Alexander II was king of Macedon from 370 - 368 BC, following the death of his father Amyntas II. He was the eldest of the three sons of Amyntas and Eurydice. Although he had already attained his majority, Alexander was very young when he ascended to the throne. This caused immediate problems for the new king as enemies to the dynasty resumed war. Alexander was simultaneously faced with an Illyrian invasion from the north-west and an attack from the east by the pretender Pausanias. Pausanias quickly captured several cities and threatened the queen mother, who was at the palace in Pella with her young sons. Alexander defeated his enemies with the help of the Athenian general Iphicrates, who had been sailing along the Macedonian coast on the way to recapture Amphipolis. At the request of the Aleuadai, Alexander intervened in a civil war in Thessaly. He successfully gained control of Larissa and several other cities but, betraying a promise he had made, put garrisons in them. This provoked a hostile reaction from Thebes, the leading military power in Greece at the time. The Theban general Pelopidas drove the Macedonians from Thessaly. He then neutralized Alexander by favoring the ambitions of Alexander's brother-in-law Ptolemy of Aloros, and forced Alexander to abandon his alliance with Athens in favor of Thebes. As part of this new alliance, Alexander was compelled to hand over hostages, including his younger brother Philip. Alexander was assassinated during a festival at the instigation of Ptolemy. Although Alexander's brother Perdiccas III became the next king, he was under age, and Ptolemy was appointed regent. The Vergina Sun, a symbol associated with the Macedonian kingdom Macedon or Macedonia (from Greek ; see also List of traditional Greek place names) was the name of an ancient kingdom located in the northern-most part of ancient Greece, bordering the kingdom of Epirus on the west and the region... Centuries: 5th century BC - 4th century BC - 3rd century BC Decades: 420s BC 410s BC 400s BC 390s BC 380s BC - 370s BC - 360s BC 350s BC 340s BC 330s BC 320s BC 375 BC 374 BC 373 BC 372 BC 371 BC - 370 BC - 369 BC 368 BC 367... Centuries: 5th century BC - 4th century BC - 3rd century BC Decades: 410s BC 400s BC 390s BC 380s BC 370s BC - 360s BC - 350s BC 340s BC 330s BC 320s BC 310s BC 373 BC 372 BC 371 BC 370 BC 369 BC - 368 BC - 367 BC 366 BC 365... Amyntas III, stater Amyntas III (or II), son of Arrhidaeus, grandfather of Alexander the Great, was king of Macedon from 393 (or 389) to 369 BC. He came to the throne after the ten years of confusion which followed the death of Archelaus II, the patron of art and literature. ... Illyria (Anc. ... For other places named Pella, see: Pella (disambiguation). ... Athens (Greek: Αθήνα Athína IPA ) is the capital of Greece and one of the most famous cities in the world. ... Iphicrates (d. ... Amphipolis (modern Greek: Amfipoli), was an ancient city of Macedonia, on the east bank of the river Strymon, where it emerges from Lake Cercinitis, about 3 m. ... Map showing Thessaly periphery in Greece Thessaly (Θεσσαλια; modern Greek Thessalía; see also List of traditional Greek place names) is one of the 13 peripheries of Greece, and is further sub-divided into 4 prefectures. ... Larissa (Greek: Λάρισα, Lárisa) is the capital city of the Thessaly periphery of Greece, and capital of the Larissa Prefecture. ... Thebes (in modern Greek: Θήβα - Thíva, in ancient Greek and Katharevousa: - Thēbai or Thívai) is a city in Greece, situated to the north of the Cithaeron range, which divides Boeotia from Attica, and on the southern edge of the Boeotian plain. ... Pelopidas (d. ... Philip II of Macedonia (382 BC–336 BC; in Greek Φιλιππος, transliterated Philippos) was the King of Macedonia from 359 BC until his death. ... Perdiccas III was king of Macedonia from 364 to 359 BC, succeeding his brother Alexander II. Son of Amyntas III and Eurydike, he was underage when Alexander II was killed by Ptolemy of Aloros, who then ruled as regent. ...

See also

• Kings of Macedon

Macedon (also sometimes known as Macedonia) was an ancient kingdom in the present-day territory of northern Greece, inhabited by Dorian Greeks. ...

Related links

• Ancestry of Alexander II
• History of Macedonia