Autodicus also known as Autodikos, Autolycus and Autolykos [1] (early to mid-340s BC [2] -?) was a Greek nobleman who was a Macedonian Thessalian who served as an official.
The Greeks or Hellenes are an ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus, southern Albania, Italy, Turkey, Egypt and, to a lesser extent, other countries surrounding the Mediterranean Sea. They also form a significant diaspora, with Greek communities established around the world.
Macedonia is a geographic and former administrative region of Greece, in the southern Balkans. Macedonia is the largest and second-most-populous Greek region, with a population of 2.38 million in 2017. The region is highly mountainous, with most major urban centres such as Thessaloniki and Kavala being concentrated on its southern coastline. Together with Thrace, and sometimes also Thessaly and Epirus, it is part of Northern Greece. It also contains Mount Athos, an autonomous monastic region of Greece. Macedonia forms part of Greece's national frontier with three countries: Bulgaria to the north-east, the Republic of North Macedonia to the north, and Albania to the north-west.
Thessaly is a traditional geographic and modern administrative region of Greece, comprising most of the ancient region of the same name. Before the Greek Dark Ages, Thessaly was known as Aeolia, and appears thus in Homer's Odyssey.
Autodicus was the third born of four sons to Agathocles [3] and his wife, perhaps named Arsinoe. His paternal grandfather may have been called Alcimachus and one of his brothers was Lysimachus one of the Diadochi of Alexander the Great. [4]
Agathocles was a Greek nobleman who was a contemporary to King Philip II of Macedon who reigned 359 BC-336 BC.
Lysimachus was a Macedonian officer and diadochus of Alexander the Great, who became a basileus ("King") in 306 BC, ruling Thrace, Asia Minor and Macedon.
The Diadochi were the rival generals, families, and friends of Alexander the Great who fought for control over his empire after his death in 323 BC. The Wars of the Diadochi mark the beginning of the Hellenistic period from the Mediterranean to the Indus River Valley.
His father was a nobleman of high rank who was an intimate friend of King Philip II of Macedon, who shared in Philip II’s councils and became a favorite in the Argead court. [5] Autodicus with his brothers grew up with the status of Macedonians; he with his brothers enjoyed prominent positions in King Alexander the Great’s circle [6] and Autodicus with his brothers were educated at the court at Pella. [7]
Philip II of Macedon was the king (basileus) of the kingdom of Macedon from 359 BC until his assassination in 336 BC. He was a member of the Argead dynasty of Macedonian kings, the third son of King Amyntas III of Macedon, and father of Alexander the Great and Philip III. The rise of Macedon, its conquest and political consolidation of most of Classical Greece during the reign of Philip II was achieved in part by his reformation of the Ancient Macedonian army, establishing the Macedonian phalanx that proved critical in securing victories on the battlefield. After defeating the Greek city-states of Athens and Thebes at the Battle of Chaeronea in 338 BC, Philip II led the effort to establish a federation of Greek states known as the League of Corinth, with him as the elected hegemon and commander-in-chief of Greece for a planned invasion of the Achaemenid Empire of Persia. However, his assassination by a royal bodyguard, Pausanias of Orestis, led to the immediate succession of his son Alexander, who would go on to invade the Achaemenid Empire in his father's stead.
The Argead dynasty was an ancient Macedonian royal house of Dorian Greek provenance. They were the founders and the ruling dynasty of the kingdom of Macedon from about 700 to 310 BC.
Alexander III of Macedon, commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king (basileus) of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon and a member of the Argead dynasty. He was born in Pella in 356 BC and succeeded his father Philip II to the throne at the age of 20. He spent most of his ruling years on an unprecedented military campaign through Asia and northeast Africa, and he created one of the largest empires of the ancient world by the age of thirty, stretching from Greece to northwestern India. He was undefeated in battle and is widely considered one of history's most successful military commanders.
Autodicus was appointed in 321 BC [8] as one of the four Somatophylakes at Triparadeisus for the Greek Macedonian King Philip III Arrhidaeus [9] who reigned 323 BC-317 BC, who was a paternal half-brother of Alexander the Great.
Somatophylakes, in its literal English translation from Greek, means "bodyguards".
Triparadeisos or Triparadisus was a settlement in Lebanon near the sources of the Orontes.
Philip III Arrhidaeus reigned as king of Macedonia from after 11 June 323 BC until his death. He was a son of King Philip II of Macedon by Philinna of Larissa, and thus an elder half-brother of Alexander the Great. Named Arrhidaeus at birth, he assumed the name Philip when he ascended to the throne.
In Lysimachus’ reign 306 BC-281 BC in his rule as King over Thrace, Anatolia and Macedonia; Autodicus and his family were prominent figures in his Thracian court [10] and were among those who stayed loyal to Lysimachus. [11]
Thrace is a geographical and historical region in Southeast Europe, now split between Bulgaria, Greece and Turkey, which is bounded by the Balkan Mountains to the north, the Aegean Sea to the south and the Black Sea to the east. It comprises southeastern Bulgaria, northeastern Greece and the European part of Turkey.
Anatolia, also known as Asia Minor, Asian Turkey, the Anatolian peninsula, or the Anatolian plateau, is the westernmost protrusion of Asia, which makes up the majority of modern-day Turkey. The region is bounded by the Black Sea to the north, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Armenian Highlands to the east, and the Aegean Sea to the west. The Sea of Marmara forms a connection between the Black and Aegean Seas through the Bosphorus and Dardanelles straits and separates Anatolia from Thrace on the European mainland.
According to an inscription found, Autodicus had a wife called Adeia, [12] by whom he had children. However the identities of their children are unknown.
Adeia also known as Adaea was a Greek noblewoman. She was the wife of Autodicus, one of the four Somatophylakes for the Greek Macedonian King Philip III Arrhidaeus who reigned 323 BC-317 BC. One of Autodicus’ brothers was Lysimachus one of the Diadochi of Alexander the Great.
