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  ALEXANDER THE GREAT FAILURE

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  Alexander the Great Failure

  The Collapse of the Macedonian Empire

  John D. Grainger

  Hambledon Continuum is an imprint of Continuum Books

  Continuum UK, The Tower Building, 11 York Road, London SE1 7NX

  Continuum US, 80 Maiden Lane, Suite 704, New York, NY 10038

  www.continuumbooks.com

  Copyright © John D. Grainger 2007

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or any information storage or retrieval system, without prior permission from the publishers.

  First published 2007

  British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

  A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

  ISBN 978 1 84725 188 6

  Typeset by Pindar New Zealand (Egan Reid), Auckland, New Zealand

  Contents

  List of maps

  vii

  List of genealogies

  vii

  List of abbreviations

  viii

  Introduction xvii

  1 Macedon 370–359 bc: a failing state

  1

  World view I: 360 bc

  17

  2 The security of Macedon, 359–354 bc 23

  3 The defence of the kingdom, 354–346 bc 33

  4 Cold war, 346–340 bc 47

  5 The conquest of Greece, 340–334 bc

  59

  6 The great campaign, 334–325 bc 75

  7 The united empire, 325–319 bc 87

  World view II: 319 bc

  99

  8 Antigonos the One-Eyed, 319–311 bc 103

  9 The new king, 311–306 bc

  115

  10 Antigonos’ failure, 306–298 bc

  127

  11 New kings for Macedon, 298–291 bc

  137

  12 King Demetrios and his enemies, 291–285 bc 147

  13 The last chance for the empire, 285–281 bc 157

  14 New kings, and disaster, 281–277 bc 165

  15 The new world, 277–272 bc 175

  World view III: 272 bc 185

  Conclusion

  189

  Notes

  195

  Bibliography

  217

  Index

  227

  Maps

  The growth of Macedon, 359–334 bc ix

  The strategic crisis, 331 bc

  x

  Alexander’s empire

  xi

  The campaign against Antigonos, 302–301 bc xii

  Successor kingdoms of Alexander’s empire, 272 bc xiii

  Genealogies

  The Argead kings of Macedon

  xiv

  The family of Antipater

  xv

  The house of Antigonos

  xvi

  Abbreviations

  Austin M.M.

  Austin,

  The Hellenistic World from Alexander to the

  Roman Conquest, Cambridge 1981

  BCH

  Bulletin de Correspondance Hellenique

  CAH

  Cambridge Ancient History

  CQ Classical

  Quarterly

  FGrH

  P. Jacoby, Die Fragmente der Griechischen Historiker, Berlin,

  from 1923

  IG Inscriptiones

  Graecae

  JHS

  Journal of Hellenic Studies

  Macedonia

  N. G. L. Hammond et al. , A History of Macedonia, Oxford

  1972–1978

  OGIS

  W. Dittenberger, (ed.) Orientis Graeci Inscriptones Selectae,

  Leipzig, 1903–1905

  REA

  Revue des Etudes Anciennes

  SVA

  Die Staatsvertage des Altertums, vol. 2 ed. H. Bengtson, vol. 3

  by H. H. Schmitt, Munich 1962 and 1969

  Tod, GHI

  M. N. Tod, A Selection of Greek Historical Inscriptions, Oxford

  1948

  The growth of Macedon, 359–334 bc

  Pelagonia

  Thrace

  Byzantion

  Perinthos

  Lynkos

  Philippi

  Pella

  Amphipolis

  MAPS

  Orestis

  Chalkidike

  Epiros

  Elimaia

  Thessaly

  Pherai

  Lesbos

  Pergamon

  Ambrakia

  Sardis

  Aitolia

  Macedon in 359 BC

  Chios

  Thebes

  Conquests of Philip II

  Ephesos

  Athens

  Samos

  Corinth

  In process of conquest in 336 BC

  Miletos

  League of Corinth

  Sparta

  Greek cities conquered by Alexander, 334 BC

  Rhodes

  ix

  The strategic crisis, 331 bc

  x

  Thrace

  Paphagonia

  Bithynia

  Pontos

  GranikosX

  Halys River

  Halys River

  Euphrates River

  Phrygia

  Lydia

  Persians

  Kappadokia

  Sardis

  from Issos

  Caria

  Halikarnassos

  MAPS

  X

  Issos Dareios

  Kilikia

  to Issos

  Persian Fleet

  Euphrates River

  Syria

  Persian Fleet

  Cyprus

  Alexander’s route to Tyre, 333–331

  X Battles and sieges

  Local attacks

  Persian armies after Issos

  X Tyre

  Antiochos

  (Siege)

  Halys River

  from Issos

  } Suggested new western

  Euphrates River

  boundaries of Persian Empire

  Samaria

  (Governor

  assassinated)

  X Gaza

  (Siege)

  Egypt

  Alexander’s empire

  Black Sea

  Pella

  Caspian Sea

  Alexandria-

  Macedon

  Eschate

  X Granikos

  Lydia

  S

  Issos

  Baktra

  X

  Syria

  Baktria

  XGaugamela

  Media

  Mediterranean Sea

  Ekratana

  Hyphasis

  Tyre

  MAPS

  S

  Arachosia

  Alexandria

  Babylon

  S Gaza

  Alexandria-

  Kandahar

  Egypt

  Persepolis

  Red Sea

  Persian Gulf

  Arabian Sea

  Alexander’s route

  Alexander’s new cities

  xi

  X

  Battles

  Outer boundary

  S

  Sieges

  Greek autonomous states

  The campaign against Antigonos, 302–301 bc

  xii

  Prepelaos

  Lysimachos

  Herakleia

  Halys River

  X
>
  Lysimachos

  X Desmetrios

  Halys River

  Euphrates River

  Pergamon

  Antigonos

  X

  Sardis

  Ipsos

  Seleukos

  Koroupedion

  Ephesos

  Antigonos

  Demetrios

  MAPS

  Raid to

  Rhodes

  Antigoneia

  Babylon

  Invasions

  Cyprus

  Antigonos’ moves

  X Fortified camps

  Tyre

  Antigonos’ boundary

  Ptolemy

  Egypt

  Successor kingdoms of Alexander’s empire, 272 bc

  Thrace

  Black Sea

  Bithynia Herakleia

  Macedon

  Caspian Sea

  Galatia

  Kappadokia

  Armenia

  Baktria

  MAPS

  Atropatene

  Mediterranean Sea

  S E L E U K I D K I N G D O M

  MAURYAN

  EMPIRE

  PTOLEMAL

  KINGDOM

  Persian Gulf

  Red Sea

  Arabian Sea

  Northern boundary of Akhaimenid Empire

  xiii

  G E N E A L O G I E S

  xiv

  THE ARGEAD KINGS OF MACEDON

  ALEXANDER I

  c. 497/6– c. 454

  Philip

  Alketas

  PERDIKKAS II

  Menelaos

  Amyntas

  c. 454–413

  AEROPOS

  ARCHELAOS

  AMYNTAS II

  Arrhidaios

  394

  413–399

  393

  PAUSANIAS III

  ORESTES

  ARGAIOS

  Pausanias

  PTOLEMY

  AMYNTAS

  393

  399–396

  393–391

  of Aloros

  393

  (Claimants 359)

  368–365

  391–370

  ALEXANDER II

  PERDIKKAS III

  PHILIP II

  370–368

  365–359

  359–336

  ALEXANDER III

  PHILIP III

  336–323

  323–317

  ALEXANDER IV

  323– c. 310

  G E N E A L O G I E S

  xv

  THE FAMILY OF ANTIPATER

  Antipater

  Macedonian regent

  334–319

  Kassander

  Antigone

  Phila

  Nikaia

  Eurydike

  316–297

  =

  =

  =

  =

  King 306

  ?

  (1) Krateros

  (1) Perdikkas

  Ptolemy I

  = Thessalonike

  (2) Demetrios

  (2) Lysimachos

  Philip IV

  Antipater

  Alexander V

  Berenike = (1) Philip (2) Ptolemy I

  Ptolemy

  297

  297–294

  297–294

  Keraunos

  Magas

  Ptolemy II

  281–279

  Dates are those of kings of Macedon.

  Note that Antipater the regent had many other children.

  G E N E A L O G I E S

  xvi

  THE HOUSE OF ANTIGONOS

  Philip

  Antigonos

  ?

  319–301

  King 306

  Demetrios

  Philip

  Polemaios

  Telesphoros

  306–285

  Antigonos II

  Stratonike

  Gonatas

  =

  285–239

  (1) Seleukos I

  = Phila

  (2) Antiochos I

  Kings of Macedon

  Seleukid kings

  Introduction

  For almost 100 years, between 360 and 270 bc, Macedon was one of the world’s

  most dynamic states. Under the leadership of King Philip II its strength was

  exerted so as to dominate its Balkan and Greek neighbours. Under his son

  Alexander III that strength was projected eastwards as far as India. This is a fairly familiar story, especially that of Alexander, whose achievements are still astonishing over 2,000 years later. Though not intentionally so, the work of Philip was fundamental to that of Alexander; the two have to be considered together.

  The number of biographies of Alexander is by now enormous, and new

  versions appear regularly.1 This is due to the fascination the man’s life evokes; it is also the result of the search for a new angle, a new apparent explanation for his life, or for his death; the search has extended itself at times into areas of nonsense.

  Alexander’s early death is all too often the point at which the story ends, by way of a variety of themes of conquering, drunkenness, disease, assassination

  and conspiracy. By virtue of the fact that fi ve continuous accounts of his reign have survived, he is one of the few people of the ancient world for whom a

  biography can be written; 2 but it has always seemed to me that, while biographies of Alexander are invariably interesting and entertaining – the conquest of the world could hardly be otherwise – it is only part of the story. Rather as the Iliad, one of Alexander’s standard references for behaviour, begins in medias res with regard to the Trojan War as a whole, and never reveals the result of that war, so a life of Alexander which skips over his father’s work and pays no attention to the events which followed his own death neither accounts for his success in a proper way nor shows what he actually accomplished.

  The fundamental facts of his life are that he was the son of Philip and was a

  Macedonian. It follows that these two elements need to be considered in some

  detail. The work of Philip in extending and developing the kingdom of the

  Macedonians was the foundation for Alexander’s career of conquest, but Philip’s work had its limitations, and Alexander was faced with similar limitations in the last year of his life. Alexander died in the midst of two projects: fi rst, to establish a government for his empire, for which Philip’s system of rule proved to be

  inadequate; and secondly, to go on conquering other places, for which Philip’s army had proved to be more than suffi cient. The effects of Alexander’s early death

  A L E X A N D E R T H E G R E AT F A I L U R E

  xviii

  therefore need to be considered in those contexts. A mere biography can never

  do that: it is necessary to look at where he came from, and what happened as a result of his extraordinary life.

  So this book aims to discuss how Alexander’s empire originated. This requires

  a consideration of the kingdom of Macedon, and Philip’s work there. Then I

  aim to examine how it was that his empire failed. For it is this which is the most notable result of Alexander’s life and work: for all his military prowess, he was one of the world’s great failures – and that failure spelt misery and death for countless thousands of people. Not only that, but he brought that failure on

  himself. His arrogance was largely responsible for his own early death; and he was also responsible for the ultimate failure of his imperial enterprise; for he was king of a society where the king was absolutely central to the well-being of the society as a whole. When the king failed, the Macedonian kingdom imploded,

  something which had happened more or less every generation for two centuries

  before him, and happened when he died, and again afterwards. For the good of

  his people, Alexander need
ed an adult successor, and he both refused to provide one, and killed off any man who could be seen as one. This was irresponsibility of the most introverted sort, and the consequence was 50 years of warfare after his death, and the destruction of his empire. In the end it brought invasion and destruction also to his inherited kingdom.

  This is what I try to explain here. The subject, then, is the construction and destruction of Alexander’s empire. It is not a book in which a detailed exami nation of the source material is made, nor is it one in which a ‘dialogue’ is conducted with other historians’ opinions. Both of these procedures are worth doing, and have been done frequently, but all too often they become ends in themselves,

  inconclusively, and obscuring the subject.

  The book covers about a century of time. This period has been subdivided,

  not so much according to the deaths of kings but more as a way of emphasizing

  signifi cant developments, particularly in the history of the empire. The deaths of both Philip and Alexander are therefore noted within chapters rather than as end points or punctuations.

  A. J. Toynbee once wrote two amusing essays in which he imagined what would

  have happened if Philip or Alexander had lived on. 3 He brought out one fact which is too often ignored: Alexander’s contemporaries – Ptolemy, Lysimachos,

  Seleukos – lived into their eighties, as did Philip’s contemporaries, Antipater and Antigonos. Both kings, that is, died young and untimely. The century I am

  studying here therefore begins just before Alexander’s birth, and ends only a

  few years after the deaths of his contemporaries. There were people who may

  have lived through the whole of that time; it is a period only a little longer than a single lifetime.

  There was also a wider consequence. As the empire he had constructed

  I N T R O D U C T I O N

  xix

  – consisting of Macedon, Greece, the Persian Empire and the Indus Valley –

  collapsed in on itself, so at the same time there grew in other countries other powers of an equal strength, partly as a result of the threat posed by Alexander’s empire even in its disarray. In India, a new empire was built, supposedly in

  imitation of Alexander’s; in Italy, the Roman Republic united Italy partly as a reaction to attacks from Greece. Both of these new states proved able to resist attacks by Alexander’s successors. Further off, another empire, in China, was in course of construction, a development which is wholly independent of the events in the Middle East. It is not possible in the compass of a single volume to look at these contemporary developments in proper detail, but I have inserted three chapters at intervals to note them. Too often, the histories of these lands are taken in complete isolation from one another.

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  1

  Macedon 370–359 bc: a failing state

  In the decade between the death of King Amyntas III in 370 bc and that of

  Perdikkas III in 359, four men succeeded to the Macedonian kingship, three of

  whom soon died: so from 370 to 359 fi ve separate kings reigned; and by 359,

  three other men were seen as possible kings and were fi ghting to seize the throne, while three foreign enemies were invading or preparing to invade the kingdom.