Alkimachus (son of Agathocles)

Alkimachus ( Greek Ἀλκίμαχος ; 4th century BC), son of Agathocles, was a follower of the Macedonian kings Philip II and Alexander the Great .

Around the year 337/336 BC In the 2nd century BC, Alkimachus and Antipater were sent by Philip II as diplomatic negotiators to Athens , where both were given honorary citizenship ( proxenia ). During the Asian campaign he was after the Battle of Granikos in 334 BC. In Ephesus was entrusted by Alexander with the command of several units with which he was supposed to liberate the Greek cities of Aiolia and Ionia from the Persian oligarchy and restore democracy .

After that, Alkimachus is no longer mentioned. To what extent he is identical to a person of the same name who is mentioned in the so-called "second letter from Alexander to Chios " is controversial.

Possible family connections

Johann Gustav Droysen added Alkimachos to the brothers Lysimachos , Philippos and Autodikos as their oldest. This assumption is based only on the correspondence of their patronymic names , which, however, as Karl Julius Beloch already noted, is not sufficient proof of an actual relationship with them. In addition, Alkimachus is not mentioned in connection with the brothers.

It is possible that Alkimachus had already been given a donation of land near Apollonia by Philip II , provided that he was the father of the same name between the years 321 and 318 BC. The owner Alkimachos, who is attested to by inscriptions and who held this land as a paternal inheritance, was identical.

literature

Waldemar Heckel : Who's who in the age of Alexander the Great. Prosopography of Alexander's empire. Blackwell, Malden MA et al. 2006, ISBN 1-4051-1210-7 , pp. 9-10.
Johannes Kirchner : Alkimachos 5) . In: Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume I, 2, Stuttgart 1894, Col. 1540.

Remarks

↑ Hypereides , Against Demades ask. 77; Anaximenes , FGrHist 72 F 16. The honor is also documented in writing, Inscriptiones Graecae II² 239 = Marcus Niebuhr Death : A Selection of Greek Historical Inscriptions , Vol. II (1948), no. 180.
↑ Arrian , Anabasis 1, 18, 1-2.
^ WG Forrest: Alexander's Second Letter to the Chians , In: Klio , Vol. 51 (1969), pp. 201-206. AJ Heisserer: Alexander the Great and the Greeks: the Epigraphic Evience (1980), pp. 96-117. Francis Piejko: The "Second Letter" of Alexander the Great to Chios , In: Phoenix , Vol. 39 (1985), pp. 238-249. The letter is inscribed and is in the Archaeological Museum of Chios ( catalog entry "Alexander's Second Letter to the Chians" ).
^ Karl Julius Beloch : Greek History , Volume 4, Division 2 (new edition of Elibron Classics series, 2006), p. 131.
^ Inscriptiones Graecae II² 391.

personal data
SURNAME	Alkimachus, son of Agathocles
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Follower of Philip II and Alexander the Great
DATE OF BIRTH	4th century BC Chr.
DATE OF DEATH	4th century BC Chr.

[1] Hypereides , Against Demades ask. 77; Anaximenes , FGrHist 72 F 16. The honor is also documented in writing, Inscriptiones Graecae II² 239 = Marcus Niebuhr Death : A Selection of Greek Historical Inscriptions , Vol. II (1948), no. 180.

[2] Arrian , Anabasis 1, 18, 1-2.

[3] WG Forrest: Alexander's Second Letter to the Chians , In: Klio , Vol. 51 (1969), pp. 201-206. AJ Heisserer: Alexander the Great and the Greeks: the Epigraphic Evience (1980), pp. 96-117. Francis Piejko: The "Second Letter" of Alexander the Great to Chios , In: Phoenix , Vol. 39 (1985), pp. 238-249. The letter is inscribed and is in the Archaeological Museum of Chios ( catalog entry "Alexander's Second Letter to the Chians" ).

[4] Karl Julius Beloch : Greek History , Volume 4, Division 2 (new edition of Elibron Classics series, 2006), p. 131.

[5] Inscriptiones Graecae II² 391.