Seleucus was another of the generals of Alexander--the only one, in
fact, besides Lysimachus, who now survived. He had, of course, like
Lysimachus, attained to a very advanced period of life, being at this
time more than seventy-five years old. These veterans might have been
supposed to have lived long enough to have laid aside their ancient
rivalries, and to have been willing to spend their few remaining years
in peace. But it was far otherwise in fact. Seleucus was pleased with
the pretext afforded him, by the coming of Lysandra, for embarking in
new wars. Lysandra was, in a short time, followed in her flight by
many of the nobles and chieftains of Macedon, who had espoused her
cause. Lysimachus, in fact, had driven them away by the severe
measures which he had adopted against them. These men assembled at the
court of Seleucus, and there, with Lysander and Ptolemy Ceraunus, they
began to form plans for invading the dominions of Lysimachus, and
avenging the cruel death of Agathocles. Seleucus was very easily
induced to enter into these plans, and war was declared.
Lysimachus did not wait for his enemies to invade his dominions; he
organized an army, crossed the Hellespont, and marched to meet
Seleucus in Asia Minor. The armies met in Phrygia. A desperate battle
was fought. Lysimachus was conquered and slain.
Seleucus now determined to cross the Hellespont himself, and,
advancing into Thrace and Macedon, to annex those kingdoms to his own
domains. Ptolemy Ceraunus accompanied him. This Ptolemy, it will be
recollected, was the son of Ptolemy, king of Egypt, by his wife
Eurydice; and, at first view, it might seem that he could have no
claim whatever himself to the crown of Macedon. But Eurydice, his
mother, was the daughter of Antipater, the general to whom Macedon had
been assigned on the original division of the empire after Alexander's
death. Antipater had reigned over the kingdom for a long time with
great splendor and renown, and his name and memory were still held in
great veneration by all the Macedonians. Ptolemy Ceraunus began to
conceive, therefore, that he was entitled to succeed to the kingdom as
the grandson and heir of the monarch who was Alexander's immediate
successor, and whose claims were consequently, as he contended,
entitled to take precedence of all others.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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