Introduction to Alexander

Question 1

what was Lower Macedonia?

Answer 1

• coastal & central Macedonia
• captial of Macedon moved from Aegae to Pella by Archelaus I (r. 414-399 BCE)
• Argead dynasty ruled from Pella
• royal court & aristocracy

Question 2

what was Upper Macedonia?

Answer 2

• Pieria mountain range (west)
• local nobility under the king’s authority
• livestock & local trade
• supplied elite cavalry & soldiers to Macedonian army

Question 3

what was the relationship between Lower & Upper Macedonia?

Answer 3

• political unification likely under Archelaus I (r. 414-399 BCE)
• unification possibly under Amyntas III (r. 393-369 BCE)
• little communication to & from Pella

Question 4

what was the Argead Tribe?

Answer 4

• family lingage of Philip II & Alexander (4th c. BCE)
• earliest king was Perdiccas I (600s BCE)

Question 5

what are the two possible origins for the Argead tribe?

Answer 5

• family descended from Temenus of Argos (a heraclid) –Herodotus
• family descended from Argeas of Oresteis (the son of Macedon, son of Zeus) –Hesiod

Question 6

what did Macedonian expansion & transformation look like?

Answer 6

• expanded eastward under Alexander I (r. 498-454 BCE)
• inhabited by the Lyncestae & Elmiotae (Molossians) under Alexander I
• political unification under Archelaus I or Amyntas II

Alexander I = “Alexander Philhellene” (lover of the Greeks)