Some of the most important histories of Greece, notably those of Mitford
and of Grote, have terminated with the death of Alexander; and in point
of fact one feels some logic in the contention that Greece as a factor
in civilisation disappeared with the close of the Alexandrian epoch. Yet
as far as mere chronology goes Greece continued a nation, and in some
respects a more closely unified nation than ever before, for a period
after the death of Alexander as long as the period of her prominence
before that event. It was in the year 500 B.C. that the Ionian cities
of Asia Minor revolted against the Persian power, and precipitated that
conflict which had for its chief result the bringing of the Greek nation,
for the first time, into prominence as a world power. From this memorable
date to the death of Alexander in 323 B.C., is a period of 177 years;
and, as it happened, another period of exactly the same length intervened
between the death of Alexander and the final overthrow of Greece by the
Romans, culminating in the destruction of Corinth in the year 146 B.C.
But while equally extended in point of time, how utterly different are
these two periods in world-historic import! Into the first of them were
crowded the events which have made the name of Greece famous for all
time; the second was a mere period of senility, in which a once powerful
and still proud people struggled in vain to regain its former status, and
finally collapsed utterly under the blows of a superior power. Yet in
mere geographical extent the Greece of this later period was far larger
than Greece proper of the earlier time, for now it included, in addition
to the original Hellas, the territories of Macedonia and Epirus; but this
was never an harmonious coalition.
The old Greeks of the classical territory were never reconciled to the
domination of their northern neighbours, whom they preferred to consider
as barbarians, but they were obliged for much of the time to accept that
domination, however unwillingly; for the kings of Macedonia, though their
power fluctuated from time to time, always had more or less influence
over the entire territory of the new Greece.
The meteoric career of Alexander had been cut short at a time when that
hero, though he had accomplished conquests without precedent in history,
had not yet entered upon the full prime of manhood. It is known that his
ever active brain was teeming with plans for fresh conquests, and it is
hardly to be doubted that, had he lived, some of these would have been
put into almost immediate execution. What the final result would have
been, is one of those problems that must ever puzzle the mind of the
thoughtful student of history. Such conjectures are utterly futile; yet
one cannot escape them. Would the conqueror of the East have spread his
power to the West also, subjugating Europe as he had already subjugated
Asia? Would he have gone on throughout another half century, had that
stretch of life been granted to him, ruling with a firm hand the wide
territories that he had conquered, and holding his mighty empire under
one unified government with himself at its summit--or would his mighty
ambition presently have overstepped the bounds of reason, and would some
reverse have presently dashed him headlong from his pinnacle of power? As
to this no man can say, and all moralisings on the subject are but idle
dreams.
[Sidenote: [323-301 B.C.]]
But turning from such visions to the realities, one is presented with
an extraordinary picture of a mighty empire, built up by a mere youth,
held for the moment, as it were, in the grasp of his hand, and then
dashed suddenly into fragments as that hand fell stricken by death. In
twelve years the youth Alexander had made himself absolute master of
wider territories than were probably ever ruled before by any one man
in recorded history; but, almost before the breath of life had left his
body, and literally before that body had been laid in the tomb, a strife
had begun among the followers of the great captain, which was to lead to
almost immediate dismemberment of his empire.
It is one of the surest tests of a great leader of men to be able to
gather about him great men as his assistants. Judged by this test
Alexander looms large indeed, for he had among his generals, as after
events were to prove, a whole company of men, each of whom acknowledged
himself subordinate to Alexander, but declined to bow to any lesser
power; each of whom, indeed, believed himself worthy to be a king, and
determined to make that belief good in practice, now that the great
king was no more. Antipater and Craterus, and Antigonus, and Cassander,
and Ptolemy, and Eumenes--these are but a few of the leaders among the
men who at once began to quarrel about Alexander’s possessions, even to
the neglect of the burial of Alexander’s body. It seems that Alexander
had foreseen the inevitable faction, for the story was told that on his
death-bed, he had been asked to whom he wished his empire to fall, and he
had feebly answered, “to the best man!”
There was, indeed, a pretence of preserving the empire for Alexander’s
son, borne by Roxane after his death, and given the name of Alexander
the Younger; but a score of years is long to wait for a ruler of a
newly formed empire, which has within it so many elements of discord
as were to be found in the empire of Alexander; and, however sincere a
certain number of the leaders may have been, their original intentions
of holding the empire for the heir of its founder had vanished from the
minds of every one almost before that heir was born. There was indeed a
royalist party, which for a time attempted, perhaps in good faith, to
uphold the rights of the royal family of Macedonia; but, in the course
of the intricate series of revolts and wars in which the entire empire
was soon involved, it became difficult, if not impossible, to trace the
motives that influenced the various principal actors. But, whatever these
motives, the results were very tangible and unmistakable. Alexander’s
heir was never destined to reach manhood. Both he and his mother were
ruthlessly killed by Cassander. Olympias, the mother of Alexander, who,
for a time, took an active part in the contests, evincing qualities which
explained many of the traits of her great son, met a like fate.
The work of destruction went on until the royal family of Macedon, which
Philip and Alexander had made illustrious, was routed out to its last
member, and finally, after some twenty-two years of incessant warfare,
the vast empire of Alexander was divided into three chief parts:
Macedonia, including Greece proper, under the Antigonidæ, the descendants
of Antigonus; the Asiatic kingdom, under the Seleucidæ; and Egypt, under
the Ptolemies. The subsequent history of each of these three kingdoms
must be considered by itself, but first we must make a brief survey of
that great conglomerate struggle through which this dismemberment of the
empire of Alexander was brought about.[a] Of this Niebuhr says:
“The disputes among the generals of Alexander are to me the most
confused events in history. I have very often read them attentively,
in order to gain a clear insight into them; but, although I have had a
tenacious memory from my early youth, I never was able to gain a distinct
recollection of the detail of those quarrels and disputes: I always found
myself involved in difficulties. And such is the case still; I find it
impossible to group the events in such a manner as to afford an easy
survey. This confusion arises from the fact that we have to deal with a
crowd of men among whom there is not one that stands forth prominently
on account of his personal character. The question always is, whether
one robber or another is to be master, and it is impossible to take
pleasure in any one of them. One is, indeed, better than another, and
Ptolemy is, in my opinion, the best: he was a blessing to Egypt, which
under him became happy and prosperous, for his government was rational;
but still he is morally a man in whom we can take little interest. His
personal character leaves us quite indifferent, when we have once formed
a notion of him. Eumenes is the only one who is important on account of
his personal character; all the rest are imposing through their deeds of
arms alone.
“In the earlier history of Greece we like to follow the great men step by
step; but all these Macedonians leave us perfectly indifferent; we feel
no interest whether the one is defeated or the other; not even the tragic
fall of Lysimachus can make an impression upon us; I look upon it with
greater indifference than I should feel at a bull-fight, in which a noble
animal defends itself against the dogs that are set at it. I could wish
that the earth had opened and swallowed up all the Macedonians. Everyone
intimately acquainted with ancient history will share this feeling of
indifference with me. And when we are under the influence of such a
feeling, it is not easy to dwell upon a history like this; it does not
impress itself upon our mind.
“It would be most easy to relate the history of the successors of
Alexander as minutely as it was given by Trogus Pompeius, and as we still
have it in Diodorus; but there would then be before us only a vast chaos.
Even where we have ample information, we must advance rapidly.
“Whoever wishes to investigate this history, must study the eighteenth,
nineteenth, and twentieth books of Diodorus; but he ought not to forget
that there are many gaps in Diodorus. The eighteenth book, in particular
is very much mutilated, and some of the gaps are concealed; for the
manuscripts of Diodorus were made with the intention to conceal the fact
that they are not complete. The student, however, must compare also the
_Excerpts_ in Photius from Arrian’s lost work.”[g]
COUNCIL AT BABYLON AFTER ALEXANDER’S DEATH
[Sidenote: [323 B.C.]]
The Macedonians passed the night after the king’s death under arms, as
if feeling themselves surrounded by enemies. The peaceable inhabitants
of Babylon, perhaps with better reason, dreaded lest their wealthy city
should become the scene of military tumult and licence. They hardly
ventured to creep out of their houses to gather news; lighted no lamps
in the evening, but watched for the morning in darkness and silence,
eagerly listening, and trembling at every sound they caught. The great
officers on whom the care of the state chiefly devolved, probably spent
the same interval, together or apart, in no less anxious deliberation. By
Hephæstion’s death the number of those who bore the title of somatophylax
was reduced to seven: Leonnatus, Lysimachus, Aristonous, Perdiccas,
Ptolemy (the reputed son of Lagus, but, according to a report rather
widely spread, one of Philip’s bastards, his mother having been the
king’s mistress), Pithon, and Peucestas. When Alexander died, they were
all in Babylon.
The next day they summoned a council of the other Macedonian officers,
some of whom were but little inferior to them in rank and influence,
to confer on the great question of the succession. The soldiers wished
to take part in it also; and, though forbidden, forced their way into
the palace, and filled the avenues of the council hall, so that many
witnessed the proceedings. There a mournful object met their eyes, and
revived the consciousness of their loss--the vacant throne, on which had
been laid the diadem, with the royal robes and armour. The sight called
forth a fresh burst of lamentation, which however was hushed into deep
silence, when Perdiccas came forward to address the assembly. First
he placed the ring, which he had received from Alexander in his last
moments, on the throne. “The ring,” he said, “was the royal signet, which
Alexander had used for the most important state business; it had been
committed to him by the dying king, but he placed it at their disposal.
It was however absolutely necessary for their own safety that they should
forthwith elect a chief, capable of guarding them against the dangers to
which they would be exposed without a head in a hostile land. It was to
be hoped that, in a few months, Roxane would give them an heir to the
throne. In the meanwhile it was for them to choose, by whom they would
be governed.” He had probably hoped that the wish which he so modestly
dissembled would have been anticipated by general acclamation. But the
meeting waited for advice.
Nearchus had a different plan to propose. He, as we have seen, had
married a daughter of Mentor’s widow, Barsine; and Barsine was also the
mother of a son by Alexander. He therefore pointed out to the Macedonians
“that there was no need to wait for the uncertain issue of Roxane’s
pregnancy; there was an heir to the throne already born--Hercules, the
son of Barsine: to him the diadem belonged.” But Nearchus was the only
man present who had any interest in this choice. The soldiers clashed
their spears and shields together, in token of vehement dissent; and
Ptolemy gave utterance to their feelings on this point: “Neither Barsine,
nor Roxane, could be mother of a prince whom the Macedonians would
acknowledge as their sovereign. Was it to be borne, that the conquerors
of Asia should become subject to the son of a barbarian captive? It was
better that the throne should remain vacant, and that the persons who had
formed Alexander’s council of state should continue to have the supreme
management of affairs, deciding all questions by a majority of votes.”
This motion however gained few partisans; its effect would have been
permanently to exclude the royal family from the succession: a step for
which few were prepared.
Thus most minds were turned towards the advice of Perdiccas; for there
was a clear distinction between Barsine, and Roxane, Alexander’s beloved
wife, who was then in the palace, while Mentor’s widow had been left
with her son at Pergamus. It was now the right time for some friend
of Perdiccas to come forward in his behalf, and Aristonous, perhaps
according to previous concert, undertook the task. He observed “that
Alexander himself had already decided who was worthiest to command, when,
having cast his eyes round all his friends who were at his bedside, he
gave his royal signet to Perdiccas. They had only to ratify Alexander’s
choice.” Still the assembly was not inclined to invest Perdiccas alone,
under any title, with supreme power. The result of the whole deliberation
was a sort of compromise between the proposals of Ptolemy and Aristonous.
It seems to have been decided, but not without clamorous opposition,
that, if Roxane should bear a son, he should succeed to the throne;
and that in the meanwhile four guardians should be appointed for the
future prince to exercise the royal authority in his name. Perdiccas and
Leonnatus were to be regents in Asia, Antipater and Craterus in Europe.
The cavalry--the aristocratical portion of the army--acquiesced in the
resolution of their chiefs. But it was very ill received by the whole
body of the infantry. No motive appears for their dissatisfaction, except
that they had not been consulted on the question, and that they wished to
dispose of the crown. Still it is not clear whether they acted quite of
their own accord, or were excited to resistance by Meleager, who seems
to have been impelled, partly by ambition, and partly by personal enmity
to Perdiccas. The accounts remaining of his conduct are contradictory
as to details, but agree in representing him as the leader and soul of
the opposition. According to some authors, he quitted the council of the
officers after bitter invectives against Perdiccas, declaring that the
people was the true heir of the monarchy, and alone could rightfully
dispose of it, and hastened to instigate the soldiery to insurrection and
plunder. According to others, he was deputed to appease their discontent,
but took the opportunity to inflame it, and placed himself at their head.
We are left equally in doubt whether it was he who first proposed another
competitor for the throne, whose name was soon mentioned in the popular
assembly.
This was Arrhidæus, a son of Philip, by Philinna, a Thessalian woman,
who is commonly described as of low condition. Arrhidæus was either
naturally deficient in understanding, or had never recovered from the
effects of a potion, said to have been administered to him by Olympias,
whom jealousy rendered capable of every crime. It seems that Alexander,
either through prudence or compassion, had removed him from Macedonia,
though he had not thought him fit to be trusted with any command; and
he was now in Babylon. Most probably Meleager, perceiving that whoever
should raise such a prince to the throne would reign under his name, was
the foremost to recommend him as the sole legitimate heir. To the army
Arrhidæus must have been personally indifferent; but he was Philip’s son,
without any mixture of barbarian blood, and, which probably weighed more
with them, he would be purely their creature. The proposal therefore was
agreeable to their pride and their prejudices, which were stronger than
their regard for Alexander now, as they had been in his lifetime. After a
short pause--perhaps of surprise that a name so seldom heard should have
been put forward on such an occasion--all, as if some happy discovery
had been made, broke out into loud acclamations in favour of Arrhidæus;
and Pithon, who, it seems--having apparently been sent by the council
to soothe them--endeavoured to show the folly of their choice, only
incurred their resentment. Meleager was deputed to bring the prince into
the assembly; and, when he came, they saluted him as king, under the new
name of Philip. He immediately proceeded to the palace, accompanied by
Meleager, and escorted by the troops. The officers, it seems, were still
in council there, and when Arrhidæus appeared, some attempt was made to
terminate the affair by discussion. But as the chiefs refused to sanction
the choice of the infantry, they soon found themselves threatened with
violence, and obliged to retire. Arrhidæus mounted the throne, and was
invested with the royal robes.
PERDICCAS, MELEAGER, EUMENES, AND THE PUPPET KING
Perdiccas had ordered the door of the room where Alexander’s body lay to
be locked, and prepared to guard it with six hundred chosen men; he was
joined by Ptolemy at the head of the royal pages. They were however soon
overpowered by superior numbers. The soldiers of the adverse party broke
into the chamber; blows were interchanged, Perdiccas himself was attacked
with missiles, and blood was beginning to flow, when some of the elder
among the assailants interposed, and, taking off their helmets, entreated
Perdiccas and his followers to desist from their useless resistance.
[Illustration: WATER CARRIER
(After Hope)]
Their mediation put an end to this prelude of the long contest which
was to take place for Alexander’s remains. But the greater part of the
generals, and the whole body of the cavalry, quitted the city, and
encamped outside the walls. Perdiccas did not yet accompany them; he
hoped, it seems, that some change might happen in the disposition of the
multitude, which he might more easily turn to his own advantage, if he
stayed. But Meleager, probably apprehending the same thing, and eager to
satisfy his hatred, urged the king to give an order for the execution of
Perdiccas. This he could not obtain; Arrhidæus was perhaps too timid to
strike so great a blow. Meleager therefore was forced to interpret the
silence of his royal puppet as consent, and sent an armed band to the
house of Perdiccas, with directions to bring him to the palace, or to
kill him if he should resist. Perdiccas had only about sixteen of the
royal pages with him, when his door was beset. He however appeared on the
threshold with a firm countenance, and overawed those who came to arrest
him by the severe dignity of his looks and his words. They probably did
not think Meleager’s authority a sufficient warrant for the murder of a
man of such high rank. When they had withdrawn, he and his attendants
mounted their horses, and hastened to the camp of their friends.
One eminent person of their party however remained in the city: Eumenes
the Cardian, who had already decided on the course which his own
interests required, and on this occasion gave proof of the sagacity and
dexterity, which afterwards carried him through so many dangers and even
brought him so near to the highest fortune. Eumenes, in his boyhood, had
attracted Philip’s notice by his promising talents; he was brought up at
the Macedonian court, and was employed by Alexander both as his principal
secretary and keeper of the records, and in military commands. He had
risen so high in favour with the king, that he could even venture on more
than one occasion to quarrel with Hephæstion; but, after the favourite’s
death, he laboured, by ingenious contrivances and profuse expense in
honour of his memory, to remove all suspicion that he viewed the event
with pleasure. In this liberality, he showed the greater self-command, as
he was habitually parsimonious.
Such a man was formed for the times which followed Alexander’s death.
Eumenes felt that he could only be safe in the strife of parties, as
long as he could guard against the jealousy to which a foreigner in
high station was exposed among the Macedonians. He remained, as we
have observed, in Babylon after the flight of Perdiccas, under the
pretext that he had no right to take a part in disputes concerning the
succession; secretly however purposing to promote the interests of
Perdiccas, as far as he could; for he probably foresaw that this side
would finally prevail. He assumed the character of a peace-maker; and his
seeming neutrality gave great weight to his mediation. It was seconded
by vigorous measures on the part of the seceders. They began to stop
the supply of provisions, and to threaten the Great City with famine.
Meleager found his condition growing every day more embarrassing. He had
been called to account by his own troops for the attempt he had made
against the life of Perdiccas, and could only shelter himself under the
royal authority. At length the soldiers came in a body to the palace, and
demanded that an embassy should be sent to the cavalry, with overtures of
peace. Three envoys were accordingly despatched: and it is remarkable,
that one of them was a Thessalian, another an Arcadian of Megalopolis;
so that probably the third, Perilaus, whose country is not mentioned,
was not a Macedonian. The negotiations which followed are reported too
obscurely to be described. It is said that the party of Perdiccas refused
to treat, until the authors of the quarrel had been given up to them; and
that this demand excited a violent tumult in the city, which was only
calmed when Arrhidæus, displaying more vigour than he had been believed
to possess, offered to resign the crown. Yet it does not appear that this
condition was granted.
THE COMPACT
The terms on which the treaty was concluded were, according to the most
authentic account, that Arrhidæus should share the empire with Roxane’s
child, if it should be a boy; that Antipater should command the forces in
Europe; that Craterus should be at the head of affairs in the dominions
of Arrhidæus; but that Perdiccas should be invested with the command of
the horse-guards, the chiliarchy, before held by Hephæstion, in which
Alexander would permit no one to succeed him. This, it seems, was a post
which, at the Persian court, had been equivalent to that prime minister,
or grand vizier of the whole empire. It was however stipulated that
Meleager should be associated with Perdiccas in the regency, though with
a subordinate rank. Of Leonnatus we hear no more as a member of the
government. The compact was ratified by a solemn reconciliation between
the contending parties. The cavalry returned to the city; the phalanx
marched out to meet them; Perdiccas and Meleager advanced between the
lines to salute each other as friends. The troops on each side followed
their example, and were once more united in one body.
It was however impossible, after what had happened, that Perdiccas and
Meleager should ever trust each other. Meleager probably relied on the
infantry for protection. But Perdiccas had now taken possession of the
imbecile king, who was as passive in his hands as he had been in his
rival’s, and had resolved to strike the first blow. Before he directly
attacked his enemy, he thought it necessary to deprive him of the support
which he might find in the army; and he seems to have devised a very
subtle plan for this end. He suborned emissaries to complain among the
foot-soldiers that by the recent arrangement Meleager had been elevated
to an equality with himself--not apparently for the purpose of exciting
discontent, or of gaining a party among these troops, but to lead
Meleager himself blindfold into a snare. Meleager was soon informed of
the language that had been used against him in the camp, and indignantly
complained of it to Perdiccas, whom he probably suspected to be its
secret author. But Perdiccas was so great a master of dissimulation, that
he completely lulled his suspicions. He affected to sympathise deeply
with his resentment, and proposed to arrest the agitators. It was agreed
between them, the more safely and surely to effect their object, that the
whole army should be drawn out in the adjacent plain, under the pretext
of a solemn lustration, to be celebrated with the old Macedonian rites,
to purify it from the blood shed in the late quarrel. The usage on such
occasions was to kill a dog, and to carry its entrails, divided into two
parts, to opposite extremities of the field, so that the army might be
drawn up between them, the phalanx on one side, the cavalry on the other.
Such at least was the order now adopted by the two chiefs.
On the appointed day Perdiccas, with the king at his side, placed himself
at the head of the cavalry and the elephants, facing the infantry, which
was commanded by Meleager. After a short pause, he ordered them to
advance. Meleager’s troops were alarmed at the sight of this movement,
for they now observed that the ground was favourable for the operations
of the cavalry, and that, if they were attacked, they should not be able
to make good their retreat without great loss. But, as they received no
orders from their chief, and were quite uncertain as to the design of
Perdiccas, they remained motionless, until a very narrow interval was
left between the two lines. The king then rode up with a single squadron,
and, having been previously instructed by the regent, demanded that
the authors of the late dissensions should be given up to punishment;
threatening, if they refused, to charge with the whole force of the
cavalry and the elephants.
The men were dismayed by the suddenness of the proceeding; and Meleager,
who now perceived his own danger, had not sufficient presence of mind
to make any attempt at self-defence. Perdiccas took advantage of their
consternation, to select about three hundred of those who had most
distinguished themselves as his adversary’s partisans, and immediately
caused them to be trampled to death by the elephants in the sight of
the whole army, and with the apparent consent of the king whose cause
they had maintained. After this execution Meleager could have no hope of
safety but in flight. He was not arrested on the field, but soon after
took refuge in a temple at Babylon, where he was despatched by order of
Perdiccas.
THE PARTITION
By this blow the regent’s authority was firmly established, as far as
related to the king and the army. A more difficult task remained. He was
still surrounded by rivals as ambitious as Meleager, and more formidable
from their ability and influence. His next care was to satisfy their
pretensions, so as least to weaken himself. A new distribution of the
satrapies was settled by general consent, but probably in most points
under his direction; in some at least we clearly trace his hand. It was
not necessary for any purpose to make a total change; and the general
principle adopted seems to have been to retain as many as possible of the
satraps appointed by Alexander in their governments. The provinces which
lay near the eastern and northeast frontier of the empire, were probably
the least coveted, and in these scarcely any alteration was made. There
were others from which, as they were more desirable, it might have been
more difficult to displace their actual occupants.
The most important part of the new arrangement was that which related to
the governments west of the Euphrates. Ptolemy, who was not only honoured
on account of his reputed connection with the royal family, but also much
beloved for his personal qualities, by the army, had fixed his eyes on
Egypt, and obtained it with the adjacent regions of Arabia and Libya.
Cleomenes was not removed, but placed under his orders. Laomedon remained
in Syria, Philotas in Cilicia, Asander in Caria, Menander in Lydia, and
Antigonus in the great province which included Phrygia proper, Lycia, and
Pamphylia. But since Lycia and Pamphylia are also said to have been given
to Nearchus, we may infer that he held these provinces with a subordinate
rank--a suspicion which is confirmed by his subsequent relations with
Antigonus. The Hellespontine Phrygia was assigned to Leonnatus--perhaps
as a compensation for his share in the regency, or for the sake of
removing him from court; and Eumenes, whom Perdiccas regarded as his
steady adherent, was rewarded with the title of satrap over Paphlagonia
and Cappadocia. But these countries, which Alexander had never subdued,
were still to be won by the sword from their native ruler, Ariarathes,
who had held them as an hereditary vassal of Persia.
In Europe the government of Macedonia and Greece, together with that
of the western countries on the coast of the Adriatic, which might
afterwards be annexed to the empire, was to be divided between Antipater
and Craterus--a partition in which Perdiccas may have seen a prospect of
collision between them likely to promote his ascendency. Thrace, or the
whole maritime region to the northeast of Macedonia, a province which had
never been reduced to tranquil submission, and where the Odrysians had
lately been roused to revolt by their chief Seuthes, was committed to
Lysimachus, a warrior of iron frame and unflinching hardihood. There are
two other names which might have been looked for in this list. Aristonous
might have been expected to occupy a prominent place in it, since he
had shown himself a decided partisan of Perdiccas; yet we hear of no
provision made for him. Hence it has been conjectured that Perdiccas
retained him near his person, as one of his staunchest friends. It was
perhaps for a like reason that he entrusted Seleucus--who was destined
to act so great a part in the history of the ensuing period--with the
chiliarchy which had been assigned to himself--a highly honourable and
important post indeed, but one which he might safely part with, as it
could add little or nothing to the power he possessed as regent.
ALEXANDER’S POSTHUMOUS PLANS
[Illustration: PRIESTESS
(After Hope)]
There still remained a question on which he felt it necessary to consult
the army, that he might relieve himself from a dangerous responsibility.
Papers had been found in Alexander’s cabinet, containing the outlines
of some vast projects. It would seem that they might easily have been
suppressed; but it was known that they corresponded in part with the
instructions which had been given to Craterus, and therefore they could
not safely be neglected without the general consent. Some related to the
equipment of a great armament--a thousand galleys, it is said, of the
largest size--destined for the conquest of Carthage, and of the whole
coast of Africa on the Mediterranean as far as the Straits, and those
of Spain and the adjacent maritime regions, as far as Sicily: for which
end a road was to be made along the African shore. Others were plans for
new colonies, to be planted in Asia with Europeans, and in Europe with
Asiatics. There were also directions for six new temples to be built in
Europe--at Delos, Delphi, Dodona, Dium, Amphipolis, and Cyrrhus--each
at the cost of fifteen hundred talents, beside one of extraordinary
magnificence to the goddess of Ilium, and for a monument to his father in
Macedonia, which was to equal the largest of the Egyptian pyramids in its
dimensions.
It must be owned, that there are some points in these schemes which
look suspicious, and which, even if they had crossed Alexander’s mind,
we should not have expected he would have committed to writing. But the
part relating to the temples can scarcely have been fabricated, and
was probably contained in the instructions given to Craterus. The plan
for an interchange of population between Europe and Asia is also quite
conformable to the views which Alexander disclosed in his life-time. This
however, and that of the expedition to Africa, could not any longer have
entered into any one’s thoughts, and might have been silently dropped.
But perhaps Perdiccas apprehended that the sums destined for the other
objects might be demanded from him by his colleagues, and therefore
deemed it advisable formally to annul the whole by the highest authority.
That he forged the project of the expedition, to render the real contents
of the papers the less acceptable to the Macedonians, seems a very
improbable conjecture. All were laid before a military assembly, and
rejected as impracticable or useless.
During the tumultuous scenes which followed Alexander’s death, his body
had lain in the palace unburied. There are various reports as to the
place selected for its interment. According to one, it was to have been
transported to the sanctuary of Ammon. But the more probable is, that it
was determined it should be deposited in the sepulchre of his ancestors
at Ægæ. And Aristander the soothsayer is said to have declared that it
had been revealed to him, the land where it rested was destined to be
ever prosperous and secure from invasion: which however was no more
than an ancient Greek superstition as to the virtue of a hero’s relics.
Orders were now given to construct a funeral car worthy of these precious
remains, and the general Arrhidæus was appointed to escort them towards
the western coast.[b]
The description by Diodorus (XVIII, 3) of this funeral pomp is so
gorgeous that as a farewell sunset of Alexander’s day it merits insertion
here:[a]
ALEXANDER’S FUNERAL DESCRIBED BY DIODORUS
“First was provided a Coffin of beaten Gold, so wrought by the Hammer
as to answer to the Proportion of the Body; it was half fill’d with
Aromatick Spices, which serv’d as well to delight the Sense as to
preserve the Body from Putrefaction. Over the Coffin was a Cover of Gold,
so exactly fitted, as to answer the higher part every way: Over this was
thrown a curious Purple Coat embroider’d with Gold, near to which were
plac’d the Arms of the Deceas’d, that the whole might represent the Acts
of his Life. Then was provided the Chariot, in which the Body was to be
convey’d, upon the top of which was rais’d a Triumphant Arch of Gold, set
thick and studded over with precious Stones eight Cubits in breadth, and
twelve in length: Under this Roof was plac’d a Throne of Gold, join’d to
the whole Work, foursquare, on which were carv’d the Heads of Goat-Harts,
and to these were fastened Golden Rings of two Hands breadth in the
diameter; at which hung, for Show and Pomp, little Coronets of various
beautiful Colours, which, like so many Flowers, gave a pleasant Prospect
to the Eye. Upon the top of the Arch was a Fringe of Network, where hung
large Bells, that the Sound of them might be heard at a great distance.
“On both sides the Arch at the Corners stood an Image of Victory in Gold,
bearing a Trophy: A Peristthylium, of Gold supported the Arch-work,
the Chapiters of whose Pillars were of Ionian Workmanship: Within the
Peristthylium, by a Network of Gold of a finger’s thickness in the
Workmanship, hung four Tablets one by another equal to the Dimensions of
the Wall, whereupon were portray’d all sorts of living Creatures. At the
entrance into the Arch stood Lions in Gold, with their Faces towards them
that approach’d to enter. From the middle of every Pillar an Achanthus
in Gold, sprouted up in Branches spiring in slender Threads to the very
Chapiters: Over the Arch about the middle of the Roof on the outside
was spread Purple Carpet in the open Air, on which was plac’d a vast
Golden Crown, in form of an Olive Coronet, which by the reflection of
the Sun-Beams darted such an amazing Splendor and Brightness, that at a
distance it appear’d as a Flash of Lightning. Under the Seats or Bottom
of the whole Work ran two Axle-trees, about which mov’d four Persian
Wheels, whose spokes and Nathes were over-laid with Gold, but the Felloes
were shod with Iron: The Ends of the Axes were of Gold, representing the
Heads of Lions, every one holding a Dart in his Mouth. There were four
Draught-Trees, to every one of which were fix’d four Courses of Yoaks,
and to every Course were bound four Mules, so that the Mules were sixty
four in number, the choicest for Strength and Largeness that could be
got: Every Mule was adorn’d with a Crown of Gold, and Bells of Gold on
either side their Heads; and on their Necks were fitted Rich Collars set
and beautified with precious Stones. And suitable to so stately a Show,
a vast Company of Workmen and Pioneers (that plain’d the Ways for its
Passage) attended it.
“And thus Arrhidæus (who had spent two Years in Preparations) brought
the King’s Body from Babylon to Ægypt. Ptolemy, in Honour of the King
met the Corps with his Army as far as Syria, where he receiv’d it, and
accompany’d it with great Care and Observance: For he had resolv’d not as
yet to conduct it to the Temple of Hammon, but to keep the Body in the
City which Alexander himself had built, the most Famous almost of any
City in the World. To this end he built a Temple in Honour of Alexander
in Greatness and Stateliness of Structure becoming the Glory and Majesty
of that King; and in this Repository he laid the Body, and honour’d the
Exequies of the Dead with Sacrifices and magnificent Shows, agreeable to
the State of a Demi-God.”[c]
ALEXANDER’S HEIRS
[Sidenote: [323-321 B.C.]]
While such honours were paid to the conqueror’s corpse, two of the living
objects of his affection fell victims to the revenge of Roxane and the
ambition of Perdiccas. Roxane, with the agent’s concurrence, invited
Statira and her sister Drypetis to Babylon by a friendly letter, and when
they came she caused them to be assassinated and secretly buried. In the
course of time Roxane was delivered of a boy, who was acknowledged as
partner of Philip Arrhidæus in the empire, and bore the name Alexander
(Ægus).[b]
_Arrhidæus, the Imbecile_
The sham government of Arrhidæus was now to commence. He must have
been staying with the army. The phalanx no doubt did not believe that
Arrhidæus was an idiot, but probably considered him to be a wise ruler
who was only calumniated: just as even in Denmark, no one would believe
that Christian VII was mad, from fear of wronging the king’s majesty. The
king’s madness was in Holstein such a secret that persons at the utmost
whispered it to one another, and to believe it appeared to the people
like a culpable act; there is something mystic in the belief that such
royal aberration is not madness, but profundity of thought. This may have
been the feeling of the phalangites.
The cavalry were satisfied, as soon as they had him in their power.
Perdiccas was chiliarchus or administrator, and Craterus was to take
care of the king’s person, as the queen took care of the person of King
George III, while the successor managed the government. Craterus was
assigned to him as a kind of tutor, who took care of him, and always
kept him in order; this shows how imbecile he must have been. Arrhidæus
disappears altogether from history, and he was no more king than his
nephew Alexander, the son of Roxane, and is mentioned only as a name. But
in order to understand many coins and some inscriptions, we must bear in
mind that Arrhidæus assumed the name of Philip.
The satrapies were now distributed afresh.
But before proceeding to the history of the satraps, or governors,
we must relate the first of the horrible scenes of that time--viz.,
the insurrection of the unfortunate Greeks in the ἄνω σατραπεῖαι (323
B.C.)--a term comprising Khorasan in its widest extent, partly the
province, properly so called, and partly the whole of Persia, east of
the great Median desert. There Alexander had settled the captive Greeks,
who had served as mercenaries under Darius, as well as other Greeks from
among his own allies; he formed them into military colonies. These people
were driven by despair to revolt, probably when they heard the report
of the Lamian War; they assembled and determined to force their way to
Greece. A Macedonian army under Pithon was sent against them. The fearful
demoralisation among the mercenaries became manifest on that occasion;
he would probably have been unable to do anything against them, if he had
not bribed one of their commanders, who during the engagement deserted
his post. Being overpowered, they now capitulated. Pithon had received
orders from Perdiccas to put them all to the sword, that they might no
longer be troublesome to him. But Pithon had formed a different plan: he
wanted to employ those Greeks as a force, with the aid of which he hoped
to play a prominent part; he was a Macedonian, and had claims upon the
empire which was already beginning to be torn in pieces. Accordingly he
spared their lives; but now his Macedonians rebelled against him--here we
see the effects of the national hatred existing between the Greeks and
Macedonians--for they found that it would be much more advantageous to
kill the Greeks and seize the booty they had collected. They therefore
made a general massacre among them, and took their property. After this
was done, Pithon returned as if he had executed the orders of Perdiccas.
It is as if we read a history of Ali Pasha. Soon afterwards, the
hostilities among the governors broke out.
_The Diadochi_
The generals and satraps of Alexander, called in Greek the Diadochi
[διάδοχοι, or “successors”], were about twenty in number; none of them
was inclined to play a subordinate part, but a great many could not
entertain the thought of assuming supreme power. Some of them, therefore,
at first kept aloof from the disputes; these were the men who had no
great expectations for themselves. The great rupture at the beginning was
between Perdiccas on the one hand, and Antipater and Ptolemy on the other.
Perdiccas claimed the supreme power, because Alexander, by giving him his
seal-ring, had conveyed it to him; and Antipater claimed it as regent
of Macedonia, because he looked upon himself in that capacity as the
representative of the nation. He was joined by Ptolemy because he was
far off, for if they had been near each other, Antipater and Ptolemy
could never have become allies. But as it was, Ptolemy in a distant and
inaccessible kingdom considered himself safe, and Antipater could have no
inclination to deprive him of his kingdom.
Ptolemy showed himself as a very practical and intelligent man; for he
never thought for one moment of making himself master of the whole of
Alexander’s empire, while the others were more or less harbouring such
notions; but he was satisfied with the enormous prize he had carried
off from the lottery, the possession of Egypt; and he only sought such
provinces as could be maintained from his own kingdom, that is, Syria,
Cyprus, and the countries on the opposite coast of Asia, which formed
the monarchy under Philadelphus and Euergetes, who were masters of the
opposite coast. This was very natural, as he could not but wish to secure
himself on all sides.
Antipater aimed at power, but despised the diadem, still having the
feelings of a soldier of Philip. He was already very far advanced in
years, being the oldest of the generals; and Philip had had none who
surpassed him in ability, and he had honoured him more than any other,
as, for example, by the embassy to Athens. We recognise Antipater and
Parmenion as the greatest among Philip’s generals. Antipater was a man of
the old school, and affected great simplicity. While the other generals
appeared in purple chlamydes, he used the common Macedonian garment,
and a stick, so that no one could distinguish him from an ordinary
Macedonian. Such an affectation, combined with internal rudeness, is
very often found in men of a bloodthirsty disposition. Not even Plutarch
is able to conceal his cruelty.
Perdiccas was the worst of all. He seems to have been a Macedonian
noble. Although we read little of a nobility and the like among the
Macedonians, and yet he appears in all circumstances as a person of great
pretensions. He was guilty of every license, even the greatest cruelties,
without being bloodthirsty like Antipater, who was another Duke of Alva.
Perdiccas was a purely oriental and unprincipled character; a man of very
moderate talents, to whom nothing was sacred.
He had no friends; Eumenes of Cardia alone was in connection with him,
and drew close to him. As Craterus was the most chivalrous and gallant
among the Macedonians, so Eumenes was the cleverest, and very much
distinguished by his great talents: he would have been a distinguished
man at any time. He is the only man of that period (if we except
Craterus, who fell early) in whom we can take a personal interest; he
was a true Odysseus, inexhaustible in resources. He never sacrificed a
friend to his own interests. He always obeyed the dictates of humanity,
and whenever in his life there occur actions which would be deplored
in better times, still they are praiseworthy in comparison with what
others did at the time. Being inexhaustible in counsel, he also had quite
different ideas from those of the Macedonians. Had he been a Macedonian,
he would unquestionably have gained the inheritance of Alexander, as far
as it was possible, and as far as it could be concentrated in one man’s
hand. But he was a stranger, a native of Cardia in Chersonesus, and
this circumstance placed him in a position among the Macedonians, which
prevented his ever rising to the height which he might otherwise have
attained.
Eumenes had not risen, like the rest, by his military talents alone,
but more especially as a statesman. At the age of twenty he had entered
the cabinet of King Philip, and was employed by him for seven years as
secretary; he had then, without interruption, been with Alexander until
the king’s death, so that for twenty years he had been the organ of the
royal government. But he was by no means unfit for the calling, by which
men at that time rose to greatness, for he was also a good soldier.
Alexander had a horse-guard consisting of two squadrons, and one of them
was commanded by Eumenes. If he had been a native of Macedonia, he would
unquestionably have eclipsed all others. He afterwards displayed the very
greatest talent as a general, which is the more wonderful, as in the time
of Alexander he had never commanded an army: he had only acted the part
of a looker-on. He was then forty years old, but he was like the men of
the revolution who displayed their military skill, although no one had
suspected that they possessed any. Eumenes was appointed governor of
Cappadocia and Pontus, but had first to conquer them. Perdiccas, feeling
that Eumenes was very useful to him, assisted him in his conquests.
_The Women Claimants_
While Perdiccas was aiding Eumenes, the women of the family of Alexander
began a commotion with a view of taking possession of the reins of
government. Even during the life-time of Alexander, his sister,
Cleopatra, the widow of the Molossian, ambitious like her mother,
Olympias, and her whole race, had tried to interfere in the affairs
of Macedonia. Even before Alexander’s death, Olympias quarrelled with
Antipater, and went to her family in Epirus. Cleopatra now endeavoured
to obtain influence with Antipater, but he would not allow her any; it
would, however, seem that she acted on the authority of her brother,
who wished to prevent Antipater establishing himself too firmly, and
therefore allowed her some influence along with Antipater. She seems
to have been the spy of her brother. After Alexander’s death, Olympias
remained in Epirus for several years, until she unfortunately returned
after Antipater’s death. Cleopatra, fearing Antipater, who was master in
Macedonia, went to Sardis, where she kept a princely court, which became
the centre of the intrigues and endless complications of the time.
[Illustration: FEMALE COSTUME]
As Queen Elizabeth continued to deceive many by allowing them to believe
that they might hope for her hand, so Cleopatra held out hopes to
several of the generals, partly because she had no confidence in her
own situation, and partly because she expected brilliant results from
her marrying one of the commanders. Thus she contrived to keep up a
hope especially in the aged Perdiccas. This was a cause of great alarm
to Antipater, who endeavoured to counteract the scheme, and to connect
Perdiccas with himself by offering him his daughter, Nicæa, in marriage.
This double intrigue was quite in the spirit of all the transactions of
that time; it has all its meanness and untruth. The result was, that
Perdiccas, through these negotiations, was placed in great difficulties.
He thought it dangerous to offend Antipater; but the latter was not in
earnest, wishing only to put off Perdiccas and to gain time, and thus
both negotiations came to nothing.
About the same time there appeared in Asia Minor another daughter
of Philip, who is called by some Cyna, and by others Cynane, a
Barbaro-Macedonian name. She was a daughter of Audata, an Illyrian woman,
for King Philip, according to Macedonian custom, had lived in polygamy,
like other barbarian kings. The fate of this Cyna was very tragic. The
fact that no one has ever made the last misfortunes of the family of
Alexander the subject of a historical tragedy, shows how little the
history of that time is known; we have here a most excellent subject for
a tragedy, and if Shakespeare had known the fate of that princess and of
Olympias, he would unquestionably have seized it as a subject for his
muse.
Cyna had been married to the pretender Amyntas, a cousin of Alexander,
and she had remained behind in Macedonia with her only daughter, Adeia,
who afterwards adopted the Greek name Eurydice, which had also been
assumed by her grandmother, the mother of Cyna, whose Illyrian name was
Audata; Eurydice was a common name in the family of Philip (his mother
also bore it), just as Laudice or Laodice was common in the family of the
Syrian dynasty. The names of the Macedonians are very often confounded;
it is remarkable, that among the Macedonian princes sometimes even
brothers have the same name; two brothers of Antigonus Gonatas, _e.g._,
were called Demetrius.
Cynane was an Amazon character, having accompanied her father on his
last expedition, and she educated her daughter in the same way. She went
to Asia Minor for the purpose of creating a revolution; she belonged to
Antipater’s faction, and it was, no doubt, according to a preconcerted
plan with Cleopatra, that Perdiccas caused her to be murdered by his
brother Alcetas; she died like a heroine. This made a terrible impression
upon the Macedonians, and was the main cause of the fall of Perdiccas.
DEATH OF PERDICCAS
Soon afterwards, hostilities broke out between Perdiccas and Antigonus,
the satrap of Phrygia, during which Eumenes declared in favour of
Perdiccas. This was followed by a general contest in which Perdiccas
was joined by Eumenes alone; all the rest, not only Ptolemy, Antipater,
and Antigonus, but also Lysimachus and Craterus, were arrayed against
Perdiccas.
Perdiccas, who was under the necessity of undertaking something, in order
to maintain himself, now (321) undertook an expedition against Ptolemy,
whom he wanted to drive out of Egypt, while Eumenes was defending himself
in Asia Minor.
This undertaking, which was indeed very difficult, failed; Ptolemy had
very prudently fortified himself behind the Nile, and made excellent
preparations for defending himself. The army followed Perdiccas very
reluctantly, and after having tried in vain for weeks and months to
break through the lines of Ptolemy, a rebellion broke out among his men,
and he was murdered by his own troops[41] (321). His power had lasted
three years, beginning with the death of Alexander; and during that
period he had always carried Arrhidæus with him. Antipater, who had even
before gone to Asia Minor, now came forward in the camp. The generals of
Perdiccas gladly concluded peace with Ptolemy.
Antipater now assumed the supreme power in the empire, which had been
possessed by Perdiccas, and all acquiesced in it, because he was at the
greatest distance.
The show-kings were now handed over to Antipater. The unfortunate Philip
Arrhidæus was married to Eurydice, the daughter of Cyna--a circumstance
which is of interest only in the tragic fate of the house of Philip.
Eurydice, on account of her ambition, now endeavoured to throw matters
into confusion, but Antipater took her and Arrhidæus, as well as Roxane
and her child, to Europe with him, and compelled them, as long as he
lived, to be more humble. It may in some respects have been disagreeable
to the ambitious Macedonian rulers in Asia, that the members of the royal
family were in Macedonia in the hands of Antipater; but at the same time
this very circumstance paved the way for their independence.
A new distribution of the satrapies also was then undertaken, which,
however, was soon set at nought by Ptolemy, who by force made himself
master of Phœnicia and Syria, and expelled the governors of these
provinces.
THE FEATS OF EUMENES
[Sidenote: [321-301 B.C.]]
In the meantime, there had been going on in Asia Minor the war between
Eumenes, the satrap of Cappadocia, and Antigonus, the satrap of Phrygia,
with the party of Antipater; and in that war Craterus had fallen. He
had come to the assistance of Antigonus, but Eumenes gained a brilliant
victory over him, and Craterus lost his life. But now a storm was rising
against Eumenes: a superior force, for which he was no match, was
assembling against him. He was sometimes successful, but he succumbed in
the end.
The facts are these. After the death of Perdiccas, Eumenes, together
with the other partisans of Perdiccas, especially his brother Alcetas
of Pisidia, was declared an outlaw in an assembly of the Macedonian
army, which on such occasions represented the nation. Antigonus was
commissioned to carry the sentence into effect, and he also received the
means necessary for this object--but he employed them for the purpose of
establishing for himself a larger dominion.
Eumenes, after having lost a battle in Cappadocia, in the face of
Antigonus, shut himself up with five hundred men, in the mountain
fortress of Nora in Cappadocia, and disbanded his whole army, in the hope
that if circumstances should improve, his soldiers would be drawn towards
him as towards a magnet. He sustained the siege for half a year. Then,
after having been besieged in vain during the winter, he escaped from the
besiegers, having kept them engaged, until he had collected strength in
other parts. He fled into Syria, and then to the upper satrapies (which
had taken no part in the earlier war) to Antigenes of Susa, and Peucestas
of Persia. A second war then broke out between Eumenes and Antigonus.
The death of Antipater, which had taken place in the meantime, had
greatly altered all circumstances. He had appointed Polysperchon regent,
and the latter called upon Olympias to come forward again. Antigonus,
Cassander, and Ptolemy (though the last did not do so actively), declared
against him; Polysperchon, on the other hand, put himself in connection
with Eumenes, on behalf of Olympias and her grandson, and called upon him
to take the family of Alexander under his protection.
Eumenes now appeared in upper Asia with full authority from Olympias.
The argyraspidæ and most of Alexander’s veterans were likewise in those
parts, for what reason, we know not. They looked upon themselves as a
station of invalids, were in the enjoyment of perfect leisure, and lived
in the greatest abundance, like the followers of the Normans in England.
They were all _seigneurs_. They had hitherto joined no party, and lived
like a nation of Mamelukes, almost in the forms of a republic. Eumenes,
provided with the authorisation of Olympias, now applied to them, and
gained them over to his side. The satraps also declared themselves in his
favour, and he obtained possession of the royal treasures. With these
means at his command, Eumenes for years carried on the war on behalf
of Olympias and young Alexander. For years he overcame the jealousy of
the Macedonian commanders, who hated him as a foreigner, and controlled
those old faithless men of the sword. He induced them to quit their
merry quarters for the objects he stated to them, to follow him, and to
risk their own existence for his personal objects; he guided them all
by assuming the appearance that they were all equal, and by erecting a
symbolical throne of Alexander.
All the Macedonian world was now divided into two masses, which fought
against each other both in Europe and in Asia. Cassander was engaged
in Greece against Polysperchon, and Antigonus in Asia against Eumenes,
still pretending that he was obliged to carry into effect the decrees of
the Macedonian army against Eumenes.
The power of Antigonus, however, increased immensely through the war with
which he was commissioned: he not only made himself master of Eumenes’
satrapy of Cappadocia in western Asia, and of other satrapies in Asia
Minor, such as Pisidia and Lycia, but he also occupied Media and the
intermediate provinces, so that his rule extended from the Hellespont to
Persia. He took his headquarters at Ecbatana, whence he made war upon
the southern provinces. In order to attack them he had to pass through
the desert of Rhei and Kom, which separates Fars and Kerman from Media.
Antigonus there undertook the celebrated expedition through the desert,
in order to attack the allies in their winter quarters; but the manner in
which Eumenes discovered and thwarted his march, is much more brilliant,
for he deceived his enemy, and induced him to give up his plan, which
could not have failed, and to make his retreat. In the eighth year
after Alexander’s death, Antigonus concluded the war against Eumenes,
by attacking him with a far superior force. Peucestas had displayed a
miserable character, but Antigonus had conducted the war in a most able
manner. In the end (316 B.C.), he defeated the allies, and conquered the
immense oriental train and their harems, which they carried about with
them; and in order to recover these, they concluded peace with Antigonus.
This was the price for which the unfortunate Eumenes was delivered up by
his own troops, as Charles I was delivered up by the Scotch. Antigonus
would willingly have saved him, but he was obliged to sacrifice him to
the national hatred of the Macedonians against the Greeks.
THE EMPIRE OF ANTIGONUS
This war established the dominion of Antigonus, who through his victory
over Eumenes and the satraps under him, obtained the supremacy over their
provinces, and now was in possession of a large empire. He was the first
who was courageous enough to drop all hypocrisy, and in 306 B.C. assumed
the diadem and the kingly title. No one had as yet ventured to do this,
just as Napoleon hesitated for a long time to assume the imperial title.
Antigonus was already advanced in years, being of about the same age as
Perdiccas, and somewhat younger than Antipater (who was the oldest among
the generals) if we take into consideration the age at which he died in
301 B.C. He was one of the old officers of Philip, and a good one too. He
was, indeed, like most of them, nothing beyond a soldier, but in ability
he was superior to most of them. Among those who contended for the
empire (if we except Eumenes the stranger and Craterus who fell early),
he and Lysimachus were probably the best. Besides Antipater and his son
Cassander, they alone were true generals. Ptolemy distinguished himself
only by his skilful defence of Egypt against Perdiccas; subsequently in
the war against Antigonus, not much is to be said of him.
In the meantime great changes had taken place in Macedonia. Antipater had
been quiet during the latter years: he reigned in the name of Arrhidæus,
and of the little son of Alexander, who at his death was not yet seven
years old. Heracles was older, but illegitimate, and was regarded as
incapable of succeeding his father: he too was in Macedonia with his
mother Barsine. Antipater kept the royal family at Pella in a state of
splendid captivity, while he himself lived in the greatest simplicity.
[Sidenote: [319-317 B.C.]]
But when his end was approaching, he made a singular arrangement
concerning the regency (319 B.C.). Two of his sons were still alive:
the one, Iollas, who was said to have poisoned Alexander, was dead,
but Cassander and Philip were still living. Antipater did not give the
regency and his power to either of them, but to a petty Epirot prince of
the name of Polysperchon or Polyperchon.
POLYSPERCHON VERSUS CASSANDER
This arrangement made Cassander and Polysperchon enemies. As soon as
the father had closed his eyes, and Polysperchon had entered upon the
administration, Cassander quitted Macedonia, went to Ptolemy in Egypt,
assembled troops, and prepared to attack Polysperchon. He was conscious
of his own superiority: he was a man who in great difficulties knew how
to extricate himself; he was a general who undertook little, but was
very cautious in what he did undertake, and a remarkable instrument in
taking revenge for Alexander’s cruelty against the Greeks. Antigonus and
Ptolemy, as we have already mentioned, joined him; though the latter took
no active part in the war, being desirous firmly to establish his own
dominion in the interior.
A war now arose which was carried on with the most fearful devastation of
unhappy Greece; the ravages were constantly repeated, until the country
was brought down so completely, that it was entirely annihilated.
This war between the two pretenders to the crown of Macedonia, and to the
guardianship of the unfortunate royal family, however, inflicted even
more suffering upon Macedonia than upon poor Greece.
Polysperchon favoured Olympias, with whom he was already connected by his
nationality. She was still living among her countrymen in Epirus, whither
she had gone even in the reign of Alexander. The fact that Æacides,
a petty prince of the Molossians, who had been expelled by her, now
supported her, and on this account brought great misery upon his family,
shows that national ties were stronger than those arising from family
connection. Polysperchon, as we said before, connected himself with
Olympias, and called upon her to return to Macedonia, and undertake the
government as the guardian of her grandson, Alexander, the son of Roxane.
She readily accepted this proposal, and both now formed connections with
Eumenes.
The latter obtained from Olympias full power to act as he thought fit,
as if he were _Lieutenant du Roi_, and this induced the argyraspidæ and
the satraps of Upper Asia to declare in his favour. Olympias, however,
appears still to have remained in Epirus. Eurydice, on the other hand,
joined the party of Cassander, and the feud between the two queens became
the cause of the civil wars in Macedonia. Polysperchon seems to have had
less ambition, and was satisfied with being the first general.
At the same time, however, Polysperchon also endeavoured to secure
the assistance of the Greeks, and in the name of the king he issued a
proclamation to them in which he declares, in the name of King Philip
Arrhidæus, employing the language of hearty sympathy, that the Greeks
ought not to impute the harsh cruelties which they had experienced from
the generals (Antipater and Craterus) to the king; that he had neither
approved nor known of them; that he disapproved of the change in their
constitutions, and that they should be restored just as they had been
under Philip and Alexander. All the exiled Greeks, moreover, with the
exception of a few, were to return. For the purpose of carrying this
measure into effect, Polysperchon proceeded to Greece.
[Sidenote: [317 B.C.]]
Cassander appeared with a few thousand soldiers, whom he had collected in
Asia. With this small force he commenced the war elsewhere described, in
which he recovered the dominion of his father and a great deal more. When
Cassander had established himself there, Polysperchon no longer attacked
him, but turned to Peloponnesus, to carry his decrees into effect.
While Polysperchon and Cassander were thus arrayed against each other in
Greece, Olympias ruled in Macedonia with a tragic fury. The Macedonians
hated and despised her both personally and because she was a foreigner;
and she knew this quite well. She remembered that the old national party
in Macedonia had regarded Alexander as the son of a foreigner; that on
the other hand, the marriage of Philip with Cleopatra, the niece of
Attalus, had been hailed with general rejoicings, and that she had been
obliged to withdraw with Alexander. She therefore looked upon the real
Macedonians as her personal enemies, and the more terrible her natural
disposition was, the more she felt irritated, and the more she abandoned
herself to acts of infuriated cruelty. The accounts of them are certainly
not exaggerated, for we are moving during this period on perfectly
historical ground, though it is indeed a barren and exhausted ground,
which does not produce a single blossom of poetry. The history of that
time is quite authentic, but we may rejoice that we have no very minute
accounts of it.
Among the victims of Olympias, we find her step-son, the poor Arrhidæus,
and his unfortunate wife Eurydice, the daughter of Cynane. This Cynane
was persecuted by her in every way as a mortal enemy, and Eurydice was
looked upon by her as the granddaughter of a rival. In early life, Philip
had loved Olympias, but afterwards he was shocked at her, and withdrew
from her; she had become detestable to him. He lived in wild polygamy,
and his mistresses were to her the objects of a truly oriental hatred.
Eurydice, the granddaughter of such a rival, was young, lively, and
equally ambitious. Olympias cherished against her the hatred of fading
age and a malign disposition against the freshness of youth. It must also
be borne in mind, that Eurydice’s mother had been married to Amyntas,
the champion of the party which drove Olympias from Macedonia. Her
mother, Cynane, was a bold woman, and Eurydice was a person of the same
character; she wanted to rule in the name of her husband.
[Illustration: HYGEIA
(After Hope)]
While Polysperchon was forming a connection with Olympias, Eurydice
entered into a relation with Cassander. Olympias seems still to have
been staying in Epirus at the time when Polysperchon went to Phocis and
thence into Peloponnesus. He took Arrhidæus with him on this expedition,
but he must afterwards have sent him back to Pella. Olympias now returned
to Macedonia with an army of Epirots and Ætolians, which was opposed
by Eurydice and a Macedonian force. Olympias made use of the influence
of her own name and of that of her son, for the purpose of gaining over
the followers of Eurydice. The Macedonians were extremely untrustworthy,
and they seem to have been induced to desert to their opponents not
only by bribery, but often by mere caprice; and it is not till the time
when the dominion of the Antigonidæ had become established, that this
faithlessness ceases. Eurydice and Arrhidæus accordingly being deserted
by the Macedonians, fell into the hands of Olympias, who now ordered them
to be put to death. Wishing to enjoy their death, she first intended to
kill them by hunger, and ordered them to be walled up in a dungeon--and
a little food to be given to them. But as this lasted too long, Olympias
becoming impatient, and fearing lest a tumult should arise, ordered
the dungeon to be broken open and the harmless idiot to be murdered by
Thracians. Eurydice was obliged to choose the manner in which she was to
die, and died with great firmness. Olympias now put forward her little
grandson Alexander with his mother Roxane. In the same manner she raged
against the whole house of Antipater, one of whose sons was likewise
killed.
[Sidenote: [316 B.C.]]
But the cruelties of Olympias excited discontent and rebellion among
the restless and mutinous Macedonians. When Polysperchon was obliged
to retreat from Megalopolis, most of the Greek cities declared for
Cassander. Cassander thus gained a firm footing in Greece; and, while
Polysperchon retreated, Cassander followed him into Macedonia, where the
people declared for him, Pella, Pydna, and Amphipolis alone declaring
against him. Olympias, with her grandson Alexander, Roxane, and others,
had fled to Pydna. Polysperchon was deserted by his troops, who were
bribed by Cassander, and was obliged to flee with a few faithful
adherents into Ætolia.
[Illustration: COSTUME OF A YOUTH OF THE UPPER CLASSES]
Olympias was thus shut up in Pydna; it was situated quite close to the
sea, and there was no one inclined to afford her assistance. Eumenes was
then in Upper Asia, engaged in the war against Antigonus. If Antigonus,
as he himself wished, had become reconciled to Eumenes, the latter would
have been able to act as mediator on behalf of Olympias; but, at all
events, the assistance from that quarter would have come too late. The
party blockaded at Pydna were suffering from the most terrible famine,
and Olympias was compelled to surrender. She stipulated for her life,
and Cassander promised to spare her, but had no intention of keeping his
word. The widows and orphans of those who had been murdered by Olympias
brought charges against her before the Macedonians, who again formed a
_champ de Mars_. Olympias did not appear, and was sentenced to death.
Afterwards, she declared her willingness to appear before a court of
Macedonians; but Cassander ordered her to be executed, saying, that he
must obey the will of the nation.[g] Olympias received warning that she
must prepare for death. She put on her royal robes and came forward,
leaning on two of her women, to meet the soldiers. Even they were so
overpowered by the majesty of her presence, and by the numberless great
recollections attached to her name, that they could not bring themselves
to execute Cassander’s order. He was obliged to commit the deed of blood
to the persons who had accused her, and who were eager enough for revenge
to undertake it themselves. She submitted to her fate with unbending
firmness, neither shrinking from their swords nor uttering a word
unworthy of her birth and fortunes.[b]
Young Alexander, and his mother, Roxane, were sent to Amphipolis, where,
for a time, they were kept in close confinement, and afterwards put to
death. Hercules, the son of Barsine, was likewise murdered, and that too
by Polysperchon; but when this happened cannot be accurately determined.
Polysperchon now disappears from history. His son, Alexander, continued
to play a part for some time, but it did not last long.
After the fall of Olympias, all the other places, which had till then
held out, opened their gates to Cassander; and he now was king of
Macedonia, without having the regal title.
About the same time Antigonus, by his conquest of Eumenes, became master
of all Asia, while Lysimachus ruled in Thrace, and Ptolemy in Egypt.
We need hardly observe, that Antigonus’ dominion in the most eastern
satrapies was merely nominal, or did not exist at all; but, in regard to
Babylonia, Persia, and other interior provinces, the case was different,
for there he really ruled as master. But none of the princes had yet
assumed the kingly title. This was the state of things in 316 B.C.
In the feuds which henceforth arise among the rulers, a younger
generation of men already appears on the stage, and they can in no way be
compared with the older men who had gone forth from the school of Philip.
Seleucus was one of these younger men; he had not yet distinguished
himself, but may have become acquainted with war as early as the time of
Philip. He was of about the same age as Alexander, and in every sense
an _enfant de la fortune_, who rose only through his extraordinary good
fortune. [His realm and his followers, known as the Seleucidæ, will be
treated in a later chapter.] Antigonus had conquered for himself an
empire by campaigns, labours, and hardships; he lost one eye, and, in
the end, his life. Ptolemy had been a companion in arms of Philip, and
had greatly distinguished himself under Alexander. Of Cassander we have
already spoken; and Lysimachus had been obliged to conquer Thrace, the
possession of which he was now enjoying.