Kingdom Of Macedon Amyntas III

Historically considered to be the founder of the unified Macedonian state, Amyntas III inherited a weak and precarious state from his predecessor. In the previous six years, the murder of Archelaos I had led to a period of confusion and infighting, as he had been succeeded by Crateuas, his murderer, who reigned for four days. Crateuas was followed by Orestes, son of the murdered Archelaos, who reigned for three years with his guardian Aeropos II. He in turn was followed by his brother Archelaos II and Pausanias [son of Aeropos], who reigned for six years before dying [by accident or design] while hunting. The death of Archelaos and the assassination of Pausanias ended the line of Perdikkas II, and led to the accession of Amyntas III, heir through the line of Alexander I's youngest son.

A skilled diplomat, Amyntas first established an alliance against the Illyrians with the Chalkidian League based at Olynthos, granting them Macedonian timber rights which made the League very wealthy. The League reneged on their agreement however, leading to war. Too weak militarily to fight them alone, Amyntas appealed to Sparta who readily came to his assistance. Sparta subdued the league, but then sought to dominate the region for themselves. Following a reversal in the Spartan fortunes, Amyntas assiduously cultivated the friendship of Athens, but this alliance came at the price of Amphipolis.

Thus, though Amyntas preserved his kingdom, it was too often by disadvantageous terms. Yet by establishing good relations with Athens and having recovered the dense Macedonian forests previously ceded to Olynthos, Amyntas was able to keep this highly lucrative trade for himself, which dramatically improved the state of his treasury. Amyntas was succeeded by his three sons in turn, the youngest being Philip II, father of Alexander III the Great.