Was Epiros a satellite of Macedonia under Alexander III?

[m0n0phthalm0s]

Hi alll again;

The title is self-explanatory; could the kingdom of Epiros, homeland of the mother of Alexander the Great, have been considered a satellite of Macedonia under the reigns of Alexander I Molossos and Aeacides? (Contemporaries of AtG)
Or were they just allies in equal terms?

Any input will be highly welcomed.

Best regards,
A. M0n0phthalm0s

[agesilaos]

I should say that given we hear of no Epeirot troops in Asia, Olympias debouched there after her rift with Antipater c324 and the Epeirots seem not to have entered the Lamian War that Epeiros remained a sovereign State with an independent foreign policy; Alexander of Molossos looking to expand westward rather than assist the Macedonians in their war against Persia.

[marcus]

I should say that given we hear of no Epeirot troops in Asia, Olympias debouched there after her rift with Antipater c324 and the Epeirots seem not to have entered the Lamian War that Epeiros remained a sovereign State with an independent foreign policy; Alexander of Molossos looking to expand westward rather than assist the Macedonians in their war against Persia.

I would suggest that Philip II certainly expected a close alliance - marrying Olympias, supporting Alexander's claim to the throne and effectively ensuring that he got it; and, of course, marrying off his daughter to Alexander. Maybe Philip considered Epiros to be a satellite state; but following his death, whatever Philip's intentions, they became no more than non-adversarial neighbours. There is no indication that they shared even a defensive alliance - although I suppose that would have been expected, considering the close familial ties. But, as you say, independent foreign policy; and once Alexander III of Macedonia was dead, Alexander Molossos already buried for close to eight years ... all bets were rather off. One only has to look at what happened during the early (and later) Diadoch struggles to see that Macedonia and Epiros were *not* allies!

ATB

[m0n0phthalm0s]

Hi Agesilaos & Marcus; thanks for for your detailed commentaries:

Alexander, too, the king of Epirus, having been invited into Italy by the Tarentines, who desired his assistance against the Bruttians, had gone thither as eagerly as if, in a division of the world, the east had fallen by lot to Alexander, the son of his sister Olympias, and the west to himself, and as if he was likely to have not less to do in Italy, Africa, and Sicily, than Alexander in Asia and Persia.

Trogus / Justin 12:2:1

Couldn't a complementary alliance have been suggested here by Trogus?

Thanks in advance for any additional input; best wishes:
A. M0n0phthalm0s

[marcus]

Hi Agesilaos & Marcus; thanks for for your detailed commentaries:

Alexander, too, the king of Epirus, having been invited into Italy by the Tarentines, who desired his assistance against the Bruttians, had gone thither as eagerly as if, in a division of the world, the east had fallen by lot to Alexander, the son of his sister Olympias, and the west to himself, and as if he was likely to have not less to do in Italy, Africa, and Sicily, than Alexander in Asia and Persia.

Trogus / Justin 12:2:1

Couldn't a complementary alliance have been suggested here by Trogus?

Or a feeling of rivalry on the part of the Epirote? If the Macedonian Alexander was going to conquer the East, then he didn't want to seem less of a commander and therefore accepted the invitation to carve out an empire in the West ...

ATB

[agesilaos]

The thing is that it is Trogus, three hundred years later who is suggesting that it seems as if there may have been a vague feeling of an agreed division of the world; this is purely a rhetorical device intended in no small way to point up the fact that the (Roman) West extinguished the threat from their Alexander with ease.

[agesilaos]

There is a good paper in 'Macedonian Legacies' this is the review from Brynmawr

William Greenwalt reviews the evidence for links between Macedonia and Samothrace and considers what the episode of Philip and Olympias' meeting and betrothal on the island might reveal about Macedonian politics in the 360s. He follows Hamilton in dating the betrothal to the reign of Perdiccas III and places it in the context of this king's attempts to secretly gain an alliance against Illyrian power. Thus the importance of Epirus goes back to Perdiccas III, and in fact -- this is Greenwalt's new contribution -- the reasons for this king's actions must be sought in the murky waters of the early 360s and the factional struggles surrounding Alexander II, Ptolemy Alorites, and Eurydike.