CelinaArellano: refine article per sources

2026-03-21T10:58:19Z

refine article per sources

Ajay Kumar: Created a new article

2023-08-24T15:57:58Z

Created a new article

New page

{{Short description|Macedonian general (4th century BC)}}
{{For|other persons named Antipater|Antipater (disambiguation)}}
{{Infobox military person
| name = Antipater
| native_name = Ἀντίπατρος
| native_name_lang = el
| image =
| birth_date = 400 BC
| death_date = 319 BC (aged approximately 81)
| allegiance = [[Macedonia (ancient kingdom)|Macedonia]]
| rank = Regent of Macedon
| battles = [[Battle of Megalopolis]], [[Lamian War]], [[Wars of the Diadochi#First War of the Diadochi, 322–319 BC|First War of the Diadochi]]
| children = [[Phila (daughter of Antipater)|Phila]], [[Eurydice of Egypt|Eurydice]], [[Nicaea of Macedon|Nicaea]], [[Iollas]], [[Cassander]], [[Pleistarchus (son of Antipater)|Pleistarchus]], [[Philip (son of Antipater)|Philip]], Nicanor, Alexarchus, Perilaus
| laterwork =
}}
[[File:KINGS of MACEDON. Alexander III 'the Great'. 336-323 BC.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|Coinage of Alexander the Great, [[Amphipolis]] mint, struck under Antipater for [[Philip III of Macedon]], circa 322–320 BC. Legend "King Alexander".]]
'''Antipater''' ({{IPAc-en|æ|n|ˈ|t|ɪ|p|ə|t|ər}}; {{lang-grc|{{linktext|Ἀντίπατρος}}|translit=Antipatros|lit=like the father}}; c. 400 BC<ref>{{cite book|title=From Polis to Empire{{snd}}The Ancient World, c. 800 B.C. – A.D. 500: A Biographical Dictionary (The Great Cultural Eras of the Western World)|quote=Antipater (c.400–319 B.C.) Antipater was a Macedonian nobleman who served Kings Philip II and Alexander the Great}}</ref>{{snd}}319 BC) was a Macedonian general and statesman under the successive kingships of [[Philip II of Macedon]] and his son, [[Alexander the Great]]. In the wake of the collapse of the [[Argead dynasty|Argead house]], his son [[Cassander]] would eventually come to rule Macedonia as a king in his own right.<ref name="www.worldhistory.org">{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.worldhistory.org/Antipater/|encyclopedia=[[World History Encyclopedia]]|title=Antipater|access-date=12 July 2018}}</ref>

In 320 BC, Antipater was elected [[regent]] of all of Alexander the Great's Empire but died the following year. In a perplexing turn of events, he chose an infantry officer named [[Polyperchon]] as his successor instead of his son Cassander, and a two-year-long power struggle ([[Second War of the Diadochi|the Second War of the Diadochi]]) ensued.

==Career under Philip and Alexander==
Nothing is known of his early career until 342 BC, when he was appointed by Philip to govern [[Macedon]] as his regent while the former left for three years of hard and successful campaigning against [[Thrace|Thracian]] and [[Scythia]]n tribes, which extended Macedonian rule as far as the [[Hellespont]]. In 342 BC, when the [[Athens|Athenians]] tried to assume control of the [[Euboea]]n towns and expel the pro-Macedonian rulers, he sent Macedonian troops to stop them. In the autumn of the same year, Antipater went to [[Delphi]], as Philip's representative in the [[Amphictyonic League]], a religious organization to which Macedon had been admitted in 346 BC.

After the triumphal Macedonian victory at the [[Battle of Chaeronea (338 BC)|Battle of Chaeronea]] in 338 BC, Antipater was sent as ambassador to Athens (337–336 BC) to negotiate a peace treaty<ref name="EB1911">{{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Antipater|volume=2|page=133}}</ref> and return the bones of the Athenians who had fallen in the battle.

He started as a great friend to both the young Alexander and the boy's mother, [[Olympias]], and aided Alexander in the struggle to secure his succession after Philip's death, in 336 BC.

He joined [[Parmenion]] in advising Alexander the Great not to set out on his Asiatic expedition until he had provided by marriage for the succession to the throne. On the king's departure in 334 BC, he was left regent in Macedonia and made "general (''[[strategos]]'') of Europe", positions he held until 323 BC. The European front was to prove initially quite agitated, and Antipater also had to send reinforcements to the king, as he did while the king was at [[Gordium]] in the winter of 334–333 BC.

The [[Achaemenid Empire|Persian]] [[Naval fleet|fleet]] under [[Memnon of Rhodes]] and [[Pharnabazus of Phrygia|Pharnabazus]] was apparently a considerable danger for Antipater, bringing war in the [[Aegean sea]] and threatening war in Europe. Luckily for the regent, Memnon died during the siege of [[Mytilene]] on the isle of [[Lesbos Island|Lesbos]] and the remaining fleet dispersed in 333 BC, after Alexander's victory at the [[Battle of Issus]].

More dangerous enemies were nearer home; tribes in [[Thrace]] rebelled in 332 BC, led by Memnon of Thrace, the Macedonian governor of the region, followed shortly by the revolt of [[Agis III]], king of [[Sparta]].

The Spartans, who were not members of the [[League of Corinth]] and had not participated in Alexander's expedition, saw in the Asian campaign the long-awaited chance to take back control over the [[Peloponnese]] after the disastrous defeats at the [[Battle of Leuctra]] and [[Battle of Mantinea (362 BC)|Battle of Mantinea]]. The Persians generously funded Sparta's ambitions, making possible the formation of an army 20,000 strong. After assuming virtual control of [[Crete]], Agis tried to build an anti-Macedonian front. While Athens remained neutral, the [[Achaea]]ns, [[Arcadia (ancient region)|Arcadia]]ns and [[Ancient Elis|Elis]] became his allies, with the important exception of [[Megalopolis, Greece|Megalopolis]], the staunchly anti-Spartan capital of Arcadia. In 331 BC Agis started to besiege the city with his entire army, forcing Antipater to act.

So as not to have two enemies simultaneously, Antipater [[pardon]]ed Memnon and even let him keep his office in Thrace, while great sums of money were sent to him by Alexander. This helped to create, with [[Thessaly|Thessalian]] help and many mercenaries, a force double that of Agis, which Antipater in person led south in 330 BC to confront the Spartans. In the spring of that year, the two armies clashed near [[Battle of Megalopolis|Megalopolis]]. Agis fell with many of his best soldiers, but not without inflicting heavy losses on the Macedonians.

Utterly defeated, the Spartans sued for peace; the latter's answer was to negotiate directly with the [[League of Corinth]], but the Spartan emissaries preferred to treat directly with Alexander, who imposed on Sparta's allies a penalty of 120 [[talent (weight)|talents]] and the entrance of Sparta in the league.

Alexander appears to have been quite jealous of Antipater's victory; according to [[Plutarch]], the king wrote in a letter to his viceroy: "It seems, my friends that while we have been conquering Darius here, there has been a battle of mice in Arcadia".

Antipater was disliked for supporting [[oligarchy|oligarch]]s and [[tyrant]]s in Greece, but he also worked with the League of Corinth, built by Philip. In addition, his previously close relationship with the ambitious [[Olympias]] greatly deteriorated. Whether from jealousy or from the necessity of guarding against the evil consequences of the dissension between Olympias and Antipater, in 324 BC, Alexander ordered the latter to lead fresh troops into Asia, while [[Craterus]], in charge of discharged veterans returning home, was appointed to take over the regency in Macedon.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last1=Pitt |first1=E. M. |last2=Richardson |first2=W. P. |date=May 2017 |title=Hostile inaction? Antipater, Craterus and the Macedonian regency |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/classical-quarterly/article/abs/hostile-inaction-antipater-craterus-and-the-macedonian-regency/0C1DFC6F64829B70FFAB6041FE515D6E |journal=[[The Classical Quarterly]] |language=en |volume=67 |issue=1 |pages=77–78 |doi=10.1017/S0009838817000301 |s2cid=157417151 |issn=0009-8388}}</ref> When Alexander suddenly died in [[Babylon]] in 323 BC however, Antipater was able to forestall the transfer of power.<ref name=":0" />

Some later historians, such as [[Justin (historian)|Justin]] in his [[Historia Philippicae et Totius Mundi Origines et Terrae Situs]] blamed Antipater for the death of Alexander, accusing him of murdering him through poison. However, this view is disputed by most historians and Alexander is believed to have died of natural causes.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Justin |translator-last1=Watson |translator-first1=John |chapter=Preface |chapter-url=http://www.forumromanum.org/literature/justin/english/trans12.html |title=Epitome of the Philippic History of Pompeius Trogus}}</ref>

==Role in The Lamian and First Diadochi Wars==
The new [[regent]], [[Perdiccas]], left Antipater in control of [[Hellenistic Greece|Greece]]. Antipater faced wars with [[Athens]], [[Aetolia]], and [[Thessaly]] that made up the [[Lamian War]], in which southern Greeks attempted to re-assert their political autonomy.

At the onset of this struggle, the Greeks held an apparently decisive numerical advantage, fielding an army of some 25000 troops. Antipater's levies numbered a meager 13000; drawn from a manpower pool that had been severely diminished by the campaigns of Alexander the Great. Furthermore, the Greek coalition was led by a talented general and one-time mercenary named [[Leosthenes]], who had fought under Alexander and had seen first-hand the functions of the Macedonian war machine.

An initial engagement with this coalition around the historic pass of [[Thermopylae]] saw Antipater's Thessalian cavalry defect to the opposing side. Already outnumbered and now without a cavalry contingent, Antipater fought a token battle but was ultimately defeated and forced to retreat north to the Thessalian city of Lamia. Behind its stout defenses he endured a siege. By some unknown means he began desperately passing correspondence to would-be allies through the Athenian siege lines. In 322 BC he was relieved when [[Leonnatus]], the satrap of [[Hellespontine Phrygia]], responded to his call for aid and arrived in southern Thessaly with a force to break the investment.

Although Leonnatus fell in the ensuing battle, the Athenian coalition had been forced to use the entirety of its dwindling army (many of the Aetolian and Thessalian contingents having left the siege to tend to the harvest) to face him. Leonnatus' infantry retreated into rough country where the Aetolian and Thessalian cavalry could not pursue them, and survived the debacle largely unscathed.

This turn of events allowed Antipater to slip out of the walls of Lamia before striking north for Macedonia, where he awaited the arrival of further reinforcements from Asia. Along the way he assumed control of Leonnatus' infantry corps, absorbing them into the remnants of his initial army.

[[Craterus]], another decorated general, had also received Antipater's call for aid and arrived at Pella with a force of 16000 discharged veterans who had marched and fought under Alexander. The two generals made common cause, and to cement this new alliance Antipater married his daughter Phila to Craterus.

The two then led a massive, combined force south to fight a final, decisive battle against the Greeks. Antipater defeated them at the [[Battle of Crannon]] in 322 BC,<ref name="EB1911"/> with Craterus' help, and broke up the coalition. At a peace treaty in the ruined city of Thebes, Antipater negotiated with an Athenian delegation led by [[Phocion]] and Demades. Here he imposed a rule of oligarchy upon Athens and demanded the surrender of [[Demosthenes]] and Hypereides (the foremost instigators of the revolt), the former committing suicide to escape capture, while the latter was imprisoned before having his tongue ripped from his mouth in a brutal execution. Later in the same year Antipater and Craterus were engaged in a mopping-up campaign against recalcitrant pockets of Aetolian resurgence <ref name="EB1911"/> when they received the news from [[Antigonus I Monophthalmus|Antigonus]] in [[Anatolia|Asia Minor]] that Perdiccas contemplated making himself outright ruler of the empire.<ref name="EB1911"/> Antipater and Craterus accordingly concluded peace with the Aetolians (much to the chagrin of future of Macedonian rulers) and went to war against Perdiccas, allying themselves with [[Ptolemy I Soter|Ptolemy]], the [[satrap]] of [[Egypt]].<ref name="EB1911"/> Antipater married another of his daughters (Eurydike) to Ptolemy to strengthen this new alliance. Together with Craterus and his son Cassander, he then crossed over into Asia at the head of a considerable force in 321 BC. While in Phrygia, this army was divided in two; one under Craterus marching east into Cappadocia to face Eumenes, while the later under Antipater struck south to fight Perdiccas. While still in [[Syria]], Antipater received two letters that drastically changed the power dynamic of the successor struggle at that point; firstly that Perdiccas had been murdered by his own soldiers in Egypt, and secondly that in one of the greatest upsets of the Hellenistic age, Craterus had fallen in battle against [[Eumenes]] (Diodorus xviii. 25–39).<ref name="EB1911"/>

==Regent of the Empire==
In the [[treaty of Triparadisus]] (321 BC), Antipater participated in a new division of Alexander's great kingdom. He appointed himself supreme regent of all Alexander's empire and was left in Greece as [[legal guardian|guardian]] of Alexander's son [[Alexander IV of Macedon|Alexander IV]] and his disabled brother [[Philip III of Macedon|Philip III]].

Having quelled a [[mutiny]] of his troops and commissioned Antigonus to continue the war against Eumenes and the other partisans of Perdiccas, Antipater returned to Macedonia, arriving there in 320 BC ([[Justin (historian)|Justin]] xiii. 6). Soon after, he was seized by an illness which terminated his active career.<ref name="EB1911"/>

==Death and struggle for succession==

Antipater died of old age in 319 BC, at the age of 81. By his side was his son [[Cassander]].<ref name="www.worldhistory.org"/>

Controversially, Antipater did not appoint Cassander to succeed him as regent,<ref name="EB1911"/> citing as the reason for his decision Cassander's relative youth (at the time of Antipater's passing, Cassander was 36). Over Cassander, Antipater chose the aged officer [[Polyperchon]] as regent.<ref name="www.worldhistory.org"/><ref name="EB1911"/>

Cassander became indignant at this, believing that he'd earned the right to become regent by virtue of his loyalty and experience. Thus he appealed to general [[Antigonus I Monophthalmus|Antigonus]] to assist him in battling Polyperchon for the position.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.livius.org/articles/person/alexander-iv/|title=Alexander IV – Livius|website=www.livius.org|access-date=12 July 2018}}</ref>

In 317 BC, after two years of war with Polyperchon, Cassander emerged victorious. Cassander would go on to rule Macedonia for nineteen years, first as regent and later as king, ultimately founding the [[Antipatrid dynasty]].<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.worldhistory.org/Cassander/|encyclopedia=[[World History Encyclopedia]]|title=Cassander|access-date=12 July 2018}}</ref>

==Family==
Antipater was one of the sons of a Macedonian nobleman called Iollas or Iolaus<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.livius.org/am-ao/antipater/antipater.html|title=Antipater – Livius|website=www.livius.org|access-date=12 July 2018|archive-date=27 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150427063755/http://www.livius.org/am-ao/antipater/antipater.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> and his family were distant collateral relatives to the [[Argead dynasty]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tyndalehouse.com/egypt/ptolemies/affilates/aff_ptolemies.htm|title=Ptolemaic Dynasty Affiliates|website=www.tyndalehouse.com|access-date=12 July 2018}}</ref> Antipater was originally from the Macedonian city of Paliura;<ref>Heckel, ''Who's who in the age of Alexander the Great: prosopography of Alexander's empire'', p. 35</ref> had a brother called [[Cassander (brother of Antipater)|Cassander]];<ref>[[Theocritus]] (17.61)</ref> was the paternal uncle of Cassander's child [[Antigone of Macedon|Antigone]] and was the maternal great uncle of [[Berenice I of Egypt]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tyndalehouse.com/egypt/ptolemies/berenice_i_fr.htm|title=Ptolemaic Dynasty – Berenice I|website=www.tyndalehouse.com|access-date=12 July 2018}}</ref>

Antipater had ten children from various unknown wives.<ref>Heckel, ''Who's who in the age of Alexander the Great: prosopography of Alexander's empire'', pp. 35, 79</ref> His daughters were:
* [[Phila (daughter of Antipater)|Phila]], wife of [[Balacrus]], [[Craterus]] and [[Demetrius I of Macedon]].
* [[Eurydice of Egypt|Eurydice]], wife of [[Ptolemy I Soter]]. Her son [[Meleager (king)|Meleager]] would rule Macedonia for two months in 279 BC.
* [[Nicaea of Macedon|Nicaea]], wife of [[Perdiccas]] and [[Lysimachus]].

His sons were:
* [[Iollas]]
* [[Cassander]], King of Macedonia
* [[Pleistarchus (son of Antipater)|Pleistarchus]], a general and governor in his brother's service.
* [[Philip (son of Antipater)|Phillip]], also a military commander under his brother.
* Nicanor
* [[Alexarchus of Macedon|Alexarchus]]
* Perilaus

==Literary works==
Antipater was a student of [[Aristotle]]. Aristotle named him as executor-in-charge of his will, when he died in 322 BC.
According to [[Suda|Suidas]], Antipater left a compilation of letters in 2 books and a history, called ''The Illyrian Deeds of [[Perdiccas III of Macedon|Perdikkas]]'' (Περδίκκου πράξεις Ιλλυριακαί).<ref>{{cite journal |last=Walsh |first=John |title=Antipater and Early Hellenistic Literature |journal=Ancient History Bulletin |volume=26 |year=2012 |pages=149–62 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Thirty-first Socratic letter attributed to Plato |first=Anthony Francis |last=Natoli |page=110 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6oe9HE_6HSUC&pg=PA110 |via=[[Google Books]] |isbn=978-3515083966 |year=2004 }}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite book|author=Lane Fox, Robin|title=Alessandro il Grande|publisher=Einaudi|year=2004|isbn=8806172506|author-link=Robin Lane Fox}}
* {{cite book|author=Phillips, Graham|title=Alexander the Great: Murder in Babylon|publisher=Virgin Books|year=2004|isbn=1852271345}}
* [[William Smith (lexicographer)|Smith, William]] (editor); ''[[Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology]]'', [http://www.ancientlibrary.com/smith-bio/0210.html "Antipater"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060101075341/http://www.ancientlibrary.com/smith-bio/0210.html |date=2006-01-01 }}, [[Boston]], (1867)
* {{cite book | author=Waterfield, Robin |title=Dividing the Spoils – The War for Alexander the Great's Empire | location=New York | publisher= Oxford University Press| year=2011 | type = hardcover | isbn=978-0199573929 | page = 273}}

==External links==
* [https://www.livius.org/articles/person/antipater/ Antipater] from Livius.org (Jona Lendering)
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20051026184748/http://www.ancientlibrary.com/wcd/Antipater Wiki Classical Dictionary: Antipater]

{{s-start}}
{{succession box|title=Regent of Macedon|before=[[Peithon]] {{Nobold|and}} [[Arrhidaeus]]|after=[[Polyperchon]]|years=320–319 BC}}
{{s-end}}

{{MacedonKings}}
{{Diadochi}}
{{Alexander's Generals}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:4th-century BC regents]]
[[Category:4th-century BC Macedonians]]
[[Category:400 BC births]]
[[Category:319 BC deaths]]
[[Category:Ancient Greek generals]]
[[Category:Regents of Macedonia (ancient kingdom)]]
[[Category:Ancient Macedonian generals]]
[[Category:Generals of Alexander the Great]]
[[Category:Conspirators against Alexander the Great]]
[[Category:Ancient Macedonian historians]]
[[Category:Hellenistic-era historians]]
[[Category:Antipatrid dynasty]]

Antipater - Revision history

CelinaArellano: refine article per sources

Ajay Kumar: Created a new article