Nicaea of Macedonia
Encyclopedia
For other uses, see Nicaea
Nicaea was a Greek Macedonian noblewoman
and was a daughter of the powerful regent
Antipater
by unnamed mother. She was born and raised in Macedonia when her father was governor of Macedonia during the reign of Greek King Alexander the Great.
Nicaea was sent by her father to Asia accompanied by her brother Iollas
and a certain Archias to be in 323 BC married to the powerful Perdiccas
, at a time when it was still hoped to maintain friendly relations with the regent. Perdiccas, though already entertaining hostile designs married Nicaea. Not so long afterwards by the advice of Eumenes
determined to divorce Nicaea, married Cleopatra of Macedon instead, the full-blooded sister of Alexander the Great. This step that Perdiccas took before setting out on his expedition to Ancient Egypt
, lead to an immediate rupture between Perdiccas and Antipater.
In c.321 BC, in part of a formed alliance Antipater married Nicaea to Lysimachus
who governed Thrace
. In 306 BC Lysimachus became King of ruling Thrace
, Asia Minor
and Macedon
. Through her marriage, Nicaea became a Queen consort
.
Nicaea bore Lysimachus three children: one son Agathocles
; two daughters: Eurydice
and Arsinoe I. Through Arsinoe I, Nicaea would have further descendants.
Nicaea died at an unknown date from unknown causes sometime about from 302 BC until after 300 BC. In c.300 BC, Lysimachus renames a city in Bithynia
, Asia Minor, called Nicaea
in honor of his late wife.
Nicaea
Nicaea or Nikaia may be:*The ancient name of several places, including:** İznik, Turkey - formerly Nicaea capital of the Empire of Nicaea**Nice, France**Nicaea, Locris, a fortress city of the Locri Epicnemidii...
Nicaea was a Greek Macedonian noblewoman
Macedonia (Greece)
Macedonia is a geographical and historical region of Greece in Southern Europe. Macedonia is the largest and second most populous Greek region...
and was a daughter of the powerful regent
Regent
A regent, from the Latin regens "one who reigns", is a person selected to act as head of state because the ruler is a minor, not present, or debilitated. Currently there are only two ruling Regencies in the world, sovereign Liechtenstein and the Malaysian constitutive state of Terengganu...
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. Antipater was one of the sons of a Macedonian nobleman called Iollas or Iolaus and his family were distant collateral relatives to the...
by unnamed mother. She was born and raised in Macedonia when her father was governor of Macedonia during the reign of Greek King Alexander the Great.
Nicaea was sent by her father to Asia accompanied by her brother Iollas
Iollas
Iollas , son of Antipater, and brother of Cassander, king of Macedon. He was one of the royal youths who, according to the Macedonian custom, held offices about the king's person, and was cup-bearer to Alexander the Great at the period of his last illness...
and a certain Archias to be in 323 BC married to the powerful 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 Macedonian province of Orestis...
, at a time when it was still hoped to maintain friendly relations with the regent. Perdiccas, though already entertaining hostile designs married Nicaea. Not so long afterwards by the advice of Eumenes
Eumenes
Eumenes of Cardia was a Thracian general and scholar. He participated in the wars of the Diadochi as a supporter of the Macedonian Argead royal house.-Career:...
determined to divorce Nicaea, married Cleopatra of Macedon instead, the full-blooded sister of Alexander the Great. This step that Perdiccas took before setting out on his expedition to Ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt was an ancient civilization of Northeastern Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. Egyptian civilization coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh...
, lead to an immediate rupture between Perdiccas and Antipater.
In c.321 BC, in part of a formed alliance Antipater married Nicaea to Lysimachus
Lysimachus
Lysimachus was a Macedonian officer and diadochus of Alexander the Great, who became a basileus in 306 BC, ruling Thrace, Asia Minor and Macedon.-Early Life & Career:...
who governed Thrace
Thrace
Thrace is a historical and geographic area in southeast Europe. As a geographical concept, Thrace designates a region bounded by the Balkan Mountains on the north, Rhodope Mountains and the Aegean Sea on the south, and by the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara on the east...
. In 306 BC Lysimachus became King of ruling Thrace
Thrace
Thrace is a historical and geographic area in southeast Europe. As a geographical concept, Thrace designates a region bounded by the Balkan Mountains on the north, Rhodope Mountains and the Aegean Sea on the south, and by the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara on the east...
, Asia Minor
Anatolia
Anatolia is a geographic and historical term denoting the westernmost protrusion of Asia, comprising the majority of the Republic of Turkey...
and Macedon
Macedonia (Greece)
Macedonia is a geographical and historical region of Greece in Southern Europe. Macedonia is the largest and second most populous Greek region...
. Through her marriage, Nicaea became a Queen consort
Queen consort
A queen consort is the wife of a reigning king. A queen consort usually shares her husband's rank and holds the feminine equivalent of the king's monarchical titles. Historically, queens consort do not share the king regnant's political and military powers. Most queens in history were queens consort...
.
Nicaea bore Lysimachus three children: one son Agathocles
Agathocles (son of Lysimachus)
Agathocles was a Greek Prince who was of Macedonian and Thessalian descent. He was the son born to the diadochus Lysimachus from his first wife the Queen consort, Nicaea a daughter of the powerful regent Antipater...
; two daughters: Eurydice
Eurydice (wife of Antipater II of Macedon)
Eurydice was a Greek Princess who was of Macedonian and Thessalian descent.She was the first daughter and second child born to the diadochus who was King of Thrace, Asia Minor and Macedonia, Lysimachus from his first wife the Queen consort, Nicaea of Macedon. Eurydice had one older brother called...
and Arsinoe I. Through Arsinoe I, Nicaea would have further descendants.
Nicaea died at an unknown date from unknown causes sometime about from 302 BC until after 300 BC. In c.300 BC, Lysimachus renames a city in Bithynia
Bithynia
Bithynia was an ancient region, kingdom and Roman province in the northwest of Asia Minor, adjoining the Propontis, the Thracian Bosporus and the Euxine .-Description:...
, Asia Minor, called Nicaea
Iznik
İznik is a city in Turkey which is primarily known as the site of the First and Second Councils of Nicaea, the first and seventh Ecumenical councils in the early history of the Church, the Nicene Creed, and as the capital city of the Empire of Nicaea...
in honor of his late wife.
Sources
- StraboStraboStrabo, also written Strabon was a Greek historian, geographer and philosopher.-Life:Strabo was born to an affluent family from Amaseia in Pontus , a city which he said was situated the approximate equivalent of 75 km from the Black Sea...
, Geography, xii, 4; - Stephanus of ByzantiumStephanus of ByzantiumStephen of Byzantium, also known as Stephanus Byzantinus , was the author of an important geographical dictionary entitled Ethnica...
, Ethnica, s.v. "Nikaia" - H. Bengtson, Griechische Geschichte von den Anfängen bis in die römische Kaiserzeit, C.H.Beck, 1977
- Nicaea’s article at Livius.org
- W. Heckel, Who’s who in the age of Alexander the Great: prosopography of Alexander’s empire, Wiley-Blackwell, 2006
- M. Lightman & B. Lightman, A to Z of ancient Greek and Roman women (Google eBook), Infobase Publishing, 2007