Diadochi
The Diadochi were the rival generals, families, and friends of Alexander the Great who fought for control over his empire after his death in 323 BC. The Wars of the Diadochi mark the beginning of the Hellenistic period from the Mediterranean Sea to the Indus River Valley.
The most notable Diadochi include Ptolemy, Antigonus, Cassander, and Seleucus as the last remaining at the end of the Wars of the Successors, ruling in Egypt, Asia-Minor, Macedon and Persia respectively, with Ptolemaic, Antigonid and Seleucid dynasties lasting several centuries.
Background
Ancient role
In ancient Greek, diadochos is a noun formed from the verb, diadechesthai, "succeed to," a compound of dia- and dechesthai, "receive." The word-set descends straightforwardly from Indo-European *dek-, "receive", the substantive forms being from the o-grade, *dok-. Some important English reflexes are dogma, "a received teaching," decent, "fit to be received," paradox, "against that which is received." The prefix dia- changes the meaning slightly to add a social expectation to the received. The diadochos, being a successor in command or any other office, expects to receive that office.Basileus
It was exactly this expectation that contributed to strife in the Alexandrine and Hellenistic Ages, beginning with Alexander. Philip II had married a woman who changed her name to Olympias to honor the coincidence of Philip's victory in the Olympic Games and Alexander's birth, an act that suggests love may have been a motive as well. Macedon's chief office was the basileia, or monarchy, the chief officer being the basileus, now the signatory title of Philip. Their son and heir, Alexander, was raised with care, being educated by select prominent philosophers. Philip is said to have wept for joy when Alexander performed a feat of which no one else was capable, taming the wild horse, Bucephalus, at his first attempt in front of a skeptical audience including the king. Amidst the cheering onlookers Philip swore that Macedonia was not large enough for Alexander.Philip built Macedonia into the leading military state of the Balkans. He had acquired his expertise fighting for Thebes and Greek freedom under his patron, Epaminondas. When Alexander was a teenager, Philip was planning a military solution to the contention with the Persian Empire. In the opening campaign against Byzantium he made Alexander "regent" in his absence. Alexander used every opportunity to further his father's victories, expecting that he would be a part of them. At the report of each of Philip's victories, Alexander was said to lament that his father would leave him nothing of note to do.
There was a source of disaffection, however. Plutarch reports that Alexander and his mother bitterly reproached him for his numerous affairs among the women of his court. Philip then fell in love and married a young woman, Cleopatra, when he was too old for marriage. Alexander was at the wedding banquet when Attalus, Cleopatra's uncle, made a remark that seemed inappropriate to him. He asked the Macedonians to pray for an "heir to the kingship". Rising to his feet Alexander shouted, using the royal "we," "Do we seem like bastards to you, evil-minded man?" and threw a cup at him. The inebriated Philip, rising to his feet and drawing his sword to defend Attalus, promptly fell. Making a comment that the man who was preparing to cross from Europe to Asia could not cross from one couch to another, Alexander departed, to escort his mother to her native Epirus and to wait himself in Illyria. Not long after, prompted by Demaratus the Corinthian to mend the dissension in his house, Philip sent Demaratus to bring Alexander home. The expectation by virtue of which Alexander was diadochos was that as the son of Philip, he would inherit Philip's throne.
In 336 BC Philip was assassinated, and the 20-year-old Alexander "received the kingship". In the same year Darius succeeded to the throne of Persia as Šâhe Šâhân, "King of Kings," which the Greeks understood as "Great King." The role of the Macedonian basileus was changing fast. Alexander's army was already multinational. Alexander was acquiring dominion over state after state. His presence on the battlefield seemed to ensure immediate victory.
Hegemon
When Alexander the Great died on June 10, 323 BC, he left behind a huge empire which comprised many essentially independent territories. Alexander's empire stretched from his homeland of Macedon itself, along with the Greek city-states that his father had subdued, to Bactria and parts of India in the east. It included parts of the present day Balkans, Anatolia, the Levant, Egypt, Babylonia, and most of the former Achaemenid Empire, except for some lands the Achaemenids formerly held in Central Asia.Successors
The hetairoi, or companion cavalry, added flexibility to the ancient Macedonian army. The hetairoi were a special cavalry unit composed of general officers without fixed rank, whom Alexander could assign where needed. They were typically from the nobility; many were related to Alexander. A parallel flexible structure in the Achaemenid army facilitated combined units.Staff meetings to adjust command structure were nearly a daily event in Alexander's army. They created an ongoing expectation among the hetairoi of receiving an important and powerful command, if only for a short term. At the moment of Alexander's death, all possibilities were suddenly suspended. The hetairoi vanished with Alexander, to be replaced instantaneously by the Diadochi, men who knew where they had stood, but not where they would stand now. As there had been no definite ranks or positions of hetairoi, there were no ranks of Diadochi. They expected appointments, but without Alexander they would have to make their own.
For purposes of this presentation, the Diadochi are grouped by their rank and social standing at the time of Alexander's death. These were their initial positions as Diadochi.
Craterus
Craterus was an infantry and naval commander under Alexander during his conquest of the Achaemenid Empire. After the revolt of his army at Opis on the Tigris in 324, Alexander ordered Craterus to command the veterans as they returned home to Macedonia. Antipater, commander of Alexander's forces in Greece and regent of the Macedonian throne in Alexander's absence, would lead a force of fresh troops back to Persia to join Alexander while Craterus would become regent in his place. When Craterus arrived at Cilicia in 323 BC, news reached him of Alexander's death. Though his distance from Babylon prevented him from participating in the distribution of power, Craterus hastened to Macedonia to assume the protection of Alexander's family. The news of Alexander's death caused the Greeks to rebel in the Lamian War. Craterus and Antipater defeated the rebellion in 322 BC. Despite his absence, the generals gathered at Babylon confirmed Craterus as Guardian of the Royal Family. However, with the royal family in Babylon, the Regent Perdiccas assumed this responsibility until the royal household could return to Macedonia.Antipater
Antipater was an adviser to King Philip II, Alexander's father, a role he continued under Alexander. When Alexander left Macedon to conquer Persia in 334 BC, Antipater was named Regent of Macedon and General of Greece in Alexander's absence. In 323 BC, Craterus was ordered by Alexander to march his veterans back to Macedon and assume Antipater's position while Antipater was to march to Persia with fresh troops. Alexander's death that year, however, prevented the order from being carried out. When Alexander's generals gathered at the Partition of Babylon to divide the empire between themselves, Antipater was confirmed as General of Greece while the roles of Regent of the Empire and Guardian of the Royal Family were given to Perdiccas and Craterus, respectively. Together, the three men formed the top ruling group of the empire.Somatophylakes
The Somatophylakes were the seven bodyguards of Alexander.Macedonian satraps
s were the governors of the provinces in the Hellenistic empires.Royal family
Non-Macedonian satraps and generals
The ''Epigoni''
Originally the Epigoni were the sons of the Argive heroes who had fought in the first Theban war. In the 19th century the term was used to refer to the second generation of Diadochi rulers.Chronology
Struggle for unity (323–319 BC)
Partition of Babylon
Without a clear successor, Alexander's generals quickly began to dispute the rule of his empire. The two contenders were Alexander's half-brother Arrhidaeus and his unborn child with Roxana. Meleager and the infantry supported Arrhidaeus while Perdiccas and the cavalry supported waiting until the birth of Roxana's child.A compromise was arranged, with Arrhidaeus being crowned as Philip III. If Roxana's child was a son, they would rule jointly. Perdiccas was named Regent and Meleager as his lieutenant. Eventually, Roxana did give birth to Alexander's son, Alexander IV. However, Perdiccas had Meleager and the other infantry leaders murdered and assumed full control.
Perdiccas, summoned a council of the great men of Alexander's court to appoint satraps for the parts of the Empire in the partition of Babylon. Ptolemy received Egypt; Laomedon received Syria and Phoenicia; Philotas took Cilicia; Peithon took Media; Antigonus received Phrygia, Lycia and Pamphylia; Asander received Caria; Menander received Lydia; Lysimachus received Thrace; Leonnatus received Hellespontine Phrygia; and Neoptolemus had Armenia. Macedon and the rest of Greece were to be jointly ruled by Antipater and Craterus, while Alexander's former secretary, Eumenes of Cardia, was to receive Cappadocia and Paphlagonia.
Alexander's arrangements in the east were left intact. Taxiles and Porus governed over their kingdoms in India; Alexander's father-in-law Oxyartes governed Gandara; Sibyrtius governed Arachosia and Gedrosia; Stasanor governed Aria and Drangiana; Philip governed Bactria and Sogdia; Phrataphernes governed Parthia and Hyrcania; Peucestas governed Persis; Tlepolemus had charge over Carmania; Atropates governed northern Media; Archon got Babylonia; and Arcesilaus governed northern Mesopotamia.