Perdiccas

Family: Macedonians · Role: king · First appears: Book 1 · Chapter 2 · Part 5

Perdiccas, son of Alexander and king of the Macedonians, became an enemy of Athens after it allied with his brother Philip and Derdas. He sought support for a revolt, persuading the Chalcidians and Bottiaeans to join him and urging the Chalcidians to settle inland at Olynthus. After a forced alliance with Athens, he left it for the alliance of the Potidaeans, then was reconciled with Athens through Nymphodorus and joined Phormio against the Chalcidians.

At the beginning of the war, Perdiccas promised Sitalces he would honor their agreement, but did not; Sitalces later invaded his dominions with Amyntas, whom he intended for the Macedonian throne. Perdiccas secretly gained Seuthes by promising him his sister Stratonice in marriage, and later fulfilled the promise. His son Archelaus built fortresses and roads and improved the kingdom’s military resources.

When Brasidas arrived, Perdiccas campaigned with him against Arrhabaeus, but Brasidas’s decision not to invade and the subsequent retreat strained their alliance. After the Illyrians joined Arrhabaeus and a panic scattered the army, Perdiccas departed without seeing Brasidas. “From this moment Perdiccas began to regard Brasidas as an enemy”; he made peace with Athens and used his Thessalian connections to prevent an army from joining Brasidas. Later, he deserted an expedition under Nicias and was proclaimed an enemy. At the close of a later summer, he marched with Euetion against Amphipolis; they failed to take the city and blockaded it from the river.