Despite the variations in the accounts, collectively they are telling. All three versions agree on two points: Philip failed to defend his son against Attalus and Alexander took himself and his mother into self-imposed exile. Two of the three accounts maintain that Philip not only failed to defend his son but actually took Attalus’ part and attacked Alexander. Thus the departure of Alexander and Olympias was occasioned not so much by Attalus as by Philip’s failure to support his son and, if Justin and Plutarch are credible, his active support of Attalus. All three accounts make it clear that the quarrel between Alexander and Attalus somehow involved Alexander’s ability, relative or absolute, to succeed his father. Whether on his own initiative or in response to Alexander’s complaints, Attalus somehow questioned Alexander’s legitimacy. One may doubt details of any of the accounts—
Alexander’s witticism to Philip in Plutarch, for instance—but the appearance of gnesios (legitimate) and nothos (bastard) in both Plutarch and Satyrus should be taken quite seriously. Witnesses, especially drunken ones, might be mistaken about many things and a source might add embellishments, but people would tend to remember these words when used with respect to the young man everyone had expected to follow his father to the throne.
Thus, the sources demonstrate that it was not the marriage itself, but Attalus’ interpretation of its significance—an interpretation Philip either accepted or, at the very least, failed to reject—that suddenly transformed the situation of Alexander and his mother. Despite the fact that Macedonian symposia were very drunken and sometimes violent affairs, important decisions were made at them; they were essential to the functioning of the Macedonian court.77 The vital importance of Attalus’ remarks and Alexander’s reaction to them should not be underestimated simply because they, and
Olympias, wife of Philip II 33
Philip, were probably quite drunk. Attalus’ remarks were almost certainly not casual, and Philip’s reaction to them, though doubtless unplanned, since he may well have found them unexpected, was nonetheless revealing.
The incident profoundly affected the last years of Philip’s reign. It had a lasting effect on the personalities of Alexander and Olympias. Some, as we shall see, believe that the quarrel also led to Philip’s murder. Perhaps the most puzzling aspect of the affair is Philip’s role in it. With his departure for Asia imminent, he would hardly have wanted to destabilize the political situation in Macedonia by suggesting that Alexander was not his intended heir.
Any son born to Cleopatra would be roughly eighteen years away from any ability to rule on his own. Child monarchs did not last long in Macedonia, as Philip knew from personal experience. His subsequent efforts to effect a public reconciliation, efforts that must have begun soon after the departure of his son and Olympias, confirm the idea that he had intended no change in the succession.78 Philip may, by this point, have found Alexander irritat-ingly ready to take over and might, had he lived long enough, have preferred sons of Cleopatra because their much greater youth would postpone the feeling that his heir was breathing down his neck; but in 337, these potential advantages were far away. For years to come, let alone at this critical moment, Philip cannot have contemplated a change in the succession.79 This would be so even if (see below) Cleopatra herself had Argeads in her genealogy.
The mere fact that Philip chose to marry again, after a long period without taking any new wives, certainly does not imply that he no longer meant Alexander to follow him on the throne. Now in middle age, Philip had only two sons, one of them incompetent and the other possibly meant to accompany him on his Asian campaign. His brother Perdiccas III’s son Amyntas80
could have functioned as a back-up, but Philip clearly needed more sons.
His father had produced six sons and three of them had ruled. In this same period Philip arranged marriages for a number of other family members, partly to generate more political stability but certainly also to generate more Argeads.81
If Philip’s last marriage signified nothing negative in terms of Alexander’s succession (and thus Olympias’ status), why then did he allow the public questioning of Alexander’s ability to inherit and actually side with the person who questioned it against his own son? The answer must surely lie with the political significance of Attalus and his ward Cleopatra (perhaps supplemented by possible tension and rivalry between father and son and the effects of heavy drinking on Philip’s ability to reason).82 The difficulty, however, is that Attalus makes his first appearance in the sources with this incident. He is clearly already an important figure but we know nothing of his past history.
As we shall see, Philip not only supported him against his own son, but, not long after, supported him against the interests and claims of his own former lover Pausanias, a failure or betrayal that was the catalyst for Philip’s assassination. Moreover, though we know of no previous military commands
34 Olympias, wife of Philip II of Attalus, Philip appointed him to a shared command with Parmenio, the preliminary expeditionary force Philip dispatched to Asia. While it is doubtless the case that a royal marriage brought prestige and influence to the bride’s family, all of Philip’s other marriages were made because the family of the bride was already important. It is unlikely that his marriage to Cleopatra was any different.83 Whoever he was, it was deemed so vital to conciliate Attalus that Philip twice had to put placating him above his obligations to others and even above what appeared to be his own self-interest. While there is no direct proof, I have suggested that Cleopatra and probably Attalus too were Argeads.84 Irrespective of whether this suggestion is correct, Philip apparently thought that his marriage to Cleopatra would be enough to placate them, but it was not. Attalus (and presumably Cleopatra) wanted more. While giving precedence to an infant heir would not have been attractive to Philip, Attalus doubtless saw himself as the obvious guardian and regent for such a baby king. Naturally he wanted his kin, not Olympias’ son, to be treated as heir. This brings us to another mystifying and controversial aspect of the incident. I have suggested that the language of legitimacy and illegitimacy present in two of our sources, the gnesios/nothos opposition, deserves to be taken seriously. What, then, does this language signify?85 Is Olympias being accused of adultery, Alexander of not being the son of Philip? Or does the diction in the sources constitute an ethnic slur, the implication that because Alexander’s mother was not Macedonian, any son born of the Macedonian Cleopatra would be more legitimate? Neither of these possibilities seems likely to be true in a literal sense, though the second merits more attention than the first.
Though the idea that Attalus was charging Olympias with adultery and Alexander with literal bastardy has gained limited support,86 this interpretation lacks credibility. Despite source hostility, only one ancient historical source clearly suggests that Olympias was unfaithful.87 Justin alone (11.11.5) asserts that Philip publicly denied that Alexander was his son, that Olympias was guilty of adultery, and that Philip therefore repudiated Olympias.
One wonders if the Alexander Romance (a historical novel about Alexander that developed in antiquity and endured in a plethora of forms until the Renaissance) influenced his view (see Chapter 6 and the Appendix). Since Philip continued to treat Alexander as his son, despite their differences, until the day of his death (see below), Justin’s first statement is demonstrably untrue. That being the case, the second is unlikely to be and the third, as we shall see, is contradicted by the bulk of the evidence. Moreover, as Ogden has noticed, Attalus’ language “bastardised” both Alexander and Arrhidaeus since Attalus’ remarks implied that no legitimate sons had yet been born; it seems unlikely that Attalus meant to accuse both Olympias and Philinna of adultery.88 Attalus’ remarks may well have played to Macedonian xenophobia.89 Macedonians likely did prefer royal mothers to be Macedonian too (Alexander’s Asian wives certainly got little respect from them90), but Philip’s own mother was probably not entirely Macedonian91 and yet three
Olympias, wife of Philip II 35
of
her sons reigned in Macedonia. It is therefore unlikely that any general rule or expectation required that a king’s son have a Macedonian mother.92
A much more viable solution involves the realization that Attalus’ legitimacy language should not necessarily be taken literally and certainly should be understood in a comparative context. Today, if a person labels someone with a common street epithet, that person means to insult the individual at whom the insult is directed but hardly intends to accuse the victim of incest with his mother, even though the insult is meant to slur the mother as well.
Attalus intended to insult, but he may not have intended his insult to be taken literally. More important, as the sources make clear, Attalus’ comment is comparative and the comparison lies between the son of Olympias and any son of Cleopatra; in Attalus’ view the latter’s sons would be more legitimate than the former’s. If that is the case, then Attalus’ slur is not necessarily ethnic, but it does imply that his family is the one with greater prestige. In short, the remarks were Attalus’ opening salvo in a struggle to give priority to his candidate in the competition among Philip’s wives. Attalus forced the opening of a question that had seemed settled for nearly a decade.
Let us turn to consideration of the reaction of Olympias and her son.
Olympias, of course, was not at the symposium; it was Alexander whose actions defined those of Attalus and Philip as unacceptable. He did so by his angry words and gestures and by his decision to leave Macedonia with his mother. Despite this, Plutarch comes close to blaming the incident on Olympias, although he allots some blame to what he considers bad Macedonian court practice. He begins by saying that upheavals in Philip’s household caused many accusations and major disagreements, and he blames these upheavals on Philip’s marriages and erotic relationships: they caused the entire kingdom to be contaminated by the women’s quarters. Olympias, Plutarch explains, made the troubles worse because she was difficult, jealous, and indignant and so provoked her son. The evidence does support a connection between Philip’s affairs and marriages and political upset, and might be said to bolster the view that royal polygamy caused more problems than it solved. It does not, however, support Plutarch when he blames not polygamy but the role of women in monarchy generally and more specifically that of Olympias. (See the Appendix for a discussion of Plutarch’s hostile picture of Olympias in Alexander.) As we have noted, the quarrel began in the world of men, at the symposium. Plutarch, nonetheless, may be figuratively if not literally right in suggesting that Alexander’s reaction to Attalus’ insult came, at least in part, out of the values and world view his mother had inculcated. Just as Achilles could not bear even the most temporary slight to his timé (honor, often external in nature, signifying the esteem of others), neither could his supposed descendant, Olympias’ son.
Alexander and Olympias did not overreact; their departure from Macedonia was reasonable granted the nature of the incident. They may have feared for their physical safety but, in any event, dared not tolerate the public questioning of Alexander’s ability to rule.93 Their departure forced Philip to make
36 Olympias, wife of Philip II a public reconciliation and public gestures of reaffirmation of Alexander as his heir. Staying put in Macedonia and perhaps accepting a private apology would have made them look dangerously weak and would not have remedied the offense to their honor. Olympias’ departure for her family in Molossia seems the obvious alternative for her; her son’s ultimate choice of the Illyrians as his hosts is more problematic. He may simply have chosen a place where he had kin through his grandmother Eurydice, but his choice may have been meant to irritate Philip or perhaps worse.94 They may both have felt personally betrayed (as, arguably, a certain irrationality in their behavior on their return implies), but the political aspect of their estrangement from Philip was probably the dominant concern in their actions.
Olympias was doubtless furious but not, as some assume or assert,95
because of sexual jealousy of the new and younger wife. She was not repudiated by Philip96 because to repudiate her in this situation would be to deny that Alexander could inherit and to accept Attalus’ claim to the priority of Cleopatra’s possible sons. All the evidence suggests that Philip had no such plans, or at least no immediate plans, to do that. Plutarch and Justin say not that Philip sent Olympias away but that Alexander took her (Plut.
Alex. 10.5; Just. 9.7.5).97 The insult that would have infuriated her was not sexual but a challenge to her son’s ability to inherit and in some sense an insult to her entire clan. Olympias and the Aeacids made much of their distinguished heroic ancestry yet Attalus had somehow slighted it and Philip had tolerated or perhaps even embraced the slight. Justin claims (9.7.7), somewhat convincingly, that once Olympias reached Molossia she tried to persuade her brother to make war on Philip. Her brother Alexander was, indeed, in a difficult situation. Philip’s actions compromised Aeacid honor, particularly if Attalus’ insult referred not to adultery but, as I have suggested, to Olympias’ family.98 All of this would be true regardless of whether brother and sister were fond of each other. The problem was not their opinions of each other but rather public opinion about the family.
Alexander of Molossia’s personal honor would have been a tender issue anyway if he were indeed a former lover of Philip or even if it were merely rumored that he was. As we have seen, ancient sources make it clear that sexual relationships between rulers and ruled were potentially explosive: past lovers expected rewards and influence and easily came to believe that the ruler had exploited them sexually and so dishonored them. The result was sometimes violence and attempted regicide.99 On the other hand, Alexander of Molossia owed his throne to Philip. Calling him Philip’s puppet would be an exaggeration, but Philip’s army and military might were much greater, so for Alexander of Molossia to contemplate action against the Macedonian king, however satisfying to Aeacid and masculine honor, was hardly sensible.
Justin (9.7.6) says that young Alexander of Macedon was barely persuaded to accept reconciliation by the encouragement of his relatives; one wonders if the most important of those was his uncle, Alexander of Molossia, caught between a rock and a hard place.100
Olympias, wife of Philip II 37
If, as I have suggested, Philip had never meant to jeopardize either Alexander’s place in the succession or the honor of his ally Alexander of Molossia, then it follows that Philip would soon attempt a reconciliation with his wife and his son. Plutarch ( Alex. 9.6; Mor. 70b, 179c) suggests that his primary motivation for the reconciliation was the desire to end public comment about his household when he wanted a unified effort for the campaign on which he was about to embark. This reconciliation involved Olympias as well as her son and brother, as Plutarch ( Mor. 179c) specifically asserts.101 It had to because both men understood the initial insult to involve her. Arrian (3.6.5) says that Alexander was suspicious of Philip because he had married Cleopatra and dishonored Olympias. It was the dishonor, the loss of timé, that had to be coped with, that required compensation.
Philip arranged a marriage between Olympias’ brother Alexander and his own daughter by Olympias, Cleopatra (Diod. 16.91.4). This marriage was clearly part of the reconciliation with Alexander and Olympias and part of Philip’s attempt to stabilize the rocky Molossian alliance by a new marriage that could only bring honor to Olympias, her son, and her brother.102 Since its object was to convince the Greek world that Philip’s household troubles were over and to offer a very public demonstration of the restoration of the Molossian alliance and confirmation of Aeacid honor, he turned this wedding into an international religious festival, complete with pubic performances and processions in which Philip marched between the two Alexanders. It is difficult to imagine a gesture more calculated to salve wounded Aeacid pride.
That the wedding proved to be the setting for his murder in no way negates its importance: Philip staged a public demonstration of the importance of the Molossian alliance, his wife, and his son Alexander.
An
incident preserved only in Plutarch ( Alex. 10.1–3), however, suggests that this reconciliation was, at best, only partial and possibly entirely hollow.
Plutarch reports that Alexander heard that Pixodarus, the satrap (Persian governor) of Caria (a region on the coast of Asia Minor), was trying to make an alliance with Philip by offering his daughter in marriage to Alexander’s half-brother Arrhidaeus. Plutarch claims that Alexander’s friends and mother, supplementing their comments with further tales and accusations, persuaded him that the projected marriage meant that Philip intended to leave the kingdom to Arrhidaeus. Alexander then attempted to substitute himself for his half-brother as prospective groom. Philip, however, discovered what had happened, scolded Alexander publicly in very strong terms, imprisoned the agent Alexander had employed, and sent some of Alexander’s Hetairoi into exile. (Alexander would later reward these men once he was king.) Despite the fact that only Plutarch preserves the episode, it deserves credence.
No obvious reason exists for the invention of the incident103 and Arrian (3.6.5–6) does confirm the exile of Alexander’s friends in the context of the troubles relating to Philip’s last marriage, although he does not connect it to the Pixodarus episode since he does not mention that at all. Certainly, granted the disarray at the Persian court in the years just before the invasion,
38 Olympias, wife of Philip II a satrap might well have wanted to hedge his bets by an alliance with Macedonia, and Philip would have welcomed the acquisition of friendly territory in western Turkey. It is also true that Pixodarus had a daughter but no sons.104
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