ABSTRACT
Macedonia was obliged, by virtue of its geographical situation, to be involved in major political and military developments in the north Aegean. The stories Herodotus tells about Alexander's responses to the Persian encroachment quite possibly came from someone close to the king, if not the king himself, during a personal visit to the Macedonian court in the middle years of the fifth century. After the battle of Plataea Alexander I brought great economic benefits to his kingdom through expansion eastward in the wake of the Persian retreat. Alexander I harnessed both the natural and human resources of his kingdom, and in doing so he did much to establish Macedonia as a player in the north Aegean power game. Perdiccas II was the eighth king to hold the Macedonian throne, and his father Alexander had been the seventh. By 413 Archelaus, son of Perdiccas, had succeeded to the throne.
