Background
- After Alexander the Great died, his generals fought over the control of the empire for 20 years
- Alexander had an infant son and a brother, but neither was capable of ruling
- The wars were fought between armies led by Greeks or Macedonians
- The main competing statesmen were Perdiccas (supreme commander of the army), Antipater (goveror of Greece and Macedon) and Ptolemy (satrap of Egypt)
- Perdicass had been with Alexander at his deathbed and he received Alexander’s signet ring thereby asserting control over the empire
- He became a regent for Alexander’s family (the wars were fought for ten years over this regency)
First War (Overthrow of Perdiccas)
- 321 BC
- Rebellion broke out against Perdiccas' rule in Asia Minor and Egypt
- Perdicass was eventually murdered by his general Seleucus
Aftermath
- Antipater was made regent of the empire
- Ptolemy retained Egypt
- Lysichamus retained Thrace
- Seleucus was granted Babylon
- Antigonus was granted Asia Minor
Second War (Death of Antipater)
- 319 BC
- Instead of passing regency to his son, Cassander, he gave it to Polyperchon
- War broke out between Polyperchon allied with Eumenes against Cassander, Antigonus and Ptolemy who refused to recognize Polyperchon as regent
Battle of Byzantium
- 318 BC
- Battle against asiatic rebels led by Antigonus who won
Battle of Paraitakene
- 317 BC
- Eumenes' army of Asiatics and Antigonus' army of Macedonians met in eastern Persia
- There was no clear winner, but Antigonus had 4 times bigger casualties
Battle of Gabiene
- 315 BC
- Antigonus was hunting Eumenes and his army in the desert
- He gave up, but the two armies still met eventually
- Both sides had elephants
- Antigonus was victorious, but the result of the battle was still inconclusive
- Eumenes was eventually captured and killed
Aftermath
- Antigonus was in control of Asia
- Cassander controlled Greece and Macedon
- Lysichamus controlled Thrace and Asia Minor
- Ptolemy controlled Egypt
Third War
- 312 BC
- Antigonus invaded Ptolemy’s Syria
- Cassander and Lysimachus allied themselves with Seleucus
- Polyperchon allied himself with Antigonus
- During this war, most of Alexander’s relatives were murdered and there was no longer any pretense of regency or unified empire
Battle of Gaza
- Macedonians under Demetrius (Antigonus’s son) against Syrians and Egyptians under Seleucus and Ptolemy
- Antigonus lost, but they made peace
Fourth War (Overthrow of Antigonus)
- 307 – 302 BC
- Continuation of the third war
- Many battles
Battle of Salamis
- 307 BC
- Between Macedonian fleet under Demetrius and Egyptian fleet under Ptolemy
- Antigonids won
After many battles, Antigonus finally lost in the…
Battle of Ipsus
- 302 BC
- Seleucus defeated Antigonus
- Antigonus was slain in this battle
Aftermath
- Antigonus' territory was split between Lysimachus and Seleucus
- The four remaining generals oficially declared themselves king
Fifth War (Death of Cassander)
- After Cassander died, neither of his sons was fit to rule, but they managed to instigate a civil war
- The younger son brought in Demetrius to assert his claim
- But eventually Demetrius was driven out and the teritorry was split between Lysichamus and Pyrrhus
Aftermath
The situation got really complicated after some time. Some important events:
- The empire of Lysichamus broke up
- His general, Philetaerus, seized the region of Pergamon and established the Attalid dynasty
- There was a Gallic invasion that caused some chaos
After about 50 years from the death of Alexander, 3 relatively stable dynasties ruled the empire:
- The Ptolemeis ruled Egypt and Judea
- The Attalids ruled Asia Minor
- The Seleucids ruled the old Persian empire
