Cleopatra of Macedon

Greek · mortal · classical · mortal

Daughter of Philip II of Macedon and Olympias of Epirus; younger sister of Alexander the Great. Born c. 355 BCE at Pella. Married her maternal uncle Alexander I of Epirus in October 336 BCE at Aegae — the wedding-feast at which Philip II was assassinated by Pausanias of Orestis. Bore Neoptolemus II of Epirus (later king) and Cadmeia. Widowed 331 BCE when Alexander I was killed in southern Italy during his anti-Lucanian campaign; ruled as regent of Epirus during Neoptolemus II's minority. After Alexander the Great's death in 323 BCE, became a politically central figure of the Wars of the Diadochi — her marriage was sought by Leonnatus, Perdiccas, Cassander, Lysimachus, and Antigonus as a route to Argead legitimacy. She was preparing to marry Ptolemy I in 308 BCE when Antigonus, threatened by the prospective Argead-Ptolemaic alliance, had her assassinated at Sardis. Her death effectively ended the Argead royal line in the female generation that survived Alexander.

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