life Arsinoe was the second daughter and youngest child born to King Lysimachus and Nicaea of Macedon. Her ...

Life

In 292 BC Agathocles was sent by his father against the

Getae The Getae ( ) or Gets ( ; grc, Γέται, singular ) were a Thracian-related tribe that once inhabited the regions to either side of the Lower Danube, in what is today northern Bulgaria and southern Romania. Both the singular form ''Get'' an ...

, but was defeated and taken prisoner. Dromichaetes, the king of the Getae, sent him back to his father as a goodwill gesture; despite this, Lysimachus marched against the Getae, but was himself taken prisoner. He was released by Dromichaetes after a promise of loyalty secured by several high-born hostages, and the hand of Lysimachus' daughter in marriage. There are conflicting versions of this sequence of events as some ancient historians recount that it was only Agathocles, and according to others only Lysimachus, who was taken prisoner. In 287 Agathocles was sent by his father against

Demetrius I Poliorcetes Demetrius I (; grc, Δημήτριος; 337–283 BC), also called Poliorcetes (; el, Πολιορκητής, "The Besieger"), was a Ancient Macedonians, Macedonian nobleman, military leader, and king of Macedon (294–288 BC). He belonged to t ...

, who had marched into

Anatolia Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...

to deprive Lysimachus of

Lydia Lydia (Lydian language, Lydian: ‎𐤮𐤱𐤠𐤭𐤣𐤠, ''Śfarda''; Aramaic: ''Lydia''; el, Λυδία, ''Lȳdíā''; tr, Lidya) was an Iron Age Monarchy, kingdom of western Asia Minor located generally east of ancient Ionia in the mod ...

and

Caria Caria (; from Greek: Καρία, ''Karia''; tr, Karya) was a region of western Anatolia extending along the coast from mid-Ionia (Mycale) south to Lycia and east to Phrygia. The Ionians, Ionian and Dorians, Dorian Greeks colonized the west of i ...

. In this expedition he was successful; he defeated Demetrius and drove him out of his father's provinces. Agathocles was originally intended to be the successor of Lysimachus, and was popular among his subjects; however, in 284 he was executed for treason. Conflicting sources point to his stepmother,

Arsinoe II Arsinoë II ( grc-koi, Ἀρσινόη, 316 BC – unknown date between July 270 and 260 BC) was a Ptolemaic queen and co-regent of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of ancient Egypt. She was given the Egyptian title "King of Upper and Lower Egypt", making ...

, as the main accuser in an attempt to position her own son,

Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; grc-gre, Πτολεμαῖος, ; la, Claudius Ptolemaeus; AD) was a mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist, who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were of importanc ...

, as Lysimachus' successor, while other sources indicate that Lysimachus was independently acting on a belief that his son was conspiring against him. Agathocles' widow,

Lysandra Lysandra (Greek: Λυσάνδρα, meaning "Liberator, Emancipator"; lived 281 BC) was a Queen of Macedonia, daughter of Ptolemy I Soter to Eurydice or Berenice. She was married first to her maternal cousin Alexander, one of the sons of Cassand ...

, fled with their children and Agathocles' paternal half-brother,

Alexander Alexander is a male given name. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here are Aleksandar, Al ...

, to

Seleucus I Nicator Seleucus I Nicator (; ; grc-gre, Σέλευκος Νικάτωρ , ) was a Macedonian Greek general who was an officer and successor ( ''diadochus'') of Alexander the Great. Seleucus was the founder of the eponymous Seleucid Empire. In the po ...

in Syria, who subsequently declared war upon Lysimachus as consequence for his act of filicide.

Coinage

The historian Louis Robert has suggested that 300 era coins bearing the letters ''ΑΓΑΘ'' originate from Agathocleia, a city in

Mysia Mysia (UK , US or ; el, Μυσία; lat, Mysia; tr, Misya) was a region in the northwest of ancient Asia Minor (Anatolia, Asian part of modern Turkey). It was located on the south coast of the Sea of Marmara. It was bounded by Bithynia on the ...

founded by Agathocles.Cohen, ''The Hellenistic settlements in Europe, the islands, and Asia Minor'', p.163

References

Sources

* Smith, William (editor); ''

Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology The ''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology'' (1849, originally published 1844 under a slightly different title) is an encyclopedia/biographical dictionary. Edited by William Smith, the dictionary spans three volumes and 3,700 p ...

''
"Agathocles (2)"

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

, (1867) *
Ptolemaic Genealogy: Arsinoe I
* H. Bengtson, ''Griechische Geschichte von den Anfängen bis in die römische Kaiserzeit'', C.H.Beck, 1977 * M. Getzel, ''Hellenistic settlements in Europe, the islands and Asia Minor'', Cohen University of California Press, 1995 * W. Heckel, ''Who's who in the age of Alexander the Great: prosopography of Alexander’s empire'', Wiley-Blackwell, 2006 {{DEFAULTSORT:Agathocles Ancient Thracian Greeks Hellenistic generals Year of birth unknown 284 BC deaths Generals of Lysimachus Hellenistic Thrace