Lyppeius () was king of the ancient kingdom of
Paeonia from 359/8 until his death around 335 BC. He succeeded the first known Paeonian king, Agis, under unknown circumstances and may have been his son, but this is only speculation.
The majority of information about Lyppeius revolves around his conflict with his southern neighbor,
Philip II of Macedon. Shortly after Philip's chaotic accession in 359/8, following the death in battle of his brother
Perdiccas III
Perdiccas III (Ancient Greek, Greek: Περδίκκας Γ΄) was king of the Hellenic kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedonia from 365 BC to 360 BC, succeeding his brother Alexander II of Macedon, Alexander II.
Son of Amyntas III of ...
, he was forced to bribe the Paeonians to abandon their invasion of Macedonia. The payment, judged as small by modern historians, may have been made with promises of future tribute from Macedonia, but this never materialized. Instead, Philip reformed the army and invaded Paeonia after learning about the death of Agis, perhaps in the spring of 358. The details of the subsequent battle are unknown, but apparently the Paeonians, now led by Lyppeius, met Philip's 10,000 strong force in a pitched battle and were defeated. According to
Diodorus
Diodorus Siculus or Diodorus of Sicily (; 1st century BC) was an ancient Greek historian from Sicily. He is known for writing the monumental universal history '' Bibliotheca historica'', in forty books, fifteen of which survive intact, b ...
, they were then forced to swear allegiance to the Macedonians.
In late 357, in an attempt to curb Philip's relentless expansion, Athens entered into an anti-Macedonian coalition with King
Grabus II of Illyria, the Thracian kings,
Olynthus
Olynthus ( ''Olynthos'') is an ancient city in present-day Chalcidice, Greece. It was built mostly on two flat-topped hills 30–40m in height, in a fertile plain at the head of the Gulf of Torone, near the neck of the peninsula of Pallene, Cha ...
, and Lyppeius. These efforts proved fruitless, however, as Philip neutralized each of Athen's partners one-by-one.
[Worthington 2014, p. 42] Lyppeius was consequently reduced to a vassal status for the remainder of his reign, but he evidently retained a degree of independence as he continued to mint coins in his own name.
He was succeeded by
Patraus
Patraus () was king of the ancient kingdom of Paeonia from around 335 until his death in 315 BC. Patraus' relationship with the previous Paeonian king, Lyppeius, is unknown, as are the circumstances surrounding his ascension. Aside from th ...
.
References
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{{Authority control
335 BC deaths
4th-century BC monarchs
Paeonian kings