Alexander II of Macedon ( gr, Ἀλέξανδρος Β', Aléxandros) was an Argead king of the ancient kingdom of

Macedon Macedonia (; grc-gre, Μακεδονία), also called Macedon (), was an ancient kingdom on the periphery of Archaic and Classical Greece, and later the dominant state of Hellenistic Greece. The kingdom was founded and initially ruled by ...

in 369–367 BC, following the death of his father

Amyntas III Amyntas III (Greek: Αμύντας Γ΄ της Μακεδονίας) (420 – 370 BC) was king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia in 393 BC and again from 392 to 370 BC. He was the son of Arrhidaeus and grandson of Amyntas, one of the sons ...

Family

He was the eldest of the three sons of king Amyntas and Queen Eurydice I. His brothers were

Philip Philip, also Phillip, is a male given name, derived from the Greek (''Philippos'', lit. "horse-loving" or "fond of horses"), from a compound of (''philos'', "dear", "loved", "loving") and (''hippos'', "horse"). Prominent Philips who popularize ...

and

Perdiccas III Perdiccas III (Greek: Περδίκκας Γ΄) was king of the Greek kingdom of Macedonia from 365 BC to 360 BC, succeeding his brother Alexander II. Son of Amyntas III and Eurydice, he was a child when in 369 BCE his brother Alexander II was k ...

Reign

Although he had already attained his majority, Alexander was very young when he ascended to the throne in 369 BC. This caused immediate problems for the new king as enemies to the dynasty resumed war. Alexander simultaneously faced an

Illyria In classical antiquity, Illyria (; grc, Ἰλλυρία, ''Illyría'' or , ''Illyrís''; la, Illyria, ''Illyricum'') was a region in the western part of the Balkan Peninsula inhabited by numerous tribes of people collectively known as the Illyr ...

n invasion from the north-west and an attack from the east by the pretender

Pausanias Pausanias ( el, Παυσανίας) may refer to: *Pausanias of Athens, lover of the poet Agathon and a character in Plato's ''Symposium'' *Pausanias the Regent, Spartan general and regent of the 5th century BC *Pausanias of Sicily, physician of th ...

. Pausanias quickly captured several cities and threatened the queen mother, who was at the palace in

Pella Pella ( el, Πέλλα) is an ancient city located in Central Macedonia, Greece. It is best-known for serving as the capital city of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon, and was the birthplace of Alexander the Great. On site of the ancient cit ...

with her young sons. Alexander defeated his enemies with the help of the

Athenian Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

general

Iphicrates Iphicrates ( grc-gre, Ιφικράτης; c. 418 BC – c. 353 BC) was an Athenian general, who flourished in the earlier half of the 4th century BC. He is credited with important infantry reforms that revolutionized ancient Greek warfare by ...

, who had been sailing along the Macedonian coast on the way to recapture

Amphipolis Amphipolis ( ell, Αμφίπολη, translit=Amfipoli; grc, Ἀμφίπολις, translit=Amphipolis) is a municipality in the Serres (regional unit), Serres regional unit, Macedonia (Greece), Macedonia, Greece. The seat of the municipality is ...

. At the request of the Thessalian

Aleuadae The Aleuadae ( grc, Ἀλευάδαι) were an ancient Thessalian family of Larissa, who claimed descent from the mythical Aleuas. The Aleuadae were the noblest and most powerful among all the families of Thessaly, whence Herodotus calls its membe ...

, Alexander intervened in a civil war in

Thessaly 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, Thes ...

. He successfully gained control of

Larissa Larissa (; el, Λάρισα, , ) is the capital and largest city of the Thessaly region in Greece. It is the fifth-most populous city in Greece with a population of 144,651 according to the 2011 census. It is also capital of the Larissa regiona ...

and several other cities but, betraying a promise he had made, put garrisons in them. This provoked a hostile reaction from Thebes, the leading military power in

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

at the time. The Theban general

Pelopidas Pelopidas (; grc-gre, Πελοπίδας; died 364 BC) was an important Theban statesman and general in Greece, instrumental in establishing the mid-fourth century Theban hegemony. Biography Athlete and warrior Pelopidas was a member of a ...

drove the Macedonians from Thessaly. He then neutralized Alexander by favoring the ambitions of Alexander's brother-in-law

Ptolemy of Aloros Ptolemy of Aloros ( grc-gre, Πτολεμαῖος), was sent by King Amyntas III of Macedon as an envoy to Athens c. 375–373 BC. After Amyntas' death, he began a liaison with his widow, Eurydice. In 368 BC, he assassinated her son, Alexander II ...

, and forced Alexander to abandon his alliance with Athens in favor of Thebes. As part of this new alliance, Alexander had to hand over hostages, including his younger brother

. He would coin the name of the king's personal guard; the

Pezhetairos The pezhetairoi (Greek: , singular: ''pezhetairos)'' were the backbone of the Macedonian army and Diadochi kingdoms. They were literally "foot companions" (in Greek, ''pezos'' means "pedestrian" and ''hetairos'' means "companion" or "friend"). T ...

, or the infantry companions. The name would be retooled under Philip II as the name of his

pike Pike, Pikes or The Pike may refer to: Fish * Blue pike or blue walleye, an extinct color morph of the yellow walleye ''Sander vitreus'' * Ctenoluciidae, the "pike characins", some species of which are commonly known as pikes * ''Esox'', genus of ...

infantry. Alexander was assassinated during a festival at the instigation of

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 ...

. Although Alexander's brother

became the next king, he was under age, and Ptolemy became regent.

References

External links

History of Macedonia

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alexander 02 Of Macedon 4th-century BC Macedonian monarchs 4th-century BC rulers Argead kings of Macedonia Murdered royalty of Macedonia (ancient kingdom) Theban hegemony Old Macedonian kingdom Year of birth unknown 369 BC deaths