Lysimachus

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Lysimachus bigraphy, stories - Fleet

Lysimachus : biography

360 BC – 281 BC

For other uses, see Lysimachus (disambiguation)

Lysimachus (Greek: Λυσίμαχος, Lysimachos; c. 360 BC – 281 BC) was a Macedonian officer and diadochus (i.e. "successor") of Alexander the Great, who became a basileus ("King") in 306 BC, ruling Thrace, Asia Minor and Macedon.

Later Years

Domestic troubles embittered the last years of Lysimachus’ life. Amastris had been murdered by her two sons; Lysimachus treacherously put them to death. On his return, Arsinoe II asked the gift of Heraclea, and he granted her request, though he had promised to free the city. In 284 BC Arsinoe II, desirous of gaining the succession for her sons in preference to Lysimachus’ first child, Agathocles, intrigued against him with the help of Arsinoe II’s paternal half-brother Ptolemy Keraunos; they accused him of conspiring with Seleucus I to seize the throne, and Agathocles was put to death.

This atrocious deed of Lysimachus aroused great indignation. Many of the cities of Asia Minor revolted, and his most trusted friends deserted him. The widow of Agathocles and their children fled to Seleucus I, who at once invaded the territory of Lysimachus in Asia. In 281 BC, Lysimachus crossed the Hellespont into Lydia and at the decisive Battle of Corupedium was killed. After some days his body was found on the field, protected from birds of prey by his faithful dog.Williams, Henry Smith. Historians History of the World (Volume 4), p. 505. Lysimachus’ body was given over to another son Alexander, by whom it was interred at Lysimachia.

Sources

  • Arrian, Anabasis v. 13, vi. 28
  • Justin xv. 3, 4, xvii. I
  • Quintus Curtius Rufus V. 3, x. 30
  • Diodorus Siculus xviii. 3
  • Polybius v. 67
  • Plutarch, Demetrius, 31. 52, Pyrrhus, 12
  • Appian, Syriaca, 62
  • Connop Thirlwall, History of Greece, vol. viii. (1847)
  • John Pentland Mahaffy, Story of Alexander’s Empire
  • Johann Gustav Droysen, Hellenismus (2nd ed., 1877)
  • Adolf Holm, Griechische Geschichte, vol. iv. (1894)
  • Benedikt Niese, Geschichte der griechischen und makedonischen Staaten, vols. i. and ii. (1893, 1899)
  • Karl Julius Beloch, Griechische Geschichte vol. iii. (1904)
  • Hunerwadel, Forschungen zur Gesch. des Könige Lysimachus (1900)
  • Possenti, Il Re Lisimaco di Tracia (1901)
  • Ghione, "Note sul regno di Lisimaco" (Atti d. real. Accad. di Torino, xxxix.)
  • H. Bengtson, Griechische Geschichte von den Anfängen bis in die römische Kaiserzeit, C.H.Beck, 1977
  • R.A. Billows, Kings and colonists: aspects of Macedonian imperialism, BRILL, 1995
  • H.S. Lund, Lysimachus: A Study in Early Hellenistic Kingship, Routledge, 2002
  • W. Heckel, Who’s who in the age of Alexander the Great: prosopography of Alexander’s empire, Wiley-Blackwell, 2006

Marriages & Children

Lysimachus was married three times and his wives were:

  • First marriage: Nicaea a Greek Macedonian noblewoman and daughter of the powerful Regent Antipater. Lysimachus and Nicaea married in c. 321 BC. Nicaea bore Lysimachus three children:
    • Son, AgathoclesBengtson, Griechische Geschichte von den Anfängen bis in die römische Kaiserzeit, p.569Heckel, Who’s who in the age of Alexander the Great: prosopography of Alexander’s empire, p.175
    • Daughter, Eurydice
    • Daughter, Arsinoe I

Nicaea most probably died by 302 BC.

  • Second marriage: Persian Princess Amastris. Lysimachus married her in 302 BC. Amastris and Lysimachus’ union was brief, as he ended their marriage and divorced her in 300/299 BC. Amastris had two sons from a previous marriage. During their brief marriage, Amastris may have borne Lysimachus a child, perhaps a daughter who may have been the first wife of Ptolemy Keraunos.
  • Third marriage: Ptolemaic Greek Princess Arsinoe II. Arsinoe II married Lysimachus in 300/299 BC and remained with him until his death in 281 BC. Arsinoe II bore Lysimachus three sons:
    • Ptolemy I EpigoneBillows, Kings and colonists: aspects of Macedonian imperialism, p.110
    • Lysimachus
    • Philip