Alexander (son of Demetrios)
Alexander ( Greek Ἀλέξανδρος , Aléxandros ; * shortly after 303 BC; † after 246/240 BC) was a son of the diadochian ruler Demetrios Poliorketes and his third wife Deidameia of Epiros , making him a member of the Antigonid dynasty . His parents had in 303 BC Married, the mother died between 300 and 298 BC. Chr.
Plutarch reports that Alexander lived and died in Egypt. In all likelihood he was identical to a hostage of the same name, which was found in a papyrus by Zenon of Kaunos from the first years of the reign of King Ptolemy III. is named as the owner of two slaves.
It is possible that Demetrios Poliorketes used his son as a pledge for his peace treaty with Ptolemy I in 297 BC. Together with his brother-in-law Pyrrhos of Epiros as hostage to the Egyptian court. When Pyrrhus set out for Epirus in the same year with the support of Ptolemy I to recapture his throne, Alexander could now have vouched for his uncle as security against Ptolemy I. Assuming that Alexander was identical to the person from the papyrus, he had also under the kings Ptolemaios II. And Ptolemaios III. the function of a hostage, probably as leverage against his half-brother Antigonus II. Gonatas .
Alexander was probably friends with the powerful finance minister Apollonios Dioiketes . Two of Alexander's slaves are known by name, a Babylonian hair washer named Philinos and a Median coachman named Amyntas, who both fled after his death, whereupon a wanted man was issued.
literature
- Edwin W. Webster: Alexander, the Son of Demetrius Poliorcetes . In: Classical Philology. Volume 17, 1922, pp. 357-358.
Individual evidence
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Alexander |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Αλέξανδρος (Greek); Aléxandros |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Son of Demetrios Poliorketes |
| DATE OF BIRTH | between 303 BC BC and 298 BC Chr. |
| DATE OF DEATH | after 246 BC Chr. |