The Wars of the Successors

Post updated on 24.8.13
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This post continues the account of the Second War of the Diadochi, inspired by my reading of Robin Waterfield’s Dividing the Spoils. For the first part of the post, please click here.

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Antigonus vs Eumenes
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Antigonus
Antigonus was riding on a high after the First War of the Diadochi. He had an army of 70,000; the surviving loyalist Successors had (albeit at his request) given him the title of Royal General of Asia; they had authorised him to hunt down and destroy the surviving Perdiccan allies; to that end, he had chased Eumenes into the Mountains of Cappadocia, and defeated Alcetas decisively in battle (leading to Perdiccas’ brother’s suicide). To top it all, he was busy getting rid of the neighbouring satraps whom Antipater had placed in office at Triparadeisus to act as a counterweight to Antigonus’ power. It was a good time to be an Antigonid, and in the next three years, despite the early upset of Eumenes’ treachery, it would get even better.
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As stated in the first post, Cassander came to Antigonus’ court after failing to get enough support in Macedon for a rebellion against Polyperchon. Antigonus must have been very happy to see Antipater’s son as his presence could only give his expulsion of the neighbouring satraps a veneer of legitimacy: Antipater appointed you, but his son agrees with me that you are no longer fit for office. Or similar.
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Antigonus and Arrhidaeus
Around the same time as he and Cassander were trash talking Antipater, Antigonus moved against Arrhidaeus who had tried unsuccessfully to break his siege of Eumenes’ mountain fastness in Cappadocia. He trapped Arrhidaeus in the city of Cius* and left him there while he marched against White Cleitus in Lydia** (As far as I am aware this is the last we hear about Arrhidaeus in the historical record). White Cleitus strengthened his Lydian garrisons but did not hang around to see how they would fare against Antigonus’ army, choosing instead to flee to Macedon. With him went Antipater’s son and now former satrap of Cappadocia, Nicanor.

As detailed in the last post, White Cleitus would return to Asia Minor to help Arrhidaeus. As for Nicanor, he would be killed in Macedon by Olympias in 317.
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* North western Asia Minor
** Western Asia Minor.
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Antigonus and his windfall
Antigonus had chased Eumenes into the Cappadocian mountains in the Spring of 319. The siege that followed ended almost exactly a year later when Eumenes agreed to submit to Antigonus’ authority. Antigonus not only let Eumenes live but gave him back his satrapy. All he asked for in return was an oath of loyalty. Despite giving it, Eumenes would defect to Polyperchon’s side only a few months later.
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That was still to happen; in the meantime, Antigonus returned west and took Ephesus. No sooner had he done so than what should happen but a flotilla carrying 600 talents to Macedon sailed into the port. Well, you can bet Antigonus took that. I don’t know who was responsible for sending the money but I’m glad I wasn’t near them when they discovered what had happened.
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Eumenes’ and the loyalist Successors
Eumenes was still in Cappadocia when he accepted Polyperchon’s offer, so this made it easy for him to evade Antigonus’ men on his way south to Cilicia. At this point, he had an army of 15,000 but he still needed more troops.
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To get them he had to convince the other loyalist Successors that he did not believe himself to be better than they. So, he wrote to them claiming to have seen Alexander in a dream giving orders to a ‘council of senior officers’, and suggested that they meet to ‘simulate this scene’ (Waterfield, p. 93).
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At Eumenes’ suggestion the meeting took place (in the summer of 318) in front of a throne belonging to the late king, and his royal regalia. I doubt very much the Successors believed that Eumenes had really seen Alexander. At any rate, it did not stop them from conspiring against him. Ptolemy, for example, straight out offered the Macedonian veterans cash to not help the Cardian. Classy. But if that seems blunt, Antigonus just sent a message ordering the same men to either execute Eumenes or be treated as enemies. In response, Eumenes reminded the soldiers that he rather than Antigonus represented legitimate authority, which I presume is a reference to his appointment by Polyperchon as Royal General of Asia; either way, it was enough to placate men who, it has to be said, had already been softened up by Eumenes through flattery and assurances.
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I don’t know if Eumenes got the troops he needed but he was at any rate still alive so that was a success. After the meeting, and with Antigonus’ army now approaching, Eumenes took his army to Phoenicia, prompting Ptolemy to withdraw his troops from the region. There, Eumenes sent as many (Phœnician) ships as he could find to help Polyperchon. Before they could cross the Aegean, though, they were captured by Antigonus’ fleet, whereupon the ships’ captains immediately changed sides.
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Eumenes turns east
In the autumn of 318 Eumenes left Phoenicia (prompting Ptolemy to send his men back), and headed east to ask one (or more) of the eastern satraps for their support against Antigonus. Eumenes spent the winter encamped on the Babylonian border while he negotiated with Seleucus and Peithon. I wonder what Peithon thought of Eumenes’ arrival - he was in Babylon already, having come to ask Seleucus to give him troops in his war against the other eastern satraps; Peithon wanted to expand his power in the region.
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The Winter of 318-17
Unfortunately for Eumenes not only did the negotiations go nowhere but Seleucus accused him of holding an illegitimate command (as a result of his condemnation at Triparadeisus). Seleucus may have meant what he said but as Waterfield notes (p.95) he may also have been concerned not to do anything that alienated the powerful Antigonus.
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For his part, Antigonus wintered in Mesopotamia (driving out the governor who was friendly to Eumenes). While there he paused to build up his army for any coming battle. He also negotiated with Seleucus and Peithon. He stayed in Meso through to the Spring on 317.
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Eumenes’ Coalition
Early in 317, Eumenes gave up trying to win Seleucus’ or Peithon’s support (the latter had rather peevishly tried to turn his men against him) and wrote to Peucestas and the eastern satraps requesting a meeting in Susa. Under threat from Peithon they were more amenable to the formation of an alliance.
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However, although they were fighting a common enemy this didn’t mean that the satraps were necessarily friendly to Eumenes; Peucestas, Antigenes and the other eastern satraps were much more used to leading than being led. Eumenes got round this problem by pulling the old let’s meet as equals in front of Alexander’s throne and regalia trick again. Well, it worked, and at the end of their meeting, the new allies left Susa heading north east to await Antigonus’ arrival.
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Antigonus’ new allies
In May 317 Antigonus finally secured the loyalty of Seleucus and Peithon. There was no question of who was in charge in their alliance, though. When Antigonus set off after Eumenes he did so as the undisputed head of his army. Seleucus and Peithon travelled with him as his subordinates. Leaving Babylon they made their way to Susa.
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Fourth Battle
Antigonus vs Eumenes (I)
Antigonus left Seleucus in Susa to deal with the citadel, and continued after Eumenes. They met one another at the Coprates River (modern day Dez). Waterfield (p. 97) reports that 10,000 of Antigonus’ men had crossed the river by the time Eumenes arrived to confront them; but they were not heavily armed for their main purpose was to forage. Eumenes, therefore, won an easy victory, killing hundreds and taking 4,000 prisoner.
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Antigonus Goes To Ecbatana
After this mauling, and to escape the summer heat, Antigonus took a short cut over tribal lands to Ecbatana. He suffered further losses along the way from waspish local tribesmen.
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Eumenes’ in Persepolis
Antigonus’ withdrawal to Ecbatana gave Eumenes an opportunity to return to the west. The city was so far north he would never be able to march his men into battle before Eumenes was long gone. We’ll never know if this was Eumenes’ chance to win his portion of the western empire as he was held back by his allies who had no wish to leave their satrapies. Eumenes could have gone on alone, but that would have defeated the object of coming east in the first place. So, he reluctantly agreed to stay put and marched to Persepolis, scene of the famous fire during Alexander’s visit thirteen years earlier.
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Party in Persepolis
It’s summer. It’s hot. The wine if flowing and the food is piled high. You would have thought that the coalition would have been able to relax a little, wouldn’t you. But no, it didn’t. Instead, Peucestas tried to undermine Eumenes. Eumenes responded by producing a forged letter that said Olympias had taken Macedon, Cassander was dead, and that Polyperchon had invaded Asia Minor. The aim of the letter was to persuade the rank and file that it would make no sense to undermine him, and it worked.
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The happy atmosphere (ha) in Persepolis was eventually broken by the news that Antigonus had broken camp in Media and was marching towards Persis. Eumenes marched out of Persepolis to confront him.
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Fifth Battle
Antigonus vs Eumenes (II)
It was now late October (317 BC). This battle (which took place at Paraetacene) was really just a series of skirmishes, because before anything bigger could develop both Antigonus and Eumenes started to run out of supplies. Realising his predicament, Antigonus sent some men to nearby Gabene (modern day Isfahan) to get food. When Eumenes found out what he was doing, he sent ‘deserters’ into Antigonus’ camp to warn the general that his enemy intended to attack him that very night. Antigonus put the camp on alert only for… nothing to happen. Eumenes used the time that Antigonus was awaiting his attack to make his own way to Gabene.
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It did not take Antigonus long to find out that Eumenes had - as we say in Britain - mugged him off. Determined not to be made a fool of, he set out after the coalition with a detachment of cavalry. Peithon followed on with the infantry.
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Seeing Antigonus approaching, Eumenes assumed that the entire Antigonid army had come so he drew up his men in battle formation. Because Antigonus had the high ground, Eumenes didn’t attack. This gave the rest of Antigonus’ army time to arrive.
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Antigonus arranged his men so that Macedonians would not have to fight their countrymen. He placed Peithon on the left wing, while his son Demetrius was given command of the heavy cavalry on the right. Antigonus had war elephants at his disposal; they went on the middle and right wing.
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Battle was joined. At first, it went Eumenes’ way. Antigonus’ war elephants were kept at bay (they were removed from the battlefield thereafter) and Peithon’s light infantry was broken; a tough battle took place in the phalanx before Antigenes’ veterans broke through the Antigonid ranks. In doing so, however, they left a gap between themselves and Eumenes’ left wing. Antigonus saw it and ordered his cavalry forward. They smashed through Eumenes’ line causing chaos in the left wing.
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Despite this setback, Eumenes was able to restore order; the two sides renewed their fight but were soon forced to disengage by the coming night. Who won, then? Well, Waterfield states (p. 99) that Antigonus lost four times as many men as Eumenes so that would appear to give the latter the victory. However, that is not how battles were decided in antiquity. As you may know, the deciding factor was who had control of the field at the end of the battle. And here, Eumenes’ men ceded victory to Antigonus by walking away - literally;’ they upped swords and returned to their camp. Eumenes must have been hopping mad. Antigonus less so. He collected his dead and such spoils as were left behind and retreated to Media for the winter. He was lucky to be alive.
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Eumenes didn’t have the capacity to keep his army together over winter so sent it to separate winter camps. When Antigonus heard what he had done, he decided to launch a surprise attack - for not only did Eumenes have fewer men around him now he was (as was common for his time) in an unfortified camp.
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Sixth Battle
Antigonus vs Eumenes (III)
Antigonus knew that Eumenes would be watching the Median road so decided to approach him from across a salt plain that divided the two armies. To preserve the element of surprise he ordered no fires to be lit during the journey. What damage could a small fire do? I have a friend who was in the army for a while and when we discussed this he told me how he had once done night exercises during which the officer-in-charge had lit a flame some distance away. In the dark, with no light pollution whatsoever, it was very clearly visible. If you ever see the film Enigma you will get a good example of how visible it was, and what the consequences of lighting a flame in dangerous territory can be.
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Unfortunately for Antigonus, his order was not obeyed. After a few days, some soldiers did light a fire. It was seen by natives who went and told Eumenes. The natives had bought Eumenes four days to do something - although what could he do? It would take him nearly a week to reunite all his army. Peucestas suggested a ‘tactical withdrawal’ (Waterfield, p. 100) while the army was recalled. That’s good advice, in my view, but Eumenes had a better idea. Taking Antigonus’ soldiers’ lead, he had his men light fires to give the impression that his whole army was already present. This fooled Antigonus and, having lost the element of surprise against the reunited army, he turned his army north of Eumenes’ camp
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Buoyed by this little success, Eumenes set about fortifying his camp. Antigonus was not fooled for long, and attacked him; his assault was repelled. The last of Eumenes’ army reached him not long later and the stage was set for what would prove to be the final showdown between the two generals.
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Despite having a general of genuine distinction, morale was low in Eumenes’ camp. There was even a rumour going round that he had lost his commission when Adea Euridike ‘persuaded’ Philip Arrhidaeus to sack Polyperchon as regent.
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Seventh Battle
Antigonus vs Eumenes (IV)
Waterfield tells us (p. 101) that Antigenes opened this battle by having his men shout (rather unsportingly, I think) at Antigonus’ phalanx, “You assholes are sinning against your fathers, the men who conquered the world with Philip and Alexander!”. There’s really no need for that kind of language.
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Antigonus lined his army up just as he did at Paraetacene. Unusually for a general, Eumenes took his place on the left wing of his army rather than the right. This meant that he would fight Antigonus directly. Given how he killed Neoptolemus in a duel, though, I doubt the prospect scared him.
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The battle opened with the usual skirmishes. Once again, it went Eumenes’ way to begin with as Antigenes’ veterans again beat their opposites into a bloody pulp. Things started to go wrong, however, when Peucestas gave way with almost indecent haste. Was he the reason why Eumenes had positioned himself on the left wing? Had Antigonus got to him - just as Ptolemy, very likely, got to Perdiccas’ men?
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Despite Peucestas’ poor showing, Eumenes stood tall and continued the fight. Thousands of Antigonid soldiers were killed. Eumenes’ losses numbered in the hundreds. Staring defeat in the face, Antigonus played his last hand, and what a hand it was. He ordered his cavalry to attack Eumenes’ undefended baggage train - exactly the same move that Eumenes had pulled on Neoptolemus in 320.
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If only Eumenes had stayed on his left wing, he might have seen the cavalrymen ride past but he was now on the right, preparing for the cavalry’s final push against Antigonus, and so missed it all. By the time he learned what had happened, the baggage train had been lost.
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To make matters worse, night was drawing on. Peucestas refused to join the cavalry charge. Eumenes was forced to disengage. That night, he told his allies and men not to worry about the baggage train - they would recover it tomorrow; and they probably would have as well, for Antigonus’ army was certainly a busted flush. But the men refused to fight on in the knowledge that their wives and children were in enemy hands. The eastern satraps told Eumenes that they were returning home. In fact, as Waterfield notes (p. 102) they had decided even before the final battle to do away with him after they had won, anyway. Messengers were sent to Antigonus’ camp to ask after the captives. Antigonus replied that the families would be returned - if Eumenes was handed over to him.
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That is what happened. Eumenes and other senior officers were taken prisoner and handed over to Antigonus who executed them. Antigenes’ reward for leading the unstoppable veterans was to be thrown into a pit and burned alive. Eumenes’ army defected en masse to Antigonus’ side. As for Eumenes, it was a poor end for the secretary who turned out to be one of the best generals out of all the Successors.
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Aftermath
Following the battle, Antigonus returned to Ecbatana. When Peithon tried to persuade some of his troops to help him in his empire building Antigonus summoned him to Ecbatana. Why did he go? Because Antigonus assured him of his safety, that’s why; I don’t think you need me to tell you, though, what happened next. Upon his arrival, Peithon was arrested, tried, and - of course - executed, thus becoming the second prominant Macedonian to die in Ecbatana after Hephaestion in 324.
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Antigonus’ other significant action that winter to disband Antigenes’ veterans. Some were sent east, others settled in the west during his return in the Spring of 316.
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Antigonus Returns West
In the Spring of 316, with the whole of Alexander’s eastern Empire - except Egypt - under his rule, Antigonus left Ecbatana, travelling first to Persepolis. There, he confirmed the eastern satraps in their posts, and removed Peucestas from his. As per Waterfield (p. 105), that Peucestas wasn’t executed along with Eumenes and Antigenes very likely means he was indeed turned by Antigonus before the final battle.
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Deprived of his satrapy, Peucestas joined Antigonus’ staff; Waterfield reports (ibid) that he was still known to be alive in the 290s, by which time he was on Demetrius Poliorcetes’ staff.
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From Persepolis, Antigonus traveled to Susa where he collected its treasury. Upon his arrival in Babylonia, Seleucus - who had returned ahead of Antgionus - hailed him as a king. I wonder why? Was he being fawning or subversive? After all, despite behaving like a king, Antigonus didn’t call himself one lest it upset his Macedonian (and still pro-Argead) soldiers. Having said that, Antigonus did permit his Persian followers to acclaim him as the successor of the Archaemenids. I’m not sure that Seleucus was trying to plant a seed in the Macedonian soldiers minds, but with the Successors you can never be sure.
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Whatever the reason, it either did not stop Antigonus from demanding that Seleucus give an account of the finances and his administration of his satrapy or led to it. Seleucus - no doubt gently - reminded Antigonus that Babylonia was his satrapy by right; the only people he was accountable to was Alexander IV and Philip Arrhidaeus. Like Belshazzar, however, Seleucus saw the writing on the wall; unlike his predecessor, he understood what it meant, and even as he spoke to Antigonus, he made plans to flee Babylon, which he did, travelling with his family to Egypt.
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Once there, Seleucus warned Ptolemy that Antigonus wanted Alexander’s empire for himself. Ptolemy wrote to Cassander and Lysimachus asking for their assistance in restoring Seleucus to his satrapy. Antigonus also wrote to the Successors demanding that they honour the Triparadeisus Agreement - though which part of it, I am not sure, as that confirmed Seleucus as satrap of Babylonia.
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Anyway, Antigonus spent the winter of 316/5 in Cilicia. While there he received another letter from the Successors containing a series of demands. They were that Babylonia be given back to Seleucus, that the spoils of his war with Eumenes and the eastern bullion be shared out, that Lysimachus be given Hellespontine Phrygia, that Ptolemy be recognised as ruler of Palestine and Phœnicia, and that Cassander be given Cappadocia and Lydia.
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Unsurprisingly, Antigonus rejected these demands. In doing so, he set the stage for the Third War of the Diadochi.
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Here is a list of Successors killed between 318-15 BC
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Arrhidaeus - Cius, Asia Minor 318
Nicanor - Piraeus 318
White Cleitus - Thrace 318
Philip Arrhidaeus - Pydna 317
Adea Euridike - Pydna 317
Nicanor son of Antipater - 317
Eumenes - Gabene 317/6
Antigenes - Gabene 317/6
Peithon - Ecbatana 316
Olympias - Pydna 316
Aristonous - Pydna 316

Post updated on 24.8.13
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See previous chapters here
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This post is the third in my series on the forty-two year struggle between Alexander’s successors for control of his empire, either in part or whole. By successors I mean not only his senior officers at his death (Perdiccas, Craterus etc) but, as we shall see in subsequent posts, the sons of those same officers. Due to the length of the post, I have split it in two - ‘Cassander Takes Macedon’ and ‘Antigonus Wins The East’.
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I am writing these posts because I recently finished reading Robin Waterfield’s Dividing the Spoils* (OUP 2011) on the subject. The posts are based on the timeline of events that I wrote down as I did so. While my information is based on Waterfield, any mistakes I have made are, of course, my own. If you spot any, do please let me know in the comments box.
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* Link goes to Amazon. Please consider supporting your high street book shop, though, and buying it there
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318 - 315 The Second War of the Diadochi
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Year / Principle Combatants / Location / Victor

1. 318 Antigonus vs Cleitus - Cius, Asia Minor - Antigonus wins
2. Summer 317 Adea Euridike vs Polyperchon - Macedon - Polyperchon wins*
3. Summer/Autumn 317 Polyperchon vs Cassander - Eprius and southern Macedonia - Cassander wins
4. Summer 317 Antigonus vs Eumenes (I) - Coprates (modern day Dez) River - Eumenes wins
5. October 317 Antigonus vs Eumenes (II) - Paraetacene** (modern day Yezd-i-Khast) - Draw
6. October 317 Antigonus vs Eumenes (III) - Between Paraetacene and Gabene***- Eumenes wins
7. December/January 317-6 Antigonus vs Eumenes (IV) - Gabene - Antigonus wins
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   * by default as Adea’s army deserted her before the battle could took place
   ** Also known as Paraitacene
   *** Also known as Gabiene

Outcome

• Cassander wins control of Macedon
• The death of Olympias and imprisonment of Alexander IV
• Antigonus wins control Alexander’s empire from the Bosphorus to eastern satrapies (excluding Egypt)

The dust had barely settled on the First War of the Diadochi (322-320/19) when the Second broke out. It lasted three years and several battles, including some near misses.
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There were two principle theatres of war - Greece and the East - and four principle combatants - Polyperchon and Cassander in Greece, Antigonus and Eumenes in the East. This post looks at Polyperchon’s battle with Cassander. For Antigonus and Eumenes, click here.
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Polyperchon vs Cassander
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Cassander contra Polyperchon
In 319, Antipater died. In accordance with his wishes, Polyperchon - rather than Antipater’s son, Cassander - became Alexander IV’s and Philip Arrhidaeus’ regent, and ‘supreme commander’ of the whole empire (source: Livius).
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Unsurprisingly, Cassander was not very happy about this, and tried to turn the Macedonian nobility against the new regent. He met with little success. His attempt to win the support of Ptolemy and Lysimachus was only slightly more successful. Waterfield states that Cassander’s brother-in-laws* ‘were otherwise engaged’ and could only ‘give him their tacit blessing’ (Waterfield, p. 73). Lysimachus was probably busy fighting the habitually unruly natives in Thrace; I’m not sure what Ptolemy was up to.
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All was not lost for Cassander, though, as Antigonus responded to his requests for help more favourably. Thus, after leaving Macedon (in the autumn of 319), he made his way to the Antigonid court in Calaenae, Phrygia.
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At the time of Cassander’s arrival, Antigonus was busy making Asia Minor safe for himself by expelling the neighbouring satraps whom Antipater had appointed in order to check his power. He kindly took time, however, to lay the groundwork for a future war against Polyperchon by denouncing Antipater for unlawfully appointing Polyperchon as his successor.
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* Ptolemy had married Cassander’s sister Euridike (c. 321), while Lysimachus had married his sister Nicaea (c. 321)
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Polyperchon’s Alliances
What was Polyperchon doing while Cassander and Antigonus were trash talking Antipater? Building alliances of his own, that’s what. I imagine he would have preferred to have Ptolemy and Lysimachus on his side but with their ties to Cassander they were unreliable. For what it was worth (they don’t appear to have played an major rôle in the war later on), Polyperchon did manage to get the expelled satraps of Asia Minor on his side. He also won the support of Aristonous - the former somatophylax, and man who had first proposed Perdiccas for the regency in Babylon..
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The satraps and Aristonous were useful allies to have but not particularly powerful ones. Polyperchon pulled off a potential masterstroke, though, when he decided to ask Olympias to become Alexander IV’s regent. Alexander the Great’s mother! Who could resist the man who had her on his side? Olympias refused to commit herself though. Indeed, she wrote to her ‘truest friend’ (Waterfield, p. 75) Eumenes to ask him for his advice.
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Olympias and Eumenes. True friends. Who knew? Well, not surprisingly, given that he was an Antigonid partisan, Eumenes wrote back and told Olympias to hold back for the time being.
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Polyperchon’s Offer to Eumenes
Olympias was not the only one writing to Eumenes at this time. Polyperchon did so as well. In his letter, he offered him a title - Antigonus’. The chance to be Royal General of Asia was too good for Eumenes to resist and, despite having recently sworn loyalty to Antigonus, he now went over to Polyperchon*.
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Don’t be fooled into thinking that Eumenes betrayed Antigonus merely for a title, he was seduced by the the power that came with it, for being Royal General of Asia gave Eumenes the right to take money from the treasury at Cyinda, and have all the Asia Minor satraps, plus Antigenes and his 3,000 veterans, under his command. Being the Royal General of Asia was Eumenes chance to be a major player in the post-Alexandrine world.
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* We left Eumenes in the last post (here) under siege in a Cappadocian mountain fort; to find out how he emerged to become an Antigonid, click here
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Eumenes’ Flight
Once Eumenes had accepted Polyperchon’s offer he wisely fled east before Antigonus could be told what he had done. On hearing the bad news, Antigonus sent an army after Eumenes but it was too late; he had passed into Cilicia (where he joined Antigenes). He was out of sight, therefore, but not out of mind. After Antigonus had settled the rest of Asia Minor in his image, he would leave Cassander to deal with Polyperchon while he went east in pursuit of his erstwhile ally. It was all fair - the deal that Cassander and Antigonus had made with each other gave all power in Asia to Antigonus, and the same in Europe to Cassander.
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The battle for heart and minds in Greece
The impending war between Polyperchon and Cassander moved a step closer when they wrote letters to the Greek cities asking for/implicitly demanding their support. Cassander had started it, demanding that the cities submit to him as his father’s true heir. In response, Polyperchon urged the cities to claim back their freedom and ally themselves behind him against the tyrant. Don’t think that Polyperchon really believed all that freedom nonsense, though - his letter ended with the warning that he would ‘not tolerate any failure to carry out’ his orders (Waterfield, p. 76).
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Polyperchon’s aggressive language was not wholly successful. For example, Piraeus had come out for Cassander and did not now change sides. This was probably not a surprise, though, as it was under the control of an officer named Nicanor, a close friend of Cassander’s.
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At the request of the Athenian democrats, Polyperchon sent his son, Alexander, to remove the city’s Antipatrid rulers. When Cassander landed in Piraeus - intending to use the port as his springboard for an attack on Macedon - Polyperchon came south himself to blockade him. He might as well not have bothered because, if you can believe it, he had no ships to blockade the city from the sea. Talk about schoolboy errors.
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Realising that he could not blockade the port, Polyperchon left a detachment behind - under the command of his son - and marched into the Peloponnese where he ‘oversaw’ the removal of numerous Antipatrid rulers. He also put Megalopolis under siege but failed to enter the city.
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First Battle
White Cleitus vs Antigonus
While in the Peloponnese, Polyperchon sent White Cleitus back to Asia Minor (see below) to relieve Arrhidaeus* whom Antigonus had trapped in Cius. White Cleitus not only raised the Antigonid siege but defeated Nicanor (not the son of Antipater who was still in Macedon; this Nicanor is a different man whose family we know nothing about) who had come from Piraeus to help Antigonus.
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Despite this success, the battle was not yet over; that night, Antigonus counter-attacked. During the battle, Nicanor destroyed** White Cleitus’ fleet. Cleitus was put to flight. We don’t know what happened to Arrhidaeus - he was either killed or forced to surrender; either way, we do not hear of him again. As for White Cleitus, he managed to escape to Thrace - where he was killed by Lysimachus’ soldiers.
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For the events leading up to White Cleitus’ return to Asia Minor, see the next post
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* Arrhidaeus had been given the satrapy of Hellespontine Phrygia at Triparadeisus and was one of the Antipatrid satraps that Antigonus was in the process of removing from office when Cassander joined him
** Waterfield (p. 83) states that the fleet was disabled
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Aftermath
You remember how I said Nicanor was a close friend of Cassander? Well, he was such a close friend that when he returned to Piraeus following the defeat of Arrhidaeus and White Cleitus, Cassander rather meanly, I think it is fair to say, had him executed for being too ambitious. So much for gratitude.
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The End of Athenian Democracy
Back in Greece, Polyperchon continued his tour of the Peloponnese getting rid of Antipatrid rulers. Realising that he would not be coming to their aid against Cassander (who, I expect, was using his control of Athens’ port to stop food supplies from reaching the city) Athens surrendered to Antipater’s son. In the summer of 317 Cassander installed Demetrius of Phalerum as his governor of the once powerful city.
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As Waterfield notes, (p. 85), Demetrius’ arrival in the city marked the end of democracy in Athens and, I suppose, the world, until it was reinvented two thousand years later in America et al. Unless you want to be pedantic and say that America is a Republic, in which case, I would say fie!
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Olympias Enters the Game
By the time of Athens’ fall, Polyperchon was in Epirus. Perhaps influenced by Eumenes’ volte-face, Olympias had finally agreed to become Alexander IV’s regent. At the same time as overseeing the arrangements for Olympias’ return to Macedon, Polyperchon was also negotiating an alliance with Aetolians. Things were going well for Polyperchon at last; he must have been overwhelmed.
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Adea Euridike’s Scheme
As is well known, Philip Arrhidaeus had some kind of mental deficiency. I have seen it described as simply a learning difficulty and him as a half-wit so how serious an impediment it was I don’t know. I think it must have been quite a serious deficiency; if he had been any way capable of sitting on the Macedonian throne, Alexander would surely have had him killed during the post-Accession purges in 336.
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Perceiving Polyperchon to be a weak leader, Philip Arrhidaeus’ wife Adea Euridike formed an alliance with Cassander and used her husband’s weakness of mind to ‘persuade’ him to write to the Diadochi to inform them that he was sacking Polyperchon as regent in favour of Cassander. As this letter winged its way to the various courts, Cassander - having got past Polyperchon’s son, Alexander, though I am not sure how - returned to Macedon to take up his position as the new regent. Straight afterwards, though, he returned south to continue his campaign to recover the cities who had overthrown their Antipatrid rulers after receiving Polyperchon’s letter the previous year. Annoyingly for him, a campaign that he wanted to get over and done with quickly became drawn out after his siege of Tegea failed to open the city.
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Second Battle
Polyperchon vs Adea Euridike
Due to the loss of Macedon Polyperchon marched to war against Adea at the head of a mostly Molossian army. With him were the army’s nominal heads, Olympias and Alexander IV, as well as the latter’s mother, Roxane. Adea lead - in person - a Macedonian army. She had good credentials to do so for she was Alexander the Great’s half-sister; she might even have inspired her men to victory had it not been for Olympias. Her presence persuaded the Macedonian soldiers to desert Adea and go over to the younger king; they did so before the battle even began. Adea and Philip Arrhidaeus were both captured and handed over to Olympias by Polyperchon; she imprisoned them in Pydna.
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Olympias’ Revenge
After the battle that really never was Olympias returned to Macedon. It was a triumph for her and very bad news for everyone else. She launched a purge of the Macedonian nobility. Claiming that Antipater’s sons, Nicanor and Iolaus, had poisoned Alexander, she executed the former, and - as the latter was already dead (we don’t know where or how he died) - vindictively had his grave opened, his ashes removed, and scattered.
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Olympias’ bloodlust was not limited to rival nobles and Antipater’s sons for most significantly she also had Philip Arrhidaeus murdered. That left Adea Euridike. In rather horrible fashion, Olympias sent Alexander’s half-sister hemlock, a noose and a sword so that she could choose her own manner of death. Defiant to the last, Adea hanged herself, but using her own belt as a noose. She was 19 years old.
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As morbid as it is I can’t help but wonder how Philip Arrhidaeus died. Did he even realise he was about to be executed? Maybe he smiled and laughed with his executioners before the event.
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Third Battle
Cassander vs Polyperchon and Olympias
Hearing about Olympias’ return to Macedon, Cassander broke off his Peloponnesian campaign, and marched back north. After bypassing Thermopylae (which was held by the Polyperchon’s new allies, the Aetolians) he split his army into three:

• The western division went to Epirus where it pinned down - and in due course, deposed - the Molossian king (Aeacides)
• The southern division pinned down Polyperchon on Macedon’s southern border
• The central division marched north into Macedon

Seeing Cassander coming, Aristonous fled to Amphipolis. As for Polyperchon, Cassander dealt with the former supreme commander of the empire by… bribing his army to change sides, which it did. This prompted poor old Polyperchon, who I think it is fair to say was really not up to being a Successor, to flee south once more where he joined his son. Olympias didn’t follow. Instead, she took the Macedonian court to Pydna, where Cassander put her under siege.

Olympias vs Cassander
By late 317, or early 316, Cassander’s siege of Pydna had led to a state of starvation in Olympias’ army. Soldiers started to desert. Realising that further resistance really was useless, Olympias surrendered, ordering Aristonous to do likewise. Cassander assured both that they would not be hurt, only to have Aristonous quickly murdered and Olympias executed following a show trial..
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Cassander’s victory over Polyperchon, and his seizure of Olympias, won him the right to become Alexander IV’s regent. He proved his loyalty to the young king by having him and his mother Roxane put under house arrest in Amphipolis where they remained until their deaths in 309. Having acted so decisively against the Argeads Cassander now sought to persuade everyone that really he was for them, so he held state funerals for Philip Arrhidaeus, Adea Euridike and Cynnane, and married Thessalonike, another of Alexander’s half-sisters. It worked, and Cassander would hold power in Macedon until his death in 297 BC.

• Cassander’s victory over Polyperchon and Olympias marks the end of the Second War of the Diadochi in Greece. To read about how Antigonus defeated Eumenes to take control of the eastern empire click here.

See previous chapters here
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This post is the second in my series on the forty-two year struggle between Alexander’s successors for control of some or all of his empire. By Successors I mean not only his senior officers at his death (Perdiccas, Craterus etc) but, as we shall see in subsequent posts, the sons of those same officers.
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I am writing these posts because I have just finished reading Robin Waterfield’s Dividing the Spoils on the subject and writing out a timeline based on the information that he provides. Any mistakes in the information below are, of course, my own.
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322 - 320/19 The First War of the Diadochi
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Principle Combatants
Eumenes vs Neoptolemus - Eumenes wins
Craterus vs Eumenes - Eumenes wins
Perdiccas vs Ptolemy - Ptolemy wins (by default; Perdiccas assassinated by own men)
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Locations

• Border of Asia Minor/Cappadocia
• Egypt
• Cappadocia
• Pisidia

Outcome

• Re-arrangement of the empire at the Triparadeisus Conference
• A great increase in Antigonus Monophthalmus’ personal power

That Alexander’s Successors (diadochi) would soon come to blows was hinted at during the Lamian War when Perdiccas offered to help the Greek cities in their war against Antipater. He did this because he feared that the alliance created by Antipater with Craterus and Leonnatus would threaten him if it defeated the Greek cities.
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The First War of the Diadochi began in 322. Antipater and Craterus (Leonnatus died in the Lamian conflict) obtained permission from Lysimachus, governor of Thrace, to pass through his territory on their way to Asia Minor (via the Hellespont). Perdiccas was having none of this and ordered White Cleitus to guard the Hellespont with his fleet. Eumenes, Alexander’s old secretary, was on Perdiccas’ side, and the regent gave him 20,000 men to protect Asia Minor. He also ordered his brother, Alcestas, and Neoptolemus to help Eumenes.
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This war would not just be Antipater and Craterus vs Perdiccas, however; Antigonus had already decided to oppose Perdiccas, and he soon delivered a heavy blow to the regent by securing the defection of Asander and Menander (satraps of Caria and Lydia). It nearly got even worse for Perdiccas when Antigonus came close to capturing Eumenes, too. Eumenes was told of his approach just in time and escaped.
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Cunning was a hallmark of the allies. Having already persuaded some of the Greek cities to not fight him at the Battle of Krannon, Antipater managed now to persuade White Cleitus to defect to his side. He didn’t have it all his own way, though, for overtures to Neoptolemus had so far proved inconclusive, while Eumenes had spurned his advances.
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Things got worse for Perddicas when his brother Alcetas announced that he would not support Eumenes. He feared that if he did so, his men might defect to the popular general. As a result of this decision, he kept his army in Pisidia (south western Asia Minor).
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A lesser man might have quailed at how the war was going even before any fighting had started. Perdiccas, though, was not going to sit back and let things simply happen to him. He marched from Cappadocia (where he had gone to put down a rebellious Persian ruler) to Cilicia (south-east Asia Minor) and there divided his fleet between,

• Attalus, who was ordered to sail to Egypt - alongside the land army that Perdiccas was taking there to fight Ptolemy, and
• Aristonous, one of Alexander’s somatophylakes (Bodyguards), who was given orders to occupy Cyprus, which was not only in a very strategic location but had excellent natural resources.

Antipater and Craterus crossed the Hellespont. Once in Asia Minor they separated - Craterus began his march to Cappadocia, to confront Eumenes, while Antipater marched to resource rich Cilicia, which he intended to occupy (Perdiccas having moved south to Egypt). As for Antigonus he sailed to Cyprus to take on Aristonous.
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First Battle: Eumenes vs Neoptolemus
Border of Asia Minor/Cappadocia

Antipater finally persuaded Neoptolemus to defect. Upon doing so, Neoptolemus set out with his army to link up with his new ally but was intercepted by Eumenes.
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Eumenes won the subsequent battle in May 320 - the first of the Macedonian civil war. Neoptolemus and some of his cavalry escaped from the battlefield, but Eumenes succeeded in capturing his baggage train. This was very useful because it allowed him to ‘persuade’ Neoptolemus’ soldiers to join his army. The inverted commas are because it was probably more a case of ‘join me if you ever want to see your wife/girlfriend, money and possessions ever again’. Darius III’s men captured Alexander’s baggage train at Gaugamela but fortunately it was too late for the king to try that on with Alexander.
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Second Battle: Craterus vs Eumenes
Border of Asia Minor/Cappadocia
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On paper, this should have been a nailed on win for Craterus. However, Eumenes emerged the victor after launching a surprise attack on Craterus’ phalanx with his cavalry. Craterus became the second Successor to be killed after he fell from and was trampled by his horse.
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The brilliance of Eumenes’ win cannot be underestimated. Like Alcetas, Eumenes feared that his men might defect to Craterus if they knew they were about to fight fellow Macedonians. So, he told them the general approaching them was Neoptolemus, a Molossian (an Epirotian tribe).
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Eumenes was still not comfortable. So, he resorted to a trick that others would try again in the future - he told his men that Alexander had appeared to him in a dream and told him that victory would be his.
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And so it was. Craterus, however, was not the only Successor to die that day. Eumenes fought Neoptolemus in a duel and killed him. And you thought duels only happened in Star Wars. That’s how tough these men were.
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After Craterus’ and Neoptolemus’ death, Eumenes made peace with the now leaderless enemy soldiers. Many of them joined his army, though some or all would later slip away and return to Antipater’s side.
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Seeing what happened in Cappadocia persuaded Alcetas to stay loyal to Perdiccas, and he joined Eumenes
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Perdiccas in Egypt
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Perdiccas marched from Cilicia to Egypt. Despite his rank and authority as regent to Philip Arrhidaeus and Alexander IV men still deserted from his army. Waterfield says Ptolemy ‘undoubtedly’ had a fifth column operating in Perdiccas’ army. What do you think?
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Despite the desertions, Perdiccas arrived at the Nile near Memphis. It is here that everything started to go wrong for the man who would be emperor.
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To reach Memphis (Egypt’s then capital), the river needed to be forded; it was, however, fast flowing. Perdiccas ordered his men across, using his war elephants up-river to break up the flow of the water. But the men crossing the river destabilised the river bed effectively making it deeper. Before long, the river had become too deep to traverse. Perdiccas was forced to recall those men who have already crossed it, only to see hundreds die when they were swept away by the current.
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Generals in antiquity lived and died according to how successful they were. This is why it was so easy for soldiers captured by one general after a battle to end up serving the man they had surrendered to. Perdiccas was asking for trouble by losing so many men really for no good reason at all, and very soon after that trouble came to him.
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Peithon, another of Alexander’s somatophylakes, and Antigenes (who, like Antigonus, also had one eye) visited Perdiccas in his tent under the pretence that they wished to discuss official business. Once inside, they assassinated him. Thus died the most powerful (at that time) Successor of all.
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Ptolemy’s Gamble
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As I read about the Wars of the Successors, Ptolemy comes across to me as a very cautious man. After Perdiccas’ death, however, he surely threw that caution to the wind when he entered the Perdiccas’ camp, to be arrested and put on trial. Waterfield doesn’t say what the charges against Ptolemy were, but one could imagine them being crimes against the kings. It didn’t matter, though, for he was acquitted of all charges.
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The cleaning of Ptolemy’s name meant the blackening of Perdiccas’, which had fatal consequences for the remaining senior Perdiccans as I will shortly explain.
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After the trial, Waterfield explains that Ptolemy ‘endeared’ himself to Perdiccas’ men by promising to give them supplies and let them go wither they would. I have to say that, given the uncertainty of the age, it could have gone very badly wrong for Ptolemy, on this day, though, he played an absolute blinder. Personally, I can’t think of any other Successor who put himself under such intense danger off the battlefield.
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While at the camp, Ptolemy was offered the now vacant role of regent but refused it. On the face of it this seems rather surprising. Ptolemy already had Alexander’s body, wouldn’t his prestige among the Successors go up a hundred fold if he had the kings, too? Well, Perdiccas’ didn’t, so I have to reject that thought. What it would certainly have done, though, is make Egypt that much more of a target for the other Successors.
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As I said above, I think Ptolemy was a very cautious man. I don’t think he wanted to own very much more than Egypt and some buffer zones. He did make a half-hearted attempt to invade Egypt in 309 but quickly withdrew after the Greek cities showed no sign of wanting to treat with him. Having Philip Arrhidaeus and Alexander IV nearby would have endangered his attempt to build his power and authority in Egypt, and so he turned down the chance to be their regent.
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After Ptolemy’s refusal, Peithon and Arrhidaeus took over the regency, instead. Perdiccas’ army was not done with holding trials, though. Upon hearing of the death of Craterus, it put Eumenes, Alcetas and sundry other Perdiccans on trial in absentia. Naturally, they were found guilty of the charges against them, and were sentenced to death; those Perdiccans unlucky enough to be at hand, were executed. This included Perdiccas’ sister.
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There was a pause in the fighting after Perdiccas’ failed invasion of Egypt while the Successors met in Triparadeisus to rearrange Alexander’s empire yet again.
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By-the-bye, Waterfield says that Triparadeisus was a huge royal park that may be near modern day Baalbek, which is in north-eastern Lebanon.
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At Triparadeisus, Antigonus was given authority to mop up the remaining Perdiccan forces. He began this in earnest when he confronted Eumenes in Cappadocia.
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Third Battle: Antoginus vs Eumenes
Cappadocia
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For someone who had proven himself a skilled general, Eumenes deserved better than defeat by mid-battle defection, yet this is what happened when members of his cavalry suddenly went over to Antigonus’ side. Once again, Antigonus had used his cunning to get the result, this time by playing on Eumenes’ inherent unpopularity caused by his being Greek rather than Macedonian.
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Eumenes survived the battle - he and a few of his army escaped into the Cappadocian mountains where they would carry out a guerrilla war against Antigonus. He ended up, though, under siege in a mountain fortress at somewhere called Nora (location unknown).
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Fourth Battle: Antigonus vs Alcetas
Pisidia
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Antigonus put Nora under siege and left for Pisidia where he confronted Alcetas. This battle occupies four lines in Dividing the Spoils so I imagine not much is not about except the salient fact that Antigonus won, and won handsomely. Alcetas committed suicide.
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For me, the natural end of the First War of the Diadochi is after Perdiccas’ death and the Triparadeisus Conference, but Waterfield says it ended in 319 with Antigonus’ victories against Eumenes and Alcetas so out of respect to him, here we are.
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And here is a list of the Successors killed between 322 - 319:

• Craterus - Border of Asia Minor/Cappadocia 320 BC
• Neoptolemus - Border of Asia Minor / Cappadocia 320 BC
• Perdiccas - Egypt 320 BC
• Alcetas - Pisidia, Asia Minor 319 BC

Next: Round Two (Bigger and bloodier than before)