Lysimachus

King of Thrace (r. 306-281 b. c.e.),

Asia Minor (r. 301-281 b. c.e.), and Macedonia (r. 288281 b. c.e.; with Pyrrhus of Epirus)

Born: c. 361 b. c.e.; Pella, Macedonia

Died: 281 b. c.e.; Corupedium, Lydia, Asia Minor

Category: Government and politics

Life Lysimachus (li-SIHM-uh-kuhs) was one of Alexander the Great’s generals, and after Alexander’s death he was allotted Thrace and probably the western shore of the Black Sea. Having defeated the local tyrant Seuthes (322 b. c.e.), put down the resistance of Thracian cities (313 b. c.e.), and founded Lysimacheia (309 b. c.e.), in 306 b. c.e., he assumed the royal title. Fearful of Demetrius Poliorcetes’ successes in Greece, Lysimachus, after forging an alliance with Cassander and Seleucus I Nicator, invaded Anatolia, which was controlled by Demetrius’s father, Antigonus I Monophthalmos. In the ensuing Battle of Ipsus (301 b. c.e.), Lysimachus and Seleucus defeated Antigonus and Demetrius.

After taking over all western Anatolia north of the Taurus Mountains, Lysimachus married Ptolemy Soter’s daughter, Arsinoe. By 285 b. c.e., Lysimachus also occupied Macedonia and Thessaly. His realm stretched from Epirus to the Taurus. In 283 b. c.e., at the instigation of Arsinoe, he killed Agathocles, his son from a previous marriage and the heir-apparent. This murder alienated his followers, who welcomed the intrusion of Seleu-cus, during which Lysimachus was defeated and killed in the Battle at Corupedium (281 b. c.e.). His Asian realm went to the Seleucids, and his European possessions slipped into anarchy.

Influence Lysimachus’s life exemplifies the period of the Diadochi, when an empire could be built and lost in a lifetime with the help of personal ability and luck. His rule, often considered rapacious, is unlikely to have differed from those of other Diadochi.

Lysimachus Further Reading

Delev, P. “Lysimachus, the Getae, and Archaeology.” Classical Quarterly 50, no. 2 (2000): 384.

Lund, Helen S. Lysimachus: A Study in Early Hellenistic Kingship. New York: Routledge, 1992.

Muller, Ludvig. Lysimachus, King of Thrace. New York: F. S. Knobloch, 1966.

Sviatoslav Dmitriev

See also: Alexander the Great; Alexander the Great’s Empire; Antigonid Dynasty; Cassander; Demetrius Poliorcetes; Diadochi, Wars of the; Hellenistic Greece; Macedonia; Ptolemaic Dynasty; Ptolemy Soter; Seleucid Dynasty; Seleucus I Nicator.