2. king of Macedonia, was son of Philip, * There is some discrepancy
of statement on this point. Justin (7.4) and Aelian (12.43) call
Amyntas the son of Menelaus. See, toe Diod. 15.60, and
Wesseling, ad loc. the brother of Perdiccas II. (Thuc.
2.95.) He succeeded his father in his appanage in Upper Macedonia, of which Perdiccas
seems to have wished to deprive him, as he had before endeavoured to wrest it from Philip, but
had been hindered by the Athenians. (Thuc. 1.57.)
In the year 429 B. C. Amyntas, aided by Sitalces, king of the Odrysian Thracians, stood
forward to contest with Perdiccas the throne of Macedonia itself; but the latter contrived to
obtain peace through the mediation of Seuthes, the nephew of the Thracian king (Thuc. 2.101) ; and Amyntas was thus obliged to content himself with
his hereditary principality. In the thirtyfifth year, however, after this, B. C. 394, he obtained the crown by the murder of Pausanias, son of the usurper
Aeropus. (Diod. 14.89.) It was nevertheless contested with him by
Argaeus, the son of Pausanias, who was supported by Bardylis, the Illyrian chief : the result
was, that Amyntas was driven from Macedonia, but found a refuge among the Thessalians, and was
enabled by their aid to recover his kingdom. (Diod. 14.92 ;
Isocr. Archid. p. 125b. c.; comp. Diod. 16.4;
Cic. de Off. 2.11.) But before his flight, when hard pressed by Argaeus
and the Illyrians, he had griven up to the Olynthians a large tract of territory bordering
upon their ownn,--despairing, as it would seen, of a restoration to the throne, and willing to
cede the land in question to Olynthus rather than to his rival. (Diod.
14.92, 15.19.) On his return he claimed back what he
professed to have entrusted to them as a deposit, and as they refused to restore
it, he applied to Sparta for aid. (Diod. 15.19.) A similar
application was also made,B. C. 382, by the towns of Acanthus and
Apollonia, which had been threatened by Olynthus for declining to join her confederacy. (Xen. Hell. 5.2.11, &c.) With the consent of the allies of
Sparta, the required succour was given, under the command successively of Eudamidas (with whom
his brother Phoebidas was associated), Teleutias, Agesipolis, and Polybiades, by the last of
whom Olynthus was reduced, B. C. 379. (Diod.
15.19-23; Xen. Hell. 5.2,
3.) Throughout the war, the Spartans were vigorously seconded
by Amyntas, and by Derdas, his kinsman, prince of Elymia. Besides this alliance with Sparta,
which he appears to have preserved without interruption to his death, Amyntas united himself
also with Jason of Pherae (Diod. 15.60), and carefully cultivated
the friendship of Athens, with which state he would have a bond of union in their common
jealousy of Olynthus and probably also of Thebes. Of his friendship towards the Athenians he
gave proof, 1st, by advocating their claim to the possession of Amphipolis (Aesch. Περὶ Παραπρ. p. 32); and, 2ndly, by adopting Iphicrates as his
son. (Id. p. 32.)
It appears to have been in the reign of Amyntas, as is perhaps implied by Strabo (Exc. vii. p. 330), that the seat of the Macedonian government was removed
from Aegae or Edessa to Pella, though the former still continued to be the burying-place of
the kings.
Justin (7.4) relates, that a plot was laid for his assassination
by his wife Eurydice, who wished to place her son-in-law and paramour, Ptolemy of Alorus, on
the throne, but that the design was discovered to Amyntas by her daughter. Diodorus (15.71) calls Ptolemy of Alorus the son of Amyntas
; but see Wesseling's note ad loc., and Thirlwall, Gr.
Hist. vol. v. p. 162. Amyntas died in an advanced age, B. C.
370, leaving three legitimate sons, Alexander, Perdiccas, and the famous Philip.
(Just. l.c. ;Diod. 15.60.)