character of King of the Medes and Persians. Policy bade him
   put on that character. We can also fully believe that he was
   himself really dazzled with the splendour of his superhuman
   success. … His own deeds had outdone those which were told
   of any of his divine forefathers or their comrades; Achilleus,
   Herakles, Theseus, Dionysos, had done and suffered less than
   Alexander. Was it then wonderful that he should seriously
   believe that one who had outdone their acts must come of a
   stock equal to their own? Was it wonderful if, not merely in
   pride or policy, but in genuine faith, he disclaimed a human
   parent in Philip, and looked for the real father of the
   conqueror and lord of earth in the conqueror and lord of the
   heavenly world? We believe then that policy, passion, and
   genuine superstition were all joined together in the demand
   which Alexander made for divine, or at least for unusual,
   honours. He had taken the place of the Great King, and he
   demanded the homage which was held to be due to him who held
   that place. Such homage his barbarian' subjects were perfectly
   ready to pay; they would most likely have had but little
   respect for a king who forgot to call for it. But the homage
   which to a Persian seemed only the natural expression of
   respect for the royal dignity, seemed to Greeks and
   Macedonians an invasion of the honour due only to the immortal
   Gods. … He not only sent round to all the cities of Greece
   to demand divine honours, which were perhaps not worth
   refusing, but he ordered each city to bring back its political
   exiles. This last was an interference with the internal
   government of the cities which certainly was not warranted by
   Alexander's position as head of the Greek Confederacy. And, in
   other respects also, from this unhappy time all the worst
   failings of Alexander become more strongly developed. … The
   unfulfilled designs of Alexander must ever remain in darkness;
   no man can tell what might have been done by one of such
   mighty powers who was cut off at so early a stage of his
   career. That he looked forward to still further conquests
   seems beyond doubt. The only question is, Did his conquests,
   alike those which were won and those which were still to be
   won, spring from mere ambition and love of adventure, or is he
   to be looked on as in any degree the intentional missionary of
   Hellenic culture? That such he was is set forth with much
   warmth and some extravagance in a special treatise of
   Plutarch; it is argued more soberly, but with true vigour and
   eloquence, in the seventh volume of Bishop Thirlwall. Mr.
   Grote denies him all merit of the kind."

      E. A. Freeman,
      Alexander
      (Historical Essays, series 2).
      ALSO IN:
      C. Thirlwall,
      History of Greece,
      chapters 51-55 (volumes 6-7).
MACEDONIA: B. C. 323-322.
   Revolt in Greece.
   The Lamian War.
   Subjugation of Athens.

      See GREECE: B. C. 323-322.

MACEDONIA: B. C. 323-316.
   The Partition of the Empire of Alexander.
   First Period of the Wars of the Diadochi
   or Successors of Alexander.

   Alexander "left his wife Roxana pregnant, who at the end of
   three months brought into the world the rightful heir to the
   sceptre, Alexander; he left likewise an illegitimate son,
   Hercules; a bastard half-brother, Arrhidæus; his mother, the
   haughty and cruel Olympias, and a sister, Cleopatra, both
   widows; the artful Eurydice, (daughter to Cyane, one of
   Philip's sisters,) subsequently married to the king,
   Arrhidæus; and Thessalonica, Philip's daughter, afterwards
   united to Cassander of Macedonia. The weak Arrhidæus, under
   the name of Philip, and the infant Alexander, were at last
   proclaimed kings, the regency being placed in the hands of
   Perdiccas, Leonnatus, and Meleager; the last of whom was
   quickly cut off at the instigation of Perdiccas." The
   provinces of the Empire which Alexander had conquered were now
   divided between the generals of his army, who are known in
   history as the Diadochi, that is, the Successors. The division
   was as follows: "Ptolemy son of Lagus received Egypt [see
   EGYPT: B. C. 323-30]; Leonnatus, Mysia; Antigonus, Phyrgia,
   Lycia, and Pamphylia; Lysymachus, Macedonian Thrace; Antipater
   and Craterus remained in possession of Macedonia. … The
   remaining provinces either did not come under the new division
   [see SELEUCIDAE], or else their governors are unworthy of
   notice,"

      A. H. L. Heeren,
      Manual of Ancient History,
      page 222.
   Meantime, "the body of Alexander lay unburied and neglected,
   and it was not until two years after his death that his
   remains were consigned to the tomb. But his followers still
   shewed their respect for his memory by retaining the feeble
   Arrhidæus on the throne, and preventing the marriage of
   Perdiccas with Cleopatra, the daughter of Philip; a union
   which manifestly was projected to open a way to the throne.
   But while this project of marriage occupied the attention of
   the regent, a league had secretly been formed for his
   destruction; and the storm burst forth from a quarter whence
   it was least expected. … The barbarous tribes of the
   Cappadocians and Paphlagonians … asserted their independence
   after the death of Alexander, and chose Ariarathes for their
   leader. Perdiccas sent against them Eumenes, who had hitherto
   fulfilled the peaceful duties of a secretary; and sent orders
   to Antigonus and Leonatns, the governors of Western Asia, to
   join the expedition with all their forces. These commands were
   disobeyed; and Perdiccas was forced to march with the royal army
   against the insurgents. He easily defeated these undisciplined
   troops, but sullied his victory by unnecessary cruelty.
{2061}
   On his return he summoned the satraps of Western Asia to
   appear before his tribunal, and answer for their disobedience.
   Antigonus, seeing his danger, entered into a league with
   Ptolemy the satrap of Egypt, Antipater the governor of
   Macedon, and several other noblemen, to crush the regency.
   Perdiccas, on the other hand, leaving Eumenes to guard Lower
   Asia, marched with the choicest divisions of the royal army
   against Ptolemy, whose craft and ability he dreaded even more
   than his power. Antipater and Craterus were early in the
   field; they crossed the Hellespont with the army that had been
   left for the defence of Macedon. … Seduced by … false
   information, they divided their forces; Antipater hastening
   through Phrygia in pursuit of Perdiccas, while Craterus and
   Neoptolemus marched against Eumenes. They encountered him in
   the Trojan plain, and were completely defeated. … Eumenes
   sent intelligence of his success to Perdiccas; but two days
   before the messenger reached the royal camp the regent was no
   more. His army, wearied by the long siege of Pelusium, became
   dissatisfied; their mutinous dispositions were secretly
   encouraged by the emissaries of Ptolemy … and Perdiccas was
   murdered in his tent (B. C. 321). … In the meantime a brief
   struggle for independence had taken place in Greece, which is
   commonly called the Lamian war [see GREECE: B. C. 323-322].
   … As soon as Ptolemy had been informed of the murder of
   Perdiccas, he came to the royal army with a large supply of
   wine and provisions. His kindness and courteous manners so won
   upon these turbulent soldiers, that they unanimously offered
   him the regency; but he had the prudence to decline so
   dangerous an office. On his refusal, the feeble Arrhidæus and
   the traitor Python were appointed to the regency, just as the
   news arrived of the recent victory of Eumenes. This
   intelligence filled the royal army with indignation. … They
   hastily passed a vote proclaiming Eumenes and his adherents
   public enemies. … The advance of an army to give effect to
   these decrees was delayed by a new revolution. Eurydice, the
   wife of Arrhidæus, a woman of great ambition and considerable
   talent for intrigue, wrested the regency from her feeble
   husband and Python, but was stripped of power on the arrival
   of Antipater, who reproached the Macedonians for submitting to
   the government of a woman; and, being ably supported by
   Antigonus and Seleucus, obtained for himself the office of
   regent. No sooner had Antipater been invested with supreme
   power than he sent Arrhidæus and Eurydice prisoners to Pella,
   and entrusted the conduct of the war against Eumenes to the
   crafty and ambitious Antigonus. … Eumenes was unable to cope
   with the forces sent against him; having been defeated in the
   open field, he took shelter in Nora, a Cappadocian city, and
   maintained a vigorous defence, rejecting the many tempting
   offers by which Antigonus endeavoured to win him to the
   support of his designs (B. C. 318). The death of Antipater
   produced a new revolution in the empire; and Eumenes in the
   meantime escaped from Nora, accompanied by his principal
   friends. … Antipater, at his death, bequeathed the regency
   to Polysperchon, excluding his son Cassander from power on
   account of his criminal intrigues with the wicked and
   ambitious Eurydice. Though a brave general, Polysperchon had
   not the qualifications of a statesman; he provoked the
   powerful resentment of Antigonus by entering into a close
   alliance with Eumenes; and he permitted Cassander to
   strengthen himself in southern Greece, where he seized the
   strong fortress of Munychia. … Polysperchon, unable to drive
   Cassander from Attica, entered the Peloponnesus to punish the
   Arcadians, and engaged in a fruitless siege of Megalopolis. In
   the meantime Olympias, to whom he had confided the government
   of Macedon, seized Arrhidæus and Eurydice, whom she had
   murdered in prison. Cassander hasted, at the head of all his
   forces, to avenge the death of his mistress: Olympias, unable
   to meet him in the field, fled to Pydna; but the city was
   forced to surrender after a brief defence, and Olympias was
   immediately put to death. Among the captives were Roxana the
   widow, Alexander Ægus the posthumous son, and Thessalonica the
   youngest daughter, of Alexander the Great. Cassander sought
   and obtained the hand of the latter princess, and thus
   consoled himself for the loss of his beloved Eurydice. By this
   marriage he acquired such influence, that Polysperchon did not
   venture to return home, but continued in the Peloponnesus,
   where he retained for some time a shadow of authority over the
   few Macedonians who still clung to the family of Alexander. In
   Asia, Eumenes maintained the royal cause against Antigonus,
   though deserted by all the satraps, and harassed by the
   mutinous dispositions of his troops, especially the
   Argyraspides, a body of guards that Alexander had raised to
   attend his own person, and presented with the silver shields
   from which they derived their name. After a long struggle,
   both armies joined in a decisive engagement; the Argyraspides
   broke the hostile infantry, but learning that their baggage
   had in the meantime been captured by the light troops of the
   enemy, they mutinied in the very moment of victory, and
   delivered their leader, bound with his own sash, into the
   hands of his merciless enemy (B. C. 315). The faithful Eumenes
   was put to death by the traitorous Antigonus; but he punished
   the Argyraspides for their treachery."

      W. C. Taylor,
      The Student's Manual of Ancient History,
      chapter 11, section 3.
      ALSO IN:
      P. Smith,
      History of the World: Ancient,
      chapter 17 (volume 2).
      G. Grote,
      History of Greece,
      chapter 96 (volume 12).
      See, also, GREECE: B. C. 321-312.

MACEDONIA: B. C. 315-310.
   The first league and war against Antigonus.
   Extermination of the heirs of Alexander.

   "Antigonus was now unquestionably the most powerful of the
   successors of Alexander the Great. As master of Asia, he ruled
   over those vast and rich lands that extended from India to the
   Mediterranean Sea. … Although nearly seventy years old, and
   blind in one eye, he still preserved the vigor of his forces.
   … He was fortunate in being assisted by a son, the famous
   Demetrius, who, though possessed of a very passionate nature,
   yet from early youth displayed wonderful military ability.
   Above all, the prominent representatives of the royal family
   had disappeared, and there remained only the youthful
   Alexander, Herakles, the illegitimate son of Alexander the
   Great, who had no lawful claim whatever to the sovereignty,
   and two daughters of Philip, Kleopatra, who lived at Sardis,
   and Thessalonike, whom Kassander had recently married—none of
   whom were sufficiently strong to assert their rights to the
   throne.
{2062}
   Thus Antigonus seemed indeed destined to become vicar and
   master of the entire Alexandrian kingdom, and to restore the
   unity of the empire. But not only was this union not realized,
   but even the great realm which Antigonus had established in
   Asia was doomed to inevitable destruction. The generals who
   possessed the various satrapies of the empire could not bear
   his supremacy, and accordingly entered into a convention,
   which gradually ripened into an active alliance against him.
   The principal organ of this movement was Seleukus, who, having
   escaped to Ptolemy of Egypt, first of all persuaded the latter
   to form an alliance—which Kassander of Macedonia and
   Lysimachus of Thrace readily joined—against the formidable
   power of Antigonus. The war lasted for four years, and was
   carried on in Asia, Europe, and Africa. Its fortunes were
   various [the most noteworthy event being a bloody defeat
   inflicted upon Demetrius the son of Antigonus, by Ptolemy, at
   Gaza, in 312], but the result was not decisive. … In 311 B.
   C. a compact was made between Antigonus on one side, and
   Kassander, Ptolemy, and Lysimachus on the other, whereby 'the
   supreme command in Europe was guaranteed to Kassander, until
   the maturity of Alexander, son of Roxana; Thrace being at the
   same time assured to Lysimachus, Egypt to Ptolemy, and the
   whole of Asia to Antigonus. It was at the same time covenanted
   by all that the Hellenic cities should be free.' Evidently
   this peace contained the seeds of new disputes and increasing
   jealousies. The first act of Kassander was to cause the death
   of Roxana and her child in the fortress of Amphipolis, where
   they had been confined; and thus disappeared forever the only
   link which apparently maintained the union of the empire, and
   a ready career now lay open to the ambition of the successors.
   Again, the name of Seleukus was not even mentioned in the
   peace, while it was well known at the time it was concluded
   that he had firmly established his rule over the eastern
   satrapies of Asia. … The troops also of Antigonus,
   notwithstanding the treaty, still remained in Hellas, under
   command of his nephew Ptolemy. Ptolemy of Egypt, therefore,
   accusing Antigonus of having contravened the treaty by
   garrisoning various Hellenic cities, renewed the war and the
   triple alliance against him." A series of assassinations soon
   followed, which put out of the way the young prince Herakles,
   bastard son of Alexander the Great, and Kleopatra, the sister
   of Alexander, who was preparing to wed Ptolemy of Egypt when
   Antigonus brought about her murder, to prevent the marriage.
   Another victim of the jealousies that were rife among the
   Diadochi was Antigonus' nephew Ptolemy, who had deserted his
   uncle's side, but who was killed by the Egyptian Ptolemy. "For
   more than ten years … Antigonus, Ptolemy, Lysimachus, and
   Kassander successively promised to leave the Greeks
   independent, free, and unguarded; but the latter never ceased
   to be guarded, taxed, and ruled by Macedonian despots. We may,
   indeed, say that the cities of Hellas never before had
   suffered so much as during the time when such great promises
   were made about their liberty. The Ætolians alone still
   possessed their independence. Rough, courageous, warlike, and
   fond of freedom, they continued fighting against the
   Macedonian rule."

      T. T. Timayenis,
      History of Greece,
      part 9, chapter 5 (volume 2).
      ALSO IN:
      J. P. Mahaffy,
      Story of Alexander's Empire,
      chapters 5-6.