The Epirote descendants of Agathocles of Syracuse and his second wife AlkeiaAGATHOCLES II or AGATHOC

The Epirote descendants of Agathocles of Syracuse and his second wife AlkeiaAGATHOCLES II or AGATHOCLES Junior (Ἀγαθοκλῆς), son Agathocles by his second wife Alkeia. Nothing is known about his life up to the moment his father sent him to Macedonia, at the court of Demetrius I Poliorcetes. This voyage had been organised with the intent to present the younger Agathocles as his father’s heir and to form an alliance with Macedonia. Indeed Demetrius received him with all the honours, dressed him in regal robes and gave him splendid gifts. Back in Syracuse the old tyrant officially introduced his son as his successor in front of the people. The younger Agathocles was then sent to the Syracusan encampment, at that time stationed near Etna. Up to that time, the army had been led by Arcagathus, son in turn of the late Arcagathus (not to be confused with the Egyptian one), firstborn of the tyrant. As soon as Arcagathus received his grandfather’s order to hand over the army’s command to the younger Agathocles, he devised a plan to kill both his grandfather and half-uncle and seize the power. As he instructed his collaborator Menon to poison the tyrant, Arcagathus invited his uncle and, after having got him drunk, murdered him. Agathocles’ body was thrown into the sea and, after some time, the tide washed him ashore, where he was recognised and brought to his dying father. Indeed the poison didn’t kill immediately the older Agathocles. As soon as the tyrant found out what had happened, he disinherited his grandson and proclaimed as his successor the people of Syracuse, thus abolishing the monarchy and re-established the democracy.LANASSA (Λάνασσα) seeALEXANDERII (Αλέξανδρος),son of Pyrrhus I and Lanassa, daughter of the tyrant Agathocles.Alexander succeeded his father as the King of Epirus in 272 BC. Hemanaged to drive Antigonus II Gonatas out of Macedonia, thusfinishing his late father’s job, but was in turn driven out of hiscountry by Antigonus’ son, Demetrius II. Alexander then took refugeamong the Acarnians and, with their help and that of his subjectsstill loyal to him, he recovered Epirus. He married his half-sisterOlympias II (daughter of Pyrrhus’ first wife, Antigone), who bore himthree children: Pyrrhus, Phthia and Ptolemy. Alexander died in 242 BCand was succeeded by his son Phyrrus, although Olympias brieflyassumed the regency on account of her sons’ young age. She ruled overMacedonia until Pyrrhus reached adulthood.PYRRHUSII (Πύρρος),son of Alexander II and Olympias II. He succeeded his father when hedied in 242 BC, although he effectively started to rule when hereached adulthood. He fathered two daughters (Deidameia and Nereis)with an unnamed woman. Pyrrhus died in 237 BC and was succeeded byhis brother Ptolemy.PHTHIA(Φθια),daughter of Alexander II and Olympias II. Following her father’sdeath, and before 239 BC, Phthia was married by her mother the Regentto Demetrius II of Macedonia. Olympias intended to build up analliance with Macedonia to contrast the Aetolian League. Nothing elseis known about her.PTOLEMY(Πτολεμαῖος),son of Alexander II and Olympias II. He was called after his lateuncle, his mother’s full-brother, who probably died in childbirth.Ptolemy succeeded his brother Pyrrhus, but died in 235 BC, afterhaving ruled for three years. He was in the middle of a militaryexpedition when he fell sick and died (although, according toPolyaenus, he was murdered). It is said his mother died soon after ofheartbreak since she couldn’t bear to lose his sons in such a shortperiod of time. Ptolemy was succeeded by his son, Pyrrhus.PYRRHUSIII (Πύρρος),son of Ptolemy and an unnamed woman. He was only a child when hebecame King of Epirus, after his father’s sudden death. Two yearslater, Pyrrhus was killed in a coup that had the intent toabolish the monarchy and institute the republic. He was succeeded byhis cousin Deidameia.DEIDAMEIAII or DEIDAMIA (Δηιδάμεια),daughter of Pyrrhus II and an unnamed woman. She succeeded her cousinPyrrhus III as sovereign of Epirus. Unfortunately for Deidamia, shefound herself in the middle of the revolution. She fled to Ambraciaand, when  offered clemency if she surrendered, she capitulated. Shesought refuge in the temple of Artemis as soon as it was clear theEpirotes wouldn’t find peace until they were sure they had wiped outthe entire royal family. Heedless of the sacrality of the place, themob killed Deidamia in the sanctuary itself. She was the last Aeacidsovereign of Epirus. After her death, the republic was instituted.NEREIS(Νηρηΐς)seeHARMONIA(Ἁρμονία) seeHIERONYMUS(῾Ιερώνυμος),son of Gelo of Syracuse and Nereis, daughter of Pyrrhus III ofEpirus. Hieronymus was born in Syracuse in 231 BC. After Gelo died in216 BC, his father, the tyrant Hiero II, named his grandson as hisheir. Fearing for Syracuse’ fate, Hiero had entrusted his grandson’spreparation to numerous tutors, hoping they would correct his weakand (apparently) depraved character. To guide the youngster, at leastat the beginning of his rulership, the tyrant had created a councilof 15 trusted men, which counted his sons-in-law, Adranodoros andZoippus. Hiero died in 215 BC and, as he had arranged, he wassucceeded by the 15-years old Hieronymus. Polybius describes the newtyrant as “unstableand feather-brained”and, according to the historian, he shocked everyone by marrying aprostitute and giving her the title of queen. The immature tyrantfound himself in the middle of the internal strife between thepro-Carthaginian faction and the pro-Roman faction. The former onewas represented mainly by Andranodorus and Zoippus, who managed toweaken their enemies and easily manipulated their nephew-in-law. Analliance was agreed between Syracuse and Carthage, represented byHannibal. According to this treaty, the island of Sicily was going tobe ideally divided by the river Himera into two areas. The westernpart would belong to Carthage, the eastern part to Syracuse. Soonafter Hieronymus asked for the western part too and, fearing to losesuch an important ally, the Carthaginian caved in. In return, thetyrant had to raise an army and conquer all those Sicilian citieswhich still hadn’t been conquered by either Carthage or Syracuse and were under Rome’s influence.Hieronymus quickly obliged and prepared to Leontinoi, where thepro-Roman faction was dominant. These people feigned to peacefullywelcoming him, but while Hieronymus was walking through the city’sstreets, a group of conspirators attacked him and stabbed him todeath. It was 214 BC and Hieronymus had ruled for merely 13 months.He was the last basileus of Sicily. Syracuse will be conquered byRome in 212 BC.see here the Egyptian descendants of Agathocles -- source link

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