Argead dynasty

The Argead dynasty (Ancient Greek: polytonic|οἱ Ἀργεάδαι, "the Argeads") was the ancient Greek ruling house of Macedon from about 700 to 311 BC. Their tradition, as described in ancient Greek historiography, traced their legendary origins to Argos, in southern Greece (hence the name "Argeads"). ["in the early 5th century the royal house of Macedon, the Temenidae was recognised as Greek by the Presidents of the Olympic Games. Their verdict was and is decisive. It is certain that the Kings considered themselves to be of Greek descent from Heracles son of Zeus."- Professor N.G.L. Hammond, A History of Greece to 323 BC Cambridge University, 1986 (p 516).] [“In historical times the royal house traced its descent from the mythical Temenus, king of Argos, who was one of the Heracleidae, and more immediately from Perdiccas I, who left Argos for Illyria, probably in the mid-seventh century BC, and from there captured the Macedonian plain and occupied the fortress of Aegae (Vergina), setting himself up as king of the Macedonians. Thus the kings were of largely Dorian Greek stock (see PHILIP (1)); they presumably spoke a form of Dorian Greek and their cultural tradition had Greek features.” The Oxford Companion to Classical Literature Book by M. C. Howatson; Oxford University Press, 1989, page 339] The family's greatest members were Philip II of Macedon and Alexander III the Great, under whose leadership, the kingdom of Macedon gradually gained predominance throughout Greece, defeated the Achaemenid Empire and expanded from Egypt to India.

Origin

The Argeads claimed descent from the Temenids of Argos, in the Peloponnese, whose ancestor was Temenus, the great-great-grandson of Heracles. In the excavations of the royal Palace at Aegae Manolis Andronikos discovered in the “tholos” room (according to some scholars “tholos” was the throne room) an inscription relating to that belief. [ Manolis Andronikos “Vergina, the royal Tombs” Ekdotiki Athinon. The palace of Agai page 38.Inscreption found in the Tholo of the palace .“ Η επιγραφή αυτή είναι : «ΗΡΑΚΛΗΙ ΠΑΤΡΩΙΩΙ», που σημαίνει στον «Πατρώο Ηρακλή», στον Ηρακλή δηλαδή που ήταν γενάρχης της βασιλικής οικογένειας των Μακεδόνων.”{“ the inscription is “ΗΡΑΚΛΗΙ ΠΑΤΡΩΙΩΙ” which means “ father (more properly ancestor) Hercules” dedicated to Hercules who was the ancestor of the Royal family of the Macedonians”}.] This is testified by Herodotus, in "The Histories", where he mentions that three brothers of the lineage of Temenus, Gauanes, Aeropus and Perdiccas, fled from Argos to the Illyrians and then to Upper Macedonia, to a town called Lebaea, where they served the king. The latter asked them to leave his territory, believing in an omen that something great would happen to Perdiccas. The boys went to another part of Macedonia, near the garden of Midas, above which the mount Bermio stands. There they made their abode and gradually conquered whole Macedonia (). Herodotus describes the incident of the participation of Alexander I of Macedon in the Olympic Games in 504 or 500 BC. The participation of Alexander was contested by the other participants on the grounds that he was not a Greek. The Hellanodikai, however, after examining his Argead claim allowed him to participate. Alexander won the stadion ( [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0126&layout=&loc=5.22 5.22] ).

According to Thucydides, in the "History of the Peloponnesian War", the Argeads were originally Temenids from Argos, who descended from the highlands to Lower Macedonia, expelled the Pierians from Pieria and acquired in Paionia a narrow strip along the river Axios extending to Pella and the sea. They also added Mygdonia in their territory by the expulsion of the Edoni, Eordea and Almopia expelling the Eordians and Almopians respectively ().

Monarchs

*Karanus 808-778 BC
*Koinos
*Tyrimmas
*Perdiccas I 700-678 BC
*Argaeus I 678-640 BC
*Philip I 640-602 BC
*Aeropus I 602-576 BC
*Alcetas I 576-547 BC
*Amyntas I 547-498 BC
*Alexander I 498-454 BC
*Perdiccas II 454-413 BC
*Archelaus 413-399 BC
*Craterus 399 BC
*Orestes and Aeropus II 399-396 BC
*Archelaus II 396-393 BC
*Amyntas II 393 BC
*Pausanias 393 BC
*Amyntas III 393 BC
*Argaeus II 393-392 BC
*Amyntas III (restored) 392-370 BC
*Alexander II 370-368 BC
*Ptolemy I 368-365 BC
*Perdiccas III 365-359 BC
*Amyntas IV 359-356 BC
*Philip II 359-336 BC
*Alexander III (the Great) 336-323 BC
**Antipater, Regent of Macedon 334-323 BC
*Philip III Arrhidaeus 323-317 BC, only titular king
*Alexander IV 323-310 BC, only titular king
**Perdiccas, Regent of Macedon 323-321 BC
**Antipater, Regent of Macedon 321-319 BC
**Polyperchon, Regent of Macedon 319-317 BC
**Cassander, Regent of Macedon 317-306 BC
*Antigonus I Monophthalmus Αντίγονος A' 306-301 BC

References

External links

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Bibliography
*N. G. L. Hammond, "A History of Macedon"