Demetrius II Aetolicus
{{Short description|King of Macedon, 239 – 229 BC}}
{{Infobox royalty
| name = Demetrius II
Δημήτριος
| image = Demetrius II (Demetrios II) of Macedon bronze drachma.jpg
| caption = Bronze drachma likely struck during the reign of Demetrius.{{efn|Demetrius may have minted bronze drachmas in his own name, but these issues could be that of Demetrius' grandfather, Demetrius I. Demetrius II never struck silver coins in his own name, instead continuing to produce his father's tetradrachms.{{Cite journal |title=King Demetrius II of Macedon: In the Shadow of Father and Son |journal=Živa Antika/Antiquité Vivante |url=https://antiquitasviva.com/regular-issues/ziva-antika-antiquite-vivante-69-1-2-2019/ |last=Kuzmin |first=Yuri |date=2019 |issue=78 |volume=69 |doi=10.47054/ZIVA19691-2059k |page=70|doi-access=free }}}} {{abbr|Obv.|Obverse}}: Macedonian shield {{abbr|rev.|reverse}}: Macedonian helmet with ΒΑΣ[ΙΛΕΩΣ] imprinted along bottom.
| succession = King of Macedonia
| reign = 239–229 BC
| predecessor = Antigonus II Gonatas
| successor = Antigonus III Doson
| spouse = {{plainlist|
- Stratonice
- Nicaea
- Phthia
- Chryseis
}}
| dynasty = Antigonid dynasty
| father = Antigonus II Gonatas
| mother = Phila
| birth_date = {{circa|275/4 BC}}
| death_date = 229 BC (aged {{circa}} 45)
}}
Demetrius II (Greek: Δημήτριος, romanized: Demetrios; {{Circa}} 275 - 229 BC), also known as Demetrius Aetolicus, was king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia from 239 until his death in 229 BC.{{Cite book |last=Adams |first=Winthrop Lindsay |title=A Companion to Ancient Macedonia |publisher=Wiley-Blackwell |year=2010 |isbn=9781405179362 |editor-last=Roisman |editor-first=Joseph |pages=222–223 |chapter=Alexander’s Successors to 221 BC |editor-last2=Worthington |editor-first2=Ian}}
Biography
Demetrius was born in either 275 or 274 BC and was the only child of King Antigonus II Gonatas by Phila, the daughter of Seleucus I.Carney, Elizabeth Donnelly (2000). Woman and Monarchy in Macedonia. University of Oklahoma Press. p. 182-184. {{isbn|9780806132129}} He had an elder half-brother named Halcyoneus, but he died in an unknown battle sometime before the death of Antigonus in 239 BC.Kuzmin 2019, p. 61 He had already distinguished himself during his father's lifetime by defeating Alexander II of Epirus at Derdia and so saving Macedonia {{nowrap|(c. 260 BC).}} There is a possibility{{rp|317}}that his father had already elevated him to position of power equal to his own before his death. If this had occurred it would be in 256 or 257 BC.
On his accession, Demetrius faced a coalition of enemies which included the two great leagues. Usually rivals, the Aetolian and Achaean Leagues now became allies against the Macedonian power. He succeeded in dealing this coalition severe blows, wresting Boeotia from their alliance. The revolution in Epirus, which substituted a republican league for the monarchy, gravely weakened his position.
During his reign, his kingdom extended{{rp|321}} into Euboea, Magnesia, Thessaly and its environs, excluding Dolopia and possibly Peparethos and Achaea Phthiotis.
In 236 BC, he invaded Boeotia, making the Boeotians submit{{rp|326}} immediately.
In 234 BC, due to a federal republic replacing the monarchy in Epirus, which led to the events of 231 BC, Demetrius hired Agron for military aid against the advancing Aetolians. His kingdom was not{{rp|323}} threatened by the Illyrian Ardiaei, ruled by Agron, despite them having gathered the greatest force in their history ({{Circa}} 231 BC), but Epirus needed some sort of force to deter them.
At some point in 230–229 BC in an unknown location in north-west Macedonia, the Dardani defeated Demetrius who died shortly the next spring at the age of {{Circa}} 45.{{Cite journal |last=Kuzmin |first=Yuri |year=2019 |title=KING DEMETRIUS II OF MACEDON: IN THE SHADOW OF FATHER AND SON |journal=Živa antika/Antiquité vivante |location=Skopje, North Macedonia |issue=69 |page=78}} His nine year old successor, the future Philip V, was deemed too young to rule by the Macedonian nobility and so Demetrius' half-cousin, Antigonus III Doson, was made regent. The exact location of Demetrius' tomb remains unknown, but was likely in Beroea or Aegae.
Marriage and family
Demetrius married four times, though the chronology of these marriages is a matter of dispute.
- Stratonice of Macedon, his aunt/cousin, the daughter of the Seleucid king Antiochus I and his aunt Stratonice, by whom he had a daughter called Apama III who married Prusias I of Bithynia. Stratonice left him after he married his second wife.
- Nicaea, the widow of his cousin Alexander of Corinth, {{Circa}} 245/244 BC.
- Phthia (239 BC),{{rp|322}} daughter of Alexander II of Epirus, and possibly the mother of Philip V of Macedon (Chryseis has also been suggested as his mother).{{rp|pp=190–193}}{{cite book |last=Nicholson |first=Emma |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uvCnEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA2 |title=Philip V of Macedon in Polybius' Histories: Politics, History, and Fiction |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2023 |isbn=978-0-19-286676-9 |page=2 |language=en}}
- Chryseis, probably a former war prisoner turned concubine, whom he married around 237 BC. After Demetrius' death, she married his successor, Antigonus.
Information regarding the life of Demetrius is drawn mainly from inscriptions, as only Plutarch writes of him, in Life of Aratus, and Polybiuscf.2.44.1-2 makes scarce mention of him.
See also
References
=Notes=
{{notelist}}
=Citations=
{{reflist|refs=
{{cite book|last1=Wilkes|first1=J. J.|title=The Illyrians|date=1992|isbn=0-631-19807-5|page=157}}
}}
{{s-start}}
{{s-hou|Antigonid dynasty||{{circa|275/4 BC}}||229 BC||name=Demetrius II}}
{{s-roy}}
{{s-bef
| before = Antigonus II Gonatas
}}
{{s-ttl
| title = King of Macedon
| years = 239–229 BC
}}
{{s-aft
| after = Antigonus III Doson
}}
{{s-end}}
{{MacedonKings}}
{{Hellenistic rulers}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:Year of birth unknown