Amyntas I.

Amyntas I ( Greek Ἀμύντας Αʹ ), King of Macedonia (late 6th century BC to approx. 498/497 BC), born approx. 540 BC BC, was the son of Alketas I and father of Alexander I and Gygaia . He was the first ruler of the country who cultivated relations with other countries and overcame the isolation of the small state of Macedonia; so he made an alliance with the Peisistratiden of Athens and offered Hippias the area of Anthemus on the Thermaic Gulf when he was expelled from Athens.

During his reign, Macedonia was owed tribute to the Persian great king Dareios I. After the campaign against the Scythians and Peonians , Megabazos , the Persian military leader, sent a delegation to Amyntas and demanded earth and water as a sign of submission. Amyntas, who was exposed to an army of 80,000 Persians, gave in immediately. The Persian embassy, ​​however, behaved so disrespectfully at a banquet to which they were invited that Alexander, the son of Amyntas, had them killed. To reassure the Persians, Alexander later sent them tribute and his sister Gygaia. After Amyntas' death, his son Alexander became king of Macedon.

swell

• Herodotus , v. 17, 94;
• Junianus Justinus , VII 2;
• Thucydides , II 100;
• Pausanias , IX 40.

literature

• Julius Kaerst : Amyntas 10 . In: Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume I, 2, Stuttgart 1894, Col. 2006.

predecessor	Office	successor
Alketas I.	King of Macedonia at the end of the 6th century - approx. 498/497 BC Chr.	Alexander I.