A formidable woman of antiquity meets a formidable woman of antiquity, and they become friends instead of trying to have each other murdered..

>While in Thessaly for this purpose [**organizing Thessaly into, essentially, a Macedonian out-kingdom**] (344) he [**Philip II of Macedon**] acquired another mistress, Nicesipolis. Rumours reached [Olympias](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7c/Coin_olympias_mus_theski.JPG) [**Philip’s wife and mother of Alexander the Great**] that this woman was using magic spells and potions on the king (Thessalian witches had a notorious reputation throughout antiquity). >The queen sent for Nicesipolis, and found her not only beautiful, but also witty and well-bred. ‘Away with these slanders!’ Olympias is said to have exclaimed. ‘You are your own best magic, my dear.’ The two women seem, rather improbably, to have struck up a lasting friendship. _________________________ **Source:** Green, Peter. “The Gardens of Midas.” Alexander of Macedon: 356-323 B.C.: A Historical Biography. Univ. of California Press, 2005. 47. Print. _________________________ **Further Reading:** [Νικησίπολις (Nicesipolis or Nicasipolis)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicesipolis) [Ὀλυμπιάς (Olympias)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olympias)