Crateuas of Macedon

For other uses, see Crateuas.

Crateuas (Ancient Greek: Κρατεύας, romanized: Krateúas), also called Craterus (Κρατερός, Kraterós), was a Royal Page and lover of the Macedonian king Archelaus. Ancient sources accuse Crateuas of killing Archelaus in 399 BC, either by accident or as an act of vengeance.

Two ancient sources describe the homicide: Aristotle in Politics and Diodorus in Bibliotheca Historica.[1] According to Aristotle, Crateuas fell out with the king because Archelaus had promised him one of his daughters in marriage but later gave them to others and that their love affair had gone wrong.[2][3] Two other courtiers, Hellanocrates of Larisa and Decamnichus, took part in the murder for similar private motives.[4] Diodorus, on the other hand, records that “King Archelaus was unintentionally struck while hunting by Craterus, whom he loved, and met his end, after a reign of seven years”.[5]

A third account of the death of Archelaus appears in the Second Alcibiades, a dialogue wrongly attributed to Plato.[6] This version, whose true author remains unknown, states that Crateuas coveted power and occupied the throne for several days after the murder.[7][8] However, historian Nicholas Hammond viewed the idea that Crateuas actually reigned as king of Macedon to be "obviously absurd".[3] Accordingly, Crateuas is not included in modern lists of Macedonian kings.[9][10][11][12]

References

Citations

  1. ^ Greenwalt, William (2019). "The Assassination of Archelaus and the Significance of the Macedonian Royal Hunt". Karanos. Bulletin of Ancient Macedonian Studies. 2. Autonomous University of Barcelona: 11–17.
  2. ^ Aristotle, Pol. 5.1311b.
  3. ^ a b Hammond, Nicholas Geoffrey Lemprière; Griffith, Guy Thompson (1972). A History of Macedonia Volume II: 550-336 B.C. Clarendon Press. pp. 167–168. ISBN 978-0-19-814814-2.
  4. ^ Errington, Robert (1990). A History of Macedonia. Berkeley: University of California Press. p. 28. ISBN 0-520-06319-8. Retrieved 4 March 2026.
  5. ^ Diodorus, 14.37.6.
  6. ^ Roisman, Joseph (2010). "Classical Macedonia to Perdiccas III". In Roisman, Joseph; Worthington, Ian (eds.). A Companion to Ancient Macedonia. Blackwell. pp. 157–158. Retrieved 4 March 2026.
  7. ^ Pseudo-Plato, [2.141d].
  8. ^ Aelian, Varia historia, VIII, 9.
  9. ^ Errington 1990, pp. 251–253.
  10. ^ Borza, Eugene (1990). In the Shadow of Olympus: The Emergence of Macedon. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press. pp. 1–2.
  11. ^ Carney, Elizabeth (2000). Women and Monarchy in Macedonia. University of Oklahoma Press. pp. 250–253. ISBN 9780806132129.
  12. ^ Eder, Walter; Renger, Johannes, eds. (2006). Chronologies of the Ancient World. Boston: Brill. pp. 188–190. ISBN 9789004153202.

Bibliography

Primary sources

  • Aristotle (1932). "Politics". Aristotle in 23 Volumes. Loeb Classical Library. Vol. 21. Translated by Rackham, Harris (1944 ed.). Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.
  • Diodorus Siculus (1963–1971). Diodorus of Sicily in Twelve Volumes. Loeb Classical Library. Translated by Oldfather, Charles H.; et al. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.
  • Pseudo-Plato (1892). "Alcibiades II". Dialogues. Vol. 2. Translated by Jowett, Benjamin. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 4 March 2026.
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