Name Ptolemy Epirus Uncles Ptolemy, Helenus Children Pyrrhus III | Parents Alexander II of Epirus Died 235 BC Aunts Olympias II of Epirus | |
Role Alexander II of Epirus' son Grandparents Pyrrhus of Epirus, Lanassa Great-grandparents Agathocles of Syracuse, Phthia of Epirus, Aeacides of Epirus | ||
Ptolemy (Greek: Πτολεμαῖος); 237 BC-died 234 ВС), king of Epirus, was the second son of Alexander II, king of Epirus, and Olympias, grandson of the great Pyrrhus and brother of Phthia of Macedon. He was named in honor of his late uncle Ptolemy, a late brother of his parents. He succeeded to the throne on the death of his elder brother, Pyrrhus II of Epirus, but reigned only a very short time, having set out on a military expedition, during the course of which he fell sick and died. Polyaenus, instead, tells us a different story and states that he was treasonably assassinated. The date of his reign cannot be fixed with certainty, but as he was contemporary with Demetrius II, king of Macedonia, it may be placed between 239 and 229 BC. He was succeeded by his niece Deidamia.