Nicaea of Macedon

Nicaea (Greek: Nίκαια, c. 335 BC^[1] – about 302 BC) was a Greek Macedonian noblewoman and was a daughter of the powerful regent Antipater^[2] by unnamed mother. She was born and raised in Macedonia when her father was governor of Macedonia during the reign of Greek King Alexander the Great.^[3]

Nicaea was sent by her father to Asia accompanied by her brother Iollas and a certain Archias^[4] in 323 BC to be married to the powerful Perdiccas, at a time when it was still hoped to maintain friendly relations with the regent. Perdiccas, though already entertaining hostile designs married Nicaea. Not so long afterwards by the advice of Eumenes determined to divorce Nicaea, married Cleopatra of Macedon instead, the full-blooded sister of Alexander the Great. This step that Perdiccas took before setting out on his expedition to Ancient Egypt, led to an immediate rupture between Perdiccas and Antipater.^[5]

In c. 321 BC,^[6] in part of a formed alliance Antipater married Nicaea to Lysimachus who governed Thrace.^[7] In 306 BC Lysimachus became King of ruling Thrace, Asia Minor and Macedon. Through her marriage, Nicaea became a Queen consort.

Nicaea bore Lysimachus three children: one son Agathocles;^[8][9] two daughters: Eurydice^[10][11] and Arsinoe I.^[12][13] Through Arsinoe I, Nicaea would have further descendants.

Nicaea died at an unknown date from unknown causes sometime between 302 BC and 300 BC.^[14] In c. 300 BC, Lysimachus renamed a city in Bithynia, Asia Minor, called Nicaea (modern İznik, Turkey) in honor of his late wife.^[15][16]

References

1. Nicaea’s article at Livius.org
2. Heckel, Who’s who in the age of Alexander the Great: prosopography of Alexander’s empire, p.175
3. Nicaea’s article at Livius.org
4. Heckel, Who’s who in the age of Alexander the Great: prosopography of Alexander’s empire, p.175
5. Photius, Bibliotheca, cod. 92; Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca, xviii. 23
6. Nicaea’s article at Livius.org
7. Lightman, A to Z of ancient Greek and Roman women, p.233
8. Bengtson, Griechische Geschichte von den Anfängen bis in die römische Kaiserzeit, p.569
9. Heckel, Who’s who in the age of Alexander the Great: prosopography of Alexander’s empire, p.175
10. Bengtson, Griechische Geschichte von den Anfängen bis in die römische Kaiserzeit, p.569
11. Heckel, Who’s who in the age of Alexander the Great: prosopography of Alexander’s empire, p.175
12. Bengtson, Griechische Geschichte von den Anfängen bis in die römische Kaiserzeit, p.569
13. Heckel, Who’s who in the age of Alexander the Great: prosopography of Alexander’s empire, p.175
14. Nicaea’s article at Livius.org
15. Nicaea’s article at Livius.org
16. Lightman, A to Z of ancient Greek and Roman women, p.233

Sources

• Strabo, Geography, xii, 4;
• Stephanus of Byzantium, Ethnica, s.v. "Nikaia"
•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Smith, William, ed. (1870). "^{article name needed}". Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology.
• H. Bengtson, Griechische Geschichte von den Anfängen bis in die römische Kaiserzeit, C.H.Beck, 1977
• Nicaea’s article at Livius.org
• W. Heckel, Who’s who in the age of Alexander the Great: prosopography of Alexander’s empire, Wiley-Blackwell, 2006
• M. Lightman & B. Lightman, A to Z of ancient Greek and Roman women (Google eBook), Infobase Publishing, 2007