By Adelyn Krucoff, Summer 2023 Collaborator at Power in Place
Image from: Wikimedia Commons
For this we are going to go back into history, like way back in history to the Classical Greece age (480 BCE - 388 BCE). Now before we begin, it is important to remember that murder is bad. When Franklin Delano Roosevelt passed away his wife Eleanor Roosevelt; continued his legacy wonderfully at both the United Nations and at home. She was able to do this even with a difficult marriage with FDR, she made a personal sacrifice for the betterment of women and used her husband's and legacy name to do so. You don’t have to murder people after your husband dies to have a massive impact as a woman in the world nowadays; back in the day, well things were unfortunately different. For most of human history, women were treated poorly, and in ancient Greece an unfortunate double standard existed, men could have multiple partners (including other men) while women could only have a singular male partner. Even in Sparta in which women were granted much greater freedom than elsewhere in the Greek world, Women were expected to deal with finances of the Polis, and governance while the men were away. The spartans also enslaved a population 7 times their size in the Helots [1], so they weren’t exactly progressive. But Sparta and Athens would not dominate Greece, no, in fact, that would be Macedon. The rise of Macedon is worth several thousand articles by itself, but to keep it short they were a monarchy that rose under the genius of several competent generals, and 2 extraordinary kings. And both of those kings, in fact all of the Macedonian kings, were Polygamist [2].
To start with, the focus of this blog will be on the wives of one of those Macedonian kings. For today the Queen I will speak about is Olympias, wife of Philip of Macedon and mother of Alexander the Great. In this of course we will be talking a fair bit about both of these men, as it would be utterly impossible to ignore. Philip of Macedon had 7 wives at one point or another, but his main wife was Olympias. It was a political marriage that had its ups and downs [3] but very importantly she bore Philip a son making her the most important of his wives, that son happened to be Alexander the great. The Macedonian court however, while not extraordinary in its chaos, was extremely volatile. Philip as a young man, was a hostage in Thebes [4] which allowed him to escape and learn how to struggle and jockey for power, and it would bring him unmeasurable success as he would become master of Greece itself. His relationship with his wife, and his children was extremely rocky. Philip had many lovers as well as wives; he got around much to their dismay, but he also butted heads with his son, his heir Alexander. At times both Olympias and Alexander were threatened in court [5] but such conduct was more or less normal in Macedon.here is no such thing as a peaceful monarchy, so it always got messy. This love hate relationship however, would eventually turn into love for Alexander, and coldness for Olympias. Alexander would signify himself militarily in his fathers campaigns many times, even saving his fathers life, [6] but in the process Philip fell in love again, with a new woman:Cleopatra Eurydice. This was a massive problem for Alexander and Olympias. For one, Philip in his aging insanity, truly loved his new 7th wife meaning he had far less time for Olympias. Also she was Macedonian meaning that any potential child would be fully Macedonian, to Alexander’s half. Olympias was not of Macedon, she was married into the family and the throne to secure an alliance with the Molossian dynasty [7]. But Philip as the undisputed master of Greece no longer needed their support, he was free to do as he pleased, Alexander, at least initially, was spared from this, as he had saved Philips life and was a proven military leader. He would be needed for future campaigns, and was still his heir until proven otherwise, but upon Philips 7th marriage to Cleopatra Eurydice, Attalus her adopted uncle loudly prayed that Philip and Cleopatra would have a male heir, a direct threat to Alexander and Olympias. Philip in again his stupidity, did not dissuade this, stunning the court, Alexander, and Olympias. At this time, both Alexander and Olympias high tailed it out of town [7], for their safety was very threatened. Cleopatra Eurydice was pregnant, and if the child was a boy, it would replace Alexander as heir to the throne. Philip would absolutely keep Alexander around in some capacity, for he was a competent military leader, but Olympias would most likely no longer be needed. Further inflaming the tensions, her daughter Cleopatra of Macedon would be married off to her own brother Alexander I of Epirus, his niece [8] against the wishes of Olympias. Philip had used Olympias’ own daughter against her. If Cleopatra had bore at that time a boy for Philip, it is almost certain he would have rid himself of his problem by having his brother/son in law Alexander I, kill his sister Olympias. But history is strange and ever twisting, Cleopatra Eurydice bore a daughter to Philip, Olympias would live another day. At that time, tensions between Alexander and Philip cooled, Alexander was recognized as Philip's heir in an informal way, Cleopatra Eurydice would even later finally have a son for Philip, but that was no longer an immediate issue, Philip would not replace Alexander as his heir. The storm being weathered, Olympias returned to see off the marriage between her daughter and her brother, in Macedon. Philip at this wedding would be confirmed as Greek Hegemon [9] and invade a weak Persia in the midst of a succession crisis, he most surely would have conquered it as Alexander would do. But Olympias was not gonna let that happen.
Olympias either finally snapping from years of tension with her husband, or losing it at the prospect of her daughter marrying her brother in a direct affront to her personally, no longer cared directly about Alexander and Philips rekindled relationship. She would come to the wedding, but not to see him off to Persia, she would have her husband murdered [10]. Since his marriage to his 7th wife had caused so many problems, Olympias too looked inward into the Macedonian court and its life-threatening drama. Attalus had started this whole issue by loudly praying for a male heir at Philips 7th wedding, so she found an enemy of Attalus, Philips bodyguard and ex lover, Pausanias of Orestis. Attalus had raped Pausanias of Orestis over the death of his friend also named Pausanias ,in order to partially rectify this Philip had expressed sorrow at his lovers rape [11] and appointed him bodyguard of the king; a great honor. It was not enough however to dissuade his anger, Philip and Pausanias would become estranged. Olympias, ever opportunistic, seized upon this, and made a few deals about assassinating her husband and what would follow. She first made a deal with Pausanias to kill Philip and most likely promised to not chase after him, if he were to escape after said assassination [12]. Then she turned to Leonnatus, another bodyguard of Philip,and told him to kill Pausanias instantly after he completed his task so that he could not be interrogated [13]. He would later be offered Cleopatra of Macedon's hand in marriage, which was of course Olympias’s daughter, he would die before any wedding could commence but the deal and timeline was clear.
Olympias would have her husband murdered, then kill the assassin, then later kill her brother for marrying his niece and siding with Philip instead of her. This was an ingenious plan, if Pausanias got away, well she could fake trying to get him for years and still regain the loyalty of the Macedonians. If Leonnatus turned upon her, she could seize upon his killing of Pausanias instead of taking him alive while remaining in her standing, and if it all went wrong she could simply turn to Alexander who now had a baby brother threatening his rightful place on the throne, and have him perhaps kill his father, down the line. Now did Olympias tell Alexander the great of this plan? Most likely not, Alexander upon his death would have similar problems with his wife Roxana but Alexander who had problems with Philip probably would at least want to wait a bit to see how his position developed. He was secure for now. Things could change, which is why he might entertain the idea, but it was a gamble that wasn’t necessary, so it was most likely not taken. The evidence for this is that Alexander would chase after his fathers assassin, the evidence against is that he would be proclaimed as king and Hegemon instantly after his fathers death [13]. Then it finally came, Philip marched first in a wedding procession of his daughter and now half-son/brother in law was stabbed and died instantly. Pausanias would attempt to escape but in his flight, his horse tripped and he was instantly killed by Philips bodyguards and Leonnatus. Leonnatus would then be demoted for not taking Pausanias alive, but Olympias had not a shred of evidence against her, she was clean. Now her son was instantly hailed as the next king of Macedon, the killing had not ended, it had just begun.
Now comes the hard work, killing everyone else. Alexander had threats to his new crown. He had brothers, one was deemed mentally unfit to rule so he wasn’t a threat (he would later of course rule for a time after Alexander's death but that’s later), and he did have a half baby brother Caranus son of Cleopatra Eurydice [14]. This was a very big problem, an ambitious general could seize upon this, claim the son as the rightful king and assume a decades long regency of the throne. There were 2 generals who threatened Alexander at this moment, Antipater and Parmenion. To quell these threats Alexander promised Antipater rule over Macedon while he was gone in Persia and appointed Parmenion and his son to his soon to be invading army of Persia as well, this worked. Parmenion would not have to duel in a power struggle, he could enjoy the fruits and riches of conquest, and if Alexander were to die he and his son could take over his conquest and become kings in their own right in Persia. Antipater would be granted Greece itself a massive reward, and if Alexander were to die he could too wield it and even marry Olympias to become king himself. Alexander would bet on himself and the loyalty of his new men, in the process however he had to make 2 major concessions, one rather quickly Alexander the Great banned taxation in Macedon [15] and had to buy off several wealthy Macedonians as well. All of Macedons wealth would now come from conquest, and to make this conquest assured Alexander would take on almost all of his fathers advisors and military leaders, except for 1. Attalus, the man who had insulted Alexander and Olympias, would be killed and, later the justification would be made up that he intended to defect to the Athenian cause and play kingmaker in Macedon [16]. He was most certainly killed as part of either the deal that Olympias made with Pausanias or for his great insult; the odds that he would have tried to rebel against Alexander were slim, in a time of great generals he was merely a good one. He would have lost any civil war, against Antipater or Alexander, even in a massive power struggle, he was almost certainly killed for other reasons than betrayal. It is at this final point, Olympias and Alexander would purge what remained of their threats, and Olympias would act in revenge upon those who had threatened and damaged her in court over the decades.
Alexander the Great was legitimately threatened by a child half brother in Caranus, this represented a powerful opportunity for generals to seize his throne and a very rewarding regency, to condemn Alexander for this murder would be a condemnation of monarchy not of him. It was quite simply nothing personal, but it would have been done by just about any monarch at this time. Alexander then further purged Amyntas IV, his cousin, and two Macedonian princes [17].
This while perhaps a little extreme was not out of the ordinary for Monarchy, you have to remove threats to your crown. Alexander had to deal with external threats and as such could not trust these relatives with the succession of the monarchy, while under more normal circumstances they could have been allowed to live. Alexander left to go and fight for his fathers kingdom with fellow Greeks, leaving Olympia's full control over what was left of her husband's court. The year was 336 BCE.
Over this year I would call strange things started to happen, Philips first wife Audata died. No reason is given why she would have died, nor an exact timeframe [18]. She was probably murdered by Olympia. Phila of Elimeia, Philip's second wife is literally never heard of so she may not have been murdered, she either got really lucky or got killed so fast no one bothered to write it down. Nicesipolis, Philip’s 3rd wife had already died after giving birth to a daughter and was as such not a problem, the daughter Thessalonike of Macedon would be allowed to live and would play a game of power after Alexander's death in the wars of the Diodachi. She would later be married to Cassander, perhaps by force but would have 3 sons, Philip, Antipater, and Alexander [19]. If anyone were to have won the power struggles as a queen, she probably did the best for her relative position and the kingdom she would one day rule, but there are no happy endings and she would be murdered by her own son Antipater, so even by escaping Olympias’s wrath she was killed in a taste of irony. Philinna Philips 5th wife, we know basically nothing about so I hope she escaped and if there was no reason to kill her, she would have most likely been fine. Olympias was vengeful and scheming, but to spill blood for no reason would just be stupid. She most likely peacefully got to live out her days in Macedon. Meda of Odessos Philips 6th wife “committed suicide after Philips death” I do not believe she actually committed suicide though, she was probably murdered [20]. She was a Thracian princess and represented a more active threat than Philinna or Phila, she would have been killed. Then however it got personal, Cleopatra Eurydice and her daughter Europa remained the target of Olympias. Cleopatra had been Philips ‘love’ and replaced Olympia as his favorite queen, the child that could have had Olympia killed if it had been a boy, representing a major insult to her. So she had them both killed, some sources say even burned alive [21], though I personally doubt that Olympia would have been that messy. Alexander was said to have been furious, but Olympia now was the king's mother and the last remaining political wife of Philip. She had attained revenge, and the potential for far greater under her son. She would purge, kill, rule, and die just like any other monarch. She was every bit as politically masterful as Philip or Alexander, or any scheming general during the wars of the Diadochi. In a time of extremely unique men, she should be remembered as the one who rose above them all, in a stroke of political genius that gave way to the greatest conqueror in human history. She is not firstly the mother of Alexander the great, she is Olympias and should be remembered as such.
References
[1] Cathill, Paul “Interesting Histories: Helots — The Slaves Of Sparta” medium.com 11/05/2017 https://medium.com/interesting-histories/interesting-histories-helots-the-slaves-of-sparta-46b70ebfdc05
[2] Greenwalt, William “POLYGAMY AND SUCCESSION IN ARGEAD MACEDONIA” Johns Hopkins University Press 1989 https://www.jstor.org/stable/26308586
[3] “Olympias of Epirus: The Surreal Story of a King’s Mother” albanopedia.com, 09/11/2020 https://www.albanopedia.com/biographies/olympias-of-epirus
[4] Wilker, Julia "Philip II of Macedonia by I. Worthington" Cambridge University Press, April 2011, https://www.jstor.org/stable/41301112
[5] Bowden, Hugh “Prince: Alexander in the Macedonian court" Oxford Academic, July 2014, https://academic.oup.com/book/554/chapter-abstract/135293921?redirectedFrom=fulltext
[6] “Alexander the Great Timeline” Encyclopaedia Britannica, https://www.britannica.com/summary/Alexander-the-Great-Timeline
[7] Plutarch, “Alexander, Plutarch's Lives” Harvard University Press, 1919. http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:abo:tlg,0007,047:9
[8] "Cleopatra of Macedon: the Other Cleopatra Who Ruled in Two Continents" albanopedia.com, 06/05/2020 https://www.albanopedia.com/biographies/cleopatra-of-macedon
[9] Wilker, Julia "Philip II of Macedonia by I. Worthington" Cambridge University Press, April 2011, https://www.jstor.org/stable/41301112
[10] Carney, Elizabeth “The Politics of Polygamy: Olympias, Alexander and the Murder of Philip.” Franz Steiner Verlag, 1992, https://www.jstor.org/stable/4436236
[11] BERNÁRDEZ, B. ANTELA “PHILIP AND PAUSANIAS: A DEADLY LOVE IN MACEDONIAN POLITICS.” Cambridge University Press, December 2012, https://www.jstor.org/stable/23470143
[12] Kuskowski, Ada-Maria “Whodunit? The Murder of Philip II of Macedon” 2001, https://www.mcgill.ca/classics/files/classics/2001-04.PDF
[13] "ENCYCLOPEDIC ENTRY, Alexander the Great" https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/alexander-great/
[14] M J Mann, "Caranus King of Macedon", The Second Achilles, 10/13/2014 https://thesecondachilles.com/tag/caranus/
[15] "Alexander the Great: The Balkan Campaign (336 to 335 B.C.E.)" Historia Civilis, 10/31/2017, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKQw6rxk41A
[16] “The Destruction of Thebes (335 to 334 B.C.E.)” Historia Civilis, March 20th, 2018 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdNfTLF87eg
[17] Bartlett, Lilian Stoner "A Mediterranean Game of Thrones: The Tumultuous Legacy of Alexander the Great" The Met, 06/27/2018, https://www.metmuseum.org/blogs/now-at-the-met/2016/mediterranean-game-of-thrones
[18] M J Mann, "Philip II’s Wives", The Second Achilles, 10/30/2013 https://thesecondachilles.com/tag/audata/
[19] Gale, Alexander "Alexander the Great’s Sister, Thessalonike, and the Mermaid Legend" Greek Reporter, 05/25/2023, https://greekreporter.com/2023/05/25/alexander-the-great-sister-thessalonike-mermaid/
[20] "Archaeological Site of Aigai" World Heritage Site, 1996 https://www.worldheritagesite.org/list/Archaeological+Site+of+Aigai
[21] “Cleopatra Eurydice: A Queen in the Midst of Plots and Intrigues” albanopedia.com, 10/09/2020 https://www.albanopedia.com/biographies/cleopatra-eurydice
[22] “Map Macedonia 336 BC”, Wikimedia Commons, 2009, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Map_Macedonia_336_BC-en.svg&oldid=659101792
Adelyn, sometimes called Aaron Krucoff is a rising senior at University of Maryland Baltimore county, majoring in history and minoring in political science. She is currently president of the Chess Club, and can be found routinely by the library protesting the school's past abuse of Vivien Barrett. After graduating she has no idea what she wishes to do, but is enjoying the ride.