Aiakides (Epirus)

Aiakides ( Greek  Αἰακίδης ; † 313 BC ) was a king of the Molossians and hegemon of the Epirots .

Aiakides was a younger son of King Arybbas and the Troas of the Aiakids dynasty , which was derived from the Homeric hero Achilles . Its name refers to Aiakos , the mythical ancestor of the Aiakids. When his father died in 342/1 BC He was not of age, which is why his uncle Alexandros first ascended the throne of the Molossians. After his death in 331 BC at the earliest. Aiakides could take over the throne.

Aiakides was married to Phthia, a daughter of the Thessalian horseman, Menon of Pharsalus . Your children were:

• Pyrrhus I († 272 BC)
• Deidameia († probably 298 BC)
  • 1. ∞ with Alexander IV Aigos († 310 BC)
  • 2. ∞ with Demetrios I Poliorketes († 283 BC)
• Troas

During the Second Diadoch War (319–316 BC) Aiakides supported in 317 BC. His aunt Olympias and Polyperchon when they came to power in Macedonia against Eurydice and King Philip III. Arrhidaios , which in turn earned him the enmity of Cassander . When Olympias 316 BC Was besieged by Kassander in Pydna , Aiakides intended to relieve his aunt with an Epirot army. But already on the mountain passes to Macedonia he was stopped by a general Kassander, whereupon his army disbanded. In Epiros, meanwhile, the sympathizers of Kassander took power, killing several of Aiakides' supporters or driving them out of the country. The few years old Pyrrhus could be rescued to the north to the Illyrian king Glaukias .

Aiakides himself had joined the retinue of Polyperchon in order to continue the fight against Cassander in Aitolia . By 313 BC The situation under the Epiroten turned in his favor again, but Philip , Cassander's brother, prevented him from returning to his kingdom. He was defeated and killed in a battle near Oiniadai . The throne of the Molossians now went to his older brother Alketas II.

literature

• Julius Kaerst : Aiakides 4) . In: Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume 1.1, Stuttgart 1893ff., Col. 922.
• Grace H. MacUrdy: Roxane and Alexander IV in Epirus. In: The Journal of Hellenic Studies. Vol. 52 (1932), pp. 256-261.
• Waldemar Heckel : Who's Who in the Age of Alexander the Great. Prosopography of Alexander's Empire. Oxford et al. a. 2006, p. 5.

Remarks

1. ↑ Plutarch , Pyrrhos 1, 2.
2. ↑ Plutarch, Alexander 2, 1.
3. ↑ Diodor 16, 72, 1. Waldemar Heckel (p. 56) believes the Arybbas survived after 342 BC. Possible by identifying him with the Molossian leader Aryptaios (Diodor 18, 11, 1), who appeared in the Lamian War (323–322 BC ).
4. ↑ Plutarch, Pyrrhos 1, 3.
5. ↑ Diodorus 19:11 , 2; Plutarch, Pyrrhos 3, 2; Justin 14, 5, 9; Pausanias , Attica (1), 11, 3.
6. ↑ Diodor 19, 36, 2-3.
7. ↑ Diodorus 19, 36, 4.
8. ^ Plutarch, Pyrrhos 2, 1–2 and 3, 1.
9. ↑ Diodorus 19, 52, 6.
10. ↑ Diodorus 19, 74, 3-5. According to Pausanias (1, 11, 4) Aiakides was wounded in battle and died a few days later.
11. ^ Pausanias 1:11 , 5.

predecessor	Office	successor
Alexander I.	King of the Molossians Hegemon of Epiros 331–313 BC Chr.	Alcetas II