Ancient Coin Stories

Amyntas was the father of Philip II, and though he didn’t create a vast empire, he left his sons with a kingdom that was in considerably better shape than the one he inherited.

When he took power in 393 BCE, he was initially driven out by Illryians. With the help of Thessalians, notably the Argeadae family from Larissa, he defeated the Illyrians and retrieved his kingdom. This friendship with the Argeadae would continue with his son Philip II, who married his wife Philinna from the same family. She would become the mother of Philip III.

Since he still wasn’t safe from the Illyrians, Amyntas formed an alliance with Olynthos by promising them the timber from Macedonia, which Olynthos in turn sold to Athens for a nice profit. Amyntas continued to create alliances.

The next one was with the Odrysian Kotys I. Unfortunately, Kotys had already married his only daughter to an Athenian general, so Amyntas adopted Kotys’ son-in-law, the Athenian general Iphikrates, as his son.

Meanwhile, the power of Olynthos increased, and soon Amyntas realized they were his biggest threat. To counter them, he formed an alliance with Sparta and together they defeated and destroyed Olynthos.

Other alliances Amyntas signed were with Jason of Pherae and he kept friendly with Athens by supporting their claims to Amphipolis.

When Amyntas died in 370 BCE, the position of Macedonia was tenuous, but it was still better than what he had received. Alexander II became king afterwards, followed by his next son Perdikkas III and finally Philip II.