34. A Troubled Reign
He was impatient and forceful, and even while King was not above arguing with his courtiers. He was quick to anger but could at times be kind and thoughtful. He was generous, but only to those who flattered him. Above all he was fickle: he often changed his opinion or disposition on subjects and people, he was prone to agreeing with the last person he spoke to, which, to the detriment of the empire, made him easy to manipulate.
- Excerpt about Philip IV from
The lives of the Great Kings of Asia by Hermocles of Brentesion
The sudden death of Philip III, a healthy man with no known history of illness, has always been regarded as suspect. Later authors often put the blame on his son and successor, Philip IV, who could not wait to ascend the throne and thus killed his father. This seems somewhat unlikely, Philip IV was not much of a schemer and hated the ceremonial and administrative tasks that were expected of him, he neglected them while regent of Macedonia but could not do so while king. Besides his son there were no obvious benefactors of his death, which probably means that the death was a natural one, it is not unheard of in antiquity that someone seemingly healthy passes away after a short illness.
Philip III was still in Pella when he died, so his body was embalmed there and laid to rest at his tomb at Aigai. Extensive funeral games were held under supervision of the new Great King Philip IV, who was acclaimed as king by the assembled army. He sailed from Macedonia to Syria in June 271, where he landed at Nikatoris and then travelled onwards to Babylon, where he made an triumphant entrance in August 271. The celebration lasted several weeks, the new Great King spent lavishly to make sure his entrance into the city would be remembered, he dispensed many gifts to nobles and dignitaries and spent much of his time inebriated. While in Babylon he would spend most of his time in the Palace of Nebuchadnezzar, caring little for the drudgeries of government he did not often attend to meetings of the synedrion [1] nor did he like presiding over court cases or settling disputes. In true Macedonian fashion he spend most of his time hunting and drinking, leaving the actual governing to his deputies, the most powerful being the Great King’s uncle, the chiliarch Karanos.
During the 270’s Karanos’ power and influence in the Argead court grew steadily, with his brother often campaigning he was responsible for governing the Empire from Babylon. The bureaucracy was filled with his loyalists and he had spies at most of the satrapal courts. He was not much of a warrior, and preferred the chancelleries and courtrooms over the campaign tent and the battlefield. For the Macedonians his lack of martial prowess was a cause for mockery and contempt, which made Karanos a rather unpopular figure among many. He was married to Stateira, a daughter of Persian nobility, but the couple only had daughters. His eldest daughter Nikaia was married to Patroklos, the eldest son of Amyntor, who was Karanos’ most important ally among the Macedonian nobility. During Philip IV’s reign it was Karanos who, despite being disliked by many, ruled the Empire: the Great King often being too inebriated or simply disinterested to put effort into ruling his realm. And even if they clashed over something it was not unusual for Karanos’ to eventually emerge on top, as did happen when Antigonos returned from Italy in 270.
Antigonos and a large army were left behind by Philip III in Italy in order to oversee the recently subjugated lands and peoples. Philip’s return to Babylon was supposed to only be temporary, he wanted to return to Italy in the following year to settle matters definitively but he died before he even crossed over to Asia. Antigonos thus was in an unenviable position, his army was not large and with the sudden death of Philip many among the Italian tribes and communities saw their chance to overthrow the Macedonian yoke before it was established. There was relatively little unrest in the south, the Lucanians, Bruttians and Saunitai were not eager to rise up and mostly were satisfied with their current arrangements with the Argeads. The Saunitai especially, as consequence of the war they had seen their territory in Campania enlarged and thus had no reason to antagonize their benefactors. In Latium too uprisings were only sporadic, of all the regions of Italy it had suffered the most and it’s population was still shellshocked by the destruction of Rome. The recently reconstituted Latin League, which was tied to the Argeads in a similar arrangement as the Saunitai, thus held their head low and supplied Antigonos with food and fodder for the campaign. The greatest threat was further north, from the Rasna and the Celts. Despite having much of their lands ravaged by the Romans the Rasna were unwilling subjects at best and were eager to see the Macedonians leave. The various Celtic tribes of the Po Valley also worried about the aggressive new power that seemed to dominate much of Italy, and as Antigonos burned the fields of the Rasna and swept their militias of the field Celtic warriors streamed south across the Po, to stop his advance.
Antigonos once again launched a campaign of terror against the enemies of the Argeads and it is during this campaign that men who feature across many of the wars of the coming decades like Mithranes, commander of the Median cavalry, Diomedes, Antigonos’ second-in-command, and Peukestas the Younger make their debut in the records. Cities that had not long ago been plundered by the Romans were now despoiled by the Argeads’ polyglot force. Tarchna fell to a quick assault, its male population was put to the sword while the rest was send east, to be dispersed among the cities of the Upper Satrapies. Shocked by the ferocity of the Argead assault other cities hesitated: Caisra (Caere), which initially managed to hold out against Antigonos, now opened its gates, as did Velzna and Clevsin. The cities Aritim (Arretium) and Felathri (Volaterrae) still decided to resist, aided in this decision by the presence of many Celtic troops. Most of the warbands that had travelled south were part of the Boii, a tribal confederacy who lived to the northeast of the Rasna and just south of the Po River, although there were also some warriors from the Insubres and Cenomani present. The Ligures too had sent some forces as did some of the Umbrians, and another notable contingent in this allied army consisted of Romans who had fled the destruction of their city. United in their opposition to Argead domination their army was perhaps 80000 strong, although since it lacked a central command it did not fight as a single army. It was near Felathri in November 271 that Antigonos and his army, 40000 strong, stood across the field from the 80000 strong allied Italian force.
Antigonos could have struck earlier, but supposedly he preferred facing his enemies at once instead of dealing with them piecemeal. His march to Felathri was thus deliberately slow, enabling his opponents to gather their forces. Perhaps he had heard that their leadership squabbled among themselves, Boii chieftains did not want to follow orders of Rasna magistrates and the Cenomani would not be commanded by some haughty Roman nobleman. When they were confronted by the Argead army they did thus not form a single force but rather several disparate ones. Antigonos did not charge in immediately, for several days the armies skirmished over the plains near Felathri. This gave the Italians a sense of security for they managed to easily repel Antigonos’ light troops, but it also made them somewhat careless. One evening, as the Boii and Cenomani were celebrating with copious amounts of wine and the Rasna too were in a festive mood Antigonos had formed up his army in its usual formation, the phalanx in the centre with supporting infantry and cavalry on the wings. They slept or waited throughout the night in formation and when the sun rose the next morning they advanced, catching their enemies completely by surprise. The Rasna, Romans and Umbrians still managed to form a line but were easily routed by the Argyraspides while the Celts and Ligurians were quickly overrun, caused by their own unpreparedness and by Antigonos’ deployment of elephants against them. Victory was, once again, total. It is in the aftermath of this battle that Antigonos epithet of ‘Kallinikos’ i.e. ‘Beautiful Victor’ is first mentioned.
His victory was followed by the quick submission of both Felathri and Aritim, and a subsequent campaign into the lands of the Boii, where he sacked their capital at Bononia in February 270, although most of the tribe had retreated behind the Po so they did not suffer many casualties. Afterwards Antigonos returned to Latium, marching through Umbria on his way back, ravaging and burning as he went. He arrived at Tusculum in May 270, having subjugated the Rasna and Umbrians once again and having repelled the Celts, leaving behind a garrison under a certain Athenodoros to make sure the Italians would remain loyal. Antigonos also ordered the Italiote League and the Saunitai to send troops. In the end it would of course not be enough to keep central Italy loyal to the Argeads, but by the time that would become an issue they had other things to worry about.
Antigonos returned to Babylon in September 270, where he personally met with the Great King. The two were well acquainted, they were cousins of the same age and had largely grown up together. Antigonos had been granted a triumphant entrance into Babylon and was showered with gifts and praise, but he desired more. From his cousin he requested the regency over Macedonia, and the Great King agreed that it was a suitable reward for his accomplishments in the west. Karanos however disagreed, for some unknown reason there already appeared to be some bad blood between Karanos and Antigonos, whom he was unwilling to grant such an important land. Instead Karanos granted Macedonia to his son-in-law Patroklos and only informed Philip after Patroklos was already on his way, greatly angering Antigonos. Philip was apparently unwilling to stand up to his uncle and instead granted the satrapy of Syria to Antigonos, who begrudgingly agreed.
Philip’s erratic nature becomes increasingly clear over the course of his reign, unduly offending both his subjects and close companions. Late in 270 he travelled to Phoenicia and Egypt to oversee the construction of the fleet that was to conquer Carthage, a project he inherited from his father. On his way there he visited several cities, including Edessa and Damascus. In Edessa a bronze statue of the king was set up in celebration of his arrival, but he considered this an offence and had it torn down and ordered the town’s notables massacred and it’s citizens were to pay a heavy indemnity. In Damascus a beautifully crafted golden statue was set up, the citizens having heard of the fate of Edessa probably hoped to avert undergoing the same. Apparently it worked, Philip thought the statue so beautiful that he exempted Damascus from taxes for the rest of his reign. Once in Egypt [2] he was crowned as pharaoh in a lavish ceremony at the Ipet-Mehu, and he also visited Alexandria. Rather than returning to Babylon afterwards he travelled to Upper Egypt, travelling up the Nile on a lavishly decorated barge. He visited many of the great monuments of the region, more like a tourist than a king, and supposedly he planned a campaign against Kush, although that would never materialize. At Ipetsut he ordered the construction of a new chapel and he seemingly enjoyed playing the part of pharaoh in various ceremonies.
Early in 269 Philip returned to Syria, to oversee the final preparations for his campaign against Carthage. Despite his defeat at the hands of Antigonos Eshmunhalos had launched another attack on Sicily in 270, once again the island was devastated by armies marching across, plundering and burning as they went. A Syracusan aristocrat named Alkyoneus was in charge of the defence of the island and did well, blocking the Carthaginian advance at several points and keeping the eastern side of the island loyal to the Argeads. With the fleet nearing completion Philip now planned to march an army 100000 strong supported by 600 ships to Carthage via Egypt and the Libyan coast. Already troops were gathered in Syria when news from India reached the Great King. The client-ruler of Gandhara, the recently enthroned Suracaksas, had decided to seize his independence. The inept Indian satrap Eumenes was assassinated and various garrisons were put under siege. Suracaksas was an able and wise ruler, he offered some of the garrisons service in his army, which many Macedonians who had settled down in India accepted. Despite its population and wealth the Indian satrapies had been ignored ever since Philip III marched off to Italy, so it is not surprising that the neglected garrisons partially decided to join the revolt. Philip now had to march east or risk losing one of his richest satrapies.
Most of the forces gathered in Syria would stay there however, under command of it’s satrap Antigonos, who had in the meantime set up a lavish court at Nikatoris. 20000 elite troops, among them the Argyraspidai and Athanatoi (Immortals) would march east alongside their king, who would pick up additional reinforcements in Iran and further east. He was joined by Amyntor, who was supposed to actually command the army, and his by his brother Ptolemaios. The Great King initially also wanted his 12-year old son and heir Alexander to join him on campaign, but he was talked out of this by his advisors. In anticipation of his expected victory in India Philip adopted the epithet of ‘Neos Dionysos’ and despite his poor military track record it seems Philip was confident of victory. He also wasn’t in much of a hurry, instead of marching immediately to India Philip made a detour to Bactria where he gathered additional troops. In Bactra he ordered the execution of the satrap Alexander, a grandson of Perdikkas, for his perceived incompetence. In his stead Philip appointed his brother Ptolemaios to be the new satrap, a rare good decision by the Great King for Ptolemaios had shown himself to be a able and just ruler while governing Elymais. Just before departing Bactra another incident took place, there had been some kind of argument between Philip and Amyntor over the strategy of the coming campaign, and it ended with the Great King ordering Amyntor to be detained in Bactra. He would decide his fate later, while at the same time he send the order for the execution of his sons Patroklos and Hephaistion back to Babylon, where thankfully for Amyntor Karanos ignored it. In March 268 Philip crossed the Hindu Kush with his army, over which he now exercised sole command. Several skirmishes in the Kabul Valley seemed to have convinced Philip that he was indeed an invincible commander, he was fully confident of victory when he descended from the Khyber Pass and marched on Taxila itself.
Near Taxila, April 268
Abjit could not see far, the whirling formations of cavalry threw up clouds of dust which obscured his view. He was not a warrior, he was not a kshatriya, instead he had always worked the land not far from Taksashila itself. However the new raja needed all the men he could muster to repel the Yavana and Parashika who came to reassert their dominion over the land. He had been handed a bow and a bundle of arrows, he had no armour but he stood behind several lines of equally inexperienced men with shields and spears.
He had seen the ruler himself, standing in his chariot underneath his parasol, accompanied by heavily armed warriors and many elephants. Now however they were nowhere to be seen, the entire front line of the Gandharan army consisted of levied troops with minimal experience, the mercenaries and elite troops were all kept back. Suddenly he heard the whinnying of horses and he watched as the cavalry of the Kamboja, lured into service by the raja with promises of gold and independence, came flying past them in full retreat. Apparently someone had gotten the better of them.
Then suddenly the sound of the pounding of hooves became even louder, and through the cloud of dust he could see the Yavana cavalry storming their position. For a moment he froze in fear, but he shook it off and drew his bow, his hands still shaking. ‘Nike!’ he heard, and the Yavana were quickly upon them. Some of the men in front of him lost their nerve and ran, but were struck in the back by the Yavana lances. Abjit managed to somehow hold firm, he aimed at the rider that was now in front of him, he let loose the arrow and narrowly missed his head, the arrow whizzling past the now enraged Yavana. Abjit stepped back and attempted to flee, the entire line was now collapsing, but he stumbled and fell. As he lay immobilized in the dirt he faintly heard the elephants, louder and louder, perhaps the raja had now committed his elites? Suddenly there was a searing and intense pain at the back of his head, and then he felt nothing anymore, another casualty among the many that day.
He never knew that the arrow he fired hit the rider behind the one he was aiming for.
He never knew that by sheer luck the arrow managed to hit just below the ridge of his helmet, severing one of his arteries and causing massive loss of blood.
He never knew he killed the Great King of Asia.
Aftermath
The Battle of Taxila was one of monumental importance, which was already well understood at the time. For Suracaksas it cemented his claim as an independent ruler, and near the battlefield he commissioned a rock inscription, where in impeccable Sanskrit he proclaimed his kingship and his right to rule. Further west the news was received with shock, and quickly Alexander IV was enthroned in Babylon to ensure continuity. The boy was still young however, and incapable of ruling, but luckily there was someone experienced enough to serve as his regent. When news reached Antigonos in Nikatoris that Karanos had declared himself regent he ordered the army to be assembled, and in the Macedonian fashion they declared Antigonos to be the rightful regent, and not long afterwards they crossed the Euphrates, and headed towards Babylon.
Footnotes
- Council of the most eminent nobles and close companions of the ruler, assists the Great King in the government of the Empire. Consists mostly of Macedonians but there are also some Persians that are part of it, usually presided over by the chiliarch.
- In a future update we’ll get a closer look at Argead Egypt.