For the 3rd-century CE husband of Moero and father of Homerus, see Andromachus Philologus

Andromachus Philologus

Andromachus Philologus was the husband of the poet Moero and father of Homerus of Byzantium....

Andromachus was an Anatolian nobleman

Anatolia

Anatolia is a geographic and historical term denoting the westernmost protrusion of Asia, comprising the majority of the Republic of Turkey...

 of Greek Macedonian

Macedonia (Greece)

Macedonia is a geographical and historical region of Greece in Southern Europe. Macedonia is the largest and second most populous Greek region...

 and Persian descent

Persian people

The Persian people are part of the Iranian peoples who speak the modern Persian language and closely akin Iranian dialects and languages. The origin of the ethnic Iranian/Persian peoples are traced to the Ancient Iranian peoples, who were part of the ancient Indo-Iranians and themselves part of...

. Andromachus’ father was a wealthy nobleman who owned estates in Anatolia

Anatolia

Anatolia is a geographic and historical term denoting the westernmost protrusion of Asia, comprising the majority of the Republic of Turkey...

 and his family had power in Anatolia with strong royal connections. Andromachus was the second son of Achaeus

Achaeus (son of Seleucus I Nicator)

Achaeus was a Greek Macedonian nobleman and was the second son born to King and founder of the Seleucid Empire Seleucus I Nicator and Persian noblewoman Apama I. Achaeus was of Greek and Persian descent. He had three siblings: one brother the Seleucid King Antiochus I Soter and two sisters: Apama...

 by an unnamed Greek mother and a grandson of Seleucus I Nicator

Seleucus I Nicator

Seleucus I was a Macedonian officer of Alexander the Great and one of the Diadochi. In the Wars of the Diadochi that took place after Alexander's death, Seleucus established the Seleucid dynasty and the Seleucid Empire...

 (the founder of the Seleucid Empire

Seleucid Empire

The Seleucid Empire was a Greek-Macedonian state that was created out of the eastern conquests of Alexander the Great. At the height of its power, it included central Anatolia, the Levant, Mesopotamia, Persia, today's Turkmenistan, Pamir and parts of Pakistan.The Seleucid Empire was a major centre...

) and his first wife Apama I

Apama

Apama , sometimes known as Apama I or Apame I was the wife of the first ruler of the Seleucid Empire, Seleucus I Nicator. They married at Susa in 324 BC...

. He had four siblings; one brother: Alexander

Alexander (grandson of Seleucus I Nicator)

Alexander was an Anatolian nobleman of Greek Macedonian and Persian descent who was a Seleucid official.Alexander was the first son born to Achaeus by an unnamed Greek mother. His father Achaeus was a wealthy nobleman who owned estates in Anatolia. His family had power in Anatolia with strong...

 and two sisters: Antiochis

Antiochis

The name Antiochis, in Greek Ἀντιoχίς is the female name of Antiochus. Antiochis in Greek antiquity may refer to:-Hellenistic queens consort:*Antiochis, daughter of Achaeus, married to Attalus, and the mother of Attalus I, king of Pergamon...

 and Laodice I

Laodice I

Laodice I was an Anatolian noblewoman who was a close relative of the early Seleucid Dynasty and was the first wife of the Seleucid Greek King Antiochus II Theos. -Family Background:...

. He was the father of Achaeus

Achaeus (general)

Achaeus was a general and later a separatist ruler of part of the Greek Seleucid kingdom. He was the son of Andromachus, whose sister Laodice II, married Seleucus Callinicus, the father of Antiochus III the Great. Achaeus himself married Laodice of Pontus, one of the daughters to Laodice and...

 and Laodice II

Laodice II

Laodice , wife of her cousin Seleucus II Callinicus, was, according to the express statement of Polybius, she was the daughter of Andromachus and sister of Seleucid General Achaeus. Laodice II bore Seleucus II five children, among them were: Antiochis, Seleucus III Ceraunus and Antiochus III the...

. Laodice II married her cousin, the Seleucid King Seleucus II Callinicus

Seleucus II Callinicus

Seleucus II Callinicus or Pogon , was a ruler of the Hellenistic Seleucid Empire, who reigned from 246 to 225 BC...

 and they were the parents of Antiochus III the Great

Antiochus III the Great

Antiochus III the Great Seleucid Greek king who became the 6th ruler of the Seleucid Empire as a youth of about eighteen in 223 BC. Antiochus was an ambitious ruler who ruled over Greater Syria and western Asia towards the end of the 3rd century BC...

.

At some moment in the course of a war between the Seleucids and Egyptian

Ancient Egypt

Ancient Egypt was an ancient civilization of Northeastern Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. Egyptian civilization coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh...

 Greek

Greeks

The Greeks, also known as the Hellenes , are a nation and ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighboring regions. They also form a significant diaspora, with Greek communities established around the world....

 Pharaoh

Pharaoh

Pharaoh is a title used in many modern discussions of the ancient Egyptian rulers of all periods. The title originates in the term "pr-aa" which means "great house" and describes the royal palace...

 Ptolemy III Euergetes

Ptolemy III Euergetes

-Family:Euergetes was the eldest son of Ptolemy II Philadelphus and his first wife, Arsinoe I, and came to power in 246 BC upon the death of his father.He married Berenice of Cyrene in the year corresponding to 244/243 BC; and their children were:...

 took him prisoner; and when Ptolemy III died in 221 BC

221 BC

Year 221 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Asina and Rufus/Lepidus...

, Andromachus was still a prisoner in Egypt. Since Achaeus had long shown great anxiety to secure his father's release, Ptolemy IV of Egypt’s

Ptolemy IV Philopator

Ptolemy IV Philopator , son of Ptolemy III and Berenice II of Egypt was the fourth Pharaoh of Ptolemaic Egypt...

 chief advisor Sosibius

Sosibius

Sosibius was the chief minister of Ptolemy Philopator , king of Egypt. Nothing is known of his origin or parentage, though he may have been a son of Sosibius of Tarentum; nor have we any account of the means by which he rose to power; but we find him immediately after the accession of Ptolemy ,...

, regarded the captive grandee as a very valuable piece to play in the political game. He had, perhaps, before the revolt of Achaeus, tried to strike a bargain with him-—the release of Andromachus as the price of Achaeus deserting his king. When Achaeus had once revolted, pushed by other circumstances, and without having made any compact with Egypt, there was the less reason to let Andromachus go. Sosibius was very unwilling to part with such a valuable asset; but around 220 BC

220 BC

Year 220 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Laevinus/Catulus and Scaevola/Philo...

 the Rhodians

Rhodes

Rhodes is an island in Greece, located in the eastern Aegean Sea. It is the largest of the Dodecanese islands in terms of both land area and population, with a population of 117,007, and also the island group's historical capital. Administratively the island forms a separate municipality within...

 exerted themselves as intercessors on behalf of Achaeus, changing radically the situation.

The Rhodians decision did not spring from altruism: it was a move with which they hoped to defeat the city-state

City-state

A city-state is an independent or autonomous entity whose territory consists of a city which is not administered as a part of another local government.-Historical city-states:...

 of Byzantium

Byzantium

Byzantium was an ancient Greek city, founded by Greek colonists from Megara in 667 BC and named after their king Byzas . The name Byzantium is a Latinization of the original name Byzantion...

, with which they were at war. Byzantium hoped to gain Achaeus' support against Rhodes and its allies; by obtaining Andromachus release the Rhodians planned to foil this design and obtain Achaeus' benevolence. They therefore sent an embassy to Ptolemy IV asking him to deliver this Andromachus to them; this request they had before made, but without laying any great stress upon it. Now, however, they put much more insistence upon it; and while Ptolemy at first refused to free Andromachus, on second thoughts, being anxious to please the Rhodians, the king yielded to their request, and handed over Andromachus to them to conduct to his son. This was done, and father and son were reunited. After this occurrence, Andromachus disappears from history.