Alketas II (Macedonia)

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Alketas (II.) ( Greek  Ἀλκέτας ; 5th century BC) was one of five sons of King Alexander I of Macedon and a member of the Argead dynasty .

In the older historical research ( Droysen , Abel ) it was assumed that Alketas II was the eldest son of Alexander I and that this was around 450 BC. Was succeeded as king over Macedonia . Finally, Plato reported how Alketas was soon ousted from power by his brother Perdiccas II .

However, recent research (Geyer) rejects this assumption. Stone fragments were discovered in Athens with a treaty regulating the delivery of wood from Macedonia to Athens and probably around 440 BC. Dated. Among the contractual partners, Perdickas is listed first and Alketas second. It is therefore assumed that Perdiccas II was the oldest of the brothers who succeeded the father in kingship. Alketas was only assigned a partial principality ( arche ) like his third brother Philippos , which he should hold as a vassal of Perdiccas II. It is known of Perdiccas II that he expelled Philip from his principality relatively soon after the death of her father and subjected it to his direct rule. Something similar must have happened to Alketas, to which the story of Plato ultimately referred. While Philip did not accept this loss and violently defended himself against Perdiccas II, Alketas had apparently quietly submitted to his fate; he still lived during the reign of his nephew Archelaos I (see Plato). This fact is supported by the fact that Alketas (II) was not mentioned in Diodorus ' list of kings, who listed the Macedonian kings including their reigns from Perdiccas I to Philip II .

According to Plato, Alketas (II) had a son named Alexandros and his nephew Archelaos I is said to have been the son of one of his slaves Simiche and Perdiccas, which is why, according to the legal norms of that time, he actually had to serve his uncle. Archelaus I recognized the possible danger to his rule that came from his uncle and his son and one day invited them to a feast. There he made her drunk, had her removed and killed in an unknown location.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Plato Gorgias 471a-b.
  2. ^ IG I³ 89 ( memo from 23 August 2013)
  3. ^ Hermann Bengtson (ed.): The treaties of the Greco-Roman world from 700 to 338 BC. BC (= The State Treaties of Antiquity. Vol. 2). 2nd, revised and supplemented edition. Beck, Munich 1975, ISBN 3-406-04214-7 , p. 109 .
  4. ↑ Diodorus 7:15 , 2.
  5. ↑ Claudius Aelianus Varia historia 12, 43.
  6. ↑ Plato Gorgias 471a-b.
predecessor Office successor
Alexander I. King of Macedonia
454–448 BC Chr. 		Perdiccas II
personal data
SURNAME Alcetas II
BRIEF DESCRIPTION eldest son of Alexander I (Macedonia)
DATE OF BIRTH 5th century BC Chr.
DATE OF DEATH 5th century BC Chr.