Alexander IV of Macedon

Alexander IV (Greek: Ἀλέξανδρος Δ΄; 323–310 BC), erroneously called sometimes in modern times Aegus, was the son of Alexander the Great (Alexander III of Macedon) and Princess Roxana of Bactria. He was born after his father’s death; before his birth, dissension in the Macedonian army leading to a compromise as to the issue of succession, with the unborn child’s uncle, Philip reigning as emperor while the general Perdiccas ruled as regent. When Alexander was in fact born male, he would become king upon reaching maturity.

During his short life, Alexander (and his mother) became pawns in the various schemes of his father’s would-be heirs during the Wars of the Diadochi. Over the years, the regency collapsed and Macedon was conquered by the general Cassander in 318 BC. He was briefly driven out by Polyperchon, a general who’d served Alexander the Great and had been the designated regent of Macedon, but in 316 BC, Cassander retook Macedon, taking Alexander IV and his mother captive. While a peace treaty that ended the fighting among the Diodichi recognized Alexander IV as the king of Macedon, and called for his ascension when he reached age, Cassander had Alexander and Roxana poisoned in 310 or 309 BC, thereby securing his own control over Macedon.

Alexander IV in Hellenic Traders

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In 310 BC, word reached Rhodes that Alexandros and his mother, Roxane, had been murdered by Kassandros. Kassandros had done this over the winter, when news traveled slowly throughout the Hellenic world. With Alexandros gone, the conflict among the would-be heirs of Alexander the Great was now among Kassandros in Macedonia, Lysimakhos in Thrace, Antigonos in Anatolia, Ptolemaios in Egypt, Polyperkhon in the Peloponnesos and Seleukos in inner Asia.[1]

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