Alcetas () was the brother of
Perdiccas II, king of ancient
Macedonia
Macedonia (, , , ), most commonly refers to:
* North Macedonia, a country in southeastern Europe, known until 2019 as the Republic of Macedonia
* Macedonia (ancient kingdom), a kingdom in Greek antiquity
* Macedonia (Greece), a former administr ...
. Alcetas was the son of
Alexander I Alexander I may refer to:
* Alexander I of Macedon, king of Macedon from 495 to 454 BC
* Alexander I of Epirus (370–331 BC), king of Epirus
* Alexander I Theopator Euergetes, surnamed Balas, ruler of the Seleucid Empire 150-145 BC
* Pope Alex ...
and an unknown queen; he was a grandson of
Amyntas I. Following the unexpected death of Alexander I in 454 BC, Alcetas obtained his own local realm and power base (''arkhai''). However, Perdiccas annexed the territory at some unknown point, but ultimately spared Alcetas' life. He evidently retained some responsibility in his brother's government as Alcetas name follows the king's on a list of Macedonian signatories to a peace treaty with
Athens
Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...
.
Plato
Plato ( ; Greek language, Greek: , ; born BC, died 348/347 BC) was an ancient Greek philosopher of the Classical Greece, Classical period who is considered a foundational thinker in Western philosophy and an innovator of the writte ...
, through his interlocutors in ''
Gorgias
Gorgias ( ; ; – ) was an ancient Greek sophist, pre-Socratic philosopher, and rhetorician who was a native of Leontinoi in Sicily. Several doxographers report that he was a pupil of Empedocles, although he would only have been a few years ...
'', wrote that Perdiccas' successor,
Archelaus, murdered both Alcetas and his son Alexander.
References
{{Reflist
Murdered royalty of Macedonia (ancient kingdom)
Year of birth unknown