Alexander in Babylon - Letter from Olympias

"Olympias was smart, ambitious, ruthless, and devoted to her Son. Olympias raised the young Alexander to be proud of his heritage. Her family claimed to be descendants of Achilles, the Greek demigod and hero of the Trojan War. Alexander traveled to Troy to pay respects to his ancestor, and he carried a copy of The Iliad with him at all times.

Olympias, born sometime around 375 B.C., was the daughter of King Neoptolemus of Epirus, a kingdom southwest of Macedonia.

Upon Alexander the Great’s demise, Olympias sought to have her grandson, Alexander IV, become king. However, a regent named Cassander ruled in her grandson’s place after a series of succession wars. The idea was that Cassander would turn over the throne until Alexander IV became older.

That wasn’t good enough for Olympias as she feared Cassander would maintain his grip on power. She invaded Macedonia with her own army from Epirus, which was now ruled by her cousin.

Olympias’ army managed to capture hundreds of people loyal to the regent and had all of Cassander’s followers brutally executed in 317 B.C.

Unfortunately for Olympias, her invasion of Macedonia failed and Cassander lived. He captured the queen and initially promised to spare her, but went back on this promise and had her executed in 316 B.C.

Olympias became regent for Alexander IV, her grandson (posthumous son of Alexander the Great by Roxane), and tried to seize control of Macedonia from Cassander's forces. The Macedonian army surrendered without a fight as they were loyal to Alexander the Greats mother; Olympias had the supporters of Cassander executed but Cassander was not there.

Cassander maneuvered a surprise attack and Olympias fled; he besieged Pydna where she fled, and she surrendered in 316 BCE. Cassander, who had promised not to kill Olympias, instead arranged to have Olympias murdered by relatives of his supporters that she had executed.She was said to either be stoned or stabbed to death.

Places: Epirus, Pella, Greece

Religion: follower of mystery religion"