Aeacides of Epirus

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.

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.

Family

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

Reign

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

  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

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