Editing Demetrius II Aetolicus

{{Short description|King of Macedon, 239 – 229 BC}}
{{Infobox royalty
| name         = Demetrius II <br> Δημήτριος
| image        = Demetrius II (Demetrios II) of Macedon bronze drachma.jpg
| caption      = Bronze [[Ancient Greek coinage|drachma]] likely struck during the reign of Demetrius.{{efn|Demetrius may have minted bronze [[Ancient Greek coinage|drachmas]] in his own name, but these issues could be that of Demetrius' grandfather, [[Demetrius I of Macedon|Demetrius I]]. Demetrius II never struck silver coins in his own name, instead continuing to produce his father's tetradrachms.<ref>{{Cite journal |title=King Demetrius II of Macedon: In the Shadow of Father and Son |journal=Živa Antika/Antiquité Vivante |url=https://antiquitasviva.com/regular-issues/ziva-antika-antiquite-vivante-69-1-2-2019/ |last=Kuzmin |first=Yuri |date=2019 |issue=78 |volume=69 |doi=10.47054/ZIVA19691-2059k |page=70|doi-access=free }}</ref>}} {{abbr|Obv.|Obverse}}: Macedonian shield {{abbr|rev.|reverse}}: Macedonian helmet with [[Basileus|ΒΑΣ[ΙΛΕΩΣ]]] imprinted along bottom.
| succession   = [[List of kings of Macedon|King of Macedonia]]
| reign        = 239–229 BC
| predecessor  = [[Antigonus II Gonatas]]
| successor    = [[Antigonus III Doson]]
| spouse       = {{plainlist|
*[[Stratonice of Macedon|Stratonice]]
*[[Nicaea of Corinth|Nicaea]]
*[[Phthia of Macedon|Phthia]]
*Chryseis
}}
| issue        = [[Apama III]] <br /> [[Philip V of Macedon|Philip V]]
| dynasty      = [[Antigonid dynasty]]
| father       = [[Antigonus II Gonatas]]
| mother       = [[Phila (daughter of Seleucus)|Phila]]
| birth_date   = {{circa|275/4 BC}}
| death_date   = 229 BC (aged {{circa}} 45)
}}
'''Demetrius II''' ([[Greek language|Greek]]: Δημήτριος, <small>[[Romanization of Greek|romanized]]:</small> ''Demetrios;'' {{Circa}} 275 - 229 BC), also known as '''Demetrius Aetolicus''', was king of the [[Ancient Greece|Ancient Greek]] kingdom of [[Macedonia (ancient kingdom)|Macedonia]] from 239 until his death in 229 BC.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Adams |first=Winthrop Lindsay |title=A Companion to Ancient Macedonia |publisher=Wiley-Blackwell |year=2010 |isbn=9781405179362 |editor-last=Roisman |editor-first=Joseph |pages=222–223 |chapter=Alexander’s Successors to 221 BC |editor-last2=Worthington |editor-first2=Ian}}</ref>

==Biography==
Demetrius was born in either 275 or 274 BC and was the only child of King [[Antigonus II Gonatas]] by [[Phila (daughter of Seleucus)|Phila]], the daughter of [[Seleucus I Nicator|Seleucus I]].<ref>Carney, Elizabeth Donnelly (2000). ''Woman and Monarchy in Macedonia''. University of Oklahoma Press. p. 182-184. {{isbn|9780806132129}}</ref> He had an elder half-brother named Halcyoneus, but he died in an unknown battle sometime before the death of Antigonus in 239 BC.<ref>Kuzmin 2019, p. 61</ref> He had already distinguished himself during his father's lifetime by defeating [[Alexander&nbsp;II of Epirus]] at Derdia and so saving Macedonia {{nowrap|(c. 260 BC).}}<ref name="EB1911" /> There is a possibility<ref name="history_macedonia" />{{rp|317}}that his father had already elevated him to position of power equal to his own before his death. If this had occurred it would be in 256 or 257 BC.

On his accession, Demetrius faced a coalition of enemies which included the two great leagues. Usually rivals, the [[Aetolian League|Aetolian]] and [[Achaean League]]s now became allies against the Macedonian power. He succeeded in dealing this coalition severe blows, wresting [[Boeotia]] from their alliance. The revolution in [[Epirus (ancient state)|Epirus]], which substituted a republican league for the monarchy, gravely weakened his position.<ref name="EB1911"/>

During his reign, his kingdom extended<ref name="history_macedonia" />{{rp|321}} into [[Euboea]], [[Magnesia (regional unit)|Magnesia]], [[Thessaly]] and its environs, excluding [[Dolopia]] and possibly [[Skopelos (town)|Peparethos]] and [[Achaea Phthiotis]].

In 236 BC, he invaded [[Boeotia]], making the Boeotians submit<ref name="history_macedonia" />{{rp|326}} immediately.

In 234 BC, due to a federal republic<ref name="illyrians" /> replacing the monarchy in Epirus, which led to the events of 231 BC, Demetrius hired<ref name="cambridge" /> [[Agron of Illyria|Agron]] for military aid against the advancing [[Aetolians]]. His kingdom was not<ref name="history_macedonia" />{{rp|323}} threatened by the Illyrian [[Ardiaei]], ruled by Agron, despite them having gathered the greatest force in their history ({{Circa}} 231 BC), but Epirus needed some sort of force to deter them.

At some point in 230–229 BC in an unknown location in north-west Macedonia, the [[Kingdom of Dardania|Dardani]] defeated Demetrius who died shortly the next spring at the age of  {{Circa}} 45.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Kuzmin |first=Yuri |year=2019 |title=KING DEMETRIUS II OF MACEDON: IN THE SHADOW OF FATHER AND SON |journal=Živa antika/Antiquité vivante |location=Skopje, North Macedonia |issue=69 |page=78}}</ref> His nine year old successor, the future Philip V, was deemed too young to rule by the Macedonian nobility and so Demetrius' half-cousin, [[Antigonus III Doson]], was made regent. The exact location of Demetrius' tomb remains unknown, but was likely in [[Beroea]] or [[Aegae (Macedonia)|Aegae]].

==Marriage and family==
Demetrius married four times, though the chronology of these marriages is a matter of dispute.<ref name="EB1911"/>

* [[Stratonice of Macedon]], his aunt/cousin, the daughter of the Seleucid king [[Antiochus I Soter|Antiochus I]] and his aunt [[Stratonice of Syria|Stratonice]], by whom he had a daughter called [[Apama III]]<ref name="livius_org" /> who married [[Prusias I of Bithynia]]. Stratonice left him after he married his second wife.<ref name="women_macedonia" />
* [[Nicaea of Corinth|Nicaea]], the widow of his cousin [[Alexander of Corinth]], {{Circa}} 245/244 BC.<ref name=women_macedonia />
* [[Phthia of Macedon|Phthia]] (239 BC),<ref name="history_macedonia" />{{rp|322}} daughter of [[Alexander II of Epirus]], and possibly the mother of [[Philip V of Macedon]] (Chryseis has also been suggested as his mother).<ref name="women_macedonia" />{{rp|pp=190–193}}<ref>{{cite book |last=Nicholson |first=Emma |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uvCnEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA2 |title=Philip V of Macedon in Polybius' Histories: Politics, History, and Fiction |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |year=2023 |isbn=978-0-19-286676-9 |page=2 |language=en}}</ref>
* [[:el:Χρυσηίς της Μακεδονίας|Chryseis]], probably a former war prisoner turned concubine, whom he married around 237 BC. After Demetrius' death, she married his successor, Antigonus.<ref name="women_macedonia" />

Information regarding the life of Demetrius is drawn mainly from inscriptions, as only [[Plutarch]] writes of him, in [[Parallel Lives|Life of Aratus]], and [[Polybius]]<ref>cf.2.44.1-2</ref> makes scarce mention of him.<ref name="history_macedonia" />

==See also==
*[[Ancient Macedonians]]
*[[List of ancient Macedonians]]

==References==
===Notes===
{{notelist}}

===Citations===
{{reflist|refs=
<ref name="history_macedonia">{{cite book|last1=Nicholas Geoffrey Lemprière Hammond, Frank William Walbank|title=A History of Macedonia: 336-167 B.C.|date=1988|isbn=0198148151}}</ref>
<ref name="EB1911">{{EB1911|inline=1 |wstitle=Demetrius (Macedonian kings) |display=Demetrius s.v. Demetrius II |volume=7 |pages=982-983}}</ref>
<ref name="illyrians">{{cite book|last1=Wilkes|first1=J. J.|title=The Illyrians|date=1992|isbn=0-631-19807-5|page=157}}</ref>
<ref name=cambridge>{{cite book|last1=Walbank|first1=Frank William|title=The Cambridge Ancient History, Tome 7, Part 1|date=1984|isbn=052123445X|page=452}}</ref>
<ref name="women_macedonia">{{cite book|last1=Carney|first1=Elizabeth|title=Women and Monarchy in Macedonia|publisher=University of Oklahoma Press|isbn=0-8061-3212-4|date=2000}}</ref>
<ref name="livius_org">{{cite web|url=https://www.livius.org/articles/person/apame-iii/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220604160006/https://www.livius.org/articles/person/apame-iii/|archive-date=4 June 2022|title=Apame III|website=Livius}}</ref>
}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-hou|[[Antigonid dynasty]]||{{circa|275/4 BC}}||229 BC||name=Demetrius II}}
{{s-roy}}
{{s-bef
| before = [[Antigonus II Gonatas]]
}}
{{s-ttl
| title = [[Kings of Macedon|King of Macedon]]
| years = 239&ndash;229 BC
}}
{{s-aft
| after = [[Antigonus III Doson]]
}}
{{s-end}}

{{MacedonKings}}
{{Hellenistic rulers}}

{{Authority control}}
[[Category:Year of birth unknown]]
[[Category:270s BC births]]
[[Category:229 BC deaths]]
[[Category:3rd-century BC Macedonian monarchs]]
[[Category:Antigonid dynasty]]