For other uses, see Lysimachus (disambiguation)Lysimachus was born in 362/361 BC, the son of the Thessalian Agathocles from Crannon. He was granted citizenship in Macedon and was educated at the court in Pella. He was probably appointed Somatophylax during the reign of Philip II.[1] During Alexander's Persian campaigns, he was one of his immediate bodyguards. In 324 BCE, in Susa, he was crowned in recognition for his actions in India.[2] After Alexander’s death in 323 BCE, he was appointed to the government of Thrace as strategos.[3]
In 315 BCE, he joined Cassander, Ptolemy and Seleucus against Antigonus, who, however, diverted his attention by stirring up Thracian and Scythian tribes against him. In 309 BCE, he founded Lysimachia in a commanding situation on the neck connecting the Chersonese with the mainland. He followed the example of Antigonus in taking the title of king.[4]
In 306 or 305, he assumed the title of "King", which he held until his death at Corupedium in 282/1.[5]
