Alcetas I of Epirus: King and Political Figure in the Classical Period

Introduction

Alcetas I, son and successor of Tharrhypas, was king of the Molossian kingdom of Epirus in the late Classical period, reigning approximately from 390 or 385 until his death about 370 BC. He was driven from his throne for reasons not recorded in the surviving accounts and took refuge at the court of Dionysius I of Syracuse. Dionysius, pursuing Syracusan interests on the Adriatic and Ionian coasts, intervened to restore him by allying with Illyrian forces and dispatching troops and arms to their cause; the ensuing campaign devastated much of Epirus and cost some 15,000 lives before Spartan-led relief expelled the Illyrians and allowed Alcetas to resume rule.

After his restoration Alcetas pursued a pro-Athenian policy, maintaining ties with Athens and forming an alliance with Jason of Pherae, the Thessalian tagus. In 373 BC he traveled to Athens with Jason to support the general Timotheus, whose acquittal the sources attribute in part to their intercession. On his death the kingdom did not pass intact to a single heir; his two sons, Neoptolemus I and Arybbas, agreed to divide and co-rule the Molossian realm, a development noted in the sources as the establishment of a diarchy. Alcetas is therefore recorded as a figure whose rule was marked by foreign intervention, shifting alliances in mainland Greek politics, and a succession that created a lasting change in the structure of the Epirote monarchy.