| Antipater | |
|---|---|
 Coinage of Alexander the Great,Amphipolis mint, struck under Antipater forPhilip III Arrhidaeus, circa 322–320 BC.[1] | |
| Regent ofAlexander's Empire | |
| Reign | c. 321/320 – 319 BC |
| Predecessor | Perdiccas |
| Successor | Polyperchon |
| Regent of Macedon and Greece | |
| Reign | 334 – 319 BC |
| Born | c. 400 BC |
| Died | spring 319 BC (agedc. 81) |
| Issue | Phila,Eurydice,Nicaea,Iollas,Cassander,Pleistarchus,Philip, Nicanor, Alexarchus, Perilaus |
| Greek | Ἀντίπατρος |
| House | Antipatrid dynasty |
| Father | Iolaos of Macedon[2] |
Antipater (/ænˈtɪpətər/;Ancient Greek:Ἀντίπατρος,romanized: Antipatros,lit. 'like the father';c. 400 BC[3] – 319 BC) was a Macedonian general,regent and statesman under the successive kingships ofPhilip II of Macedon and his son,Alexander the Great. In the wake of the collapse of theArgead house, his sonCassander eventually ruled Macedonia as a king in his own right.[4]
Probably active during the reign ofPerdiccas III of Macedon, most of Antipater's political career was as one of Philip II's foremostHetairoi.[5] After Philip II's death, he helped Alexander secure the throne. When Alexander began hiswars against the Persian Empire in 336 BC, Antipater remained behind to hold Macedon and Greece as regent. While Alexander was campaigning, Antipater crushed revolts, like that of KingAgis III ofSparta, and managed Greek affairs. After theDeath of Alexander the Great in 323 BC, Antipater was reconfirmed in his position asviceroy of Europe in thePartition of Babylon.
Antipater then became engaged in theLamian War, where he wasdefeated in 322 BC andbesieged atLamia. He eventually escaped with the help ofLeonnatus, and later, with the help ofCraterus, finally defeated the Greeks at theBattle of Crannon. When he was informed of the regentPerdiccas' royal ambitions, Antipater joined a coalition withPtolemy andAntigonus to overthrow Perdiccas in theFirst War of the Diadochi.
After Perdiccas' death in 321/320 BC, Antipater was elected regent of all of Alexander the Great's Empire at thePartition of Triparadisus. He brought the two kings,Philip III Arrhidaeus andAlexander IV, back to Macedon, but died soon after in 319 BC. On his deathbed, Antipater chose an infantry officer namedPolyperchon as his successor as regent instead of his sonCassander. Antipater's death and choice of successor initiatedthe Second War of the Diadochi, which would last 4 years and end with Cassander establishing control over Macedon, eventually founding the short-livedAntipatrid Dynasty.
Antipater belonged to the Macedonian noble house of Iolaos, which may have been serving theArgead Kings of Macedon since as early as 432 BC.[6] Antipater and his family may have been distant collateral relatives to theArgead dynasty.[7][8] Born in around 400 BC to a Macedonian nobleman called Iolaos,[9] Antipater was originally from the Macedonian city of Paliura;[10] had a brother calledCassander;[11] was the paternal uncle of Cassander's childAntigone and was the maternal great uncle ofBerenice I of Egypt.[12] Antipater had eleven children (four daughters, seven sons) from various unknown wives.[13] His daughters were:
His sons were:
Antipater probably served politically and militarily under KingPerdiccas III of Macedon, Philip II's predecessor, arising to a position of renown before Philip assumed the throne in 359 BC.[14] According to theSudas, Antipater left a compilation of letters in 2 books and a history, calledThe Illyrian Deeds ofPerdikkas (Περδίκκου πράξεις Ιλλυριακαί).[15][16] The Suas also suggest Antipater was a student ofAristotle, but this is unlikely since he was 15 years older with the relationship being one of a friend and a follower.[17] Aristotle named him as executor-in-charge of his will, when he died in 322 BC.
Through his service with Philip II, alongsideParmenion, Antipater became one of Philip's trusted advisors and a prominentHetairoi, aiding inPhilip's expansion of the Macedonian state. Antipater is known to have campaigned inThrace against theOdrysian KingKersobleptes early in his career.[14] In 342 BC, he was appointed by Philip to governMacedon as his regent while the former left for three years of hard and successful campaigning againstThracian andScythian tribes, which extended Macedonian rule as far as theHellespont. In 342 BC, when theAthenians tried to assume control of theEuboean towns and expel the pro-Macedonian rulers, he sent Macedonian troops to stop them. In the late summer of the same year, Antipater went toDelphi, as Philip's representative (theoros) in theAmphictyonic League, a religious organization to which Macedon had been admitted in 346 BC; he attended thePythian Games on Philip II's behalf.[18]
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When Thrace again threatened Macedon's northern border in 340 BC, Antipater campaigned in the area and turned over the regency to a teenageAlexander the Great.[19] After the triumphal Macedonian victory at theBattle of Chaeronea in 338 BC, Antipater was sent as ambassador to Athens (337–336 BC) to negotiate a peace treaty[20] and return the bones of the Athenians who had fallen in the battle. Antipater is known to have had a long-standing friendship with the Athenian statesmanPhocion; it may originate from this visit or earlier interactions.[21]
Antipater started as a great friend to both the young Alexander and the boy's mother,Olympias, and aided Alexander in the struggle to secure his succession after Philip's death, in 336 BC. He joined Parmenion in advising Alexander the Great not to set out on his Asiatic expedition until he had provided by marriage for the succession to the throne.
On the Alexander'sdeparture eastward in 334 BC, Antipater was left regent in Macedonia and made "general (strategos) of Europe", positions he held until 323/2 BC. The European front was to prove initially quite agitated, and Antipater also had to send reinforcements to the king, as he did while the king was atGordium in the winter of 334–333 BC.
ThePersianfleet underMemnon of Rhodes andPharnabazus was apparently a considerable danger for Antipater, bringing war in theAegean Sea and threatening war in Europe. Luckily for the regent, Memnon died during the siege ofMytilene on the isle ofLesbos and the remaining fleet dispersed in 333 BC, after Alexander's victory at theBattle of Issus. More dangerous enemies were nearer home; tribes inThrace rebelled in 332 BC, led by Memnon of Thrace, the Macedonian governor of the region, followed shortly by the revolt ofAgis III, king ofSparta. The Spartans, who were not members of theLeague of Corinth and had not participated in Alexander's expedition, saw in the Asian campaign the long-awaited chance to take back control over thePeloponnese after the disastrous defeats at theBattle of Leuctra andBattle of Mantinea. The Persians generously funded Sparta's ambitions, making possible the formation of an army 20,000 strong. After assuming virtual control ofCrete, Agis tried to build an anti-Macedonian front. While Athens remained neutral, theAchaeans,Arcadians andElis became his allies, with the important exception ofMegalopolis, the staunchly anti-Spartan capital of Arcadia. In 331 BC Agis started to besiege the city with his entire army, forcing Antipater to act.
So as not to have two enemies simultaneously, Antipaterpardoned Memnon and even let him keep his office in Thrace, while great sums of money were sent to him by Alexander. This helped to create, withThessalian help and many mercenaries, a force double that of Agis, which Antipater in person led south in 330 BC to confront the Spartans. In the spring of that year, the two armies clashed in theBattle of Megalopolis. Agis fell with many of his best soldiers, but not without inflicting heavy losses on the Macedonians. Utterly defeated, the Spartans sued for peace; the latter's answer was to negotiate directly with the League of Corinth, but the Spartan emissaries preferred to treat directly with Alexander, who imposed on Sparta's allies a penalty of 120talents and the entrance of Sparta in the league.
Alexander appears to have been quite jealous of Antipater's victory; according toPlutarch, the king wrote in a letter to hisviceroy: "It seems, my friends that while we have been conqueringDarius here, there has been a battle of mice inArcadia". Antipater was disliked for supportingoligarchs andtyrants in Greece, but he also worked with the League of Corinth, built by Philip. In addition, his previously close relationship with the ambitiousOlympias greatly deteriorated. Whether from jealousy or from the necessity of guarding against the evil consequences of the dissension between Olympias and Antipater, in 324 BC, Alexander ordered the latter to lead fresh troops into Asia, whileCraterus, in charge of discharged veterans returning home, was appointed to take over the regency in Macedon.[23] When Alexander suddenly died inBabylon in 323 BC however, Antipater was able to forestall the transfer of power.[23]
Some later historians, such asJustin in hisHistoria Philippicae et Totius Mundi Origines et Terrae Situs blamed Antipater for the death of Alexander, accusing him of murdering him through poison. However, this view is disputed by most historians and Alexander is believed to have died of natural causes.[24]
The newregent,Perdiccas, left Antipater in control ofGreece. Antipater faced wars withAthens,Aetolia, andThessaly that made up theLamian War, in which southern Greeks attempted to re-assert their political autonomy.
At the onset of this struggle, the southern Greeks held an apparently decisive numerical advantage, fielding an army of some 25000 troops. Antipater's levies numbered a meager 13000; drawn from a manpower pool that had been severely diminished by the campaigns of Alexander the Great. Furthermore, the southern Greek coalition was led by a talented general and one-time mercenary namedLeosthenes, who had fought under Alexander and had seen first-hand the functions of the Macedonian war machine. An initial engagement with this coalition around the historic pass ofThermopylae saw Antipater's Thessalian cavalry defect to the opposing side. Already outnumbered and now without a cavalry contingent, Antipater fought a token battle but was ultimately defeated and forced to retreat north to the Thessalian city of Lamia. Behind its stout defenses he endured a siege. By some unknown means he began desperately passing correspondence to would-be allies through the Athenian siege lines. In 322 BC he was relieved whenLeonnatus, the satrap ofHellespontine Phrygia, responded to his call for aid and arrived in southern Thessaly with a force to break the investment.
Although Leonnatus fell in the ensuing battle, the Athenian coalition had been forced to use the entirety of its dwindling army (many of the Aetolian and Thessalian contingents having left the siege to tend to the harvest) to face him. Leonnatus' infantry retreated into rough country where the Aetolian and Thessalian cavalry could not pursue them, and survived the debacle largely unscathed. This turn of events allowed Antipater to slip out of the walls of Lamia before striking north for Macedonia, where he awaited the arrival of further reinforcements from Asia. Along the way he assumed control of Leonnatus' infantry corps, absorbing them into the remnants of his initial army.
Craterus, another decorated general, had also received Antipater's call for aid and arrived at Pella with a force of 16000 discharged veterans who had marched and fought under Alexander. The two generals made common cause, and to cement this new alliance Antipater married his daughter Phila to Craterus. The two then led a massive, combined force south to fight a final, decisive battle against the southern Greeks. Antipater defeated them at theBattle of Crannon in 322 BC,[20] with Craterus' help, and broke up the coalition. At a peace treaty in the ruined city of Thebes, Antipater negotiated with an Athenian delegation led byPhocion and Demades. Here he imposed a rule of oligarchy upon Athens and demanded the surrender ofDemosthenes and Hypereides (the foremost instigators of the revolt), the former committing suicide to escape capture, while the latter was imprisoned before having his tongue ripped from his mouth in a brutal execution.
Later in the same year Antipater and Craterus were engaged in a mopping-up campaign against recalcitrant pockets of Aetolian resurgence[20] when they received the news fromAntigonus inAsia Minor that Perdiccas contemplated making himself outright ruler of the empire.[20] Antipater and Craterus accordingly concluded peace with the Aetolians (much to the chagrin of future of Macedonian rulers) and went to war against Perdiccas, allying themselves withPtolemy, thesatrap ofEgypt.[20] Antipater married another of his daughters (Eurydike) to Ptolemy to strengthen this new alliance. Together with Craterus and his son Cassander, he then crossed over into Asia at the head of a considerable force in 321 BC. While in Phrygia, this army was divided in two; one under Craterus marching east into Cappadocia to face Eumenes, while the later under Antipater struck south to fight Perdiccas. While still inSyria, Antipater received two letters that drastically changed the power dynamic of the successor struggle at that point; firstly that Perdiccas had been murdered by his own soldiers in Egypt, and secondly that in one of the greatest upsets of the Hellenistic age, Craterus had fallen in battle againstEumenes (Diodorus xviii. 25–39).[20]
In thePartition of Triparadisus (321 BC), Antipater participated in a new division of Alexander's great kingdom. He appointed himself supreme regent of all Alexander's empire and was left in Greece asguardian of Alexander's sonAlexander IV and his disabled brotherPhilip III. Having quelled amutiny of his troops and commissioned Antigonus to continue the war against Eumenes and the other partisans of Perdiccas, Antipater returned to Macedonia, arriving there in 320 BC (Justin xiii. 6). Soon after, he was seized by an illness which terminated his active career.[20]
Antipater died of old age in 319 BC, at the age of 81. By his side was his sonCassander, who later became king of Macedonia.[4] Controversially, Antipater did not appoint Cassander to succeed him as regent,[20] citing as the reason for his decision Cassander's relative youth (at the time of Antipater's passing, Cassander was 36). Over Cassander, Antipater chose the aged officerPolyperchon as regent.[4][20]
Cassander became indignant at this, believing that he'd earned the right to become regent by virtue of his loyalty and experience. Thus he appealed to generalAntigonus to assist him in battling Polyperchon for the position.[25] In 317 BC, after two years of war with Polyperchon, Cassander emerged victorious. Cassander would go on to rule Macedonia for nineteen years, first as regent and later as king, ultimately founding theAntipatrid dynasty.[26]
Antipater's long career under three successive kings was first and foremost as a supporter of Macedon and a "caretaker of Macedonian affairs"; although his tenure as viceroy earned Antipater the fear and respect of many, it is generally agreed upon that unlike many other Successors he had little interest in the affairs of Asia and no firm claim, or interest, in supreme power.[27] Generally, Antipater's loyalty to the Argeads and his refusal to transfer the regency to his own children is seen as proof that he was a loyal Macedonian who put his homeland before his interests.[28]
Antipater's death by prolonged illness and choice of successor would lead to theSecond War of the Diadochi.[29] Olympias, when she came to power in Macedon briefly in 317 BC, opened the grave of Antipater's son Iollas and scattered his ashes. She may have not done the same to Antipater's grave due to "respect for Macedonian public opinion".[30] Antipater's death and the transferring of the regency to Polyperchon weakened the central authority of Alexander's Empire even further, as Polyperchon lacked much of Antipater's standing. Accordingly, the death of Antipater was a signal to many of the satraps and generals in Asia and Greece to start pursuing their own ambitions.[27][31]
Antipater (c.400–319 B.C.) Antipater was a Macedonian nobleman who served Kings Philip II and Alexander the Great
| Preceded by | Regent of Macedon 320–319 BC | Succeeded by |
| Legendary |  | |
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| Argead dynasty | ||
| Antipatrid dynasty | ||
| Dynastic conflict | ||
| Antigonid dynasty | ||
| Post-Conquest Rebel Kings | ||
Debatable or disputed rulers are initalics. | ||
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| People | |
