Argead Dynasty

The Argead Dynasty ruled Macedonia for four centuries and included Philip II and his son, Alexander the Great, who shaped Macedonia and Greece into a world empire.

Date: c. 700-c. 311 b. c.e. Category: Cities and civilizations Locale: Macedonia

Summary The Argead (ahr-GEE-uhd) Dynasty represented the ruling house of Macedonia for nearly four hundred years. Although the beginnings of the dynasty can be traced as far back as Karanos (eighth century b. c.e.), it was Perdiccas I (r. c. 670-652 b. c.e.) who led a disparate group of adventurers east from the Haliacmon (Aliakmon) River through northern Greece and became head of the Argeadae Macedones.

By the reign of Amyntas I (r. c. 540-498 b. c.e.), the kingdom of Macedonia stretched into Thrace. In an attempt to assimilate with Greece, Amyntas’s son, Alexander I, began the pro-Hellenic policy that would characterize much of the rest of the period. Alexander’s son, Perdiccas II, united many of the major Greek cities into a federation with Macedonia.

Perdiccas II’s son Archelaus continued his father’s pro-Hellenic policy and at the same time created routes through the heavily forested region. In part, this was to allow more rapid movements ofhis armies, improved with the development of iron and bronze armor and weapons.

Significance It was during the reigns of Philip II of Macedonia (r. 359336) and his son, Alexander the Great (r. 336-323), that the Greek empire became a world power, stretching to Egypt and east to India. Following the death of Alexander, the Argead lineage continued for another generation, but the kingdom was divided among Alexander’s generals.

Kings of the Argead Dynasty, c. 700-311 B. C.E.

Further Reading

Ashley, James. The Macedonian Empire. Jefferson, N. C.: McFarland,

1998.

Hammond, Nicholas, and G. T. Griffith. A History of Macedonia. Vols. 1-3. Oxford, England: Clarendon Press, 1979.

Richard Adler

See also: Alexander the Great; Alexander the Great’s Empire; Hellenistic Greece; Philip II of Macedonia.