It was the night of June 11th, 323 BCE in the city
of Babylon, when a royal ring clattered upon a palatial floor. The echo of this ring was heard
from India of the Vedas to Greece of the Orphic Hymns and from Sogdia of the Avestas to Egypt
of the Pyramid Texts. It signalled the death of Alexander the Great, conqueror of Persia and one
of the titans of history. His heartbroken troops wept at the sound of the news while his Friends
and Companions were left with one question: who was to rule after the young monarch’s death?
Alexander’s own answer was ‘τῷ κρατίστῳ’ or ‘to the strongest.’ His wife Barsine held their son
Herakles while his legal wife Roshanak caressed her pregnant belly, both hoping it would be their
children who would rule the ancient world. Back in Macedon, Alexander’s sisters Cynane, Kleopatra
and Thessalonike hoped to stake their claim to the throne, while in Babylon, his brother Arrhidaeas
hoped to claim it for himself. But the dying breath of the conqueror would only spell the end
of his empire. His Generals, or Diadochi, were destined to usher four decades of war, intrigue
and carnage upon all those who heard the ring’s fall. These conflicts would become known the
Wars of the Diadochi. It is these wars that will usher in one of Eurasia’s most vibrant epochs: the
Hellenistic Age. Welcome to our introductory video of our remaster of the Wars of the Diadochi
and the beginning of the Hellenistic Age. This video is sponsored by our
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us. We couldn’t be doing it without your help! ● THROUGH THE ARCHIVES: CONTEXT AND SOURCES:
Before getting into our long story, we must first discuss our primary sources.
Like the Persian and Peloponnesian Wars, most of our information on the Diadochi
wars comes from one ancient writer: Diodoros Sikelos. Diodoros Sikelos was from Sicily
and lived in the 1st Century BCE. His Bibliotheca Historica is a significant work of universal
history from mythical times to the start of the Gallic Wars. There are issues with his work,
such as unreliable sourcing, but modern scholars generally consider his work on the Diadochi to
be useful. In addition to Diodoros, the Greek philosopher Plutarch wrote some stories relevant
to the Diadochi wars. Other ancient sources, such as the Roman historian Justin or surviving
inscriptions on Babylonian cuneiform tablets, have allowed scholars to construct a rough chronology
of the significant events of the Hellenistic Era. Another thing to consider is the nature of the
Macedonian and Hellenistic monarchies, who acted as the main drivers of these conflicts. Macedonian
kingship revolved around delegating duties from the King to his Companions or Philoi, friends who
grew up and fought alongside him. In addition, military values dominated Macedonian life. Thus,
when Macedonian Kings ended up ruling over lands of incredible wealth, like Persia, people who felt
they had a noble right to rule due to Macedonian courtly values, ended up clashing with other
generals of less noble birth who had invested in fighting with Alexander. The various parts of
the Empire the Diadochi they ended up ruling had their own traditions and social structures, and
this impacted how each Epigonos acted. Hellenistic kingship emulated Alexander for legitimacy,
at least in the early period, and this appeal to continuity is a key issue for the Wars. The
Diadochi used these militaristic values to assert control in their courts and form government
structures on top of the existing local ones. ● NEKYIA IN THE ORIENT: THE COUNCIL OF BABYLON:
After an initial mourning shock, the Diadochi met before an assembly of their soldiers
in front of Alexander's empty throne in the Partition of Babylon called by Perdikkas,
the man who now served as temporary regent over Alexander’s Empire. Perdikkas, the son
of a noble Macedonian family from Orestis, had placed the diadem, ring, cuirass, and robe
on the throne and said that they had to choose a new leader. This immediately divided the room,
as the Diadochi all had different ideas as to who that leader should be. One proposal by Nearchos,
the man who had sailed from India back to Persia, was to crown Herakles, the son of Alexander
and Barsine. Another choice was to wait and see if Roshanak’s child would be a boy and let him
rule. Ptolemy, who had served alongside Alexander, instead proposed a rule by council.
This was partially due to xenophobia, as unlike Alexander’s pragmatic and ambitious
policy of accommodating Persian and Greek customs into one universal monarchy, most of the Diadochi
did not want to be ruled by half-Persian Emperors. Ultimately, no consensus could be found, and
soon, conflict erupted. Meleager, an experienced general who fought against the Getae, said that
this entire council was all a master plan by Perdikkas because no matter which child ruled, he
would be its guardian and thus the de facto King. In typical Greek soap opera fashion, one random
soldier in the background shouted that Alexander’s half-brother, Arrhidaeos, was already here and
could rule. Despite objections being raised that Arrhidaeos had some sort of mental disability
that allowed him to function but made him prone to bouts of instability, many soldiers agreed he
should rule. Two factions formed, one of mostly generals siding with Perdikkas and one of mostly
soldiers with Arrhidaeos. Meleager, under unclear circumstances, ended up joining the second faction
and gained so much support that Perdikkas was forced to call for help from the Persian Epigonoi,
the Persian nobles who had sided with Alexander. A stalemate developed, and the next day,
Meleager assembled the mutineers to find and arrest Perdikkas. The faction who had all sided
with Perdikkas, got Eumenes, the elderly general who had served under both Philip and Alexander
and was popular with the common phalanx soldier, to try to calm the troops, who did so by
agreeing to a co-regency of Arrhidaeos’s and Roshanak’s child if it was a boy. The next
day, a purification ceremony was called but where the soldiers expected reconciliation,
they got revenge. As the two sides embraced, the Persians arrested 300 seditionists. Meleager,
who realized that the generals had set up a trap, fled to a temple but ended up surrendering to the
Perdikkan faction and was murdered. This would be the first of many such backstabs. The council that
resumed afterwards had the following separation of courtly powers: Arrhidaeas, now Phillip III, was
now the King of the Macedonian Empire. Perdikkas was Regent, Seleukos was Companion Commander,
and Kassander was Commander of the Guard. Moreover, the massive realm Alexander
had conquered was divided among the most influential of the Diadochi. Antipater
got Illyria, Macedon, Epiros, and Greece, Lysimachos got Thrace, Leonnatos got Hellespontine
Phrygia, Antigonos got Greater Phrygia, Lycia and Pamphylia, Asander got Caria;
Eumenes got Paphlagonia and Cappadocia, and Ptolemy was given Egypt. Many local Persians
got satrapies as well, such as Atropates, the satrap of Medea who had once fought against
but then joined forces with Alexander. Moreover, many rulers in the east, like Oxyartes, the
father of Roshanak, or Porus, maintained local autonomy and retained control of their
people. The agency of various local non-Greek leaders will become important in the ensuing
wars and the Hellenistic period in general. ILIAD IN THE OCCIDENT: THE LAMIAN WAR:
Two major players were not in Babylon when all this was unfolding. These were Antipater,
the elderly regent in Macedon, and Krateros, who had been dispatched alongside Leonnatos to
take the veterans who wished to return home to Macedon. It was then that simmering discontent
in southern Greece, which was xenophobic towards Macedonians, erupted into outright revolt. Many
city-states, especially Athens, did not like the idea of Macedonian Pan-Hellenism, and this had
increased after the Exiles Decree of 324 BCE, forcing the Greek City states to accept all
their exiled citizens back and relinquish many of their colonies. In addition to all this,
there was even a bill in the Agora to recognize Alexander as a God, which for Hellenes was seen
as beyond the pale. After debates in the Agora, Athens declared war and instigated a revolt.
A strategos named Leosthenes led the charge against Macedonian imperialism. Many other
city-states in mainland Greece joined the revolt, especially those in Aetolia and the northern
Pelopponesos. However, the revolt gained less popularity in the Aegean and in Sparta, which
did not want to fight under Athenian command. Leosthenes secured mercenaries with Athenian
money and was elected ‘General of the Greeks’. After a short and decisive victory
against pro-Macedon forces in Plataea, the Athenian strategos went to the
famous site of Thermopylae to face down the Macedonian General Antipater, who had
amassed 13,000 infantry and 6,000 cavalry to put down the southern Hellenes’ revolt.
We do not know much about this battle, but we know that the Thessalian cavalry betrayed
the Macedonians and ravaged their cavalry. Seeing this chaos unfold, Antipater abandoned the
battlefield and fled to the city of Lamia. THESSALIAN TITANOMACHY: THE SIEGE
OF LAMIA AND BATTLE OF MELITAEA: Leosthenes approached the city with his troops
and set up a siege camp. From there, Leonsthenes developed a three-tiered plan to induce Lamia’s
surrender. First, he took troops and marched on the city to challenge the opponents to a field
battle. This failed, so Leosthenes moved on to phase too, launching daily assaults on the city
walls. However, the Lamian walls were solid and stable, and the Macedonians had an ample supply
of projectiles to lob at the attacks, which were consistently repelled. This infuriated Leosthenes,
who decided to use the classic strategy of cutting off all supplies into the city and ruthlessly
starving the defenders to death. He also began to dig a deep trench and a wall to completely
seal off the Macedonians from the outside world. In response, Antipater decided to go for a
desperate strategy. Using projectiles for cover, he took his troops outside and raided the Athenian
siege camp before the trench could be completed. This attack was a success, and Leosthenes,
who rushed to the aid of the soldiers during the melee, was hit in the head by a slingshot.
He was rushed to his tent and died three days later. After this, the arrival of veterans
from Macedon finally lifted the siege. The Greeks burnt their camp and retreated. They then
went on to fight another battle in Melitaea. In this battle, the southern Hellenes
were led by Antiphilos, an Athenian with 25 thousand infantry and 500 cavalry. They
faced down the Macedonian Diadochi Leonnatos, who possessed 20,000 infantry and 1,500
cavalry. A contingent of Thessalian cavalrymen, notorious for their equestrian skills and good
breed of war horses were with Antiphilos, giving the southern Hellenes a slight advantage. After
the battle lines had been drawn on both sides, Leonnatos ordered his cavalry and phalanx
to march forward. The Macedonian phalanx was highly successful against the Athenians due to the
effectiveness of their infamous sarissae spears, but the Thessalians pushed the Macedonian cavalry
away, forcing them to retreat up the hills and gain a positional advantage. This was to be
Leonnatos’s end, for he was mortally wounded during the commotion and died. The Thessalians
tried to reach them but could not. The next day, Antipater arrived with his own troops and sought
to escape from the Greeks. He managed to unite the reinforcements and his own forces at the plain
and then gained the advantage of vantage points to gain control of the landscape and provide
cover for his troops like Artemis and Apollo shooting at Niobe’s children from the sky.
He took his army and left, ending the battle. POSEIDON’S WARS: THE BATTLES
OF ECHINADES AND AMORGOS: Despite setbacks on land, Athens had a massive
fleet it could muster against the Macedonians, though it did have issues with a lack of
enough personnel to man the entire fleet, and ended up only sending off half of it.
The Macedonians had issues with numbers until Kleitos the White, one of Alexander’s
Generals arrived with reinforcements, which shifted the balance of the war at sea.
Here, our sources become jumbled. There is no detailed account of the seaborne war,
but we know of at least two battles. What we know is that Kleitos achieved victory
over the Greek rebels in the Battle of Echinades and again in another battle on the
Cyclades islands. We know these Macedonian victories caused heavy losses to the Athenian
allies and ended the thalassocracy of Athens. THE LAST STAND: THE BATTLE OF CRANNON:
In August 322 BCE, the Macedonians began their march into the rest of Greece, like
Kronos marching to defeat his father, Ouranos. Reinforcements from Krateros came to enhance
them, and thus, well-armed and well-supplied, they moved to the south for their vengeful
strikes. Athens, Thessaly and the Aetolians rallied their troops and went forward to fight
them in what has now become the Battle of Crannon. This is the last battle of the Greek Revolt that
we know of and the one that genuinely sealed the fate of Hellas. The Antipater and Krateros forces
numbered 40,000 infantry, 5,000 cavalry and 3,000 slingers and archers. The Allied forces included
25,000 infantry and 3,500 cavalry. However, the Thessalians were confident in their own
horses, which were known for their strength, size, and endurance. Antiphilos, the
general of the Athenians and the allies, put his cavalry on the right flank. Antipater put
his own cavalry opposite them on his left flank. Antiphilos commenced the battle by sending the
cavalry forward. The two mounted armies clashed, and after the conflict, the more robust and
durable Thessalian cavalry managed to push off the Macedonians. The battle then continued with
the infantry sections of the army. The Macedonians continued pressing and slowly pushed off the
anti-Macedonian front onto higher ground on the battlefield. The anti-Macedonians managed to
push off any further attacks, while the cavalry, seeing that they were now without infantry allies,
decided to retreat. The battle continued until the Athenians surrendered. 500 Athenians and
allies died, while only 130 Macedonians died. ● MORPHEAS’S MIST DISPERSED: THE AFTERMATH:
Menon of Pharsalos, the leader of the cavalry, decided that the war was lost and thus decided to
send emissaries for surrender. Antipater was not amused and refused to negotiate. Slowly,
the Macedonians took Thessalian cities, and each city surrendered separately. Left
without allies, Athens finally surrendered unconditionally. The punishment of the Athenians
was great, as they had an oligarchy imposed upon them led by a man called Phocion. Athenian
contingents were to leave the Klerouchies, her settler colonies, as well as pay
massive war reparations. In nearby Munychia, a Macedonian guard was to be established to keep
controlling the Athenians, and anti-Macedonian rhetoricians were to be arrested. One of them,
the famous Demosthenes, decided to commit suicide rather than be arrested by his enemies. From
then on, the politics of Greek city-states would appear and disappear like shades of
the dead in the Odyssey. Various Diadochi would make various declarations in places like
Corinth linked to ‘defending Hellenic freedom’ or promise various factions freedom, control
over city-states, or restoration of previous regimes. This is an important thing to consider
contextually; it was an attempt to show the Greek city-states that they depended on whichever
state of Diadochi was promising them freedom. ● THE STEALING OF THE CORPSE: CONCLUSION:
The revolt in southern Greece was over. Meanwhile, Cappadocia, which is recorded to have had
various small-scale revolts, was subdued by Eumenes. However, the courtly scheming among the
Diadochi would only continue. Factionalism slowly grew amongst the friends and generals of the
late great Alexander, as Antigonos, Antipater, and Krateros began to see Perdikkas as a man with
too much power, which he was wielding for his own gain. In fact, after the death of Leonnatos,
he was to marry Kleopatra, Alexander’s sister, instead. This was orchestrated by an old player
in the court, Olympias, Alexander’s mother. This was a major offence to Antipater, as his
daughter had originally been Perdikkas’ intended. With Kleopatra as Perdikka's wife,
any children Perdikkas had would be first in line for the throne as Herakles and the
now-born baby boy Alexander IV were half-Persian, and xenophobia meant that they were disadvantaged
in the line of succession. Krateros was sent by Antipater into Asia Minor in an increasingly
hostile case of sabre-rattling between Antigonos and Perdikkas. Perdikkas found Eumenes,
Seleukos, Peithon, and Antigenes to be his allies, as they all had proximal satrapies under
their command. Then, out of nowhere, a wildcard occurred. Ptolemy had arrived in
the rich and ancient powerhouse of Egypt, an important location with bountiful grain
and a sophisticated state bureaucracy. The wily master of Egypt had likely been
scheming for his own independence for a long while. To achieve the legitimacy to
do so, he decided to do the unthinkable. Alexander’s body was in Babylon until
Perdikkas sent it forth to Macedon to be buried. Along the way, and we are unsure as
to where this occurred, Ptolemy appeared like the Chaos Snake Apophis and stole the body. He
took it to Egypt, where it remains to this day, undiscovered. This was more an excuse for the
background scheming, but it did cause the furious Perdikkas to declare war. And thus, the First War
of the Diadochi began. Hundreds of thousands of soldiers were mustered as new rulers put Greek
and Barbarian side by side to fight for their own ambitions. As the sarissae were rattled, the
Gods of all the peoples of the Empire assembled to see the impending doom. The Devas, Buddha and
Mahavira gathered in India, soon to slip away, while Ahura Mazda and his Eastern Iranian brethren
met in Persia, the heart of it all. In the Near East, the Gods of Arabians in Nabataea gazed upon
their Semitic brothers in Babylon, while in Egypt, Ra and Osiris gazed on the Phoenician God
Melqart in Tyre from the Nile. And the one thousand Gods of Anatolia congregated
next to the Olympians and their Thracian and Illyrian divine neighbours. The wars of the
Diadochi are about to begin, and like the Iliad, different pantheons will take different sides.
These wars will shake the earth to its core. Our series on the Diadochi Wars will
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