As long as Aridaios reigned, and after him Kassandros and his sons, friendly relations continued between Lysimakhos and Macedon. But when the kingdom devolved upon Demetrios, son of Antigonos, Lysimakhos, henceforth expecting that war would be declared upon him by Demetrios, resolved to take aggressive action. He was aware that Demetrios inherited a tendency to aggrandize, and he also knew that he visited Macedonia at the summons of Alexander and Kassandros, and on his arrival murdered Alexander himself¹ and ruled the Macedonians in his stead.

For these reasons he clashed with Demetrios at Amphipolis and came near to being pushed out from Thrace,¹ but after Pyrrhos came to his aid he mastered Thrace and afterwards extended his empire at the expense of the Nestians and Macedonians. The greater part of Macedonia was under the control of Pyrrhos himself, who came from Epeiros with an army and was at that time on friendly terms with Lysimakhos. When, however, Demetrios crossed over into Asia (Minor) and made war on Seleukos, the alliance between Pyrrhos and Lysimakhos lasted only as long as Demetrios continued hostilities; when Demetrios submitted to Seleukos, the friendship between Lysimakhos and Pyrrhos was broken, and when war broke out Lysimakhos fought against Antigonos son of Demetrios and against Pyrrhos himself, had much the better of the struggle, conquered Macedonia and forced Pyrrhos to retreat to Epeiros.

Erotic-passion [erōs] has a way of bringing many calamities [sumphrorai] for humans. Lysimakhos, although by this time of mature age and considered happy [eudaimōn] in respect of his children, and although Agathokles had children by Lysandra, nevertheless married Lysandra’s sister Arsinoe. This Arsinoe, fearing for her children, lest on the death of Lysimakhos they should fall into the hands of Agathokles, is said for this reason to have plotted against Agathokles. People have already written [graphein] about how Arsinoe got into a state of erotic-passion [erōs] for Agathokles, and, being unsuccessful, they say that she plotted against his life. They say also that Lysimakhos discovered later his wife’s machinations, but by now, toward the end, he had no resources left, having lost all who were near-and-dear [philoi] to him.

Since Lysimakhos, then, entrusted to Arsinoe the murder of Agathokles, Lysandra fled to Seleukos, taking along her children and her brothers, who were taking refuge with Ptolemy and who finally adopted this course. They were accompanied on their escape to Seleukos by Alexander, who was the son of Lysimakhos by an Odrysian woman. So, going up to Babylon, they entreated Seleukos to make war on Lysimakhos. And, at the same time, Philetairos, to whom the property of Lysimakhos had been entrusted, aggrieved at the death of Agathokles and suspicious of the treatment he would receive at the hands of Arsinoe, seized Pergamon-on-the-Kaïkos, and sending a herald offered both the property and himself to Seleukos.

Lysimakhos, hearing of all these things, lost no time in crossing into Asia (Minor),¹ and, taking the initiative, he attacked Seleukos, suffered a severe defeat, and was killed. Alexander, his son by the Odrysian woman, after interceding long with Lysandra, won possession of his body and afterwards conveyed [komizein] it to the Chersonesus and buried it, where his tomb [taphos] is still to be seen between the district [kōmē] of Kardia and Paktye.