ARGEAD DYNASTY

'Argead dynasty' (in Greek: ''hoi Argeádai'') were the ruling family and founders of Macedon, a kingdom in northern Greece from c. 700 BC - c. 309 BC. Supposedly descended from Heracles, the demigod, the family's greatest members were Philip II of Macedon who united the Greeks and Alexander the Great who defeated the Persian Empire and created the Empire of Alexander. The Argead line ended during the wars of the Diadochi when Alexander III's sister Cleopatra was murdered in Sardis by the local garrison commander at the behest of Antigonus Monophtalmus, before she could flee to Egypt to accept the marriage proposal of Ptolemy I. The last legitimate male of the Argead line was Alexander IV, son of Alexander III with Roxanne, the daughter of the Bactrian warlord and later Satrap of Paropamisadai Oxyartes. He was murdered by Cassander, the current King and formally strategos of Macedon, after he entered into a treaty with his fellow Diadochi, acknowledging the end of their independent rule when Alexander's young son came of age.
Before acquiescing to Cassander, the successor to the imperial regency (an office first held by Perdiccas, until his murder at the failure of his Nile campaign) Polyperchon championed the cause of an illegitimate son of Alexander III, Heracles, born of his union with the Persian Barsine. He had been raised in Pergamon, unacknowledged by Alexander, but was sufficient for the now deposed and ineffective regent's attempt to topple Cassander. Before he could be put to any use however, Polyperchon was bribed by Cassander with a minor position in Southern Greece and a personal army, in exchange for the murder of the Argead "pretender." With him the Argead line terminated, his murder having come only a few years after Alexander IV.

Contents

Monarchs

External links

Monarchs

★ Karanus 808-778 BC

★ Koinos

★ Tyrimmas

★ Perdiccas I 700-678 BC

★ Argaeus I 678-640 BC

★ Philip I 640-602 BC

★ Aeropus I 602-576 BC

★ Alcetas I 576-547 BC

★ Amyntas I 547-498 BC

★ Alexander I 498-454 BC

★ Perdiccas II 454-413 BC

★ Archelaus 413-399 BC

★ Craterus 399 BC

★ Orestes and Aeropus II 399-396 BC

★ Archelaus II 396-393 BC

★ Amyntus II 393 BC

★ Pausanias 393 BC

★ Amyntas III 393 BC

★ Argaeus II 393-392 BC

★ Amyntas III (restored) 392-370 BC

★ Alexander II 370-368 BC

★ Ptolemy I 368-365 BC

★ Perdiccas III 365-359 BC

★ Amyntas IV 359-356 BC

★ Philip II 359-336 BC

★ Alexander III (the Great) 336-323 BC

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★ Antipater, Regent of Macedon 334-319 BC

★ Philip III Arrhidaeus 323-317 BC, only titular king

★ Alexander IV 323-310 BC, only titular king

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★ Perdiccas, Regent of Macedon 323-321 BC

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★ Antipater, Regent of Macedon 321-319 BC

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★ Polyperchon, Regent of Macedon 319-317 BC

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★ Cassander, Regent of Macedon 317-306 BC

External links

★ List of the Kings of Macedonia