EDWARD M. ANSON is Professor of
Anson
History at the University of Arkansas at
A
Little Rock, USA. He is the author of
l
Alexander the Great: Themes and Issues
e
Alexander’s Alexander’s
Heirs
(2013) and Eumenes of Cardia: A Greek
x
Among Macedonians (2004), and co-editor
a
the age of the successors
of After Alexander: The Time of the Diadochi
n
(323–281 BC) (with V. Alonso Troncoso,
d
Heirs
Edward M. Anson
2013).
“Alexander’s Heirs is a concise but thoroughly documented study of the
er
formative years (323–281 BCE) of the Hellenistic age by an insightful and
the age of the successors
’
highly respected scholar. Students, teachers, and researchers will find it an
s Heir
Alexander the Great is one of the most
mercurial and transformational figures
indispensable and infallible guide to one of the most complex and exciting
in world history. His empire was vast,
periods of ancient history.”
Edward M. Anson
stretching across the ancient world from
Waldemar Heckel, University of Calgary
s
Greece and Egypt to India. In the wake
of his death, his generals – the Diadochi
– once tenuously united, turned on
one another, each in pursuit of what he
believed was his rightful role as ruler.
In this narrative history, Edward M.
Anson explores the period of time
known as the Age of the Successors – the
approximately forty years following the
death of Alexander the Great. It is a story
of ambition, power, and war, but at its
core it is a story of transition – of how
one man’s empire ultimately became the
Hellenistic world.
9 781444
339628
Alexander’s Heirs
In Memoriam
Edward M. Anson III
In Dedicationem
Lucy Dorothy Meyer Anson
Alexander’s Heirs
The Age of the Successors
Edward M. Anson
This edition first published 2014
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Hardback ISBN: 978-1-4443-3962-8
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Cover image: Engraving of coin with head of Demetrius Poliorcetes, King of Macedonia.
© The Print Collector, London / Scala, Florence
Set in 10/12pt Minion by SPi Publisher Services, Pondicherry, India
1 2014
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Contents
List of Abbreviations
vii
Chronology ix
Preface xvii
Maps
Regions of Macedonia
xix
Greece and Asia Minor
xx
The Hellenistic world
xxi
1 Introduction
1
2 The Death of a Conqueror
11
3 The Funeral Games Begin
47
4 The End of a Dynasty
83
116
5 “War, both the King and Father of Al ”
125
Chronology from 314 to 306
157
6 The End of the Diadochi
165
Chronology from 306 to 281
184
7 Epilogue: The New World
189
Bibliography 197
Index 215
Abbreviations
Ael. Aelian,
Varia Historia ( VH)
Aeschin.
Aeschines, 2 ( On the Embassy); 3 ( Against Ctesiphon)
App. Appian,
Mithridatic Wars ( Mith.); Syrian Wars ( Syr.)
Arist. Aristotle,
Rhetoric ( Rhet.)
Aristid. Aristides,
Orations ( Or.)
Arr. Arrian,
Anabasis Alexandri ( Anab.); Indica ( Ind.);
Successors ( Succ.)
Astronomical Diaries Astronomical Diaries and Related Texts from Babylonia, ed. H. Hunder, vol. V: Lunar and Planetary Texts (Vienna:
Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenshaften, 2001)
Athen. Athenaeus,
The Banqueteers
BCHP
Babylonian Chronicles of the Hel enistic Period
BM
British Museum
Curt. Curtius,
The History of Alexander the Great of Macedon
Dem.
Demosthenes, 15 ( On the Liberty of the Rhodians); 17
( On the Accession of Alexander); 18 ( On the Crown); 19
( On the False Embassy)
Din.
Dinarchus, 1 ( Against Demosthenes)
Diod. Diodorus,
Library of History
Ditt. Syl .
Wilhelm Dittenberger, Syl oge Inscriptionum Graecarum
Euseb.
; Eusebius [Porphyry], Chronica ( Chron.)
FGrH Jacoby,
Die Fragmente der Griechischen Historiker
Hdts. Herodotus,
Histories
Hom. Homer,
Iliad ( Il.)
Hyp.
Hyperides, 4 ( In Defense of Euxenippus); 5
( Against Demosthenes); 6 ( Funeral Oration)
IG
Inscriptiones Graecae
Isoc.
Isocrates, 4 ( Panegyricus); 15 ( Antidosis)
Joseph. Josephus,
Jewish Antiquities ( AJ)
Just. Justin,
Epitome of the Philippic History of Pompeius Trogus
Liv. Livy,
From the Founding of the City
LM
Liber de Morte
viii Abbreviations
Memn.
Memnon of Heracleia’s History of Heracleia Pontica
( FGrH 434 F-5.7)
Nep. Nepos,
Life of Eumenes ( Eum.); Life of Phocion ( Phoc.)
OGIS
Orientis Graeci Inscriptiones Selectae
Paus. Pausanias,
Description of Greece
Phot. Photius,
Bibliotheca ( Bibl.)
Pliny
Natural History ( NH)
Plut. Plutarch,
Life of Agesilaus ( Ages.); Life of Alexander
( Alex.); Life of Antony ( Ant.); Life of Camillus ( Cam.); Comparison of the Lives of Eumenes and Sertorius ( Comp.
Eum. et Sert.); Life of Demetrius ( Demetr.); Life of Dion ( Dion); Life of Eumenes ( Eum.); Life of Lucul us ( Luc.); Life of Lysander ( Lys.); Moralia ( Mor.); Life of Phocion ( Phoc.); Life of Pyrrhus ( Pyrrh.); Life of Sertorius ( Ser.) Polyaen. Polyaenus,
Stratagems
Polyb. Polybius,
Histories
P. Oxy.
Oxyrhynchus Papyri
Schol.
Demosthenes: Scholia Graeca ex codicibus aucta et
emendata (New York: Arno Press, 1983)
Str. Strabo,
Geography
Suda
Antipater, Basileia, Craterus, Leonnatus, Deinarchus, Demetrius, Ophellas
Syl .
Syl oge inscriptionum graecarum, 3rd edn., 4 vols.
(New York: Hildesheim, and Olms, 1982 [1915–24])
Syncellus
Mosshammer (Leipzig: Teubner, 1984) ( Chron.)
Tac. Tacitus,
Annals ( Ann.)
Thuc. Thucydides,
History of the Peloponnesian War
Trog. Trogus,
Prologues ( Prol.)
Val. Max.
Valerius Maximus, Memorable Words and Deeds
Vitr. Vitruvius,
De architectura
Xen. Xenophon,
Anabasis ( Anab.); Constitution of the Spartans
( Resp. Lac.)
Chronology
323
June 11
Death of Alexander the Great
Summer
Philip III and Alexander IV proclaimed kings; revolt
of the Greeks in the upper satrapies
Fal
Start of the Lamian War; Thibron attacks Cyrene
323/22
Fall/Winter
Battle of Abydus; crossing of Leonnatus to Europe;
death of Leonnatus
322
Late Spring
Craterus crosses to Europe
June
Battle of Amorgus
July
Perdiccas and Eumenes arrive in Cappadocia; defeat
Ariarathes in two battles
Late July/August
Battle of Crannon; Antipater arranges affairs
in Peloponnesus and Athens
Late Summer/Fal Eumenes organizes Cappadocia; Perdiccas moves to Cilicia;
Neoptolemus moves to Armenia; annexation of Cyrene
by Ptolemy
322/21
Late Fall/Winter
Eumenes sent to Armenia; Perdiccas winters in Cilicia;
return of Antipater and Craterus to Macedonia;
Craterus marries Phila
321
Spring
Perdiccas campaigns in Pisidia; cal s for Antigonus
to answer charges; arrival of Nicaea and Cleopatra with
marriage proposals; marriage of Perdiccas and Nicaea;
marriage of Ptolemy and Eurydice; invasion of Aetolia
by Antipater and Craterus
Summer
Cynnane arrives in Asia and is murdered; marriage
of Adea (Eurydice) and Philip III; Perdiccas determines
to seize the monarchy; Alexander the Great’s body
begins its journey west
x Chronology
321/20
Late Fall/Winter
Antigonus flees to Macedonia; end of Aetolian campaign;
diversion of Alexander’s body to Egypt
320
Spring
First Diadoch War begins. Perdiccas marches to Egypt;
Eumenes to the Hellespont; desertion of Cleitus and the fleet
to Antipater; crossing of Antipater and Craterus to Asia;
Antigonus attempts to intercept Eumenes, then to Cyprus
Late Spring
Eumenes defeats Neoptolemus; later Neoptolemus and
Craterus; deaths of Neoptolemus and Craterus
Early Summer
Death of Perdiccas; condemnation of Perdiccans by royal
army; Pithon and Arrhidaeus new regents for the kings
Late Summer
Triparadeisus; Antipater regent; marriage of Demetrius
and Phila
Fall/Winter
Alcetas defeats Asander; Eumenes winters in Celaenae;
failed negotiations among the surviving Perdiccan leaders
319
Winter
Antipater crosses back to Europe with the kings
Spring
Eumenes defeated by Antigonus and enters Nora
Summer
Antigonus defeats Alcetas; death of Alcetas
Late Summer
Death of Antipater; Polyperchon new regent, Cassander
chiliarch
Fal
Nicanor made garrison commander in Munychia
319/18
Winter
Flight of Cassander to Antigonus; Polyperchon’s
“Freedom of the Greeks” decree
318
Late Winter/
Arrhidaeus’ attack on Cyzicus; Eumenes released from
Early Spring
Nora and allies with Antigonus; Antigonus takes Ephesus
and Cleitus flees
Spring
Nicanor seizes Piraeus; Ptolemy occupies Phoenicia
and Syria; Alexander, the son of Polyperchon, arrives
in Athens, followed later by Polyperchon
May
Death of Phocion; Cassander arrives in Piraeus
Summer
Antigonus captures all of Lydia; Eumenes allies with
Polyperchon; Polyperchon invades Peloponnesus, besieges
Megalopolis; Eumenes moves into Cilicia, joined by
argyraspids; Menander occupies Cappadocia; Eumenes
creates “Alexander Tent”
Fal
Polyperchon returns to Macedonia, orders Cleitus
to the Hellespont
Fall/Winter
Eumenes moves into Phoenicia
Chronology
xi
317
Summer
Sea battles in the Hellespont; defeat of Cleitus
July
Demetrius of Phalerum in charge of Athens
Late Summer
Death of Nicanor; Cassander’s first invasion of Macedonia
September
Eumenes leaves Phoenicia for the east
Fal
Eurydic
e claims the regency; Olympias returns
to Macedonia
Fall/Winter
Philip III Arrhidaeus and Eurydice murdered; Eumenes
in Babylonia; revolt of citadel commander in Babylon;
Eumenes moves into winter quarters in the “Carian vil ages”;
Antigonus winters in Mesopotamia
316
Spring
Eumenes joins with the forces of the satraps of the upper
provinces
Summer
Cassander successful y invades Macedonia; siege of Pydna
begins; deposition and exile of Aeacides
July
Eumenes and Antigonus battle on Coprates
August
Antigonus retreats into Media
Late October/
Battle of Paraetacene
Early November
December
Battle of Gabene
315
January
Death of Eumenes; Antigonus winters in Media;
death of Pithon
“Approach
End of siege of Pydna
of Spring”
Spring
Death of Olympias; imprisonment of Roxane and Alexander
IV; Cassander marries Thessalonice
Spring/Early
Peucestas replaced as satrap of Persis; flight of Seleucus
Summer
from Babylon; Cassander founds Cassandreia
and Thessalonica
Summer
Cassander refounds Thebes, invades Peloponnesus;
Cassander’s army invades Asia Minor; [alliance between
Asander and Cassander?]
November
Antigonus at Mal us
314
Spring
Ultimatum to Antigonus; start of the Third Diadoch War;
Agesilaus to Cyprus; Polemaeus to Cappadocia;
Aristodemus to Greece, forms an alliance with Polyperchon;
siege of Tyre begins
Late Spring
Antigonus’ capture of Joppa and Gaza
Summer
Polemaeus relieves siege of Erythrae; Cassander moves
into Peloponnesus
xii Chronology
Fal
Alexander to Tyre; Tyre Proclamation; number of Aegean
islands including Samos and Lemnos revolt from Athens
Winter 314/13
Antigonus winters near Tyre; Cassander winters in Arcadia;
Alliance between Asander and Ptolemy; Athenian
expedition against Samos
313
February
Miletus fal s
Spring
Cassander invades Messenia; Acrotatus in northwest Greece
Summer
Siege of Tyre ends; creation of the “League of the Islanders”;
Cassander presides over Nemean Games (August), then
returns to Macedonia; Aristodemus in Aetolia; Ptolemy
sends Menelaus to Cyprus; Polycleitus’ successful campaign
in the Aegean
Late Summer/Fal Alexander deserts Antigonus and allies with Cassander,