46. The First War of the Argead Succession, part 1
46. The First War of the Argead Succession, part 1
To the Strongest
As Alexander remained ill and as the news of the birth of the heirs had not yet reached Taxila those present wanted to know who would rule the Empire were he to pass away. Despite his weakness the Great King laughed, and commented that certainly in the wake of his passing the kingship would pass to the strongest.
- Excerpt from The Wars of Megas Alexandros, describing a scene as Alexander lay ill in Taxila [1]
The death of Parysatis and her child was, while not unforeseeable, certainly an event which blindsided both Antigonos and Seleukos. For both men their entire claim to power depended on their status as regent for the as yet unborn heir, which was now obviously not going to happen. The Throne of Asia thus stood empty: the man with the strongest claim being Ptolemaios, satrap of Bactria and youngest son of Philip III. To those in the west Ptolemaios was somewhat of an unknown figure, more of a background figure than anything else. The thought that he would become the new Great King was to some unfathomable, having spent practically all his life east of the Euphrates many feared that he would be too Persian for the Macedonians and the Greeks. The Synedrion and the Argyraspidai, rather predictably, decided to name Seleukos as regent until it would clear become who exactly the next king was going to be.
Later authors often report that Seleukos spared no effort in order to prevent the news from spreading east: he supposedly locked the gates and had everyone who wanted to enter or leave the city interrogated. While theoretically possible it is unlikely Seleukos undertook such effort; in any case even if he did so it was insufficient: the news of Parysatis’ death quickly spread beyond Babylon. Ptolemaios learnt of it early in August, while encamped near the Jaxartes not far from Cyropolis, perhaps through associates or agents. During the months before he had fought a successful campaign against encroaching Saka: not just raiders but entire tribes, seeking to settle in the rich lands to their south. Defeated and destitute now most of them faced a life of slavery The news had arrived at the height of Ptolemaios’ triumph: the ritual submission of over one hundred Saka chiefs on the banks of the Jaxartes. Upon hearing the news Ptolemaios duly claimed the kingship and was acclaimed by his army, not long afterwards he returned to Bactra, from where he prepared his triumphant return to Babylon.
He was at the time thirty-four year olds, relatively tall and with ‘the same eyes as his grandfather’ [2] as Hermocles of Brentesion, the great chronicler of the Argeads, put it. While his stature was not particularly imposing he was a capable commander and warrior, never shying away from the frontline. He also was a father to two sons, eighteen year old Philip and seventeen year old Ptolemaios, thus securing the further succession. He had not neglected his studies and from early onward he had shown himself to be an able administrator: when his father, Philip III, died his brother, Philip IV, made him satrap of Elymais. There he had performed admirably: its administration was famously corrupt: the satrap that preceded him, a certain Leontiskos, had mercilessly exploited the population. The oppression and corruption was of such a scale that Philip IV could not ignore it: Leontiskos was dismissed and executed and Ptolemaios put in his place. Elymais had prospered under his stewardship, taxes were lowered and neglected infrastructure restored; typical of Ptolemaios was his hands-on approach, he was not above visiting the most remote mountain hamlet if that what was required of him. This must have impressed his brother, and when Philip IV, before embarking on his disastrous Indian campaign, had the satrap of Bactria executed he replaced him with Ptolemaios.
In Bactria too Ptolemaios was successful: he ingratiated himself with the local aristocracy, repelled raids by the Saka and made sure that when peace was signed with Suracaksas the profitable trade with India could restart unimpeded by ensuring that the trade routes were well-guarded and patrolled. Thus it came to be that while war consumed the western part of the empire, with Macedonia, Syria and Babylonia repeatedly trampled by invading armies, peace reigned in the east. The land of the thousand cities, as Bactria was known, flourished while the west burned. A lack of oversight from the west, caused by the War of the Regents, enabled Ptolemaios to rule Bactria more in style of an independent king than as a satrap. He dutifully dispatched tribute and troops to Babylon, as he was meant to, but he consciously built up his own powerbase in Bactria. He made sure he had the support of both the local aristocracy and the Graeco-Macedonian settlers, showering them with land grants, titles and gold, things he was quite well able to dispense as a member of the royal family, assuring their loyalty. Thus when the War of the Regents ended there could be no doubt about who was the most important man in the east.
But neither Antigonos nor Seleukos were enthusiastic about their prospective new monarch. Especially Antigonos was long since used to getting what he wanted, he certainly wasn’t about to submit to a jumped-up satrap, no matter how illustrious his ancestry might be. It was thus that Antigonos and Seleukos, who not long before had been mortal enemies, now had a common interest: preventing Ptolemaios from attaining the kingship. In part they had already failed, for Ptolemaios had already declared himself to be the new Great King, and it is perhaps because of that that they took a drastic decision. Late in August 259 Seleukos left Babylon and together with a detachment of the Argyraspidai he went north, to the city of Nikopolis [3]. There he met face-to-face with Antigonos, the two former enemies embraced each other as brothers and concluded an alliance. They declared that they could not, and would not, accept Ptolemaios’ kingship. Some must have been startled by this message, as for whatever they might have thought of him Ptolemaios was still the man with the strongest claim to the throne. However it was nothing less than a divine revelation which had inspired this decision, or so Antigonos and Seleukos claimed. It was no lesser authority than Apollo himself, through his oracle at Delphi, that had revealed that Ptolemaios was an imposter: he was not an Argead prince at all but a Bactrian lookalike, the original Ptolemaios had been killed years ago by a jealous Philip IV. Putting aside the problem of succession for the time being Antigonos and Seleukos were both named regent, they gathered their forces and marched east, to prevent the imposter-king from seizing the empire.
Ptolemaios heard the news of Antigonos’ and Seleukos’ decision as he arrived at the city of Hekatompylos, seat of the satrap of Parthia, an associate of Ptolemaios named Polydoros. The news seems to have genuinely shocked Ptolemaios, who expected that some would resist his kingship but certainly not on the scale that seemed to happen now. Quickly he dispatched messengers to various satraps, asking for their support. Reports indicated that Seleukos and Antigonos were at Ekbatana, perhaps hoping to confront Ptolemaios somewhere in northern Iran. Soon affirmations of loyalty started to arrive: the satraps of Ariana and Arachosia, Gedrosia and Karmania pledged their support. From Bactria reinforcements arrived: 6000 horsemen under command of Attalos, Ptolemaios’ deputy and veteran of many battles with the Saka. It was around the start of October that Ptolemaios felt confident enough to confront the renegade regents, having gathered a force 20000 strong he resumed his march westwards. After occupying Rhagai, instead of marching west to Ecbatana, Ptolemaios marched south, perhaps hoping to occupy Persia itself. Antigonos and Seleukos, who did not expect this, gave chase. Determined to catch up with Ptolemaios Antigonos demanded the utmost of his soldiers, long and exhausting marches underneath the harsh sun, but in the end it worked out: near Aspadana he caught up Ptolemaios.
Seleukos urging the phalanx onwards
Now the Great King was forced to give battle on the plains of Gabiene. After several days of skirmishing it was on the 8th of November 259 that both sides were eager to prove their worth on the battlefield. Already early on the tens of thousands of men and animals marching and galloping caused great clouds of dust, making the jobs of the generals present even harder. The battle was hard-fought, as the Bactrian cavalry crashed through the left wing of the phalanx of the regents while on the right the Argyraspidai rallied and drove back their Bactrian opponents. In the end the decision fell in the centre, it was there that Ptolemaios’ phalanx, well-trained and armed but certainly not to the same extent as their opponents the Argyraspidai, started to falter. While Seleukos commanded the infantry it was Antigonos who, through a gap in the dust clouds, observed this obvious weakness. Commanding his cavalry he struck hard, shattering Ptolemaios’ centre. Hoping to stabilize things the Great King ordered his elephants forward, but these had not been trained sufficiently, upon contact with the enemy they panicked: stampeding both friend and foe. It was thus that, in a final attempt at salvaging the battle, Ptolemaios himself entered the fray. Commanding an elite corps of cavalry he charged in, his son Philip fighting alongside him, above them the royal banner, the Argead sunburst fluttered in the sky. It was not to be however, Ptolemaios was cut down in the melee, he was unhorsed and run through with a lance: thus died another Great King of Asia. Philip was captured but immediately executed, the Bactrian army collapsed: Polydoros and Attalos escaped alongside the bulk of the surviving cavalry. It was in the aftermath of that great battle, amid the blood-soaked dust of Gabiene that the victorious army acclaimed their general, Antigonos Kallinikos, as the new Great King. Naturally, he did not decline.
The reign of Antigonos Kallinikos
And when Antigonos heard of the victory that had been gained, elated by the magnitude of his good fortune, he assumed the diadem and from that moment onwards he used the style of king.
- Diodoros 20.53. [4]
The triumphant entrance into Babylon by Antigonos in early December 259 BCE must have been the high point of his life. As he stood in a gilded chariot, escorted by the hetairoi under the command of his eponymous son, he was acclaimed as king and saviour by the crowds gathered alongside the Processional Road, just like his predecessors had been. Antigonos, in short, had achieved that which he had long since desired: the kingship of Asia. Partially in recognition of his importance and partially in order to placate him Antigonos chose to make Seleukos chiliarch and satrap of Babylonia, becoming effectively the second man of the empire. To his son and heir, also named Antigonos, the Great King granted the satrapy of Bactria, although this was mostly a theoretical appointment: Bactria itself remained defiant: Ptolemaios’ sole surviving son and heir, also named Ptolemaios, had been proclaimed the rightful Great King of Asia at Bactra. It was not solely Bactria that remained defiant: Ariana, Arachosia and Parthia too chose not to recognise Antigonos as king.
Instead of marching himself of to war he decided to send his son eastwards, so that he could win the satrapy that had been granted to him. Early in 258 Antigonos the Younger thus departed for the east, commanding an army 25000 strong. His father however chose to remain in Babylon: Antigonos seemingly enjoyed being king, taking part in ceremonies and festivals, deciding important matters of state: he revelled in it all. He had also recently gained an important ally, or rather he married one: Lysandra, widow of Alexander IV, was both popular among the population of the capital and a capable politician. All in all it seemed that, apart from the east, Antigonos’ ascent had thus gone smoothly: the first year of his reign passed without much incident. In the east Antigonos the Younger was relatively successful: Polydoros had been defeated and killed in Parthia, Merv had been occupied and Bactria itself invaded. There were also setbacks: Ptolemaios II, as he styled himself, was a tenacious opponent who was supported by both the local aristocracy and the Hellenic settlers. Despite his own tender age he performed well under pressure: he personally led his cavalry on raids against the Antigonid supply lines. Already rather unpopular the problems that this caused for Antigonos’ supplies meant that his army had to live off the land, which caused further conflict with the Bactrian population. Near the end of the year, despite some attempts by Ptolemaios and Attalos to expel him, Antigonos the Younger started his siege of Bactra, hoping to break the Bactrian resistance.
At the start of 257 it must have seemed as if the new Great King would be a successful ruler, that finally the Argead Empire was on the right track again. Nothing however could be further from the truth, already before his assumption of the kingship Antigonos had made sure that many would oppose him. The first cracks appeared in the Spring of 257: he ordered his old rival, Philip of Tralles, satrap of Hellespontine Phrygia, to give up his satrapy. Philip, knowing that the likely consequence of his abdication would be his execution, refused to give up. When, several weeks later, an attempted assassination of Philip failed the satrap mobilised his forces. He maintained a loyal professional core of mercenaries since the War of the Regents, which now enabled him to resist his dismissal. But he also had an ace up his sleeve: Nikanor, the rather autonomous satrap of Thrace voiced his support for Philip. Antigonos could choose to let it go, to let Philip remain satrap, yet he feared that it would undermine his position as king if he showed weakness. And thus the decision was made: Antigonos would march west and impose his will on his recalcitrant satraps. As he marched out of Babylon at the head of his troops, passing underneath its impressive gateways, the Great King could not know that he would never his capital again.
As he passed through Syria he gathered his troops, mostly veterans of his many campaigns. Notably he left behind the Argyraspidai, which normally would accompany the Great King on campaign, perhaps fearing that they were more loyal to Seleukos than to him. Yet the amount of veterans he could recruit had diminished severely: age, injuries and death had taken its toll. Much more than during previous campaigns, and despite his newfound status as Great King, he now depended on fresh troops. Passing through Anatolia, collecting tribute and levies, Antigonos arrived at Sardis late in May. In Cappadocia he had left behind his companion Mithranes, the restless aristocracy of Eastern Anatolia required a strong hand to govern them, and his long-time cavalry commander was qualified enough in the eyes of the Great King. Antigonos’ second-in-command was Hephaistion, the son of Amyntor who had defected to him after Patroklos’ murder, he had sailed the fleet from Cilicia to Ionia, ensuring the loyalty of the cities there. Despite the Great King’s sizeable host Nikanor and Philip were confident and marched south to confront him. Antigonos, despite some misgivings about his own army, decided to oblige them.
On the eve of battle however the worst possible news arrived: Antigonos the Younger had perished in Bactria. While besieging Bactra a deadly disease had swept through the Antigonid camp, sparing neither private nor prince. A second disaster occurred not long after: near the Pass of the Iron Gates, halfway Bactra and Marakanda [5] Ptolemaios II had managed to annihilate an Antigonid army that was meant to assail Sogdia. Bactria was thus irrevocably lost, and a pretender now had both a strong base of operations and an air of victory around him. Antigonos, capable general that he was, knew that such a combination could be lethal for him. Now however he needed to steel himself, to focus on the task ahead: defeating Nikanor and Philip. Near Thyateira, north of Sardis, the armies faced off.
Battle of Thyateira
Antigonos, so the histories of the era tell, was just not himself that day. His usually energetic style of command was not there at all, he lethargically led the battle not from his warhorse but from his tent. Had another commander, Mithranes, Diomedes or Seleukos perhaps, been present things might have been different. Leonnatos, commander of the hetairoi, thus led Antigonos’ forces through much of the battle, but to no avail. Nikanor’s Thracians quickly gained the upper hand, Antigonos’ levies were quickly swept of the field, his veterans surrounded and annihilated. Antigonos himself attempted to salvage the situation, but it was too late. As he attempted to retreat from the field with a picked bodyguard they were stumbled upon by a group of Thracian horsemen; javelins and spears flew through the air, and one of them hit Antigonos: he was dead before he hit the ground. And thus died another Great King of Asia, after barely a year on the throne.
His death had great consequences: much of Anatolia now lay open to Nikanor’s raiders. Hephaistion, having moored his fleet at Ephesos, gathered the remaining troops and sailed off, not to Syria but to Athens, which had remained loyal to Antigonos. In Cappadocia a certain Ariobarzanes, a nobleman from the city of Amaseia who opposed Mithranes brutal rule declared himself not satrap but king, hoping to establish an independent Cappadocian state. In the far east Ptolemaios II was on the march, clandestinely negotiating with the Persian nobility he hoped to unite the east in order to seize the throne that belonged to him. In Babylon, upon hearing the news of Antigonos’ death, it was Seleukos who finally saw his opportunity: the Argyraspidai acclaimed him as the new Great King. And last, but not least, was the satrap of Egypt, Antigonos’ brother Demetrios. Upon hearing of his passing he too quickly gathered whatever forces he could muster and marched north, leaving behind Egypt for Syria. Upon reaching Nikatoris he too claimed the kingship. The last years had been harsh for Egypt: famine, oppression and wanton plunder were rife in the country. Perhaps before his departure for Syria Demetrios had heard of the unrest that had once again spread throughout Upper Egypt, but evidently he thought little of it, even stripping its garrisons in order to enlarge his army in Asia. As unrest, disease and famine spread, as many Egyptians were driven to despair while the Greeks gorged themselves on the country’s wealth, Demetrios’ decisions would turn out to be fatal mistakes.
Footnotes
To the Strongest
As Alexander remained ill and as the news of the birth of the heirs had not yet reached Taxila those present wanted to know who would rule the Empire were he to pass away. Despite his weakness the Great King laughed, and commented that certainly in the wake of his passing the kingship would pass to the strongest.
- Excerpt from The Wars of Megas Alexandros, describing a scene as Alexander lay ill in Taxila [1]
The death of Parysatis and her child was, while not unforeseeable, certainly an event which blindsided both Antigonos and Seleukos. For both men their entire claim to power depended on their status as regent for the as yet unborn heir, which was now obviously not going to happen. The Throne of Asia thus stood empty: the man with the strongest claim being Ptolemaios, satrap of Bactria and youngest son of Philip III. To those in the west Ptolemaios was somewhat of an unknown figure, more of a background figure than anything else. The thought that he would become the new Great King was to some unfathomable, having spent practically all his life east of the Euphrates many feared that he would be too Persian for the Macedonians and the Greeks. The Synedrion and the Argyraspidai, rather predictably, decided to name Seleukos as regent until it would clear become who exactly the next king was going to be.
Later authors often report that Seleukos spared no effort in order to prevent the news from spreading east: he supposedly locked the gates and had everyone who wanted to enter or leave the city interrogated. While theoretically possible it is unlikely Seleukos undertook such effort; in any case even if he did so it was insufficient: the news of Parysatis’ death quickly spread beyond Babylon. Ptolemaios learnt of it early in August, while encamped near the Jaxartes not far from Cyropolis, perhaps through associates or agents. During the months before he had fought a successful campaign against encroaching Saka: not just raiders but entire tribes, seeking to settle in the rich lands to their south. Defeated and destitute now most of them faced a life of slavery The news had arrived at the height of Ptolemaios’ triumph: the ritual submission of over one hundred Saka chiefs on the banks of the Jaxartes. Upon hearing the news Ptolemaios duly claimed the kingship and was acclaimed by his army, not long afterwards he returned to Bactra, from where he prepared his triumphant return to Babylon.
He was at the time thirty-four year olds, relatively tall and with ‘the same eyes as his grandfather’ [2] as Hermocles of Brentesion, the great chronicler of the Argeads, put it. While his stature was not particularly imposing he was a capable commander and warrior, never shying away from the frontline. He also was a father to two sons, eighteen year old Philip and seventeen year old Ptolemaios, thus securing the further succession. He had not neglected his studies and from early onward he had shown himself to be an able administrator: when his father, Philip III, died his brother, Philip IV, made him satrap of Elymais. There he had performed admirably: its administration was famously corrupt: the satrap that preceded him, a certain Leontiskos, had mercilessly exploited the population. The oppression and corruption was of such a scale that Philip IV could not ignore it: Leontiskos was dismissed and executed and Ptolemaios put in his place. Elymais had prospered under his stewardship, taxes were lowered and neglected infrastructure restored; typical of Ptolemaios was his hands-on approach, he was not above visiting the most remote mountain hamlet if that what was required of him. This must have impressed his brother, and when Philip IV, before embarking on his disastrous Indian campaign, had the satrap of Bactria executed he replaced him with Ptolemaios.
In Bactria too Ptolemaios was successful: he ingratiated himself with the local aristocracy, repelled raids by the Saka and made sure that when peace was signed with Suracaksas the profitable trade with India could restart unimpeded by ensuring that the trade routes were well-guarded and patrolled. Thus it came to be that while war consumed the western part of the empire, with Macedonia, Syria and Babylonia repeatedly trampled by invading armies, peace reigned in the east. The land of the thousand cities, as Bactria was known, flourished while the west burned. A lack of oversight from the west, caused by the War of the Regents, enabled Ptolemaios to rule Bactria more in style of an independent king than as a satrap. He dutifully dispatched tribute and troops to Babylon, as he was meant to, but he consciously built up his own powerbase in Bactria. He made sure he had the support of both the local aristocracy and the Graeco-Macedonian settlers, showering them with land grants, titles and gold, things he was quite well able to dispense as a member of the royal family, assuring their loyalty. Thus when the War of the Regents ended there could be no doubt about who was the most important man in the east.
But neither Antigonos nor Seleukos were enthusiastic about their prospective new monarch. Especially Antigonos was long since used to getting what he wanted, he certainly wasn’t about to submit to a jumped-up satrap, no matter how illustrious his ancestry might be. It was thus that Antigonos and Seleukos, who not long before had been mortal enemies, now had a common interest: preventing Ptolemaios from attaining the kingship. In part they had already failed, for Ptolemaios had already declared himself to be the new Great King, and it is perhaps because of that that they took a drastic decision. Late in August 259 Seleukos left Babylon and together with a detachment of the Argyraspidai he went north, to the city of Nikopolis [3]. There he met face-to-face with Antigonos, the two former enemies embraced each other as brothers and concluded an alliance. They declared that they could not, and would not, accept Ptolemaios’ kingship. Some must have been startled by this message, as for whatever they might have thought of him Ptolemaios was still the man with the strongest claim to the throne. However it was nothing less than a divine revelation which had inspired this decision, or so Antigonos and Seleukos claimed. It was no lesser authority than Apollo himself, through his oracle at Delphi, that had revealed that Ptolemaios was an imposter: he was not an Argead prince at all but a Bactrian lookalike, the original Ptolemaios had been killed years ago by a jealous Philip IV. Putting aside the problem of succession for the time being Antigonos and Seleukos were both named regent, they gathered their forces and marched east, to prevent the imposter-king from seizing the empire.
Ptolemaios heard the news of Antigonos’ and Seleukos’ decision as he arrived at the city of Hekatompylos, seat of the satrap of Parthia, an associate of Ptolemaios named Polydoros. The news seems to have genuinely shocked Ptolemaios, who expected that some would resist his kingship but certainly not on the scale that seemed to happen now. Quickly he dispatched messengers to various satraps, asking for their support. Reports indicated that Seleukos and Antigonos were at Ekbatana, perhaps hoping to confront Ptolemaios somewhere in northern Iran. Soon affirmations of loyalty started to arrive: the satraps of Ariana and Arachosia, Gedrosia and Karmania pledged their support. From Bactria reinforcements arrived: 6000 horsemen under command of Attalos, Ptolemaios’ deputy and veteran of many battles with the Saka. It was around the start of October that Ptolemaios felt confident enough to confront the renegade regents, having gathered a force 20000 strong he resumed his march westwards. After occupying Rhagai, instead of marching west to Ecbatana, Ptolemaios marched south, perhaps hoping to occupy Persia itself. Antigonos and Seleukos, who did not expect this, gave chase. Determined to catch up with Ptolemaios Antigonos demanded the utmost of his soldiers, long and exhausting marches underneath the harsh sun, but in the end it worked out: near Aspadana he caught up Ptolemaios.
Seleukos urging the phalanx onwards
Now the Great King was forced to give battle on the plains of Gabiene. After several days of skirmishing it was on the 8th of November 259 that both sides were eager to prove their worth on the battlefield. Already early on the tens of thousands of men and animals marching and galloping caused great clouds of dust, making the jobs of the generals present even harder. The battle was hard-fought, as the Bactrian cavalry crashed through the left wing of the phalanx of the regents while on the right the Argyraspidai rallied and drove back their Bactrian opponents. In the end the decision fell in the centre, it was there that Ptolemaios’ phalanx, well-trained and armed but certainly not to the same extent as their opponents the Argyraspidai, started to falter. While Seleukos commanded the infantry it was Antigonos who, through a gap in the dust clouds, observed this obvious weakness. Commanding his cavalry he struck hard, shattering Ptolemaios’ centre. Hoping to stabilize things the Great King ordered his elephants forward, but these had not been trained sufficiently, upon contact with the enemy they panicked: stampeding both friend and foe. It was thus that, in a final attempt at salvaging the battle, Ptolemaios himself entered the fray. Commanding an elite corps of cavalry he charged in, his son Philip fighting alongside him, above them the royal banner, the Argead sunburst fluttered in the sky. It was not to be however, Ptolemaios was cut down in the melee, he was unhorsed and run through with a lance: thus died another Great King of Asia. Philip was captured but immediately executed, the Bactrian army collapsed: Polydoros and Attalos escaped alongside the bulk of the surviving cavalry. It was in the aftermath of that great battle, amid the blood-soaked dust of Gabiene that the victorious army acclaimed their general, Antigonos Kallinikos, as the new Great King. Naturally, he did not decline.
The reign of Antigonos Kallinikos
And when Antigonos heard of the victory that had been gained, elated by the magnitude of his good fortune, he assumed the diadem and from that moment onwards he used the style of king.
- Diodoros 20.53. [4]
The triumphant entrance into Babylon by Antigonos in early December 259 BCE must have been the high point of his life. As he stood in a gilded chariot, escorted by the hetairoi under the command of his eponymous son, he was acclaimed as king and saviour by the crowds gathered alongside the Processional Road, just like his predecessors had been. Antigonos, in short, had achieved that which he had long since desired: the kingship of Asia. Partially in recognition of his importance and partially in order to placate him Antigonos chose to make Seleukos chiliarch and satrap of Babylonia, becoming effectively the second man of the empire. To his son and heir, also named Antigonos, the Great King granted the satrapy of Bactria, although this was mostly a theoretical appointment: Bactria itself remained defiant: Ptolemaios’ sole surviving son and heir, also named Ptolemaios, had been proclaimed the rightful Great King of Asia at Bactra. It was not solely Bactria that remained defiant: Ariana, Arachosia and Parthia too chose not to recognise Antigonos as king.
Instead of marching himself of to war he decided to send his son eastwards, so that he could win the satrapy that had been granted to him. Early in 258 Antigonos the Younger thus departed for the east, commanding an army 25000 strong. His father however chose to remain in Babylon: Antigonos seemingly enjoyed being king, taking part in ceremonies and festivals, deciding important matters of state: he revelled in it all. He had also recently gained an important ally, or rather he married one: Lysandra, widow of Alexander IV, was both popular among the population of the capital and a capable politician. All in all it seemed that, apart from the east, Antigonos’ ascent had thus gone smoothly: the first year of his reign passed without much incident. In the east Antigonos the Younger was relatively successful: Polydoros had been defeated and killed in Parthia, Merv had been occupied and Bactria itself invaded. There were also setbacks: Ptolemaios II, as he styled himself, was a tenacious opponent who was supported by both the local aristocracy and the Hellenic settlers. Despite his own tender age he performed well under pressure: he personally led his cavalry on raids against the Antigonid supply lines. Already rather unpopular the problems that this caused for Antigonos’ supplies meant that his army had to live off the land, which caused further conflict with the Bactrian population. Near the end of the year, despite some attempts by Ptolemaios and Attalos to expel him, Antigonos the Younger started his siege of Bactra, hoping to break the Bactrian resistance.
At the start of 257 it must have seemed as if the new Great King would be a successful ruler, that finally the Argead Empire was on the right track again. Nothing however could be further from the truth, already before his assumption of the kingship Antigonos had made sure that many would oppose him. The first cracks appeared in the Spring of 257: he ordered his old rival, Philip of Tralles, satrap of Hellespontine Phrygia, to give up his satrapy. Philip, knowing that the likely consequence of his abdication would be his execution, refused to give up. When, several weeks later, an attempted assassination of Philip failed the satrap mobilised his forces. He maintained a loyal professional core of mercenaries since the War of the Regents, which now enabled him to resist his dismissal. But he also had an ace up his sleeve: Nikanor, the rather autonomous satrap of Thrace voiced his support for Philip. Antigonos could choose to let it go, to let Philip remain satrap, yet he feared that it would undermine his position as king if he showed weakness. And thus the decision was made: Antigonos would march west and impose his will on his recalcitrant satraps. As he marched out of Babylon at the head of his troops, passing underneath its impressive gateways, the Great King could not know that he would never his capital again.
As he passed through Syria he gathered his troops, mostly veterans of his many campaigns. Notably he left behind the Argyraspidai, which normally would accompany the Great King on campaign, perhaps fearing that they were more loyal to Seleukos than to him. Yet the amount of veterans he could recruit had diminished severely: age, injuries and death had taken its toll. Much more than during previous campaigns, and despite his newfound status as Great King, he now depended on fresh troops. Passing through Anatolia, collecting tribute and levies, Antigonos arrived at Sardis late in May. In Cappadocia he had left behind his companion Mithranes, the restless aristocracy of Eastern Anatolia required a strong hand to govern them, and his long-time cavalry commander was qualified enough in the eyes of the Great King. Antigonos’ second-in-command was Hephaistion, the son of Amyntor who had defected to him after Patroklos’ murder, he had sailed the fleet from Cilicia to Ionia, ensuring the loyalty of the cities there. Despite the Great King’s sizeable host Nikanor and Philip were confident and marched south to confront him. Antigonos, despite some misgivings about his own army, decided to oblige them.
On the eve of battle however the worst possible news arrived: Antigonos the Younger had perished in Bactria. While besieging Bactra a deadly disease had swept through the Antigonid camp, sparing neither private nor prince. A second disaster occurred not long after: near the Pass of the Iron Gates, halfway Bactra and Marakanda [5] Ptolemaios II had managed to annihilate an Antigonid army that was meant to assail Sogdia. Bactria was thus irrevocably lost, and a pretender now had both a strong base of operations and an air of victory around him. Antigonos, capable general that he was, knew that such a combination could be lethal for him. Now however he needed to steel himself, to focus on the task ahead: defeating Nikanor and Philip. Near Thyateira, north of Sardis, the armies faced off.
Battle of Thyateira
Antigonos, so the histories of the era tell, was just not himself that day. His usually energetic style of command was not there at all, he lethargically led the battle not from his warhorse but from his tent. Had another commander, Mithranes, Diomedes or Seleukos perhaps, been present things might have been different. Leonnatos, commander of the hetairoi, thus led Antigonos’ forces through much of the battle, but to no avail. Nikanor’s Thracians quickly gained the upper hand, Antigonos’ levies were quickly swept of the field, his veterans surrounded and annihilated. Antigonos himself attempted to salvage the situation, but it was too late. As he attempted to retreat from the field with a picked bodyguard they were stumbled upon by a group of Thracian horsemen; javelins and spears flew through the air, and one of them hit Antigonos: he was dead before he hit the ground. And thus died another Great King of Asia, after barely a year on the throne.
His death had great consequences: much of Anatolia now lay open to Nikanor’s raiders. Hephaistion, having moored his fleet at Ephesos, gathered the remaining troops and sailed off, not to Syria but to Athens, which had remained loyal to Antigonos. In Cappadocia a certain Ariobarzanes, a nobleman from the city of Amaseia who opposed Mithranes brutal rule declared himself not satrap but king, hoping to establish an independent Cappadocian state. In the far east Ptolemaios II was on the march, clandestinely negotiating with the Persian nobility he hoped to unite the east in order to seize the throne that belonged to him. In Babylon, upon hearing the news of Antigonos’ death, it was Seleukos who finally saw his opportunity: the Argyraspidai acclaimed him as the new Great King. And last, but not least, was the satrap of Egypt, Antigonos’ brother Demetrios. Upon hearing of his passing he too quickly gathered whatever forces he could muster and marched north, leaving behind Egypt for Syria. Upon reaching Nikatoris he too claimed the kingship. The last years had been harsh for Egypt: famine, oppression and wanton plunder were rife in the country. Perhaps before his departure for Syria Demetrios had heard of the unrest that had once again spread throughout Upper Egypt, but evidently he thought little of it, even stripping its garrisons in order to enlarge his army in Asia. As unrest, disease and famine spread, as many Egyptians were driven to despair while the Greeks gorged themselves on the country’s wealth, Demetrios’ decisions would turn out to be fatal mistakes.
Footnotes
- See update 14
- i.e. Alexander the Great
- near OTL Mosul
- An OTL text, although it refers to the OTL Antigonos Monophtalmos and his assumption of the kingship after the conquest of Cyprus.
- i.e. Samarkand
