Alcetas: Early Argead King of Macedon

Introduction

Alcetas (Ancient Greek Ἀλκέτας) was a 6th-century BC king of Macedon from the Argead dynasty, recorded by Herodotus and Thucydides in the classical king lists. He was a son of Aeropus I and the father of Amyntas I. Ancient sources present him as an early Argead monarch; a later tradition that made him the eighth king by inserting a figure named Caranus into the lineage is widely rejected by modern scholars as a later court fabrication.

Surviving accounts characterize Alcetas as a calm and stable ruler who sought to preserve his realm by peaceful means rather than by expansion through warfare. He is thus portrayed as departing from the more aggressive posture of some predecessors. Modern chronological reconstructions vary; for example, N. G. L. Hammond estimated his floruit around 533 BCE, while other medieval and later authorities place his reign earlier in the 6th century. The sources do not record military reverses, internal crises, or specific reforms associated with his rule. He is chiefly remembered in the tradition as the peaceful progenitor of Amyntas I and as a fixture of the early Argead succession recorded by classical historians.