He was the son of Lysimachus and his first wife, Nicaea[2][3] a daughter of Antipater, the regent of Alexander the Great's Empire.
He was released by Dromichaetes after a promise of loyalty secured by several high-born hostages, and the hand of Lysimachus' daughter in marriage.
There are conflicting versions of this sequence of events as some ancient historians recount that it was only Agathocles, and according to others only Lysimachus, who was taken prisoner.
[9] In 287 Agathocles was sent by his father against Demetrius I Poliorcetes, who had marched into Anatolia to deprive Lysimachus of Lydia and Caria.
[12] The historian Louis Robert has suggested that 300 era coins bearing the letters ΑΓΑΘ originate from Agathocleia, a city in Mysia founded by Agathocles.