Alexander I of Macedon

Early coinage of Alexander I, under Achaemenid Macedonia, Aegae, circa 500-480 BC. Goat kneeling right, head reverted; pellet above and before / Quadripartite incuse square.

Alexander was the son of Amyntas I and Queen Eurydice (Greek: Εὐρυδίκη). He had a sister named Gygaea (Greek: Γυγαίη).[1]

He gave his sister for marriage to the Persian general Bubares, in the late 6th century BC who was in Macedon at the time, in order to stop him from searching for Persian soldiers who had been killed by Alexander's men following his commands.[2][3]

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.

Alexander I came to the throne during the era of the kingdom's vassalage at the hand of Achaemenid Persia, dating back to the time of his father, Amyntas I, although Macedon retained a broad scope of autonomy.[4] In 492 BC it was made to a fully subordinate part of the Persian Kingdom by Mardonius' campaign.[5] At that time, Alexander was on the nominal Macedonian throne. Alexander further 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 is on Xerxes' side and follows the assigned tasks.[6]

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, Alexander I is referred to as hyparchos by Herodotus, meaning subordinate governor.[7] Despite his cooperation with Persia, Alexander I 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 I warned the Greeks in Tempe to leave before the arrival of Xerxes' troops, as well as notified them of an alternate route into Thessaly through upper Macedonia.[8] 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. After a court of Elean hellanodikai determined his claim to be true, he was permitted to participate in the Olympic Games[9][10][11] possibly in 504 BC,[12] an honour 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.[13] The earliest reference to an Athenian proxenos, who lived during the time of the Persian wars (c. 490 BC), is that of Alexander I.[14] Alexander I was given the title "philhellene" (Greek: "φιλέλλην", fond of the Greeks, lover of the Greeks), a title used for Greek patriots.[15][16]

Alexander had four sons and a daughter:

• Alcetas II, future king of Macedon.
• Perdiccas II, future king of Macedon.
• Philip, father of Amyntas II[17]
• Menelaus.
• Amyntas, whose son Arrhidaeus was the father of Amyntas III.[17] He was thought to be the father of Balacrus, father of Meleager and grandfather of Arsinoe of Macedon[18]
• Stratonice, married by her brother Perdiccas II to Seuthes II of Thrace.[19]

• Ancient Macedonians
• List of ancient Macedonians

Wikiquote has quotations related to: Alexander I of Macedon

• Smith, William (1867). "Alexander I". In William Smith (ed.). Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. 1. Boston: Little, Brown and Company. p. 118.