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The winter of 317/16 BC witnessed what is arguably the most momentous campaign in the entire period after the death of Alexander the Great. Two massive coalition armies led by Eumenes and Antigonus the One-Eyed manoeuvred delicately and skilfully in the desolate terrain of central Iran, and the two great battles they fought were recorded by a participant (Hieronymus of Cardia) who was an intimate both of Eumenes and the Antigonids. That account was used by Diodorus, and his narrative of the campaign is one of the most detailed and colourful in his entire encyclopaedic history. This chapter revisits the campaign in Iran and addresses some of the critical issues which determined the strategy and outcome.

With Alexander the Great's death, many fates now hung in the balance: of empire, of immense fortunes, of personal careers and innumerable lives. And so did Alexander's myth. The theme of Alexander's special relationship with Herakles plays an important role in securing the continuation and acceptance of the king's myth after his death. In addition, the last plans and wishes of Alexander demonstrate yet another aspect which characterizes his mythology: the notion of dual paternity. Alexander originally meant to be entombed in Siwah, but Perdikkas, chief executor of his will, ordered that he be buried at Aigai, the old capital of Macedonia. On its way there, however, the magnificent procession which escorted his body was hijacked by Ptolemy and led to Egypt. The coffin rested for a while in Memphis before ultimately brought to Alexandria, where it was laid to rest in a grand tomb, befitting the grandeur of Alexander himself. This chapter looks at three other sucessors of Alexander: Eumenes of Kardia, Demetrios, and Seleukos.

In this chapter, the years 323/2- 318/7 bc are treated. After the death of Alexander III the Great, the empire he ruled became the plaything of several of his generals and trustees. Though all of them formally pledged loyalty to the lawful successors, Philip III Arrhidaeus, Alexander’s half-brother, and Alexander IV, the infant son of Alexander the Great by Roxane-both of them supported by Eumenes-, during a conference at Triparadisus, they in fact tried to secure their own positions, like Ptolemy I Soter did in Egypt, neglecting or even undermining the legal heirs’ position.

This chapter examines the power dynamics which can exist in processes of regional integration. While regional integration can be pursued in such a way that it is mutually beneficial to all participants, economies of scale and political unification can equally be achieved at the expense of the political sovereignty, economic advantage, and communal identity of less powerful communities. This was the case with the communities of the middle Scamander valley in the late Classical and Hellenistic periods: a region of the Troad which had supported up to seven small to medium-sized cities in the Classical period was carved up by Ilion and Alexandreia Troas in the course of the Hellenistic period, leaving only Skepsis independent by the second century BC. This process is usually assumed to have begun with Antigonos Monophthalmos in the 300s. However, this unequal power dynamic between coast and interior had already existed in the Classical period and was allowed to develop by the nature of Persian rule. The chapter examines the impact which the creation of a royal horse stud in the middle Scamander valley in the fourth century BC will have had on this region and places this development within the longer history of the unequal power dynamic between coast and interior in the Troad.

This chapter offers a discussion of the young Demetrius’ early involvement in the politics and battles of Alexander the Great’s Successors, who continued to wage war against one another for territory. Demetrius Poliorcetes accompanied his father Antigonus Monophthalmus to Iran in the campaigns of the Second Diadoch War, where he played minor command roles in the great battles of Paraetacene and Gabiene in the winter of 317/316 BC. It was here that he experienced Macedonian-style warfare between two great generals first-hand and observed the fickleness of the Silver Shields. In the aftermath he advocated unsuccessfully for Eumenes, and witnessed Seleucus’ escape to Ptolemy in Egypt.