Perdiccas III (

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

: Περδίκκας Γ΄) was king of the Hellenic kingdom of

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 ...

from 365 BC to 360 BC, succeeding his brother Alexander II. Son of

Amyntas III Amyntas III () was king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia from 393/2 to 388/7 BC and again from 387/6 to 370 BC. He was a member of the Argead dynasty through his father Arrhidaeus, a son of Amyntas, one of the sons of Alexander I. His mo ...

and

Eurydice Eurydice (; Ancient Greek: Εὐρυδίκη 'wide justice', classical pronunciation: ) was a character in Greek mythology and the wife of Orpheus, whom Orpheus tried to bring back from the dead with his enchanting music. Etymology Several ...

, he was a child when in 369 BC his brother Alexander II was killed by their brother-in-law

Ptolemy of Aloros Ptolemy of Aloros (), was sent by King Amyntas III of Macedon as an envoy to Athens c. 375–373 BC. After Amyntas' death, he began a liaison with his widow, Eurydice. In 368 BC, he assassinated her son, Alexander II, in order to gain control of ...

, who then ruled as regent. In 365 BC, Perdiccas killed Ptolemy and assumed government. There is very little information about the reign of Perdiccas III. He was at one time engaged in hostilities with Athens over

Amphipolis Amphipolis (; ) was an important ancient Greek polis (city), and later a Roman city, whose large remains can still be seen. It gave its name to the modern municipality of Amphipoli, in the Serres regional unit of northern Greece. Amphipol ...

, and he was distinguished for his patronage of men of letters. Among these we are told that Euphraeus of Oreus, a disciple of

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 ...

, rose so high in Perdiccas's favour as to completely govern the young king and to exclude from his society all but philosophers and

geometers A geometer is a mathematician whose area of study is the historical aspects that define geometry, instead of the analytical geometric studies that becomes conducted from geometricians. Some notable geometers and their main fields of work, chr ...

. He also served as ''

theorodokos The ''theorodokoi'' (Greek: , ) in ancient Greece were sacred envoy-receivers whose duty was to host and assist the ''theoroi'' (θεωροί, "viewers") before the Panhellenic games and festivals... A ''theorodokos'' was sometimes appointed by th ...

'' in the

Panhellenic Games Panhellenic Games is the collective term for four separate religious festivals held in ancient Greece that became especially well known for the athletic competitions they included. The four festivals were: the Ancient Olympic Games, Olympic Games, ...

that took place in

Epidaurus Epidaurus () was a small city (''polis'') in ancient Greece, on the Argolid Peninsula at the Saronic Gulf. Two modern towns bear the name Epidavros: ''Palaia Epidavros'' and ''Nea Epidavros''. Since 2010 they belong to the new municipality of Epi ...

around 360/359 BC. In 360 BC, Perdiccas tried to reconquer upper Macedonia from the

Illyria In classical and late antiquity, Illyria (; , ''Illyría'' or , ''Illyrís''; , ''Illyricum'') was a region in the western part of the Balkan Peninsula inhabited by numerous tribes of people collectively known as the Illyrians. The Ancient Gree ...

Bardylis Bardylis or Bardyllis (; ; –358 BC) was an Illyrian king, and the founder of the first attested Illyrian dynasty. During his reign, Bardylis aimed to make Illyria a regional power interfering with Macedon. He united many southern Illyrian ...

, but the expedition ended in disaster, with Perdiccas being killed.

Diodorus Siculus Diodorus Siculus or Diodorus of Sicily (; 1st century BC) was an ancient Greece, ancient Greek historian from Sicily. He is known for writing the monumental Universal history (genre), universal history ''Bibliotheca historica'', in forty ...

attests that four thousand men had died in the expedition, and that the remainder, panic-stricken, had become exceedingly afraid of the Illyrian armies and had lost heart for continuing the war. Perdiccas was succeeded by his infant son, Amyntas IV. The throne was soon usurped by Perdiccas's younger brother Philip II.

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External links

Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology The ''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology'' is a biographical dictionary of classical antiquity, edited by William Smith (lexicographer), William Smith and originally published in London by John Taylor (English publisher), Tayl ...

359 BC deaths 4th-century BC Macedonian monarchs Argead kings of Macedonia Ancient child monarchs Ancient Macedonian monarchs killed in battle Old Macedonian kingdom Year of birth unknown {{AncientGreece-royal-stub

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