Eurydice I

Although the history of ancient Macedonia is largely male-dominated, it is evident that the Macedonian royal women began to appear in remarkable public positions at least since the late 5th century BCE. Eurydice I, the first of these women, serves as a classical model for subsequent Hellenistic queens, who were able to exercise varying degrees of power, autonomy, and authority. Notably, several of these figures happened to be Eurydice's successors and descendants in the House of Argead, including Olympias, Cynane, Adea-Eurydice, Thessalonike of Macedon, and Cleopatra of Macedon. Based on the extant evidence, Eurydice's political impact became apparent after her husband's death, and it was so remarkable and decisive that she was honoured later through both verbal tributes and material constructions. Philip II fundamentally developed her birthplace into a major city known as Heraklia Lynkestis circa 358 BCE, and Aeschines, in his speech On the Embassy, praised her noble action at a defining moment of history.

Early Life & Marriage

Eurydice was born to the royal house of Lynkestis (also written as Lyncestis). As with many historical figures from ancient Macedonia, especially women, her exact date of birth is still unclear. Scholars suggest that she was born sometime between 410 and 407 BCE, although Elizabeth Donelly Carney, a leading author on Macedonian women and their relation to power, ponders on some evidence implying a date as late as 404 BCE (Eurydice and the Birth of Macedonian Power, 149). Eurydice's birthplace, on the contrary, was almost certainly the main urban centre of Lynkestis, a small but powerful kingdom to the west of (early) Macedonia that was ruled by her maternal grandfather, Arrhabaeus (died circa 399 BCE). According to Strabo (7.7), he was a member of the Bacchidae family, a Corinthian faction who had been exiled and eventually gained control of Lynkestis in the so-called Upper Macedonia, becoming rulers over its local population. On that basis, we may argue for overlapping ancestral roots between the royal houses of Lynkestis and Macedonia.

Eurydice's father, Sirras (or Sirrhas), was a distinguished commander from a noble family. His ethnic background has been the subject of scholarly debates, with some suggesting that he may have been an Illyrian, others proposing Lynkestian descent, and still others considering the possibility of a maternally Macedonian heritage. At any rate, in 423 BCE, Sirras played a crucial role in the Lynkestian victory at the Battle of Lynkestis. The war had broken out when Arrhabaeus decided to oppose the expansionist ambitions of Perdiccas II, the king of Macedonia (reign circa 454-413 BCE). Perdiccas II, who had long intended to annex Lynkestis, saw the Peloponnesian War as a strategic opportunity to pursue his plans. Ancient sources indicate that Sirras might have convinced the powerful Illyrians, perhaps through his familial and/or military bonds with them, to switch sides at the last moment, supporting the Lynkestian army instead of fighting it alongside the Macedonians.

It could be around this time, or shortly after, that Arrhabaeus married off his daughter, Irra, to Sirras. This could be both an expression of gratitude and a formal confirmation of the alliance between Lynkestis and Illyria against their mutual adversary, Macedonia. The alliance proved effective, as indicated by the failure of Macedonia's further attempts to subjugate either of these kingdoms by force. Therefore, it was probably not surprising when King Amyntas III of Macedon, circa 390 BCE, formally asked for the hand of Lynkestian princess Eurydice in marriage.

In fact, Amyntas III was very keen to gather as many powerful allies as he possibly could. When he took the throne circa 393/2 BCE by killing his relative, King Pausanias (reign circa 394/3-393/2 BCE), Amyntas III virtually put an end to almost a decade of political instability and regicide that had been going on following the murder of King Archelaus I of Macedon (circa 413 to circa 399 BCE) by his attendant and lover, Crateuas. Killing the king, along with eliminating any possible rival claimant to the throne, is evidently a recurring theme in the history of ancient Macedonia.

Still, getting rid of the potential and actual fellow-monarchs turned out to be only the beginning, rather than the end, of the political challenges Amyntas III had to face. He commenced his rule under the pressure of foreign invasions and threats from neighbouring kingdoms as well as more distant powers, all attempting to exploit Macedonia's political instability. In fact, Amyntas III had only recently taken the throne when he was driven out of it by an invading force from Illyria. Nonetheless, it took him less than a year to re-establish his authority with the assistance of a Thessalian army led by Medius of Larissa. He was the head of the Aleuads, who had a long-lasting friendship with the Argeads since the reign of Archelaus I.

Following his successful restoration, Amyntas III established an alliance with the Olynthians, who controlled the Chalkidiki peninsula from its leading port, Olynthus. This partnership was intended mainly to secure a significant commercial collaborator for Macedonia's port capital, Pella. Amyntas' next move was to seek an alliance with Thrace by marrying the king's daughter. King Kotys I responded with a friendly attitude, but his daughter had already been promised to Iphicrates, a highly acclaimed Athenian commander. Apparently, a relationship with Athens seemed immensely advantageous to Amyntas III, who then adopted Iphicrates as his son and thus established strong associations with both Athens and Thrace. Marrying Eurydice of Lynkestis simply completed his collection of strategic alliances.

The Queen Mother

Eurydice I bore three sons, and probably a daughter, for Amyntas III: Alexander II (circa 388-367 BCE), Perdiccas III (circa 384/5-359 BCE), and Philip II (circa 383/2-336 BCE). In 370/369 BCE, Amyntas III died rather peacefully – that is, not in a battle or by assassination – leaving behind a politically and economically successful career. Little is known about Eurydice's life before his death, but the few pieces of information left for us are remarkable. Plutarch, in his essay On the Education of Children, tells us that Eurydice sent a gift to the Muses to thank them for her literacy education along with her children (Plutarch, Moralia, 14b-c).

Reading and writing skills in the ancient Greek world were among the social advantages reserved for the elite. In ancient Macedonia, male members of noble families were provided with various amounts of education, but women's position in this matter seems much more ambiguous. That said, most scholars agree that Macedonian royal women often received a reasonable level of education, even if only to take matters into their hands in case of the absence or sudden death of their royal husband, an ever-present risk with an increasing probability. Interestingly, the studies that ponder the education of Macedonian women often refer to Eurydice as an early example. It is reasonable, then, to ask whether she was a forerunner in this respect.

However, Eurydice's skills, although unattested, could cover far beyond administrative or religious tasks. As the queen mother to her eldest son, Alexander II, she was confronted with political mayhem that started almost instantly after his succession. The Illyrians invaded, the Macedonian noble families divided over whether to support the new king or another contender, and other claimants simultaneously started or increased their open or concealed efforts to usurp the throne.

Two of these 'throne-hunters', Ptolemy of Aloros and Pausanias, are particularly known to us from two main sources. These sources, however, present contrasting narratives of the events – one hails Eurydice as a clever and courageous queen, while the other criticizes her as a scheming adulteress. Ptolemy of Aloros (died 364 BCE), in the account by the Roman historian Justin, was a descendant of Menelaus, brother of King Alexander I of Macedon (‘Philhellenes', reign circa 498-454 BCE). He had already served Amyntas III as a Macedonian envoy and was, or thence became, part of his court. Justin claims that Ptolemy was married to Eurydice's daughter (hardly recognised in other sources), and was her secret lover, who had once plotted with her to kill Amyntas III and eventually had Alexander II assassinated. In this account, Eurydice then marries her son's murderer (without any further comment on his alleged marriage to her daughter) and makes him the regent to her second son, Perdiccas III. As for Philip II, the Illyrians took him as a hostage following their earlier conflict with his brother, Alexander II (Justin, 7.5.1).

Whatever aspirations we might imagine for Ptolemy of Aloros, it is evident that he never held the full authority of a king. During his brief period of regency from 368 to 365 BCE, he managed to bring some political stability in the face of internal opposition to his rule and the rising threat posed by Pausanias, an increasingly popular contender for the throne. The alleged emotional relationship between him and Eurydice I, in or out of wedlock, is now rejected by the scholars. The overall agreement is, however, that Eurydice I must have already developed enough political influence so that her support, or at least her consent, was necessary for maintaining the power. Up to her time, women were not permitted to act as regents to the heir of the throne in Macedonia. However, the growth of their influence, capabilities, and importance became apparent during the era of Eurydice I, and it is notable that the earliest Macedonian queen regents, such as Cleopatra of Macedon and Thessalonike, were among her granddaughters.

Our key reference for Eurydice's political prowess is Aeschines' report, our second source, describing his successful persuasion of Philip II to alter his expansionist objectives regarding Athens:

I described to him our traditional friendship […] I reminded him of services of which he himself had been both witness and recipient. For shortly after the death of Amyntas, and of Alexander, the eldest of the brothers, while Perdiccas and Philip were still children, when their mother Eurydice had been betrayed by those who professed to be their friends [Ptolemy of Aloros?], and when Pausanias was coming back to contend for the throne, an exile then, but favoured by opportunity and the support of many of the people, and bringing a Greek force with him,

When Iphicrates had come into this region […] said I, "your mother Eurydice sent for him, and according to the testimony of all who were present, she put your brother Perdiccas into the arms of Iphicrates, and set you upon his knees—for you were a little boy—and said, ‘Amyntas, the father of these little children, when he was alive, made you his son, and enjoyed the friendship of the city of Athens; we have a right therefore to consider you in your private capacity a brother of these boys, and in your public capacity a friend to us.'…"

(On the Embassy, 2.26-28)

Although Aeschines' account clearly contains errors and exaggerations – for example, depicting Philip, who was likely in his mid-teens, as a helpless child – it remains valuable as near-contemporary testimony, reflecting on a woman's stunning competence in a moment of crisis.

Based on Aeschines' report, it is overall accepted that Perdiccas III and Philip II were subsequently sent out to safety, presumably under Iphicrates' protection. In 365/4 BCE, once Perdiccas III was old enough to rule, he returned and killed Ptolemy of Aloros. He ruled until 359 BCE, when he fell in battle with the Illyrians, and Philip II, ignoring his young nephew's right of succession, first announced himself as his regent and shortly after took the throne. Most historians interpret this to mean that, despite customary inheritance rules, being the son of Amyntas III and his powerful queen, Eurydice I, could still take precedence in succession.

Legacy

Eurydice's date of death is unknown. After her reported request of Iphicrates for her sons' protection, she virtually disappears from historical sources. We don't know how long she lived to witness her sons' reigns, or whether she was present when Philip II eventually took over Lynkestis and reconstructed its capital, which he renamed as Herakleia Lynkestis, at least partly in her honour. Since Aeschines' speech dates to 343 BCE, most scholars assume that Eurydice was no longer alive by then; otherwise, Aeschines would likely have urged Philip to ask his mother for further details of her appeal to Iphicrates.

In 338 BCE, Philip II celebrated his decisive victory over an alliance of the most powerful Greek states at the Battle of Chaeronea by constructing a monumental sanctuary of Zeus in Olympia. After his assassination in 336 BCE, the monument was finished by his son and successor, Alexander the Great, who had the famous sculptor Leochares make five chryselephantine statues depicting him together with his parents, Philip II and Olympias, and his grandparents, Amyntas III and Eurydice I. The statues are now lost, but Eurydice's name is still visible on one of the remaining pedestals.

Two dedicatory inscriptions to Eukleia, a goddess closely tied to and sometimes identified with Artemis (thence protective of bride-to-be maidens), were excavated in 1982 and 1990 at the archaeological site of Vergina. Incised in the marble pedestals of now lost statues, they read: "Eurydice, daughter of Sirras". Scholarly inference said that Eurydice presented these offerings circa 390 BCE in connection with preparations for her marriage. This inference, however, seems questionable in the face of a third inscription of the same words found in 1983. Carved on a similar marble pedestal reused to hold a column of an early Christian basilica at the nearby village of Palatitsia, it is thought to be from a much later date (Saatsoglou-Paliadeli 23), perhaps even after the death of Amyntas III. To some scholars, this implies that Eurydice I had reasons to reassert her maiden (unmarried) identity. Either way, it is noteworthy that the surviving self-introductions of Eurydice I emphasize her identity as an autonomous woman, rather than defining her in relation to another person – even a king – as his wife.