The historians' history of the world in twenty-five volumes, volume 03 : $b Greece to the Peloponnesian War
History
The historians' history of the world in twenty-five volumes, volume 03 : $b Greece to the Peloponnesian War
World history
323. At Alexander’s death his young half-brother, =Philip Arrhidæus=,
succeeded to his empire, while there are expectations of a posthumous
heir by Roxane. The young Alexander is born. =Perdiccas= is made regent
over the Asiatic dominions, while =Antipater= and =Craterus= take the
joint regency of the West. The Greeks, with Athens at their head, attempt
to throw off the Macedonian yoke as soon as Alexander is dead, and
the Lamian war breaks out (323-322). But one by one the states yield
to Antipater and Craterus. The direct government of the dominions in
Europe, Africa, and Western Asia is divided among Alexander’s generals.
Thirty-four shared in the allotment; the most important are: =Ptolemy
Lagus=, in Egypt and Cyrenaica; =Antigonus=, in Phrygia, Pamphylia,
and Lycia; =Eumenes=, the secretary of Alexander, in Paphlagonia and
Cappadocia; =Cassander=, in Caria; =Leonnatus=, in Hellespontine Phrygia;
=Menander=, in Lydia; and =Lysimachus=, in Thrace and the Euxine
districts. Perdiccas aims to marry Alexander’s sister, Cleopatra, as
a means of becoming absolute master of the empire. The other generals
league themselves against him, and (321) Perdiccas is murdered by his
soldiers while proceeding against Ptolemy. Antipater replaces him as
regent, and redivides the empire; =Seleucus= is given Babylonia to rule
over. Antipater dies 319, and the son =Cassander= and =Polysperchon=
become regents. In 317 and 316, Cassander conquers Greece and Macedonia.
Antigonus, with the help of Cassander, attacks and defeats Eumenes, who
is betrayed by his own forces in 316. Antigonus now has ambitions to
control the whole empire, and in 315 the terrible war of the Diadochi,
between him and the other generals, begins. Antigonus and his son,
=Demetrius Poliorcetes=, call themselves kings. Seleucus, Lysimachus,
Cassander, and others do the same. Demetrius seizes Athens in 307. At
the end of the struggle every member of Alexander’s family is dead, the
majority put to death. In 301, at the battle of Ipsus, Antigonus falls,
and Demetrius takes to flight. Cassander dies 296, and the succession
is contested by his two sons, =Philip IV= and =Antipater=. Demetrius
takes the opportunity of this quarrel to seize the European dominions. He
prepares to invade Asia, and the other successors of the empire, together
with King =Pyrrhus= of Epirus, league against him. In 287 Pyrrhus invades
Macedonia, and Demetrius’ army deserts him. Pyrrhus is welcomed as king,
and he gives Lysimachus the eastern part of Macedonia to rule over.
Demetrius renews the struggle with Pyrrhus, and at his death, in 283, his
son, =Antigonus Gonatas=, carries it on. In 282 Lysimachus is attacked
by Seleucus Nicator, and is defeated and killed on the plain of Corus in
281. =Ptolemy Ceraunus= murders Seleucus, and seizes the European kingdom
of Lysimachus. In 280 Pyrrhus goes to Tarentum to make war on the Romans.
THE ACHÆAN AND ÆTOLIAN LEAGUES
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