View source for Perdiccas III of Macedon

{{Short description|King of Macedonia from 365 to 360 BC}}
{{More citations needed|date=September 2014}}
{{Infobox royalty
| name         = Perdiccas III
| succession   = [[King of Macedonia]]
| image        = File:Coin of Perdikkas III. 365-359 BCE.jpg
| caption      = ''[[stater]]'' of Perdikkas III
| reign        = 365–360 BC
| full name    = 
| predecessor  = [[Alexander II of Macedon|Alexander II]]
| successor    = [[Amyntas IV]]
| dynasty      = [[Argead dynasty]]
| father       = [[Amyntas III of Macedon|Amyntas III]]
| mother       = [[Eurydice I of Macedon|Eurydice I]]
| issue        = [[Amyntas IV]]
| birth_date   = 
| birth_place  = 
| death_date   = 359 BC
| death_place  = 
| religion     = [[Ancient Greek religion]]
}}
[[File:Coin of Perdiccas III with figure of Herakles.jpg|thumb|Coin of Perdiccas III, with figure of [[Herakles]].]]
'''Perdiccas III''' ([[Ancient Greek|Greek]]: Περδίκκας Γ΄) was king of the Hellenic kingdom of [[Macedonia (ancient kingdom)|Macedonia]] from 365 BC to 360 BC,<ref>Cosmopoulos, Michael B. 1992. ''Macedonia: An Introduction to its Political History''. Winnipeg: Manitoba Studies in Classical Civilization, p. 30 (TABLE 2: The Argeiad Kings).</ref> succeeding his brother [[Alexander II of Macedon|Alexander II]].

Son of [[Amyntas III of Macedon|Amyntas III]] and [[Eurydice I of Macedon|Eurydice]], he was a child when in 369 BC his brother Alexander II was killed by their brother-in-law [[Ptolemy of Aloros]], who then ruled as regent. In 365 BC, Perdiccas killed Ptolemy and assumed government.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Errington |first=Robert Malcolm |date=1990 |title=A History of Macedonia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PYgkqP_s1PQC&pg=PA36 |location=Berkeley |publisher=University of California Press |pages=35–36 |isbn=9780520063198 |access-date=24 August 2020}}</ref>

There is very little information about the reign of Perdiccas III.  He was at one time engaged in hostilities with Athens over [[Amphipolis]], and he was distinguished for his patronage of men of letters. Among these we are told that [[Euphraeus|Euphraeus of Oreus]], a disciple of [[Plato]], rose so high in Perdiccas's favour as to completely govern the young king and to exclude from his society all but philosophers and [[geometers]].

He also served as ''[[Theorodokoi|theorodokos]]'' in the [[Panhellenic Games]] that took place in [[Epidaurus]] around 360/359 BC.<ref>Perlman, Paula. 2000. ''City and Sanctuary in Ancient Greece: The Theorodokia in the Peloponnese''. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, [https://books.google.com/books?id=WkkLxCCebPYC&dq=Theorodokos++Perdikkas+III+king+of+Macedonia+Epidauros&pg=PA38 pp. 38, 126]</ref>
  
In 360 BC, Perdiccas tried to reconquer upper Macedonia from the [[Illyria]]n [[Bardylis]], but the expedition ended in disaster, with Perdiccas being killed.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Flower |first1=Michael A. |title=Theopompus of Chios History and Rhetoric in the Fourth Century BC |date=1997 |publisher=Clarendon Press |page=119 |isbn=978-0-19-815243-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RumukFvWjywC&dq=Paeonians+Illyrians&pg=PA119}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Phillips |first1=David |title=Athenian Political Oratory Sixteen Key Speeches |date=2004 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |page=36 |isbn=978-1-135-88860-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oLGSAgAAQBAJ&dq=Paeonians+Illyrians&pg=PA36}}</ref><ref>Orrieux, Claude. 1999. ''A History Of Ancient Greece''. Wiley, p. 256, {{ISBN|0-631-20309-5}}.</ref> [[Diodorus Siculus]] attests that four thousand men had died in the expedition, and that the remainder, panic-stricken, had become exceedingly afraid of the Illyrian armies and had lost heart for continuing the war.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Worthington |first1=Ian |last2=Roisman |first2=Joseph |title=A Companion to Ancient Macedonia |date=7 July 2011 |publisher=Wiley Blackwell |page=289 |isbn=978-1-4443-5163-7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QsJ183uUDkMC&dq=Perdiccas+4,000&pg=PA289}}</ref>

Perdiccas was succeeded by his infant son, [[Amyntas IV of Macedon|Amyntas IV]]. The throne was soon usurped by Perdiccas's younger brother [[Philip II of Macedon|Philip II]].

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
* Tritle, Lawrence A. ed. ''The Greek World in the Fourth Century: From the Fall of the Athenian Empire to the Successors of Alexander''. London: Routledge, 1997. {{ISBN|978-0415-10583-5}}.

==External links==
*{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20141007064947/http://www.ancientlibrary.com/smith-bio/2522.html Perdiccas III, from wayback.archive.org]}} [[Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology]]

{{s-start}}
{{s-hou|[[Argead dynasty]]||Unknown||359 BC}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Alexander II of Macedon|Alexander II]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[List of kings of Macedon|King of Macedon]]|years=365&ndash;360 BC}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Amyntas IV of Macedon|Amyntas IV]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{MacedonKings}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:359 BC deaths]]
[[Category:4th-century BC Macedonian monarchs]]
[[Category:Argead kings of Macedonia]]
[[Category:Ancient child monarchs]]
[[Category:Ancient Macedonian monarchs killed in battle]]
[[Category:Old Macedonian kingdom]]
[[Category:Year of birth unknown]]

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