Argead dynasty

Argeads
Ἀργεάδαι
Argeads; Ἀργεάδαι
Royal house
	Vergina Sun
Parent house	Temenids (Heracleidae)
Country	Macedonia (Ancient Greece)
Founded	7th century BC
Final ruler	Alexander IV of Macedon
Titles	Basileus of Macedonia, King of Persia, King of Asia, Pharaoh of Egypt (Thirty-second Dynasty of Egypt), Hegemon of the Hellenic League, Strategos Autokrator of Greece
Estate(s)	Macedonia
Dissolution	310 BC
Cadet branches	Ptolemaic dynasty (?)

The Argead dynasty (Greek: Ἀργεάδαι, romanized: Argeádai), also known as the Temenid dynasty (Greek: Τημενίδαι, Tēmenídai) was an ancient Macedonian royal house of Dorian Greek provenance.^[1]^[2]^[3] They were the founders and the ruling dynasty of the kingdom of Macedon from about 700 to 310 BC.^[4]

Their tradition, as described in ancient Greek historiography, traced their origins to Argos, of Peloponnese in Southern Greece, hence the name Argeads or Argives.^[5]^[6]^[1] Initially rulers of the tribe of the same name,^[7] by the time of Philip II they had expanded their reign further, to include under the rule of Macedonia all Upper Macedonian states. The family's most celebrated members were Philip II of Macedon and his son Alexander the Great, under whose leadership the kingdom of Macedonia gradually gained predominance throughout Greece, defeated the Achaemenid Empire and expanded as far as Egypt and India. The mythical founder of the Argead dynasty is King Caranus.^[8]^[9] The Argeads claimed descent from Heracles through his great-great-grandson Temenus, also king of Argos.

^ ^a ^b Howatson & Harvey 1989, p. 339: "In historical times the royal house traced its descent from the mythical Temenus, king of Argos, who was one of the Heracleidae, and more immediately from Perdiccas I, who left Argos for Illyria, probably in the mid-seventh century BC, and from there captured the Macedonian plain and occupied the fortress of Aegae (Vergina), setting himself up as king of the Macedonians. Thus the kings were of largely Dorian Greek stock (see PHILIP (1)); they presumably spoke a form of Dorian Greek and their cultural tradition had Greek features."
^ Cosmopoulos 1992, p. 30.
^ Grant 1988, p. 259: "It was the descendants of these Dorians [...] who formed the upper class among the Macedonians of subsequent epochs."
^ Cosmopoulos 1992, "TABLE 2: The Argeiad Kings" (p. 30).
^ Argive, Oxford Dictionaries.
^ Hammond 1986, p. 516: "In the early 5th century the royal house of Macedonia, the Temenidae was recognised as Macedonian by the Presidents of the Olympic Games. Their verdict considered themselves to be of Macedonian descent."
^ Rogers 2004, p. 316: "According to Strabo, 7.11 ff., the Argeadae were the tribe who were able to make themselves supreme in early Emathia, later Macedonia."
^ Green 2013, p. 103.
^ According to Pausanias (Description of Greece 9.40.8–9), Caranus set up a trophy after the Argive fashion for a victory against Cisseus: "The Macedonians say that Caranus, king of Macedonia, overcame in battle Cisseus, a chieftain in a bordering country. For his victory Caranus set up a trophy after the Argive fashion, but it is said to have been upset by a lion from Olympus, which then vanished. Caranus, they assert, realized that it was a mistaken policy to incur the undying hatred of the non-Greeks dwelling around, and so, they say, the rule was adopted that no king of Macedonia, neither Caranus himself nor any of his successors, should set up trophies, if they were ever to gain the good-will of their neighbors. This story is confirmed by the fact that Alexander set up no trophies, neither for his victory over Dareius nor for those he won in India."

[Howatson-Harvey-1] Howatson & Harvey 1989, p. 339: "In historical times the royal house traced its descent from the mythical Temenus, king of Argos, who was one of the Heracleidae, and more immediately from Perdiccas I, who left Argos for Illyria, probably in the mid-seventh century BC, and from there captured the Macedonian plain and occupied the fortress of Aegae (Vergina), setting himself up as king of the Macedonians. Thus the kings were of largely Dorian Greek stock (see PHILIP (1)); they presumably spoke a form of Dorian Greek and their cultural tradition had Greek features."

[2] Cosmopoulos 1992, p. 30.

[3] Grant 1988, p. 259: "It was the descendants of these Dorians [...] who formed the upper class among the Macedonians of subsequent epochs."

[4] Cosmopoulos 1992, "TABLE 2: The Argeiad Kings" (p. 30).

[5] Argive, Oxford Dictionaries.

[6] Hammond 1986, p. 516: "In the early 5th century the royal house of Macedonia, the Temenidae was recognised as Macedonian by the Presidents of the Olympic Games. Their verdict considered themselves to be of Macedonian descent."

[7] Rogers 2004, p. 316: "According to Strabo, 7.11 ff., the Argeadae were the tribe who were able to make themselves supreme in early Emathia, later Macedonia."

[8] Green 2013, p. 103.

[9] According to Pausanias (Description of Greece 9.40.8–9), Caranus set up a trophy after the Argive fashion for a victory against Cisseus: "The Macedonians say that Caranus, king of Macedonia, overcame in battle Cisseus, a chieftain in a bordering country. For his victory Caranus set up a trophy after the Argive fashion, but it is said to have been upset by a lion from Olympus, which then vanished. Caranus, they assert, realized that it was a mistaken policy to incur the undying hatred of the non-Greeks dwelling around, and so, they say, the rule was adopted that no king of Macedonia, neither Caranus himself nor any of his successors, should set up trophies, if they were ever to gain the good-will of their neighbors. This story is confirmed by the fact that Alexander set up no trophies, neither for his victory over Dareius nor for those he won in India."

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