Olympias: Mother of Alexander
by Olympias, was the mother of the most powerful man then known to history. She had cosseted him, protected him, moulded and sculpted him, and, he, Alexander the Great, would go on to conquer most of the known world, and his name would be forever carved in the pantheon of heroes.
Olympias had secured the throne for her son, as she had promised she would. But she was concerned about securing it for future generations. So, well aware of Alexander’s homosexuality and his carnal relationship with his boyhood friend Hephaeston, she never ceased to cajole him to marry, and procured for his satisfaction an endless number of women to wean him from his aberration. She may have secured the throne for him but Alexander was less than grateful, he now shunted her to one side. He refused to take her on his campaigns of conquest, denied her permission to come and visit him in Babylon, and appointed a Governor to rule Macedonia in his absence. Despite this, Olympias lived and behaved in Pella as if she were Queen, but she would never see her son again.
In 323 BC Alexander died in Babylon aged just 32. In his short life he had conquered most of the known world. He had also married, much to the disgust of his inner-circle, a barbarian woman named Roxana, who not long after his death gave birth to their son also named Alexander. Olympias was now in great peril, she was widely feared and hated, but she was no shrinking violet, she would neither flee nor hide, she would fight back.
Alexander was succeeded as King of Macedonia by his half-brother Philip III, his father’s son by another woman. Philip was physically and mentally disabled, the result of an unsuccessful attempt by Olympias to poison him, and utterly incapable of ruling. Olympias, determined to win back the throne for her grandson, now played a dangerous game of bluff and counter-bluff as Alexander’s old comrades squabbled over his legacy. For a long time she refused to commit herself to one side or the other but she could not remain neutral for ever. She had married her daughter Cleopatra to Perdiccas which had angered his rival Cassander. It was a wise choice for Perdiccas was victorious, unfortunately he died within the year.
Now confronted by a vengeful Cassander she had no choice but to join with Polyperchon against him. Again it seemed a wise choice and she captured Philip III and had him executed, and had killed without trial as many of Cassander’s supporters as she could lay her hands on. But her triumph was short-lived. Polyperchon was defeated and she was forced to seek sanctuary in the city of Pydna. If she surrendered, Cassander told her, she and her family would not be harmed, he would not execute them. With no one left to come to her rescue and with nowhere else to go, she had little choice. She gave herself up to the mercy of Cassander. He was as good as his word, he did not have her executed, instead he handed her over to the relatives of those she’d had killed. They were not so merciful. She was put on trial, abused, humiliated, and brutally put to death. Cassander then had Roxana and the infant Alexander, murdered.
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