Perdiccas I of Macedon

Template:Infobox royalty Perdiccas I (Template:Langx; Template:Fl.) was kingTemplate:Efn of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon. By allowing thirty years for the span of an average generation from the beginning of Archelaus' reign in 413 BC, British historian Nicholas Hammond estimated that Perdiccas ruled around 653 BC.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite book</ref>

There are two separate historical traditions describing the foundation of the Argead dynasty. The earlier, documented by Herodotus and Thucydides in the fifth century BC, records Perdiccas as the first king of Macedonia.<ref>Herodotus. "The Histories". Translated by Godley, A. D. (1920) Harvard University Press, 8.137.</ref><ref>Thucydides. "The Peloponnesian War". Translated by Crawley, Richard (1910) J. M. Dent & E. P. Dutton, 2.100.2.</ref> The later tradition first emerged sometime at the beginning of the fourth century BC and claimed that Caranus, rather than Perdiccas, was the founder.<ref name=":1">Greenwalt, William (1985). "The Introduction of Caranus into the Argead King List". Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies. 26 (1): 43–49.</ref> Aside from Satyrus, who adds Coenus and Tyrimmas to the list, Marsyas of Pella, Theopompos, and Justin all agree that Caranus was Perdiccas' father.<ref name=":2">Sprawski, Sławomir (2010). "The Early Temenid Kings to Alexander I". In Roisman, Joseph; Worthington, Ian (eds.). A Companion to Ancient Macedonia. Wiley-Blackwell. pp. 128–129.</ref> Furthermore, Plutarch claimed in his biography of Alexander the Great that all of his sources agreed that Caranus was the founder.<ref>Plutarch. "Alexander". Translated by Perrin, Bernadotte (1919) Harvard University Press, 2.1.</ref> This unhistorical assertion is rejected by modern scholarship as Argead court propaganda, possibly intended to diminish the significance of the name 'Perdiccas' in rival family branches following Amyntas III accession.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" /><ref>Eder, Walter; Renger, Johannes, eds. (2006). Chronologies of the Ancient World: Names, Dates, and Dynasties. Boston: Brill. pp. 188–190.</ref>