Aeacides of Epirus

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Aeacides
King of Epirus
Reign331 - 313 BC
(316-313 Macedonian rule)
PredecessorAlexander I of Epirus
SuccessorAlcetas II of Epirus
SpousePhthia
IssuePyrrhus I of Epirus
Deidamia I of Epirus
HouseAeacidae
FatherArybbas of Epirus
MotherTroas (daughter of Neoptolemus I of Epirus)
ReligionAncient Greek religion
Aeacides may also refer to Peleus, son of Aeacus, or Achilles, grandson of Aeacus.
Epirus in Antiquity.

Aeacides (Ancient Greek: Αἰακίδης; died 313 BC), King of Epirus (331–316, 313), was a son of King Arybbas and grandson of King Alcetas I.

Family[edit]

Aeacides married Phthia, the daughter of Menon of Pharsalus, by whom he had the celebrated son Pyrrhus and two daughters, Deidamia and Troias.

Reign[edit]

In 331 BC, on the death of his cousin king Alexander, who was slain in Italy, Aeacides succeeded to the throne of Epirus.[1] In 317 BC he assisted Polyperchon in restoring his cousin Olympias and the five-year-old king Alexander IV[2] to Macedonia. The following year he had to march to the assistance of Olympias, who was hard pressed by Cassander; but the Epirots disliked the military service, rose against Aeacides, and drove him from the kingdom.[3] Pyrrhus, who was then only two years old, was saved by some faithful servants. Becoming tired of the Macedonian rule, the Epirots recalled Aeacides in 313 BC; Cassander immediately sent an army against him under his brother, Philip, who defeated him in two battles. During the last of the two battles Aeacides was killed.[4]

Notes and References[edit]

  1. ^ Livy, History of Rome, viii. 24
  2. ^ the mother and son of Alexander the Great
  3. ^ Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca historica 19.36.3 (Ancient Greek)
  4. ^ Pausanias, Description of Greece, i. 11; Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca, xix. 11, 36, 74; Plutarch, Lives, "Pyrrhus", 1-2

Sources[edit]

  •  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domainSmith, William, ed. (1870). "Aeacides". Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology.

External links[edit]

Preceded by King of Epirus
331–316 BC
Succeeded by
Preceded by King of Epirus
313 BC
Succeeded by