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Alexander IV of Macedon

 

 
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Alexander IV of Macedon
 
 
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Alexander IV Aegus (Greek
Ancient Greek

Ancient Greek is the historical stage in the development of the Greek language spanning across the Archaic Greece , Classical Greece , and Hellenistic civilization periods of ancient Greece and the classical antiquity....
: ????a?d??? A???? — 323–309 BC) was the son of Alexander the Great
Alexander the Great

Alexander the Great , also known as Alexander III of Macedon was an ancient Greeks King of Macedon . He was one of the most successful military commanders of all time and is presumed undefeated in battle....
 (Alexander III of Macedon
Macedon

Macedon or Macedonia was the name of a monarchy centred in the northernmost part of ancient Greece. The homeland of the ancient Macedonians, it was bordered by the kingdom of Epirus to the west and the region of Thrace to the east....
) and the princess Roxana
Roxana

Roxana , was a Bactrian noble and a wife of Alexander the Great. She was born earlier than the year 341 BC, though the precise date remains uncertain....
, of Bactria
Bactria

Bactria is a historical region of Greater Iran. Known by the ancient Greeks as "Bactriana" the region is located between the range of the Hindu Kush and the Amu Darya ; in later times, the region became known as Tokharistan. The name of the region has survived to present time in the name of Afghan province "Balkh"....
.



Birth
Because Roxana was pregnant when her husband died and the gender of the baby was unknown, there was dissension in the Macedonian
Ancient Macedonian military

The army of ancient Macedon is considered to be among the greatest military forces of the ancient world. It became the formidable force known from history first under the rule of King Philip II of Macedon and then his son, Alexander the Great....
 army regarding the order of succession.






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Alexander IV Aegus (Greek
Ancient Greek

Ancient Greek is the historical stage in the development of the Greek language spanning across the Archaic Greece , Classical Greece , and Hellenistic civilization periods of ancient Greece and the classical antiquity....
: ????a?d??? A???? — 323–309 BC) was the son of Alexander the Great
Alexander the Great

Alexander the Great , also known as Alexander III of Macedon was an ancient Greeks King of Macedon . He was one of the most successful military commanders of all time and is presumed undefeated in battle....
 (Alexander III of Macedon
Macedon

Macedon or Macedonia was the name of a monarchy centred in the northernmost part of ancient Greece. The homeland of the ancient Macedonians, it was bordered by the kingdom of Epirus to the west and the region of Thrace to the east....
) and the princess Roxana
Roxana

Roxana , was a Bactrian noble and a wife of Alexander the Great. She was born earlier than the year 341 BC, though the precise date remains uncertain....
, of Bactria
Bactria

Bactria is a historical region of Greater Iran. Known by the ancient Greeks as "Bactriana" the region is located between the range of the Hindu Kush and the Amu Darya ; in later times, the region became known as Tokharistan. The name of the region has survived to present time in the name of Afghan province "Balkh"....
.

 Partition of Triparadisus
Partition of Triparadisus

The Partition of Triparadisus was a power-sharing agreement passed at Triparadisus in 321 BCE between the generals of Alexander the Great, in which they named a new regent and established the repartition of their satrapies....
Kings Philip III of Macedon
Philip III of Macedon

Philip III Arrhidaeus , king of Macedon from June 10, 323 BC until his death, was a son of King Philip II of Macedon by Philinna of Larissa, allegedly a Thessaly dancer, and a half-brother of Alexander the Great....

Alexander IV of Macedon
Regent
Regent

A regent, from the Latin regens "reigning", is a person selected to act as head of state because the ruler is a minor, not present or debilitated....
 Antipater
Antipater

Antipater was a Macedonian general and a supporter of kings Philip II of Macedon and Alexander the Great. In 320 BC, he became regent of all of Alexander's empire....


Birth


Because Roxana was pregnant when her husband died and the gender of the baby was unknown, there was dissension in the Macedonian
Ancient Macedonian military

The army of ancient Macedon is considered to be among the greatest military forces of the ancient world. It became the formidable force known from history first under the rule of King Philip II of Macedon and then his son, Alexander the Great....
 army regarding the order of succession. While the infantry
Hoplite

The word hoplite derives from hoplon , meaning an item of armour or equipment, thus 'hoplite' may approximate to 'armoured man'. Hoplites were the citizen-soldiers of the Ancient Greece City-states....
 supported the baby's uncle, Philip III
Philip III of Macedon

Philip III Arrhidaeus , king of Macedon from June 10, 323 BC until his death, was a son of King Philip II of Macedon by Philinna of Larissa, allegedly a Thessaly dancer, and a half-brother of Alexander the Great....
 (who was both feeble-minded and illegitimate), the chiliarch
Chiliarch

Chiliarch , in the Ancient Greece army of the Hellenistic period, was a commander of a 1,000 men unit, roughly equivalant to a modern battalion....
 Perdiccas
Perdiccas

Perdiccas was one of Alexander the Great's generals. After Alexander's death in 323 BC he became regent of all Alexander's empire.Arrian tells us he was son of Orontes, a descendant of the independent princes of the province of Orestis ....
, commander of the elite Companion cavalry
Companion cavalry

The Companions were the elite cavalry of the Ancient Macedonian army from the time of king Philip II of Macedon, and have been regarded as the best cavalry in the ancient world....
, persuaded them to wait in the hope that Roxana's unborn child would be male. The factions compromised, deciding that Perdiccas would rule the Empire as regent
Regent

A regent, from the Latin regens "reigning", is a person selected to act as head of state because the ruler is a minor, not present or debilitated....
 while Philip would reign, but only as a figurehead with no real power. If the child was male, then he would be king. Alexander IV was born in August, 323 BC.

Regents


After a severe regency, military failure in Egypt
Egypt

Egypt is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Western Asia. Covering an area of about , Egypt borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, the Gaza Strip and Israel to the northeast, the Red Sea to the east, Sudan to the south and Libya to the west....
, and mutiny in the army, Perdiccas was assassinated by his senior officers in May or June 321 or 320 BC (problems with Diodorus's chronology have made the year uncertain), after which Antipater
Antipater

Antipater was a Macedonian general and a supporter of kings Philip II of Macedon and Alexander the Great. In 320 BC, he became regent of all of Alexander's empire....
 was named as the new regent at the Partition
Partition of Triparadisus

The Partition of Triparadisus was a power-sharing agreement passed at Triparadisus in 321 BCE between the generals of Alexander the Great, in which they named a new regent and established the repartition of their satrapies....
 of Triparadisus
Triparadeisos

Triparadeisos, or Triparadisus was a Greek settlement in Syria near the sources of the Orontes.It was the place where the "Treaty of Triparadisus" occurred, in which Alexander the Great's Empire was divided between his generals in 321 BC....
. He brought with him Roxana and the two kings to Macedon and gave up the pretence of ruling Alexander's Empire, leaving former provinces in Egypt and Asia in control of the satrap
Satrap

Satrap was the name given to the governors of the provinces of ancient Medes and Persian Empire empires, including the Achaemenid Empire and in several of their heirs, such as the Sassanid Empire and the Hellenistic civilization empires....
s (see diadochi
Diadochi

The Diadochi were the rival successors of Alexander the Great, and their Wars of the Diadochi followed Alexander's death. This was the beginning of the Hellenistic period of Greek history, the time when many people who were not Greek themselves adopted Greek philosophy and styles, Greek urban life, and aspects of the Greek religion....
). When Antipater died in 319 BC he left Polyperchon
Polyperchon

Polyperchon son of Simmias from Tymphaia in Epirus , was a Macedonian general who served under Philip II of Macedon and Alexander the Great, accompanying Alexander throughout his long journeys....
, a Macedonian general who had served under Philip II and Alexander the Great, as his successor, passing over his own son, Cassander
Cassander

Cassander , King of Macedon , was a son of Antipater, and founder of the short-lived Antipatrid dynasty....
.

Civil War


Cassander allied himself with Ptolemy Soter, Antigonus
Antigonus I Monophthalmus

Antigonus I Monophthalmus son of Philip from Elimiotis, was a Macedonian nobleman, general, and satrap under Alexander the Great. He was a major figure in the Wars of the Diadochi after Alexander's death, declaring himself king in 306 BC and establishing the Antigonid dynasty....
 and Eurydice
Eurydice III of Macedon

Eurydice was daughter of Amyntas IV of Macedon, son of Perdiccas III of Macedon, king of Macedonia, and Cynane, daughter of Philip II of Macedon and his first wife Audata....
, the ambitious wife of king Philip Arrhidaeus, and declared war upon the Regency. Polyperchon was allied with Eumenes
Eumenes

Eumenes of Cardia was a ancient Greece general and scholar. He participated in the wars of the Diadochi as a supporter of the Macedonian Argead dynasty royal house....
 and Olympias
Olympias

Olympias , ca. 376–316 BC, was an Epirote princess, the fourth wife of King Philip II of Macedon of Macedon and mother of Alexander the Great....
.

Although Polyperchon was successful at first, taking control of the Greek cities, his fleet was destroyed by Antigonus in 318 BC. When, after the battle, Cassander assumed full control of Macedon, Polyperchon was forced to flee to Epirus
Epirus (region)

Epirus is a region in south-eastern Europe, currently divided between the Peripheries of Greece Epirus in Greece and the prefectures of Gjirokast?r, Vlor?, Kor??, and Berat in southern Albania....
, followed by Roxana and the young Alexander. A few months later, Olympias was able to persuade her relative Aeacides of Epirus
Aeacides of Epirus

Aeacides , king of Epirus , was son of Arymbas and grandson of Alcetas I of Epirus. He succeeded to the throne of Epirus on the death of his cousin Alexander I of Epirus, who was slain in Italy....
 to invade Macedon with Polyperchon. When Olympias took the field, Eurydice's army refused to fight against the mother of Alexander and defected to Olympias, after which Polyperchon and Aeacides retook Macedon. Philip and Eurydice were captured and executed on December 25, 317 BC, leaving Alexander IV king, and Olympias in effective control, as she was his regent.

Cassander returned in the following year (316 BC), conquering Macedon once again. Olympias was immediately executed, while the king and his mother were taken prisoner and held in the citadel of Amphipolis
Amphipolis

Amphipolis was an Ancient Greece Greece Polis in the region once inhabited by the Edoni people in the present-day Peripheries of Greece of Central Macedonia....
 under the supervision of Glaucias. When the general peace between Cassander, Antigonus, Ptolemy, and Lysimachus
Lysimachus

Lysimachus was a Macedonian officer and Diadochi of Alexander the Great, who became a basileus in 306 BCE, ruling Thrace, Anatolia andMacedonia....
 put an end to the Third Diadoch War
Diadochi

The Diadochi were the rival successors of Alexander the Great, and their Wars of the Diadochi followed Alexander's death. This was the beginning of the Hellenistic period of Greek history, the time when many people who were not Greek themselves adopted Greek philosophy and styles, Greek urban life, and aspects of the Greek religion....
 in 311 BC, the peace treaty recognized Alexander IV's rights and explicitly stated that when he came of age he would succeed Cassander as ruler.

Death


Following the treaty, defenders of the Argead dynasty
Argead dynasty

The Argead dynasty was the ancient Greeks ruling house of Macedon from about 700 BC to 310 BC. Their tradition, as described in ancient Greek historiography, traced their origins to Argos, in southern Greece ....
 began to declare that Alexander IV should now exercise full power and that a regent was no longer needed. Cassander's response was definitive: to secure his rule, in 309 BC he commanded Glaucias to secretly assassinate the 13-year old Alexander IV and his mother. The orders were carried out, and they were both poisoned.

One of the royal tombs discovered by the archaeologist Manolis Andronikos in the so called "Great Tumulus
Tumulus

A tumulus is a mound of Soil and Rock s raised over a Grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds, H?gelgrab or kurgans, and can be found throughout much of the world....
" in Vergina
Vergina

Vergina is a small town in northern Greece, located in the prefecture of Imathia Prefecture, Central Macedonia. The town became internationally famous in 1977, when the Greek archaeologist Manolis Andronikos unearthed what he claimed was the burial site of the kings of Macedon, including the tomb of Philip II of Macedon, father of Alexander...
 in 1977/8 is believed to belong to Alexander IV.

Alexander IV in Popular Culture

The tragic young monarch appears as a character in Funeral Games
Funeral Games

Funeral Games is a 1981 historical novel by Mary Renault, dealing with the death of Alexander the Great and its aftermath, the gradual disintegration of his empire....
, a historical novel by Mary Renault
Mary Renault

Mary Renault born Mary Challans, was an England writer best known for her historical novels set in Ancient Greece. In addition to vivid fictional portrayals of Theseus, Socrates, Plato and Alexander the Great, she wrote a non-fiction biography of Alexander....
.

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