General Notes

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Event: Ruled c. 495 - 450 BC, King of Macedonia 2
Note:
Alexander I, byname ALEXANDER PHILHELLENE, or ALEXANDER THE WEALTHY (d.
c. 450 BC), 10th king of ancient Macedonia, who succeeded his father,
Amyntas I, about 500 BC. More than a decade earlier, Macedonia had become
a vassal state of Persia; and in 480 Alexander was obliged to accompany
Xerxes I in a campaign through Greece, though he secretly aided the Greek
allies. With Xerxes' apparent acquiescence, Alexander seized the Greek
colony of Pydna and advanced his frontiers eastward to the Strymon,
taking in Crestonia and Bisaltia, with the rich silver deposits of Mt.
Dysorus.
It was probably Alexander who organized the mass of his people as a
hoplite army called pezhetairoi ("foot companions"), with rudimentary
political rights, to act as a counterweight to the nobility, the cavalry
hetairoi ("companions"). His byname, the Philhellene, indicates his
efforts to win Greek sympathies. He spread the legend deriving his Argead
house from the Temenids of Argos and thus obtained admission to the
Olympic Games. From Persian spoil he erected a golden statue at Delphi,
and he entertained the poet Pindar at his court. [Encyclopædia Britannica
CD '97, ALEXANDER I]
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Amyntas' successor, Alexander I (reigned before 492-c. 450), advanced his
frontiers eastward to the Strymon (Struma) River. His byname, "the
Philhellene," indicates his efforts to win Greek sympathies. He spread
the legend deriving his Argead house from the Temenids of Argos and thus
obtained admission to the Olympic Games