Lysimachus

Lysimachus (Greek: Λυσίμαχος, Lysimachos; c. 360 BC – 281 BC) was a Thessalian officer and successor of Alexander the Great who became king of Thrace in 306 BC, western Asia Minor in 301 BC and Macedon in 288 BC.

Born into a Thessalian noble family, Lysimachus was one of Alexander's immediate bodyguards and accompanied him in his Persian and Indian campaigns. After Alexander's death in 323 BC, he was appointed strategos of Thrace. Afterwards, he joined a coalition against Antigonus, who was ultimately defeated and killed at the Battle of Ipsus in 301 BC. Antigonus's lands were divided among the victors, with Lysimachus acquiring Lydia, Ionia, Phrygia and northern Asia Minor. Later, he joined forces with Pyrrhus of Epirus to expel Antigonus's son Demetrius from Macedonia, before seizing Macedonia for himself.

The final years of Lysimachus's life were beset by domestic troubles. In 284 BC, urged by his third wife Arsinoe II, who sought to position her own son as successor, Lysimachus had his eldest son Agathocles executed on the charge of treason. The deeply unpopular act prompted widespread rebellion, and Seleucus seized the opportunity and invaded Asia Minor. In 281 BC, Lysimachus met Seleucus at the Battle of Corupedium, where he was defeated and killed.