Philip III Arrhidaeus ( grc-gre, Φίλιππος Ἀρριδαῖος ; c. 359 BC – 25 December 317 BC) reigned as king of
Macedonia an
Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic pe ...
Kingdom in northern Greece from after 11 June 323 BC until his death. He was a son of King
Philip II of Macedon
Philip II of Macedon ( grc-gre, Φίλιππος ; 382 – 21 October 336 BC) was the king ('' basileus'') of the ancient kingdom of Macedonia from 359 BC until his death in 336 BC. He was a member of the Argead dynasty, founders of the ...
by
Philinna
Philinna (Greek: ) or Philine (Greek: {{lang, grc, Φιλίνη) was the name of many Greek females, as, for instance, of the female dancer Philinna of Larissa in Thessaly, who was the mother of Philip III Arrhidaeus by Philip II. A first century ...
of
Larissa, and thus an elder half-brother of
Alexander the Great
Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip II to ...
. Named Arrhidaeus at birth, he assumed the name Philip when he ascended to the throne.
As Arrhidaeus grew older it became apparent that he had mild learning difficulties.
Plutarch was of the view that he became disabled by means of an attempt on his life by Philip II's wife, Queen
Olympias, who wanted to eliminate a possible rival to her son, Alexander, through the employment of ''pharmaka'' (drugs/spells); however, most modern authorities doubt the truth of this claim.
Alexander was fond of Arrhidaeus and took him on his campaigns, both to protect his life and to prevent his use as a pawn in any prospective challenge for the throne. After Alexander's death in Babylon in 323 BC, the Macedonian army in Asia proclaimed Arrhidaeus as king; however, he served merely as a figurehead and as the pawn of a series of powerful generals.
Biography
Even though Arrhidaeus and Alexander were about the same age, Arrhidaeus appears never to have been a danger as an alternative choice for Alexander's succession to Philip II. Nevertheless, when the
Persian satrap of
Caria
Caria (; from Greek: Καρία, ''Karia''; tr, Karya) was a region of western Anatolia extending along the coast from mid- Ionia (Mycale) south to Lycia and east to Phrygia. The Ionian and Dorian Greeks colonized the west of it and joine ...
,
Pixodarus, proposed his daughter in marriage to Alexander, the king declined, offering his son Arrhidaeus as husband instead, and Alexander thought it prudent to block the dynastic union (which might have produced a possible future heir to Philip's domain before Alexander himself did), resulting in considerable irritation on the part of his father (337 BC).
Arrhidaeus' whereabouts during the reign of his brother Alexander are unclear from the extant sources; what is certain is that no civil or military command was given to him in those thirteen years (336–323 BC).
Succession
Arrhidaeus was in
Babylon at the time of Alexander's death on 10 June 323 BC. A succession crisis ensued. Arrhidaeus was the most obvious candidate, but he was mentally disabled and thus unfit to rule. A conflict then arose between
Perdiccas, leader of the
cavalry, and
Meleager, who commanded the
phalanx: the first wanted to wait to see if
Roxana
Roxana (c. 340 BC – 310 BC, grc, Ῥωξάνη; Old Iranian: ''*Raṷxšnā-'' "shining, radiant, brilliant"; sometimes Roxanne, Roxanna, Rukhsana, Roxandra and Roxane) was a Sogdian or a Bactrian princess whom Alexander the Great married ...
, Alexander's pregnant wife, would deliver a son while Meleager objected that Arrhidaeus should be chosen king. A compromise was engineered in which Arrhidaeus would become king with the name of Philip III, and would be joined by Roxana's yet-unborn child as co-sovereign should that child prove to be a male. This eventuality did indeed arise and resulted in Roxana's son,
Alexander, becoming with his uncle Phillip co-sovereign on the throne of Macedon. It was immediately decided that Philip Arrhidaeus would reign, but not rule: this was to be the prerogative of the new
regent
A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state '' pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy ...
, Perdiccas.
When news arrived in Macedonia that Arrhidaeus had been chosen as king,
Cynane, a daughter of Philip II, developed a plan to travel to Asia and offer the new king her daughter
Eurydice
Eurydice (; Ancient Greek: Εὐρυδίκη 'wide justice') was a character in Greek mythology and the Auloniad wife of Orpheus, who tried to bring her back from the dead with his enchanting music.
Etymology
Several meanings for the na ...
for his wife. This move was an obvious affront to the regent, whom Cynane had completely bypassed, and to prevent the marriage, Perdiccas sent his brother,
Alcetas, to kill Cynane. The reaction among the troops generated by this murder was such that the regent had to give up his opposition to the proposed match and accept the marriage. From that moment on, Philip Arrhidaeus was to be under the sway of his bride, a proud and determined woman bent on substantiating her husband's power.
Regents
Eurydice's chance to increase her husband's power came when the first war of the
Diadochi sealed the fate of Perdiccas, making a new settlement necessary. An agreement was made at
Triparadisus
Triparadeisos or Triparadisus ( el, Τριπαράδεισος) was a settlement in Lebanon near the sources of the Orontes. A paradeisos was a hunting reserve or pleasure-ground for the nobility of the Achaemenid (Persian) Empire, normally a w ...
in
Syria
Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...
in 321 BC. Eurydice moved deftly enough to achieve the removal of the first two designated regents,
Peithon
Peithon or Pithon ( Greek: ''Πείθων'' or ''Πίθων'', 355 – 314 BC) was the son of Crateuas, a nobleman from Eordaia in western Macedonia. He was famous for being one of the bodyguards of Alexander the Great, becoming the lat ...
and
Arrhidaeus (a namesake of her husband), but was powerless to block the aspirations of
Antipater, whose position proved too powerful, and the latter was made the new regent; Philip Arrhidaeus and Eurydice were forced to follow Antipater back to Macedonia.
The regent died of natural causes the following year, nominating as his successor not his son
Cassander, but his friend and lieutenant,
Polyperchon. Cassander's refusal to accept his father's decision sparked the
Second War of the Diadochi, in which Eurydice saw once again a chance to free Philip from the control of the regent.
An opportunity presented itself in 317 BC when Cassander expelled Polyperchon from Macedonia. Eurydice immediately allied herself with Cassander and persuaded her husband to nominate him as the new regent. Cassander reciprocated by leaving her in full control of the country when he left to campaign in
Greece
Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders wi ...
.
Death
Individual circumstances and events at this time were subject to rapid change. That same year (317 BC), Polyperchon and
Olympias allied with her cousin,
Aeacides, king of
Epirus, and invaded Macedonia. The Macedonian troops refused to fight Olympias, the mother of Alexander. Philip and Eurydice had no choice but to escape, only to be captured at
Amphipolis and thrown into prison.
It soon became clear that Philip was too dangerous to be left alive, as Olympias' many enemies saw him as a useful tool against her, and so on 25 December 317 BC, she had him executed, while his wife was forced to commit suicide.
Tomb
In 1977, excavations near
Vergina in northern Greece led to the unearthing of three Macedonian tombs. Tomb II is a two-chambered royal tomb richly decorated with grave goods such as silver vessels, bronze weaponry and bath equipment, and a gold-and-ivory shield. The outer chamber of the tomb contained a golden box with the bones of a woman in her twenties, and the inner chamber contained a gold box with a golden crown and the bones of a man in his forties.
Professor
Manolis Andronikos, the chief archaeologist at the site, along with a number of other archaeologists, decided that Tomb II contained the remains of Philip II and his final wife
Cleopatra Eurydice due to the rich decoration of the tomb, the age of the skeletal remains, the damage on the male skeleton's right eye socket, and his thigh bone that had suffered trauma.
Philip lost his right eye in battle and had been wounded in one leg. However, as the right eye socket was almost entirely missing, the damage could not be specified, and the wound was to the wrong leg.
Athenian pottery found in the tomb dates between the last quarter of the fourth century to the early third century BC, while Philip II died in 336 BC. Architectural evidence regarding the vaulted roof and its similarity to
Lycian tombs points to a later date, after Alexander the Great's
invasion of Asia.
Due to forensic studies in 2015, it is now that believed that Philip II was buried in Tomb I.
As such, others have proposed Tomb II to contain the remains of Philip Arrhidaeus and his wife Eurydice, due to the time of their death in 317 and that Arrhidaeus was known to have received honors at burial.
In Tomb II,
greaves that many archaeologists had argued belong to Philip II could also belong to Eurydice or Alexander the Great, according to Antonios Bartsiokas.
Bartsiokas, one of the lead authors in the 2015 study identifying Philip as the occupant of Tomb I, explained that Eurydice was a warrior who fought in many battles and could have required greaves.
It is also possible that some of Alexander the Great's armor could have been buried at the tomb, as Arrhideaus wore Alexander's garments when he ascended to the throne in 323, although he did not fight in battles himself. A hand-hammered iron helmet found in Tomb II matches Plutarch's description of Alexander's the Great's helmet.
Arrhidaeus in fiction
He appears as one of the main characters in the novel ''
Funeral Games'' by
Mary Renault. In Renault's version, the villainous Cassander slows down his advance on Macedonia to give Olympias enough time to kill Arrhidaeus and Eurydice.
Arrhidaeus is also a main character in
Annabel Lyon
Annabel Lyon (born 1971) is a Canadian novelist and short-story writer. She has published two collections of short fiction, two young adult novels, and two adult historical novels, ''The Golden Mean'' and its sequel, ''The Sweet Girl''.
Life and ...
's novel ''The Golden Mean''. In it, the young Arrhidaeus is tutored by Aristotle while he also mentors his younger half-brother, the future Alexander the Great. Alexander, who is initially disgusted with his brother's inferior intellect, learns to love him before he sets out to conquer the world.
In the Japanese fiction manga ''
Historie'', he was shown as an intellectually disabled young child, who became happy when
Eumenes made him a toy chariot and became sad when
Alexander the Great
Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip II to ...
destroyed his toy. Eumenes later replaced it with a new one, telling him to bury the chariot.
Arrhideaus is also portrayed in the Indian historical drama series
''Porus''.
Phillip is a prominent character in the
Eric Flint
Eric Flint (February 6, 1947 – July 17, 2022) was an American author, editor, and e-publisher. The majority of his main works are alternate history science fiction, but he also wrote humorous fantasy adventures. His works have been listed ...
novel ''The Alexander Inheritance'' and its sequel ''The Macedonian Hazard.'' Phillip is portrayed as having an affectionate relationship with Eurydice that is marred by his inability to stand being touched. The appearance of a cruise ship of time travelers a few months after Alexander's death changes history, and prevents Phillip and Eurydice's deaths, although they spend a time as prisoners of
Antigonus I Monophthalamus
Antigonus I Monophthalmus ( grc-gre, Ἀντίγονος Μονόφθαλμος , 'the One-Eyed'; 382 – 301 BC), son of Philip from Elimeia, was a Macedonian Greek nobleman, general, satrap, and king. During the first half of his life he serve ...
. He is portrayed as having a
spectrum disorder
A spectrum disorder is a mental disorder that includes a range of linked conditions, sometimes also extending to include singular symptoms and traits. The different elements of a spectrum either have a similar appearance or are thought to be cause ...
, but a photographic memory and a talent for mental arithmetic. His condition improves after sessions from a therapist among the time travelers, along with medical marijuana and other drugs, and fathers a child with Eurydice in the second book.
References
Sources
*
*
Smith, William (editor); ''
Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology
The ''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology'' (1849, originally published 1844 under a slightly different title) is an encyclopedia/ biographical dictionary. Edited by William Smith, the dictionary spans three volumes and 3,700 ...
''
"Arrhidaeus (1)" Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
, (1867)
External links
Wiki Classical Dictionary: ArrhidaeusAn archaeological report about his grave and remains
{{DEFAULTSORT:Philip 03 Of Macedon
350s BC births
317 BC deaths
Year of birth uncertain
4th-century BC Macedonian monarchs
4th-century BC Pharaohs
4th-century BC Babylonian kings
4th-century BC rulers
Argead kings of Macedonia
Monarchs of Persia
Pharaohs of the Argead dynasty
Executed monarchs
People who died under the regency of Polyperchon
Family of Alexander the Great