The War against Antigonus

Meanwhile, Cassander had gained control of Greece, and when he learned that Olympias had put Philip III Arrhidaeus to death, he hastened from the Pelopon-nese northwards (317). Since the Aetolian League held Thermopylae, Cassander got his troops to Euboea and thence to Thessaly on barges. He marched on Pydna, where Olympias had taken refuge. She sought aid from Epirus and Polyperchon, but the latter was a spent force, and his army deserted; meanwhile a revolution in Epirus brought that land into alliance with Cassander. Olympias thus found herself besieged in Pydna with no hope of aid, and in 316 she surrendered. Cassander had her killed and took possession of Alexander IV, the seven-year-old titular king. For the remainder of the year Cassander fought against Polyperchon’s son, also called Alexander, on the Peloponnese and consolidated his grip on that region (Diod. XIX 35-36 and 50-54).

Meanwhile, in Asia Antigonus grasped for power too quickly. He expelled Seleucus from the satrapy of Babylon and thus drove him to Egypt into Ptolemy’s arms. Seleucus and Ptolemy wrote to Cassander and won him over to an alliance against Antigonus. In late 316, the three presented Antigonus with a list of demands, which he rejected out of hand (Diod. XIX 55-57). Antigonus now formed an alliance with Polyperchon and Polyperchon’s son Alexander; Antigonus moreover sought to stir Greece up against Cassander by promulgating an edict whereby all Greece was to be “free and autonomous” and without garrisons (Diod. XIX 60-61). Cassander, however, retained control of the situation and made Alexander, Polyperchon’s son, a better offer than Antigonus had. Alexander joined Cassander while his father apparently went into retirement (Diod. XIX 63-64). Practically the only supporters of Antigonus now left in Greece were the Aetolians. In 314 and 313 Cassander and his general, Philip, carried out successful campaigns in western and northwestern Greece and inflicted severe defeats on the Aetolians (Diod. XIX 67 and 74). In 313 Antig-onus sent a general, Ptolemy (not the satrap of Egypt), to invade Greece. Ptolemy landed with his fleet in Boeotia and campaigned in central Greece (Diod. XIX 78) while Antigonus himself marched towards the Hellespont hoping to get his army across with ships from Byzantium. That city, however, remained scrupulously neutral, and since the year was advanced, Antigonus went into winter quarters (Diod. XIX 77).

In Asia, as well, things had been going badly for Antigonus. In 315 Asander, the satrap of Caria, had joined the coalition against him (Diod. XIX 62), and in 314 and 313 Antigonus was compelled to dispatch troops to fight against Asander (Diod. XIX 68 and 75). There was also Ptolemy to guard against in

The south. In 314 Antigonus stationed his son, Demetrius, in Syria to face any attack from Egypt (Diod. XIX 69). Demetrius seems to have recaptured Hollow Syria from Ptolemy in 314 or 313, but late in 313 Ptolemy, operating from Cyprus, captured a few cities in Cilicia before sailing back to Egypt. In the spring of 312, while Antigonus was still on the Hellespont, Ptolemy invaded Hollow Syria and defeated the overwhelmed Demetrius (Diod. XIX 79-86). Antigonus thereupon marched into Syria, and Ptolemy decided to give up Hollow Syria without a fight rather than to risk all in one engagement (Diod. XIX 93). There had been no decisive battle, but Cassander still held Greece and Macedonia and Ptolemy still held Egypt. Antigonus had nothing to show for his efforts, and his authority in Asia was crumbling.