Perdiccas II

Perdiccas II († 413 BC ) was the youngest son of Alexander I and brother of Alketas II , Philip and Stratonice. After his son Archelaus had killed his brother Alketas and his son Alexander, Perdiccas drove his brother Philip away and ascended the throne of Macedonia .

Battle of Potidaia

At the beginning of his reign Perdiccas II was an ally of Athens . After Potidaias fell from the Attic League during the Peloponnesian War , Athens allied itself with Perdiccas' opponents, his brother Philip and with Derdas I of Elimiotis . Therefore he supported Potidaia and the other Chalcidian cities. In 432 BC BC Athens sent Archestratos to Macedonia. He went to the battle of Potidaia against Perdiccas together with Philip and the brothers of Derdas . They conquered Therme and when they besieged Pydna , Perdiccas made an alliance with them. However, when Archestratos set out to conquer Potidaia, the Macedonians fell back and supported Aristeus and Potidaia.

War with the Thracians

In the following year Sitalkes , the king of the Thracians , mediated between Athens and Macedonia and a new alliance was formed. Perdiccas got the city of Therme back and in return sent arms aid to Phormion against the Chalcis . But Perdiccas secretly supported the Peloponnesians and sent 1000 Macedonians to Argos to fight Akarnania .

In 429 BC BC Sitalkes gathered an army of 150,000 men and marched against Macedonia to bring Amyntas, the son of Philip, Perdiccas brother, to the throne. The Macedonians were helpless at the mercy of this overwhelming force. Apart from a few cavalry raids on the army, they avoided any further confrontation and withdrew to the fortified cities. So the Thracians conquered Eidomene, Gortynia and Atalante and devastated large parts of the country. However, since the promised support of the Athenians failed to materialize, Sitalkes entered into negotiations with Perdickas and then turned against Chalkidike. Perdiccas promised Seuthes , Sitalke's nephew, his sister Stratonike as his wife, if he would bring Sitalkes to break off the expedition. As the food supplies ran out and winter had set in, he agreed and Seuthes later married Stratonike.

Brasidas in Macedonia

In 424 BC The Spartans sent Brasidas with an army to support the Macedonians. First of all , Perdiccas wanted to get rid of Arrhabaios , the king of the Macedonian lynkestier . But before a fight broke out, Brasidas entered into negotiations with Arrhabaios and an alliance was formed and Perdiccas felt betrayed.

A year later Arrhabaios had fallen away again and they again went to fight against him. The enemy set up camps opposite. The Brasidas camp was also at some distance from that of Perdiccas. So it was night. During the night, the Macedonians feared that the lynkestiers could secretly attack them at night and that the Brasidas army would withdraw under cover of darkness. So they cleared their camp and withdrew. When it got light, Brasidas saw that Perdickas had left and chose to retreat too. At the end of the train he posted his strongest troops to repel attacks. The enemy had recognized the situation and chased after the fugitives, but the troops at the end of the convoy were able to repel these attacks well. The further retreat led through a narrow valley and the lynkestier occupied the hills on both sides. Brasidas now ordered one of the hills to be stormed and the further withdrawal was free. When Brasidas was with Perdiccas, he accused him of fleeing and so there was an argument between the two. Now Perdiccas turned back to Athens.

Perdiccas changed sides a few more times, depending on the political situation, until he died in 413 BC. BC died. He was succeeded by his biological son Archelaus I on the throne of Macedonia, who married Perdiccas' widow Cleopatra .

swell

Thucydides , History of the Peloponnesian War , 1, 56-62; 2, 29; 2, 80, 2, 95-101; 4, 78-83; 4, 103; 4, 107; 4, 124-132; 5, 6; 5, 80-83; 6, 7; 7, 9
Diodorus Siculus , 12, 34; 12, 50-51

literature

Sabine Müller : Perdiccas II. - Savior of Macedonia. Frank & Timme, Berlin 2017, ISBN 978-3-732-90208-8 .

predecessor	Office	successor
Alcetas II	King of Macedonia 448-413 BC Chr.	Archelaus I.

personal data
SURNAME	Perdiccas II
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	King of Macedonia
DATE OF BIRTH	5th century BC Chr.
DATE OF DEATH	413 BC Chr.