After Alexander died, his generals met to discuss the succession.
(all references from Curtius)
Perdiccas suggested that they wait to see if Roxane gave birth to a son (X.6.9), while Nearchus said that Heracles, Alexander’s son by Barsine, should be made king (X.6.11). Ptolemy, however, dismissed both ideas. He said that the generals should rule together with decisions taken by majority vote (X.6.15). Aristonus spoke next - Alexander had given Perdiccas his ring so it is Perdiccas who should lead them (X.6.17).
The Assembly agreed with Aristonus but before the meeting could be concluded, Meleager spoke up. Perdiccas should not be allowed to rule them as he will seize power! he said, No, authority should be given to the people - i.e. the infantry (X.6.23).
After this interjection, Meleager stormed off - to start looting the royal palace with his supporters. He had not got far, however, when an unnamed member of the rank and file changed history by suggesting that Arrhidaeos, Alexander’s brother, should be made king. The Assembly approved this idea and the order to bring Arrhidaeos was given (X.6.24; 7.1.-6).
Foiled in his plan, Meleager acted quickly to do the next best thing - to spite Perdiccas - and brought Arrhidaeos to the Assembly (X.7.7).
Opportunists all… almost
- Perdiccas voted for Roxane because as the most senior officer in the army he had control of her.
- Nearchus voted for Heracles because he had married Barsine’s daughter, and so was Heracles’ brother-in-law.
- Ptolemy wanted the generals to rule because he knew no one man could rule the empire and because he himself was very popular with the men - very useful if the generals could not reach a consensus and needed a ‘nudge’ in the right direction.
- I don’t know enough about Aristonus to know why he chose to support Perdiccas. It may be that he genuinely thought that Perdiccas should be their leader on account of Alexander giving him his ring or maybe Perdiccas had promised him a reward for his loyalty. In 321/0, Aristonus was given command of a mission to defeat the kings of Cyprus who had allied themselves with Ptolemy.
- Meleager’s suggestion that the phalanx was Alexander’s successor was an irresponsible and ridiculous one; it was surely no more than a brazen attempt to grab power by Meleager himself. If this is correct, it is ironic that his plan was undone by a member of the infantry. But if we can fault Meleager for his lack of subtlety, we can’t fault his persistence. Though if he really turned to Arrhidaeos just to spite Perdiccas, he was a shallow and mean minded man.
The Second Achilles 