Alexander IV of Macedon (August 323-309 BC) was King of Macedon from 323 to 309 BC, co-reigning with Philip III and succeeding Alexander the Great and preceding Cassander. He was younger one of two legitimate children of Alexander, and the only one to survived infancy.
Biography[]
Alexander was born in August 323 BC, the second child of Alexander the Great and his Sogdian wife Roxana. The couple already had an older son, who unfortunately died as infant. Alexander IV was born after his father's death, so his uncle Philip III of Macedon was named King of Macedon, with Perdiccas serving as regent. Alexander was co-ruler with his uncle, and, after Philip was executed in 317 BC, Alexander became the sole ruler of Macedon, although in name only. His grandmother Olympias dominated him as regent, and, in 316 BC, Cassander seized power and had Olympias executed, while Alexander and his mother were imprisoned at the citadel of Amphipolis. In 309 BC, when Alexander came of age to be King, Cassander had Alexander and his mother poisoned to end their threat.