Audata

Who is Audata?

Audata was an Illyrian princess and later a Macedonian queen when she married Philip II of Macedon in 359 BC. She was the daughter or niece of Bardyllis, the Illyrian king of the Dardanian State. In order to concentrate on the internal struggle necessary to secure his crown, Philip reaffirmed the treaty the Dardanians had imposed on Macedonia by force of arms and sealed the alliance with Bardyllis by his marriage of Audata. This action undoubtedly deterred a full-scale Dardanian invasion of Macedonia at a time when the country was most vulnerable. Philip immediately consolidated his power as a result, so much that he defeated Bardylis in a decisive battle in 358 BC.

Audata was the first or second wife of Philip and took the name Eurydice, the name of Philip's Illyrian mother, after the wedding. This name change was probably due to dynastic reasons, because she was briefly the official queen of Philip. Calling her Eurydice could easily be a mistake of either Arrian of Photius, but it could also signify that Philip chose to change Audata's Illyrian name to something more Greek, or it could speak to his filial piety or simply to indicate that her status had changed. Soon after, Olympias became the main wife of Philip.