Macedonia

Macedonia, 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 the royal Argead dynasty, which was followed by the Antipatrid and Antigonid dynasties. Home to the ancient Macedonians, the earliest kingdom was centered on the northeastern part of the Greek peninsula, and bordered by Epirus to the west, Paeonia to the north, Thrace to the east and Thessaly to the south.

Before the 4th century BCE, Macedonia was a small kingdom outside the area dominated by the great city-states of Athens, Sparta and Thebes, and briefly subordinate to Achaemenid Persia. During the reign of the Argead king Philip II (359–336 BCE), Macedonia subdued mainland Greece and the Thracian Odrysian kingdom through conquest and diplomacy. With a reformed army containing phalanxes wielding the sarissa pike, Philip II defeated the old powers of Athens and Thebes in the Battle of Chaeronea in 338 BCE. Philip II's son Alexander the Great, leading a federation of Greek states, accomplished his father's objective of commanding the whole of Greece when he destroyed Thebes after the city revolted. During Alexander's subsequent campaign of conquest, he overthrew the Achaemenid Empire and conquered territory that stretched as far as the Indus River. For a brief period, his empire was the most powerful in the world – the definitive Hellenistic state, inaugurating the transition to a new period of Ancient Greek civilization. Greek arts and literature flourished in the new conquered lands and advances in philosophy, engineering, and science spread throughout much of the ancient world. Of particular importance were the contributions of Aristotle, tutor to Alexander, whose writings became a keystone of Western philosophy.

After Alexander's death in 323 BCE, the ensuing wars of the Diadochi, and the partitioning of Alexander's short-lived empire, Macedonia remained a Greek cultural and political center in the Mediterranean region along with Ptolemaic Egypt, the Seleucid Empire, and the Kingdom of Pergamon. Important cities such as Pella, Pydna, and Amphipolis were involved in power struggles for control of the territory. New cities were founded, such as Thessalonica by the usurper Cassander (named after his wife Thessalonike of Macedon). Macedonia's second rise began with its alliance with the Seleucids under king Philip V. By 183 BCE, the Second Macedonian Empire stretched from north-eastern Thrace, all the way to southern Italy. However, by 90 BCE, the rising Pontic Empire under Mithridates VI the Great, was becoming more and more of a threat to Macedonian hegemony. In 88 BCE, both waged a bloody war. However, Pontos had won, and Macedonia was vassalized. This lasted until 235 CE, when the Goths invaded Greece. Later the Huns occupied Greece as well, until 453 CE, when Macedonia reasserted its independence.

The Macedonian kings, who wielded absolute power and commanded state resources such as gold and silver, facilitated mining operations to mint currency, finance their armies and, by the reign of Philip II, a Macedonian navy. Unlike the other diadochi successor states, the imperial cult fostered by Alexander was never adopted in Macedonia, yet Macedonian rulers nevertheless assumed roles as high priests of the kingdom and leading patrons of domestic and international cults of the Hellenistic religion. The authority of Macedonian kings was theoretically limited by the institution of the army, while a few municipalities within the Macedonian commonwealth enjoyed a high degree of autonomy and even had democratic governments with popular assemblies.

Early history and legend (808-479 BCE)
The Classical Greek historians Herodotus and Thucydides reported the legend that the Macedonian kings of the Argead dynasty were descendants of Temenus, king of Argos, and could therefore claim the mythical Heracles as one of their ancestors as well as a direct lineage from Zeus, chief god of the Greek pantheon. Contradictory legends state that either Perdiccas I of Macedon or Caranus of Macedon were the founders of the Argead dynasty, with either five or eight kings before Amyntas I. The assertion that the Argeads descended from Temenus was accepted by the Hellanodikai authorities of the Ancient Olympic Games, permitting Alexander I of Macedon ( r . 498–454 BCE) to enter the competitions owing to his perceived Greek heritage. Little is known about the kingdom before the reign of Alexander I's father Amyntas I of Macedon ( r . 547–498 BCE) during the Archaic period.

The kingdom of Macedonia was situated along the Haliacmon and Axius rivers in Lower Macedonia, north of Mount Olympus. Historians suggest that one of the earliest Argead kings established Aigai (modern Vergina) as their capital in the mid-7th century BCE. Before the 4th century BCE, the kingdom covered a region corresponding roughly to the western and central parts of the region of Macedonia in modern Greece. It gradually expanded into the region of Upper Macedonia, inhabited by the Greek Lyncestae and Elimiotae tribes, and into the regions of Emathia, Eordaia, Bottiaea, Mygdonia, Crestonia, and Almopia, which were inhabited by various peoples such as Thracians and Phrygians. Macedonia's non-Greek neighbors included Thracians, inhabiting territories to the northeast, Illyrians to the northwest, and Paeonians to the north, while the lands of Thessaly to the south and Epirus to the west were inhabited by Greeks with similar cultures to that of the Macedonians.

A year after Darius I of Persia ( r . 522–486 BCE) launched an invasion into Europe against the Scythians, Paeonians, Thracians, and several Greek city-states of the Balkans, the Persian general Megabazus used diplomacy to convince Amyntas I to submit as a vassal of the Achaemenid Empire, ushering in the period of Achaemenid Macedonia. Achaemenid Persian hegemony over Macedonia was briefly interrupted by the Ionian Revolt (499–493 BCE), yet the Persian general Mardonius brought it back under Achaemenid suzerainty.

Although Macedonia enjoyed a large degree of autonomy and was never made a satrapy (i.e. province) of the Achaemenid Empire, it was expected to provide troops for the Achaemenid army. Alexander I provided Macedonian military support to Xerxes I ( r . 486–465 BCE) during the Second Persian invasion of Greece in 480–479 BCE, and Macedonian soldiers fought on the side of the Persians at the 479 BCE Battle of Platea. Following the Greek victory at Salamis in 480 BCE, Alexander I was employed as an Achaemenid diplomat to propose a peace treaty and alliance with Athens, an offer that was rejected. Soon afterwards, the Achaemenid forces were forced to withdraw from mainland Europe, marking the end of Persian control over Macedonia.

Involvement in the Classical Greek world (479-359 BCE)
Although initially a Persian vassal, Alexander I of Macedon fostered friendly diplomatic relations with his former Greek enemies, the Athenian and Spartan-led coalition of Greek city-states. His successor Perdiccas II ( r . 454–413 BCE) led the Macedonians to war in four separate conflicts against Athens, leader of the Delian League, while incursions by the Thracian ruler Sitalces of the Odrysian kingdom threatened Macedonia's territorial integrity in the northeast. The Athenian statesman Pericles promoted colonization of the Strymon River near the Kingdom of Macedonia, where the colonial city of Amphipolis was founded in 437/436 BCE so that it could provide Athens with a steady supply of silver and gold as well as timber and pitch to support the Athenian navy. Initially Perdiccas II did not take any action and might have even welcomed the Athenians, as the Thracians were foes to both of them. This changed due to an Athenian alliance with a brother and cousin of Perdiccas II who had rebelled against him. Thus, two separate wars were fought against Athens between 433 and 431 BCE. The Macedonian king retaliated by promoting the rebellion of Athens' allies in Chalcidice and subsequently won over the strategic city of Potidaea. After capturing the Macedonian cities Therma and Beroea, Athens besieged Potidaea but failed to overcome it; Therma was returned to Macedonia and much of Chalcidice to Athens in a peace treaty negotiated by Sitalces, who provided Athens with military aid in exchange for acquiring new Thracian allies.

Perdiccas II sided with Sparta in the Peloponnesian War (431–404 BCE) between Athens and Sparta, and in 429 BCE Athens retaliated by persuading Sitalces to invade Macedonia, but he was forced to retreat owing to a shortage of provisions in winter. In 424 BCE, Arrhabaeus, a local ruler of Lynkestis in Upper Macedonia, rebelled against his overlord Perdiccas, and the Spartans agreed to help in putting down the revolt. At the Battle of Lyncestis the Macedonians panicked and fled before the fighting began, enraging the Spartan general Brasidas, whose soldiers looted the unattended Macedonian baggage train. Perdiccas then changed sides and supported Athens, and he was able to put down Arrhabaeus's revolt.

Brasidas died in 422 BCE, the year Athens and Sparta struck an accord, the Peace of Nicias, that freed Macedonia from its obligations as an Athenian ally. Following the 418 BCE Battle of Mantinea, the victorious Spartans formed an alliance with Argos, a military pact Perdiccas II was keen to join given the threat of Spartan allies remaining in Chalcidice. When Argos suddenly switched sides as a pro-Athenian democracy, the Athenian navy was able to form a blockade against Macedonian seaports and invade Chalcidice in 417 BCE. Perdiccas II sued for peace in 414 BCE, forming an alliance with Athens that was continued by his son and successor Archelaus I ( r . 413–399 BCE). Athens then provided naval support to Archelaus I in the 410 BCE Macedonian siege of Pydna, in exchange for timber and naval equipment.

Although Archelaus I was faced with some internal revolts and had to fend off an invasion of Illyrians led by Sirras of Lynkestis, he was able to project Macedonian power into Thessaly where he sent military aid to his allies. Although he retained Aigai as a ceremonial and religious center, Archelaus I moved the capital of the kingdom north to Pella, which was then positioned by a lake with a river connecting it to the Aegean Sea. He improved Macedonia's currency by minting coins with a higher silver content as well as issuing separate copper coinage. His royal court attracted the presence of well-known intellectuals such as the Athenian playwright Euripides. When Archelaus I was assassinated (perhaps following a homosexual love affair with royal pages at his court), the kingdom was plunged into chaos, in an era lasting from 399 to 393 BCE that included the reign of four different monarchs: Orestes, son of Archelaus I; Aeropus II, uncle, regent, and murderer of Orestes; Pausanias, son of Aeropus II; and Amyntas II, who was married to the youngest daughter of Archelaus I. Very little is known about this turbulent period; it came to an end when Amyntas III ( r . 393–370 BCE), son of Arrhidaeus and grandson of Amyntas I, killed Pausanias and claimed the Macedonian throne.

Amyntas III was forced to flee his kingdom in either 393 or 383 BCE (based on conflicting accounts), owing to a massive invasion by the Illyrian Dardani led by Bardylis. The pretender to the throne Argaeus ruled in his absence, yet Amyntas III eventually returned to his kingdom with the aid of Thessalian allies. Amyntas III was also nearly overthrown by the forces of the Chalcidian city of Olynthos, but with the aid of Teleutias, brother of the Spartan king Agesilaus II, the Macedonians forced Olynthos to surrender and dissolve their Chalcidian League in 379 BCE.

Alexander II ( r . 370–368 BCE), son of Eurydice I and Amyntas III, succeeded his father and immediately invaded Thessaly to wage war against the tagus (supreme Thessalian military leader) Alexander of Pherae, capturing the city of Larissa. The Thessalians, desiring to remove both Alexander II and Alexander of Pherae as their overlords, appealed to Pelopidas of Thebes for aid; he succeeded in recapturing Larissa and, in the peace agreement arranged with Macedonia, received aristocratic hostages including Alexander II's brother and future king Philip II ( r . 359–336 BCE). When Alexander was assassinated by his brother-in-law Ptolemy of Aloros, the latter acted as an overbearing regent for Perdiccas III ( r . 368–359 BCE), younger brother of Alexander II, who eventually had Ptolemy executed when reaching the age of majority in 365 BCE. The remainder of Perdiccas III's reign was marked by political stability and financial recovery. However, an Athenian invasion led by Timotheus, son of Conon, managed to capture Methone and Pydna, and an Illyrian invasion led by Bardylis succeeded in killing Perdiccas III and 4,000 Macedonian troops in battle.

Rise of Macedon (359-335 BCE)
Philip II was twenty-four years old when he acceded to the throne in 359 BCE. Through the use of deft diplomacy, he was able to convince the Thracians under Berisades to cease their support of Pausanias, a pretender to the throne, and the Athenians to halt their support of another pretender. He achieved these by bribing the Thracians and their Paeonian allies and establishing a treaty with Athens that relinquished his claims to Amphipolis. He was also able to make peace with the Illyrians who had threatened his borders.

Philip II spent his initial years radically transforming the Macedonian army. A reform of its organization, equipment, and training, including the introduction of the Macedonian phalanx armed with long pikes (i.e. the sarissa), proved immediately successful when tested against his Illyrian and Paeonian enemies. Confusing accounts in ancient sources have led modern scholars to debate how much Philip II's royal predecessors may have contributed to these reforms and the extent to which his ideas were influenced by his adolescent years of captivity in Thebes as a political hostage during the Theban hegemony, especially after meeting with the general Epaminondas.

The Macedonians, like the other Greeks, traditionally practiced monogamy, but Philip II practiced polygamy and married seven wives with perhaps only one that did not involve the loyalty of his aristocratic subjects or new allies. His first marriages were to Phila of Elimeia of the Upper Macedonian aristocracy as well as the Illyrian princess Audata to ensure a marriage alliance. To establish an alliance with Larissa in Thessaly, he married the Thessalian noblewoman Philinna in 358 BCE, who bore him a son who would later rule as Philip III Arrhidaeus ( r . 323–317 BCE). In 357 BCE, he married Olympias to secure an alliance with Arybbas, the King of Epirus and the Molossians. This marriage would bear a son who would later rule as Alexander III (better known as Alexander the Great) and claim descent from the legendary Achilles by way of his dynastic heritage from Epirus. It is unclear whether or not the Achaemenid Persian kings influenced Philip II's practice of polygamy, although his predecessor Amyntas III had three sons with a possible second wife Gygaea: Archelaus, Arrhidaeus, and Menelaus. Philip II had Archelaus put to death in 359 BCE, while Philip II's other two half brothers fled to Olynthos, serving as a war justification for the Olynthian War (349–348 BCE) against the Chalcidian League.

While Athens was preoccupied with the Social War (357–355 BCE), Philip II retook Amphipolis from them in 357 BCE and the following year recaptured Pydna and Potidaea, the latter of which he handed over to the Chalcidian League as promised in a treaty. In 356 BCE, he took Crenides, refounding it as Philippi, while his general Parmenion defeated the Illyrian king Grabos of the Grabaei. During the 355–354 BCE siege of Methone, Philip II lost his right eye to an arrow wound, but managed to capture the city and treated the inhabitants cordially, unlike the Potidaeans, who had been enslaved.

Philip II then involved Macedonia in the Third Sacred War (356–346 BCE). It began when Phocis captured and plundered the temple of Apollo at Delphi instead of submitting unpaid fines, causing the Amphictyonic League to declare war on Phocis and a civil war among the members of the Thessalian League aligned with either Phocis or Thebes. Philip II's initial campaign against Pherae in Thessaly in 353 BCE at the behest of Larissa ended in two disastrous defeats by the Phocian general Onomarchus. Philip II in turn defeated Onomarchus in 352 BCE at the Battle of Crocus Field, which led to Philip II's election as leader (archon) of the Thessalian League, provided him a seat on the Amphictyonic Council, and allowed for a marriage alliance with Pherae by wedding Nicesipolis, niece of the tyrant Jason of Pherae.

Philip II had some early involvement with the Achaemenid Empire, especially by supporting satraps and mercenaries who rebelled against the central authority of the Achaemenid king. The satrap of Hellespontine Phrygia Artabazos II, who was in rebellion against Artaxerxes III, was able to take refuge as an exile at the Macedonian court from 352 to 342 BCE. He was accompanied in exile by his family and by his mercenary general Memnon of Rhodes. Barsine, daughter of Artabazos, and future wife of Alexander the Great, grew up at the Macedonian court.

After campaigning against the Thracian ruler Cersobleptes, in 349 BCE, Philip II began his war against the Chalcidian League, which had been reestablished in 375 BCE following a temporary disbandment. Despite an Athenian intervention by Charidemus, Olynthos was captured by Philip II in 348 BCE, and its inhabitants were sold into slavery, including some Athenian citizens. The Athenians, especially in a series of speeches by Demosthenes known as the Olynthiacs, were unsuccessful in persuading their allies to counterattack and in 346 BCE concluded a treaty with Macedonia known as the Peace of Philocrates. The treaty stipulated that Athens would relinquish claims to Macedonian coastal territories, the Chalcidice, and Amphipolis in return for the release of the enslaved Athenians as well as guarantees that Philip II would not attack Athenian settlements in the Thracian Chersonese. Meanwhile, Phocis and Thermopylae were captured by Macedonian forces, the Delphic temple robbers were executed, and Philip II was awarded the two Phocian seats on the Amphictyonic Council and the position of master of ceremonies over the Pythian Games. Athens initially opposed his membership on the council and refused to attend the games in protest, but they eventually accepted these conditions, perhaps after some persuasion by Demosthenes in his oration On the Peace.

Over the next few years, Philip II reformed local governments in Thessaly, campaigned against the Illyrian ruler Pleuratus I, deposed Arybbas in Epirus in favor of his brother-in-law Alexander I (through Philip II's marriage to Olympias), and defeated Cersebleptes in Thrace. This allowed him to extend Macedonian control over the Hellespont in anticipation of an invasion into Achaemenid Anatolia. In 342 BCE, Philip II conquered a Thracian city in what is now Bulgaria and renamed it Philippopolis (modern Plovdiv). War broke out with Athens in 340 BCE while Philip II was engaged in two ultimately unsuccessful sieges of Perinthus and Byzantion, followed by a successful campaign against the Scythians along the Danube and Macedonia's involvement in the Fourth Sacred War against Amphissa in 339 BCE. Thebes ejected a Macedonian garrison from Nicaea (near Thermopylae), leading Thebes to join Athens, Megara, Corinth, Achaea, and Euboea in a final confrontation against Macedonia at the Battle of Chaeronea in 338 BCE. After the Macedonian victory at Chaeronea, Philip II installed an oligarchy in Thebes, yet was lenient toward Athens, wishing to utilize their navy in a planned invasion of the Achaemenid Empire. He was then chiefly responsible for the formation of the League of Corinth that included the major Greek city-states except Sparta. Despite the Kingdom of Macedonia's official exclusion from the league, in 337 BCE, Philip II was elected as the leader (hegemon) of its council (synedrion) and the commander-in-chief (strategos autokrator) of a forthcoming campaign to invade the Achaemenid Empire. Philip's plan to punish the Persians for the suffering of the Greeks and to liberate the Greek cities of Asia Minor as well as perhaps the panhellenic fear of another Persian invasion of Greece, contributed to his decision to invade the Achaemenid Empire. The Persians offered aid to Perinthus and Byzantion in 341–340 BCE, highlighting Macedonia's strategic need to secure Thrace and the Aegean Sea against increasing Achaemenid encroachment, as the Persian king Artaxerxes III further consolidated his control over satrapies in western Anatolia. The latter region, yielding far more wealth and valuable resources than the Balkans, was also coveted by the Macedonian king for its sheer economic potential.

When Philip II married Cleopatra Eurydice, niece of general Attalus, talk of providing new potential heirs at the wedding feast infuriated Philip II's son Alexander, a veteran of the Battle of Chaeronea, and his mother Olympias. They fled together to Epirus before Alexander was recalled to Pella by Philip II. When Philip II arranged a marriage between his son Arrhidaeus and Ada of Caria, daughter of Pixodarus, the Persian satrap of Caria, Alexander intervened and proposed to marry Ada instead. Philip II then cancelled the wedding altogether and exiled Alexander's advisors Ptolemy, Nearchus, and Harpalus. To reconcile with Olympias, Philip II had their daughter Cleopatra marry Olympias' brother (and Cleopatra's uncle) Alexander I of Epirus, but Philip II was assassinated by his bodyguard, Pausanias of Orestis, during their wedding feast and was succeeded by Alexander in 336 BCE.

First Macedonian Empire (335-305 BCE)
Modern scholars have argued over the possible role of Alexander III "the Great" and his mother Olympias in the assassination of Philip II, noting the latter's choice to exclude Alexander from his planned invasion of Asia, choosing instead for him to act as regent of Greece and deputy hegemon of the League of Corinth, and the potential bearing of another male heir between Philip II and his new wife, Cleopatra Eurydice. Alexander III ( r . 336–323 BCE) was immediately proclaimed king by an assembly of the army and leading aristocrats, chief among them being Antipater and Parmenion. By the end of his reign and military career in 323 BCE, Alexander would rule over an empire consisting of mainland Greece, Asia Minor, the Levant, ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, Persia, and much of Central and South Asia (i.e. modern Pakistan). Among his first acts was the burial of his father at Aigai. The members of the League of Corinth revolted at the news of Philip II's death, but were soon quelled by military force alongside persuasive diplomacy, electing Alexander as hegemon of the league to carry out the planned invasion of Achaemenid Persia.

In 335 BCE, Alexander fought against the Thracian tribe of the Triballi at Haemus Mons and along the Danube, forcing their surrender on Peuce Island. Shortly thereafter, the Illyrian king Cleitus of the Dardani threatened to attack Macedonia, but Alexander took the initiative and besieged the Dardani at Pelion (in modern Albania). When Thebes had once again revolted from the League of Corinth and was besieging the Macedonian garrison in the Cadmea, Alexander left the Illyrian front and marched to Thebes, which he placed under siege. After breaching the walls, Alexander's forces killed 6,000 Thebans, took 30,000 inhabitants as prisoners of war, and burned the city to the ground as a warning that convinced all other Greek states except Sparta not to challenge Alexander again.

Throughout his military career, Alexander won every battle that he personally commanded. His first victory against the Persians in Asia Minor at the Battle of the Granicus in 334 BCE used a small cavalry contingent as a distraction to allow his infantry to cross the river followed by a cavalry charge from his companion cavalry. Alexander led the cavalry charge at the Battle of Issus in 333 BCE, forcing the Persian king Darius III and his army to flee. Darius III, despite having superior numbers, was again forced to flee the Battle of Gaugamela in 331 BCE. The Persian king was later captured and executed by his own satrap of Bactria and kinsman, Bessus, in 330 BCE. The Macedonian king subsequently hunted down and executed Bessus in what is now Afghanistan, securing the region of Sogdia in the process. At the 326 BCE Battle of the Hydaspes (modern-day Punjab), when the war elephants of King Porus of the Pauravas threatened Alexander's troops, he had them form open ranks to surround the elephants and dislodge their handlers by using their sarissa pikes. When his Macedonian troops threatened mutiny in 324 BCE at Opis, Babylonia (near modern Baghdad, Iraq), Alexander offered Macedonian military titles and greater responsibilities to Persian officers and units instead, forcing his troops to seek forgiveness at a staged banquet of reconciliation between Persians and Macedonians.

Alexander perhaps undercut his own rule by demonstrating signs of megalomania. While utilizing effective propaganda such as the cutting of the Gordian Knot, he also attempted to portray himself as a living god and son of Zeus following his visit to the oracle at Siwah in the Libyan Desert (in modern-day Egypt) in 331 BCE. His attempt in 327 BCE to have his men prostrate before him in Bactra in an act of proskynesis borrowed from the Persian kings was rejected as religious blasphemy by his Macedonian and Greek subjects after his court historian Callisthenes refused to perform this ritual. When Alexander had Parmenion murdered at Ecbatana (near modern Hamadan, Iran) in 330 BCE, this was "symptomatic of the growing gulf between the king's interests and those of his country and people", according to modern historians. His murder of Cleitus the Black in 328 BCE is described as "vengeful and reckless". Continuing the polygamous habits of his father, Alexander encouraged his men to marry native women in Asia, leading by example when he wed Roxana, a Sogdian princess of Bactria. He then married Stateira II, eldest daughter of Darius III, and Parysatis II, youngest daughter of Artaxerxes III, at the Susa weddings in 324 BCE.

Meanwhile, in Greece, the Spartan king Agis III attempted to lead a rebellion of the Greeks against Macedonia. He was defeated in 331 BCE at the Battle of Megalopolis by Antipater, who was serving as regent of Macedonia and deputy hegemon of the League of Corinth in Alexander's stead. Before Antipater embarked on his campaign in the Peloponnese, Memnon, the governor of Thrace, was dissuaded from rebellion by use of diplomacy. Antipater deferred the punishment of Sparta to the League of Corinth headed by Alexander, who ultimately pardoned the Spartans on the condition that they submit fifty nobles as hostages. Antipater's hegemony was somewhat unpopular in Greece due to his practice (perhaps by order of Alexander) of exiling malcontents and garrisoning cities with Macedonian troops, yet in 330 BCE, Alexander declared that the tyrannies installed in Greece were to be abolished and Greek freedom was to be restored.

When Alexander the Great died at Babylon in 323 BCE, his mother Olympias immediately accused Antipater and his faction of poisoning him, although there is no evidence to confirm this. With no official heir apparent, the Macedonian military command split, with one side proclaiming Alexander's half-brother Philip III Arrhidaeus ( r . 323–317 BCE) as king and the other siding with the infant son of Alexander and Roxana, Alexander IV ( r . 323–309 BCE). Except for the Euboeans and Boeotians, the Greeks also immediately rose up in a rebellion against Antipater known as the Lamian War (323–322 BCE). When Antipater was defeated at the 323 BCE Battle of Thermopylae, he fled to Lamia where he was besieged by the Athenian commander Leosthenes. A Macedonian army led by Leonnatus rescued Antipater by lifting the siege. Antipater defeated the rebellion, yet his death in 319 BCE left a power vacuum wherein the two proclaimed kings of Macedonia became pawns in a power struggle between the diadochi, the former generals of Alexander's army.

A council of the army convened in Babylon immediately after Alexander's death, naming Philip III as king and the chiliarch Perdiccas as his regent. Antipater, Antigonus Monophthalmus, Craterus, and Ptolemy formed a coalition against Perdiccas in a civil war initiated by Ptolemy's seizure of the hearse of Alexander the Great. Perdiccas was assassinated in 321 BCE by his own officers during a failed campaign in Egypt against Ptolemy, where his march along the Nile River resulted in the drowning of 2,000 of his men. Although Eumenes of Cardia managed to kill Craterus in battle, this had little to no effect on the outcome of the 321 BCE Partition of Triparadisus in Syria where the victorious coalition settled the issue of a new regency and territorial rights. Antipater was appointed as regent over the two kings. Before Antipater died in 319 BCE, he named the staunch Argead loyalist Polyperchon as his successor, passing over his own son Cassander and ignoring the right of the king to choose a new regent (since Philip III was considered mentally unstable), in effect bypassing the council of the army as well.

Forming an alliance with Ptolemy, Antigonus, and Lysimachus, Cassander had his officer Nicanor capture the Munichia fortress of Athens' port town Piraeus in defiance of Polyperchon's decree that Greek cities should be free of Macedonian garrisons, sparking the Second War of the Diadochi (319–315 BCE). Given a string of military failures by Polyperchon, in 317 BCE, Philip III, by way of his politically engaged wife Eurydice II of Macedon, officially replaced him as regent with Cassander. Afterwards, Polyperchon desperately sought the aid of Olympias in Epirus. A joint force of Epirotes, Aetolians, and Polyperchon's troops invaded Macedonia and forced the surrender of Philip III and Eurydice's army, allowing Olympias to execute the king and force his queen to commit suicide. Olympias then had Nicanor and dozens of other Macedonian nobles killed, but by the spring of 316 BCE, Cassander had defeated her forces, captured her, and placed her on trial for murder before sentencing her to death.

Cassander married Philip II's daughter Thessalonike and briefly extended Macedonian control into Illyria as far as Epidamnos. By 313 BCE, it was retaken by the Illyrian king Glaucias of Taulantii. By 316 BCE, Antigonus had taken the territory of Eumenes and managed to eject Seleucus Nicator from his Babylonian satrapy, leading Cassander, Ptolemy, and Lysimachus to issue a joint ultimatum to Antigonus in 315 BCE for him to surrender various territories in Asia. Antigonus promptly allied with Polyperchon, now based in Corinth, and issued an ultimatum of his own to Cassander, charging him with murder for executing Olympias and demanding that he hand over the royal family, King Alexander IV and the queen mother Roxana. The conflict that followed lasted until the winter of 312/311 BCE, when a new peace settlement recognized Cassander as general of Europe, Antigonus as "first in Asia", Ptolemy as general of Egypt, and Lysimachus as general of Thrace. Cassander had Alexander IV and Roxana put to death in the winter of 311/310 BCE, and by 306–305 BCE, the diadochi were declared kings of their respective territories.

Hellenistic Era (305-213 BCE)
The beginning of Hellenistic Greece was defined by the struggle between the Antipatrid dynasty, led first by Cassander ( r . 305–297 BCE), son of Antipater, and the Antigonid dynasty, led by the Macedonian general Antigonus I Monophthalmus ( r . 306–301 BCE) and his son, the future king Demetrius I ( r . 294–288 BCE). Cassander besieged Athens in 303 BCE, but was forced to retreat to Macedonia when Demetrius invaded Boeotia to his rear, attempting to sever his path of retreat. While Antigonus and Demetrius attempted to recreate Philip II's Hellenic league with themselves as dual hegemons, a revived coalition of Cassander, Ptolemy I Soter ( r . 305–283 BCE) of Egypt's Ptolemaic dynasty, Seleucus I Nicator ( r . 305–281 BCE) of the Seleucid Empire, and Lysimachus ( r . 306–281 BCE), King of Thrace, defeated the Antigonids at the Battle of Ipsus in 301 BCE, killing Antigonus and forcing Demetrius into flight.

Cassander died in 297 BCE, and his sickly son Philip IV died the same year, succeeded by Cassander's other sons Alexander V of Macedon ( r . 297–294 BCE) and Antipater II of Macedon ( r . 297–294 BCE), with their mother Thessalonike of Macedon acting as regent. While Demetrius fought against the Antipatrid forces in Greece, Antipater II killed his own mother to obtain power. His desperate brother Alexander V then requested aid from Pyrrhus of Epirus ( r . 297–272 BCE), who had fought alongside Demetrius at the Battle of Ipsus, but was sent to Egypt as a hostage as part of an agreement between Demetrius and Ptolemy I. In exchange for defeating the forces of Antipater II and forcing him to flee to the court of Lysimachus in Thrace, Pyrrhus was awarded the westernmost portions of the Macedonian kingdom. Demetrius had his nephew Alexander V assassinated and was then proclaimed king of Macedonia, but his subjects protested against his distant, Eastern-style autocracy.

War broke out between Pyrrhus and Demetrius in 290 BCE when Lanassa, wife of Pyrrhus, daughter of Agathocles of Syracuse, left him for Demetrius and offered him her dowry of Corcyra. The war dragged on until 288 BCE, when Demetrius lost the support of the Macedonians and fled the country. Macedonia was then divided between Pyrrhus and Lysimachus, the former taking western Macedonia and the latter eastern Macedonia. By 286 BCE, Lysimachus had expelled Pyrrhus and his forces from Macedonia. In 282 BCE, a new war erupted between Seleucus I and Lysimachus; the latter was killed in the Battle of Corupedion, allowing Seleucus I to take control of Thrace and Macedonia. In two dramatic reversals of fortune, Seleucus I was assassinated in 281 BCE by his officer Ptolemy Keraunos, son of Ptolemy I and grandson of Antipater, who was then proclaimed king of Macedonia before being killed in battle in 279 BCE by Celtic invaders in the Gallic invasion of Greece. The Macedonian army proclaimed the general Sosthenes of Macedon as king, although he apparently refused the title. After defeating the Gallic ruler Bolgios and driving out the raiding party of Brennus, Sosthenes died and left a chaotic situation in Macedonia. The Gallic invaders ravaged Macedonia until Antigonus Gonatas, son of Demetrius, defeated them in Thrace at the 277 BCE Battle of Lysimachia and was then proclaimed king Antigonus II of Macedon ( r . 277–274, 272–239 BCE).

In 280 BCE, Pyrrhus embarked on a campaign in Magna Graecia (i.e. southern Italy) against the Kingdom of Rasenna known as the Pyrrhic War, followed by his invasion of Sicily. Ptolemy Keraunos secured his position on the Macedonian throne by giving Pyrrhus five thousand soldiers and twenty war elephants for this endeavor. Pyrrhus returned to Epirus in 275 BCE after the ultimate failure of both campaigns, which contributed to the rise of Carthage because Greek cities in southern Italy such as Taras were now controlled by Carthage. Pyrrhus invaded Macedonia in 274 BCE, defeating the largely mercenary army of Antigonus II at the 274 BCE Battle of Aous and driving him out of Macedonia, forcing him to seek refuge with his naval fleet in the Aegean.

However, Pyrrhus lost much of his support among the Macedonians in 273 BCE when his unruly Gallic mercenaries plundered the royal cemetery of Aigai. Pyrrhus pursued Antigonus II in the Peloponnese, yet Antigonus II was ultimately able to recapture Macedonia. Pyrrhus was killed while besieging Argos in 272 BCE, allowing Antigonus II to reclaim the rest of Greece. He then restored the Argead dynastic graves at Aigai and annexed the Kingdom of Paeonia.

The Aetolian League hampered Antigonus II's control over central Greece, and the formation of the Achaean League in 251 BCE pushed Macedonian forces out of much of the Peloponnese and at times incorporated Athens and Sparta. While the Seleucid Empire aligned with Antigonid Macedonia against Ptolemaic Egypt during the Syrian Wars, the Ptolemaic navy heavily disrupted Antigonus II's efforts to control mainland Greece. With the aid of the Ptolemaic navy, the Athenian statesman Chremonides led a revolt against Macedonian authority known as the Chremonidean War (267–261 BCE). By 265 BCE, Athens was surrounded and besieged by Antigonus II's forces, and a Ptolemaic fleet was defeated in the Battle of Cos. Athens finally surrendered in 261 BCE. After Macedonia formed an alliance with the Seleucid ruler Antiochus II, a peace settlement between Antigonus II and Ptolemy II Philadelphus of Egypt was finally struck in 255 BCE.

In 251 BCE, Aratus of Sicyon led a rebellion against Antigonus II, and in 250 BCE, Ptolemy II declared his support for the self-proclaimed King Alexander of Corinth. Although Alexander died in 246 BCE and Antigonus was able to score a naval victory against the Ptolemies at Andros, the Macedonians lost the Acrocorinth to the forces of Aratus in 243 BCE, followed by the induction of Corinth into the Achaean League. Antigonus II made peace with the Achaean League in 240 BCE, ceding the territories that he had lost in Greece. Antigonus II died in 239 BCE and was succeeded by his son Demetrius II of Macedon ( r . 239–229 BCE). Seeking an alliance with Macedonia to defend against the Aetolians, the queen mother and regent of Epirus, Olympias II, offered her daughter Phthia of Macedon to Demetrius II in marriage. Demetrius II accepted her proposal, but he damaged relations with the Seleucids by divorcing Stratonice of Macedon. Although the Aetolians formed an alliance with the Achaean League as a result, Demetrius II was able to invade Boeotia and capture it from the Aetolians by 236 BCE.

The Achaean League managed to capture Megalopolis in 235 BCE, and by the end of Demetrius II's reign most of the Peloponnese except Argos was taken from the Macedonians. Demetrius II also lost an ally in Epirus when the monarchy was toppled in a republican revolution. Demetrius II enlisted the aid of the Illyrian king Agron to defend Acarnania against Aetolia, and in 229 BCE, they managed to defeat the combined navies of the Aetolian and Achaean Leagues at the Battle of Paxos. Another Illyrian ruler, Longarus of the Dardanian Kingdom, invaded Macedonia and defeated an army of Demetrius II shortly before his death in 229 BCE. Although his young son Philip immediately inherited the throne, his regent Antigonus III Doson ( r . 229–221 BCE), nephew of Antigonus II, was proclaimed king by the army, with Philip as his heir, following a string of military victories against the Illyrians in the north and the Aetolians in Thessaly.

Aratus sent an embassy to Antigonus III in 226 BCE seeking an unexpected alliance now that the reformist king Cleomenes III of Sparta was threatening the rest of Greece in the Cleomenean War (229–222 BCE). In exchange for military aid, Antigonus III demanded the return of Corinth to Macedonian control, which Aratus finally agreed to in 225 BCE. In 224 BCE, Antigonus III's forces took Arcadia from Sparta. After forming a Hellenic league in the same vein as Philip II's League of Corinth, he managed to defeat Sparta at the Battle of Sellasia in 222 BCE. Sparta was occupied by a foreign power for the first time in its history, restoring Macedonia's position as the leading power in Greece. Antigonus died a year later, perhaps from tuberculosis, leaving behind a strong Hellenistic kingdom for his successor Philip V.

Philip V of Macedon ( r . 221–158 BCE) faced immediate challenges to his authority by the Illyrian Dardani and Aetolian League. Philip V and his allies were successful against the Aetolians and their allies in the Social War (220–217 BCE), yet he made peace with the Aetolians once he heard of incursions by the Dardani in the north. In 216 BCE, Philip V was attacked by the Dardani, sparking the Dardani-Macedonian War (216–215 BCE), in which Macedonia made peace after the defeat of the Dardani.

Alliance with the Seleucids and Second Macedonian Empire (213-88 BCE)
Macedonia soon again got in conflict with the Aetolian League, during the Second Social War (213–211 BCE), in which Philip V crushed the last opposition against Macedon in all of Greece. However, after defeating the Aetolian League, Philip V provoked Epirus into attacking the Achaean League, and shortly after attacked both nations and all other members of the Hellenic League, during the Third Social War (210-207 BCE). All of Greece was now under Macedonian control. Still, Thrace remained a rival and the Asian kingdoms were still opposing Macedonian hegemony, except Rhodes, which was allied to Macedon. These states were concerned about Philip V's alliance with Antiochus III the Great of the Seleucid Empire, which invaded the war-weary and financially exhausted Ptolemaic Empire in the Fifth Syrian War (202–195 BCE) as Philip V captured Ptolemaic settlements in the Aegean Sea. In result, the Kingdom of Thrace, Pergamon and Bithynia, formed the Thracian League.

In 192 BCE, Philip V and Antiochus III of the Seleucid Empire invaded the Kingdom of Thrace, Pergamon and Bithynia, in result of the Thracian League against Macedonia and his ally, the Seleucid Empire. This war is known as the Thracian War (192-189 BCE). The Seleucids and Macedonians had won this war, and the Seleucid Empire seized control over Pergamon and Bithynia, while Macedonia would occupy Thrace.

In 188 BCE, Philip V of Macedon waged a war against the extremely wealthy Carthaginian Empire, aiming to conquer south-east Italy, excluding Sicily. Also known as the Carthago-Macedonian War (188-187 BCE). At first, Philip V suffered a defeat at the Battle of Taras (183 BCE). However, soon after, massive allied Seleucid and Macedonian reinforcements arrived in Italy. It was only thanks to Hannibals great strategy that defeated the Macedonians at the Battle of Heraclea in 182 BCE. Soon after, a truce was signed and the Macedonians and Seleucids had to promise, never to expand west of Greece anymore, which remained for the next centuries to come. This treaty ultimately increased Carthaginian hegemony in the Mediterranean Sea, especially in the West. In 180 BCE, Philip V invaded Cyrenaica, as a springboard for his Egyptian campaign in the near future.

In 179 BCE, Philip, seeing the current instability of a seven year old as king, attacked the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt by advancing to their capital Alexandria and sieging it. In the meantime, the Seleucids were invading Cyprus and together with the Macedonian ships they destroyed most of the Egyptian fleet. Alexandria fell after just a few months, as by now, the combined maritime forces were blockading the supply incomes of the city. Shortly after, all of mainland Egypt was occupied by Macedonia, while Cyprus and most of the Levantine Sea were now controlled by the Seleucids.

Ptolemy VI was captured and executed shortly after. His mother, Ceopatra I and his brother Ptolemy VIII, as well as his sister Cleopatra II were all sent into exile. Only 1 or 2 years later, Cleopatra I died of unknown causes, leaving only both siblings, who later married. Initially wanting to restore the Ptolemies in Egypt, they never managed to threaten the new Egyptian throne.

In the following years, Macedonia went through a period of cultural prosperity and stability. This changed when Philip V of Macedon died in 158 BCE. His oldest son, Perseus I, ascended the throne. However, his younger son Demetrius rebelled against him in Egypt. He was the only son by his legitimate wife, while Perseus was the son of a concubine. Perseus was busy fighting an Illyrian invasion into the Macedonian heartland, causing Demetrius to defeat the Macedonian forces in Egypt and Cyrenaica, crowning himself Pharaoh. Cyrenaica itself was made a vassal kingdom. Demetrius made himself popular among the Egyptian natives as he adopted many aspects of Egyptian culture to stabilize his reign. Demetrius thus founded the Demetrian Kingdom of Egypt, crowning himself as Demetrius I.

By 88 BCE, the rising Pontic Empire under the ambitious king Mithridates VI the Great, had greatly expanded its territory and power. Macedonia now feared an attack.

War with Pontos and Collapse (88-86 BCE)
In 88 BCE, Mithridates the Great launched a massive invasion into the Macedonian Empire. The war started, when the Pontic general Archelaus crossed the Bosporus, while general Dorylaeus crossed the Hellespont. Both armies met the Macedonian king at the battle of Philippopolis (88 BCE). The Macedonian king was defeated. Losing 30.000 soldiers, he retreated to Pella, while his general Ariston arrived with 30.000 fresh troops for reinforcement. Mithridates was not willing to waste any time and ordered his general Neoptolemus to invade Athens by sea. Even though Macedonia had naval superiority, most of its fleet was located near Thessalonica, to avoid being outflanked through the sea. Neoptolemus landed near Corinth and quickly captured the Peloponnese Peninsula. Ariston swiftly moved to Attica and attacked Neoptolemus' army, which besieged Athens.

After the unsuccessful siege, in which Neoptolemus lost 15.000 men, the now outnumbered general retreated to the Peloponnese, though still being able to hold his position. However, because of Ariston's shift to the south, the northern army under the Macedonian king, was now outnumbered almost 2 to 1. Archelaus and Dorylaeus had taken this opportunity and attacked the Macedonian king in the Battle of Pella (87 BCE). The king was defeated, and after losing 30.000 more men, he retreated to Thessalonica, where most of the Macedonian navy was located. Archelaus thus laid siege on Thessalonica and the king was now outnumbered 3 to 1.

Ariston was now ordered to move 30.000 of his 50.000 men to protect Thessalonica. Neoptolemus took this opportunity and defeated Ariston, killing 10.000 of his men near Athens. Ariston now retreated to the famous mountain pass of Thermopylae, where the outnumbered Spartans once engaged the Persians, while Neoptolemus captured Athens. However, Neoptolemus avoided the mountain pass and slowly advanced to the north, while Ariston had other choice but to retreat to Larissa. The general met Neoptolemus at the Battle of Larissa (87 BCE) and killed Ariston including most of his army. The king now had no other choice than to commit suicide. In early 86 BCE, the last remnants of Macedonian resistance surrendered. Macedonia was now completely under Pontic control.

Pontic vassal (86 BCE-235 CE)
After the collapse of the Second Macedonian Empire, Macedonia itself became a client state of Pontos, ruled by Mithridates VI the Greats' son, Arcathias. This changed when the Pontic Empire collapsed after being defeated by the rising Sassanid Empire in 235 CE. Macedonia was now once again a free state.

After Pontic hegemony (235-267 CE)
The kingdom of Macedonia remained independent, until the Gothic invasion of Greece from 266-267 CE.

After the Huns (453- CE)
After the death of king Attila the Hun of the Hunnic Empire, Macedonia asserted its independence.

List of Macedonian kings
These are the names and reign dates.

Argead dynasty

Caranus (808-778 BCE) - Founder of the Argead dynasty and the first king of Macedon.

Koinos (778-750 BCE)

Tyrimmas (750-700 BCE)

Perdiccas I (700-678 BCE)

Argaeus I (678-640 BCE)

Philip I (640-602 BCE)

Aeropus I (602-576 BCE)

Alcetas I (576-547 BCE)

Amyntas I (547-498 BCE)

Alexander I (498-454 BCE)

Alcetas II (454-448 BCE)

Perdiccas II (448-413 BCE)

Archelaus I (413-399 BCE)

Orestes and Aeropus II (399-396 BCE)

Archelaus II (396-393 BCE)

Amyntas II (393 BCE)

Pausanias (393 BCE)

Amyntas III (393 BCE)

Argaeus II (393-392 BCE)

Amyntas III (392-370 BCE) - Restored to the throne after one year.

Alexander II (370-368 BCE)

Ptolemy I (368-365 BCE)

Perdiccas III (365-359 BCE)

Amyntas IV (359 BCE)

Philip II (359-336 BCE) - Expanded Macedonian territory and influence to achieve a dominant position in the Balkans, unified most of the Greek city-states in the League of Corinth under his hegemony.

Alexander III "the Great" (336-323 BCE) - Alexander the Great, the most notable Macedonian king and one of the most celebrated strategists and rulers of all time. Alexander at the top of his reign was simultaneously King of Macedonia, Pharaoh of Egypt, King of Persia and King of Asia.

Philip III Arrhidaeus (323-317 BCE) - Only titular king after the death of Alexander III.

Alexander IV (323-310 BCE) - Son of Alexander the Great and Roxana. Served only as a titular king and was murdered at a young age before having the chance to rise to the throne of Macedon.

Antipatrid dynasty

Cassander (305-297 BCE)

Philip IV (297 BCE)

Alexander V and Antipater II (297-294 BCE)

Antigonid dynasty

Demetrius I Poliorcetes (306-286 BCE)

Non-dynastic kings

Lysimachus (286-281 BCE) and Pyrrhus of Epirus (286-285 BCE)

Ptolemy II Ceraunus (281-279 BCE) - Ptolemy II, the son of Ptolemy I Soter, was the murderer of Seleucus I Nicator, and then was invited to the throne of the dead Lysimachus's kingdom of Macedonia and Thrace. Ptolemy II finally died fighting the Celtic Gauls (Galatians) led by Bolgius.

Meleager (279 BCE)

Antipatrid dynasty

Antipater II Etesias (279 BCE)

Sosthenes (279-276 BCE), strategos

Antigonid dynasty

Antigonus II Gonatas (276-239 BCE) - Son of Demetrius Poliorcetes and Phila, grandson of Antigonus I Monophthalmus. His wife, Phila, was the daughter of his sister, Stratonice. Only one known legitimate child, Demetrius II Aetolicus. He defeated Ptolemy II's rivals, the Gauls, at the Battle of Lysimachia in 277 BCE, leading him to the kingship of Macedonia.

Aeacid dynasty

Pyrrhus of Epirus (274-272 BCE) - Briefly occupied most of Macedonia. He got killed while invading Sparta in 272 BCE.

Antigonid dynasty

Demetrius II Aetolicus (239-229 BCE) - Son of Antigonus II and Phila. Stratonice of Macedon was a daughter of Antiochus I Soter and Stratonice. Phthia of Epirus was a daughter of Alexander II of Epirus and Olympias II of Epirus. Nicaea of Corinth was the widow of Demetrius' cousin, Alexander of Corinth. Chryseis was a former captive of Demetrius. Only known son, Philip by Chryseis, also had a daughter by Stratonice of Macedon, Apama III.

Antigonus III Doson (229-221 BCE) - Son of Demetrius the Fair and Olympias of Larissa. Children unknown.

Philip V (221-158 BCE) - Son of Demetrius II and Chryseis. At least four children: Perseus of Macedon, Apame, Demetrius and Philippus. Conquered all city-states in Greece and later conquered Thrace, Cyrenaica and all of Egypt, by 179 BCE. Macedonia is now called "The Second Macedonian Empire" in legacy of Alexander the Great's empire.

Perseus I (158-135 BCE) - His wife Laodice V, was a daughter of the Seleucid king, Seleucus IV Philopator. At least two sons, Philip and Alexander. Aged 77.

Alexander VI (135-100 BCE) - Died at the age of about 78.

(Son of Alexander VI) (100-86 BCE) - Died at the age of about 72.

Source
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macedonia_(ancient_kingdom)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ancient_Macedonians