The Rise of Macedonia and Alexander’s Conquests

Before Philip II ascended to the Macedonian throne in 359 BCE, Macedonia was merely a semi-barbaric kingdom of little significance in northern Greece. Though the Macedonians claimed Greek ancestry—possibly as Dorians who hadn’t migrated south with the descendants of Heracles—and spoke a similar language, they remained culturally distinct from the Greek city-states. Philip II implemented sweeping political, military, and economic reforms modeled after Greek systems, transforming Macedonia into a formidable power.

The decisive Battle of Chaeronea in 338 BCE saw Philip crush the combined forces of Athens and Thebes, Greece’s two most powerful city-states. At the subsequent Panhellenic Congress in Corinth, Philip was proclaimed hegemon and commander-in-chief of the Macedonian-Greek alliance for the planned invasion of Persia. His assassination in 336 BCE during his daughter’s wedding in the old capital Aegae thrust his 20-year-old son Alexander III onto the throne, backed by the loyal Macedonian army.

Alexander swiftly crushed Thracian and Illyrian rebellions in the north before turning south to subjugate Greek resistance, famously destroying Thebes in 335 BCE. The following year, he crossed the Hellespont with 40,000 troops to begin his legendary Asian campaign. Over the next decade, Alexander achieved staggering victories at Granicus (334 BCE), Issus (333 BCE), and Gaugamela (331 BCE), dismantling Persian military power. His empire eventually stretched from the Aegean to the Indus River after defeating King Porus at the Hydaspes in 326 BCE. Only his exhausted troops’ refusal to advance further halted his eastward expansion.

Cultural Fusion and Alexander’s Mysterious Death

At Susa in 324 BCE, Alexander orchestrated a mass wedding between his Macedonian officers and Persian noblewomen, symbolizing his vision of cultural fusion. He himself married Roxana, daughter of the Bactrian noble Oxyartes, while his closest companion Hephaestion wed Darius III’s daughter Stateira.

Tragedy struck when Hephaestion died suddenly in 324 BCE, devastating Alexander during preparations for campaigns against Arabia and Carthage. The conqueror’s own demise came mysteriously after a banquet in June 323 BCE. The 32-year-old ruler’s final words—”to the strongest”—sparked decades of warfare as his generals vied for power.

The Babylon Conference and Initial Power Struggles

With no clear heir, Alexander’s generals convened at Babylon to determine succession. The factions divided:
– Perdiccas (cavalry commander) supported Roxana’s unborn child if male
– Ptolemy backed Philip II’s mentally disabled son Arrhidaeus
– Nearchus (naval commander) favored Alexander’s illegitimate son Heracles

The compromise made Arrhidaeus (as Philip III) and Roxana’s son Alexander IV co-kings under Perdiccas’ regency. This fragile arrangement collapsed as Perdiccas murdered his rival Meleager and Roxana eliminated her royal Persian rivals.

The First War of the Diadochi (322-320 BCE)

Ptolemy ignited conflict by hijacking Alexander’s funeral cortege to Egypt (323 BCE), while Perdiccas’ political missteps alienated Antipater. When Perdiccas invaded Egypt in 321 BCE, his own officers—Seleucus, Peithon, and Antigenes—assassinated him. Meanwhile, Eumenes, Alexander’s former secretary turned brilliant general, defeated and killed Craterus in Asia Minor.

The Triparadisus settlement (321 BCE) redistributed power:
– Antipater became regent
– Antigonus gained Asia Minor
– Ptolemy kept Egypt
– Seleucus received Babylon
– Lysimachus took Thrace

The Second War (319-315 BCE) and Royal Bloodshed

Antipater’s death in 319 BCE triggered renewed conflict when he passed the regency to Polyperchon over his son Cassander. The latter allied with Antigonus, Ptolemy and Lysimachus against the new regent.

The war saw shocking royal violence:
– Olympias (Alexander’s mother) had Philip III and Eurydice murdered (317 BCE)
– Cassander then executed Olympias (316 BCE)
– Roxana and Alexander IV were imprisoned

Eumenes’ brilliant campaigns against Antigonus in Persia ended when his Silver Shields betrayed him after the Battle of Gabiene (316 BCE). His execution marked the end of legitimate Argead rule.

The Third War (314-311 BCE) and Seleucus’ Return

Antigonus’ growing power prompted Ptolemy, Cassander and Lysimachus to form a coalition in 314 BCE. The war’s pivotal moment came at Gaza (312 BCE) where Ptolemy and Seleucus defeated Antigonus’ son Demetrius. Seleucus used this victory to reclaim Babylon, founding the Seleucid Empire’s core.

The Peace of 311 BCE temporarily stabilized the situation, though Cassander secretly murdered the 12-year-old Alexander IV and Roxana in 310 BCE, extinguishing the Argead line.

The Fourth War (308-301 BCE) and Ipsus

Demetrius “the Besieger” scored victories at Salamis (306 BCE) and famously (though unsuccessfully) besieged Rhodes (305-304 BCE), earning his nickname. Antigonus and Demetrius declared themselves kings in 306 BCE, with Ptolemy, Seleucus, Cassander and Lysimachus soon following suit.

The decisive Battle of Ipsus (301 BCE) saw the allied Diadochi defeat and kill the 80-year-old Antigonus. The victors partitioned his empire:
– Lysimachus took Asia Minor
– Seleucus gained Syria
– Cassander kept Macedonia

The Final Act and Lasting Legacies

The surviving Diadochi continued fighting until 281 BCE when Seleucus defeated and killed Lysimachus at Corupedium—only to be murdered days later by Ptolemy Keraunos. The wars’ conclusion saw three major Hellenistic kingdoms emerge:
1. Ptolemaic Egypt
2. Seleucid Asia
3. Antigonid Macedonia

The conflicts’ cultural impacts were profound:
– Spread of Greek culture eastward (Hellenization)
– Fusion of Greek and Eastern traditions
– Foundation of great cities like Alexandria and Seleucia
– Military innovations combining Macedonian and Eastern tactics

The Diadochi period fundamentally reshaped the ancient world, creating the political and cultural framework that would endure until Rome’s rise. Their wars demonstrated both the fragility of Alexander’s empire and the enduring appeal of his vision of a unified multicultural realm—even as his successors divided it.