Lysimachus

Lysimachus
Historical Figure
Nationality:	Macedon
Year of Birth:	c. 356 BCE
Year of Death:	281 BCE
Cause of Death:	Killed in battle
Occupation:	Soldier, monarch
Parents:	Agathocles (father)
Spouse:	Nicea (d. 302 BCE) Amastris (div. 301 BCE) Arsinoe II
Children:	Agathocles Ptolemy Alexander (sons, among others)
Political Office(s):	Governor of Thrace, later King of Thrace King of Asia Minor
Fictional Appearances:

Hellenic Traders Set in OTL
Appearance(s):	Over the Wine-Dark Sea
Type of Appearance:	Contemporary reference

Lysimachus (Greek: Λυσίμαχος, Lysimachos; c. 360 BC – 281 BC) was a Macedonian officer and diadochus (i.e. "successor") of Alexander the Great, who became a basileus ("King") in 306 BC, ruling Thrace, Asia Minor, and Macedon.

Lysimachus was part of Alexander's circle from a young age, and joined Alexander on his conquests. He served as one of Alexander's bodyguards during Alexander's Persian campaigns in 328 BC. He appears to have acquitted himself well during fighting in India. After Alexander's death in 323 BC, Lysimachus was appointed to the government of Thrace as strategos.

During the Wars of the Diadochi, Lysimachus aligned himself with Cassander, Ptolemy, and Seleucus against Antigonus in 315 BC while consolidating his own power. By 306 BC, he'd taken the title "King of Thrace". In 302 BC, Lysimachus joined a renewed alliance against Antigonus. Lysimachus and Seleucus' forces defeated Antigonus at the Battle of Ipsus in 301 BC. Antigonus was killed and his empire was divided up among the victors.

Lysimachus participated in the conflicts of the Diadochi for the remainder of his life, forming alliances and breaking them as he deemed most advantageous. After his wife, Nicaea, died, Lysimachus married Amastrine, a Persian princess in 302 BC, but he divorced her after a brief union. He then married Ptolemy's sister Arsinoe II in about 301 BC. After jointly conquering Macedon with Pyrrhus of Epirus in 287 BC, Lysimachus drove Pyrrhus out in 285 BC, becoming king of Macedon.

When Amastrine's sons murdered her, Lysimachus took revenge by invading Heraclea, Amastrine's province, and putting them to death. While Lysimachus initially promised to release Heraclea, he instead granted Arsinoe's request that she take control of the city. Arsinoe wanted to insure her own sons take possession of the city. To that end, they accused Lysimachus' son Agathocles of conspiring with Seleucus. Lysimachus put his son to death.

This action outraged many of Lysimachus subjects, sparking uprisings in Asia Minor. Seleucus invaded Asia Minor in response. In 281 BC, Lysimachus met Seleucus at the Battle of Corupedium, and was killed.

Lysimachus in Hellenic Traders

In 310 BC, Lysimakhos in Thrace was one of six remaining generals who were squabbling over the bones of Alexander's empire.

That year, word came to Rhodes that Ptolemaios had launched raids against Antigonos' coastal positions in Kilikia. While Lysimachus was nominally allied with Ptolemaios, he did not respond to Ptolemaios' request for aid against the increasingly powerful Antigonos.

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References

Royal offices (OTL)
Preceded by New creation	Governor of Thrace 323–306 BC	Succeeded by Merged into kingship
Preceded by Alexander IV	King of Thrace 306–281 BC	Succeeded by Ptolemy Keraunos
Preceded by Antigonus I Monophthalmus	King of Asia Minor 301–281 BC	Succeeded by Seleucus I Nicator
Preceded by Demetrius I Poliorcetes	King of Macedon with Pyrrhus of Epirus (288-285 BCE) 288–281 BC	Succeeded by Ptolemy Keraunos