Perdiccas
Encyclopedia
Perdiccas was one of Alexander the Great's generals. After Alexander's death in 323 BC he became regent
of all Alexander's empire.
Arrian
tells us he was son of Orontes, a descendant of the independent princes of the Macedonian province of Orestis
. As the commander of a battalion of heavy phalanx
infantry, Perdiccas distinguished himself during the conquest of Thebes (335 BC), where he was severely wounded. Subsequently he held an important command in the Indian campaigns of Alexander. When Hephaestion
unexpectedly died in 324 BC, he was appointed his successor as commander of the Companion cavalry
and chiliarch
(vizier). Also in 324, at the nuptials celebrated at Susa
, Perdiccas married the daughter of the satrap
of Media
, a Persian named Atropates
.
In the Partition of Babylon
made after Alexander's death (323 BC) Alexander's generals agreed that Philip III of Macedon
, an epileptic son of Alexander's father Philip II of Macedon
, and the unborn child of Alexander's wife Roxana
should be recognized as joint kings. Perdiccas was appointed guardian and regent of the empire. He soon showed himself intolerant of any rivals, and, acting in the name of the two kings (Roxana gave birth to a son, Alexander
), sought to hold the empire together under his own hand. He had Meleager
, the infantry commander, arrested and murdered.
In 322 BC, he broke off his engagement with Nicaea
, daughter of Antipater
, because Olympias
offered him the hand of Cleopatra
, a sister of Alexander the Great.
Perdiccas' most loyal supporter was Eumenes
, governor of Cappadocia
and Paphlagonia
. These provinces had not yet been conquered by the Macedonians. Antigonus
(governor of Phrygia
, Lycia
and Pamphylia
) refused to undertake the task when Perdiccas ordered him to. Having been summoned to the royal presence to stand his trial for disobedience, Antigonus fled to Europe and entered an alliance with Antipater
, Craterus
and Ptolemy
against him.
Leaving the war in Asia Minor
to Eumenes, Perdiccas marched to attack Ptolemy in Egypt
. He reached Pelusium
but failed to cross the Nile
. A mutiny broke out amongst his troops, disheartened by failure and exasperated by his severity. Perdiccas was assassinated by his officers (Peithon
, Antigenes
, and Seleucus
) sometime in either 321 or 320 BC. Problems with the chronology of Diodorus have led to uncertainty as to the year in which he died.
Regent
A regent, from the Latin regens "one who reigns", is a person selected to act as head of state because the ruler is a minor, not present, or debilitated. Currently there are only two ruling Regencies in the world, sovereign Liechtenstein and the Malaysian constitutive state of Terengganu...
of all Alexander's empire.
Arrian
Arrian
Lucius Flavius Arrianus 'Xenophon , known in English as Arrian , and Arrian of Nicomedia, was a Roman historian, public servant, a military commander and a philosopher of the 2nd-century Roman period...
tells us he was son of Orontes, a descendant of the independent princes of the Macedonian province of Orestis
Orestis (region)
For the modern municipality, see OrestidaOrestis was a region of Upper Macedonia, corresponding roughly to the modern Kastoria Prefecture, West Macedonia, Greece. Its inhabitants were the Greek tribe Orestae...
. As the commander of a battalion of heavy phalanx
Phalanx formation
The phalanx is a rectangular mass military formation, usually composed entirely of heavy infantry armed with spears, pikes, sarissas, or similar weapons...
infantry, Perdiccas distinguished himself during the conquest of Thebes (335 BC), where he was severely wounded. Subsequently he held an important command in the Indian campaigns of Alexander. When Hephaestion
Hephaestion
Hephaestion , son of Amyntor, was a Macedonian nobleman and a general in the army of Alexander the Great...
unexpectedly died in 324 BC, he was appointed his successor as commander of the Companion cavalry
Companion cavalry
The Companions were the elite cavalry of the Macedonian army from the time of king Philip II of Macedon and reached the most prestige under Alexander the Great, and have been regarded as the best cavalry in the ancient world and the first shock cavalry...
and chiliarch
Chiliarch
Chiliarch , in the Greek army of the Hellenistic period, was a commander of a 1,000 men unit, roughly equivalent to a modern battalion. The office was an adaptation by Alexander the Great of the Persian Achaemenid empire's hazarapatish. A chiliarch held duties both martial and civil...
(vizier). Also in 324, at the nuptials celebrated at Susa
Susa
Susa was an ancient city of the Elamite, Persian and Parthian empires of Iran. It is located in the lower Zagros Mountains about east of the Tigris River, between the Karkheh and Dez Rivers....
, Perdiccas married the daughter of the satrap
Satrap
Satrap was the name given to the governors of the provinces of the ancient Median and Achaemenid Empires and in several of their successors, such as the Sassanid Empire and the Hellenistic empires....
of Media
Medes
The MedesThe Medes...
, a Persian named Atropates
Atropates
Atropates was a Persian nobleman who served Darius III, then Alexander III of Macedon, and eventually founded an independent kingdom and dynasty that was named after him...
.
In the Partition of Babylon
Partition of Babylon
The Partition of Babylon designates the attribution of the territories of Alexander the Great between his generals after his death in 323 BC.-Background:...
made after Alexander's death (323 BC) Alexander's generals agreed that Philip III of Macedon
Philip III of Macedon
Philip III Arrhidaeus was the king of Macedonia from after June 11, 323 BC until his death. He was a son of King Philip II of Macedonia by Philinna of Larissa, allegedly a Thessalian dancer, and a half-brother of Alexander the Great...
, an epileptic son of Alexander's father Philip II of Macedon
Philip II of Macedon
Philip II of Macedon "friend" + ἵππος "horse" — transliterated ; 382 – 336 BC), was a king of Macedon from 359 BC until his assassination in 336 BC. He was the father of Alexander the Great and Philip III.-Biography:...
, and the unborn child of Alexander's wife Roxana
Roxana
Roxana sometimes Roxane, was a Bactrian noble and a wife of Alexander the Great. She was born earlier than the year 343 BC, though the precise date remains uncertain....
should be recognized as joint kings. Perdiccas was appointed guardian and regent of the empire. He soon showed himself intolerant of any rivals, and, acting in the name of the two kings (Roxana gave birth to a son, Alexander
Alexander IV of Macedon
Alexander IV Aegus was the son of Alexander the Great and Princess Roxana of Bactria.-Birth:...
), sought to hold the empire together under his own hand. He had Meleager
Meleager (general)
Meleager was a Macedonian officer of distinction in the service of Alexander the Great.Meleager, son of Neoptolemus, is first mentioned in the war against the Getae . At the Granicus in the following year , he commanded one of the divisions of the phalanx, a post which he afterward held...
, the infantry commander, arrested and murdered.
In 322 BC, he broke off his engagement with Nicaea
Nicaea of Macedonia
For other uses, see NicaeaNicaea was a Greek Macedonian noblewoman and was a daughter of the powerful regent Antipater by unnamed mother...
, daughter of Antipater
Antipater
Antipater was a Macedonian general and a supporter of kings Philip II of Macedon and Alexander the Great. In 320 BC, he became Regent of all of Alexander's Empire. Antipater was one of the sons of a Macedonian nobleman called Iollas or Iolaus and his family were distant collateral relatives to the...
, because Olympias
Olympias
Olympias was a Greek princess of Epirus, daughter of king Neoptolemus I of Epirus, the fourth wife of the king of Macedonia, Philip II, and mother of Alexander the Great...
offered him the hand of Cleopatra
Cleopatra of Macedonia
Cleopatra of Macedon , or Cleopatra of Epirus, was an Epirote-Macedonian princess and later queen regent of Epirus. The daughter of King Philip of Macedon and Olympias of Epirus, she was the only full sibling of Alexander the Great...
, a sister of Alexander the Great.
Perdiccas' most loyal supporter was Eumenes
Eumenes
Eumenes of Cardia was a Thracian general and scholar. He participated in the wars of the Diadochi as a supporter of the Macedonian Argead royal house.-Career:...
, governor of Cappadocia
Cappadocia
Cappadocia is a historical region in Central Anatolia, largely in Nevşehir Province.In the time of Herodotus, the Cappadocians were reported as occupying the whole region from Mount Taurus to the vicinity of the Euxine...
and Paphlagonia
Paphlagonia
Paphlagonia was an ancient area on the Black Sea coast of north central Anatolia, situated between Bithynia to the west and Pontus to the east, and separated from Phrygia by a prolongation to the east of the Bithynian Olympus...
. These provinces had not yet been conquered by the Macedonians. Antigonus
Antigonus
Antigonus, a Greek name meaning "comparable to his father" or "worthy of his father", may refer to:* Three Macedonian kings of the Antigonid dynasty that succeeded Alexander the Great in Asia:** Antigonus I Monophthalmus...
(governor of Phrygia
Phrygia
In antiquity, Phrygia was a kingdom in the west central part of Anatolia, in what is now modern-day Turkey. The Phrygians initially lived in the southern Balkans; according to Herodotus, under the name of Bryges , changing it to Phruges after their final migration to Anatolia, via the...
, Lycia
Lycia
Lycia Lycian: Trm̃mis; ) was a region in Anatolia in what are now the provinces of Antalya and Muğla on the southern coast of Turkey. It was a federation of ancient cities in the region and later a province of the Roman Empire...
and Pamphylia
Pamphylia
In ancient geography, Pamphylia was the region in the south of Asia Minor, between Lycia and Cilicia, extending from the Mediterranean to Mount Taurus . It was bounded on the north by Pisidia and was therefore a country of small extent, having a coast-line of only about 75 miles with a breadth of...
) refused to undertake the task when Perdiccas ordered him to. Having been summoned to the royal presence to stand his trial for disobedience, Antigonus fled to Europe and entered an alliance with Antipater
Antipater
Antipater was a Macedonian general and a supporter of kings Philip II of Macedon and Alexander the Great. In 320 BC, he became Regent of all of Alexander's Empire. Antipater was one of the sons of a Macedonian nobleman called Iollas or Iolaus and his family were distant collateral relatives to the...
, Craterus
Craterus
Craterus was a Macedonian general under Alexander the Great and one of the Diadochi.He was the son of a Macedonian nobleman named Alexander from Orestis and brother of admiral Amphoterus. Craterus commanded the phalanx and all infantry on the left wing in Battle of Issus...
and Ptolemy
Ptolemy I Soter
Ptolemy I Soter I , also known as Ptolemy Lagides, c. 367 BC – c. 283 BC, was a Macedonian general under Alexander the Great, who became ruler of Egypt and founder of both the Ptolemaic Kingdom and the Ptolemaic Dynasty...
against him.
Leaving the war in Asia Minor
Asia Minor
Asia Minor is a geographical location at the westernmost protrusion of Asia, also called Anatolia, and corresponds to the western two thirds of the Asian part of Turkey...
to Eumenes, Perdiccas marched to attack Ptolemy in Egypt
Ptolemaic Egypt
Ptolemaic Egypt began when Ptolemy I Soter invaded Egypt and declared himself Pharaoh of Egypt in 305 BC and ended with the death of queen Cleopatra VII of Egypt and the Roman conquest in 30 BC. The Ptolemaic Kingdom was a powerful Hellenistic state, extending from southern Syria in the east, to...
. He reached Pelusium
Pelusium
Pelusium was a city in the eastern extremes of Egypt's Nile Delta, 30 km to the southeast of the modern Port Said. Alternative names include Sena and Per-Amun , Pelousion , Sin , Seyân , and Tell el-Farama...
but failed to cross the Nile
Nile
The Nile is a major north-flowing river in North Africa, generally regarded as the longest river in the world. It is long. It runs through the ten countries of Sudan, South Sudan, Burundi, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda and Egypt.The Nile has two major...
. A mutiny broke out amongst his troops, disheartened by failure and exasperated by his severity. Perdiccas was assassinated by his officers (Peithon
Peithon
Peithon or Pithon was the son of Crateuas, a nobleman from Eordaia in western Macedonia. One of the bodyguards of Alexander the Great, later satrap of Media and one of the diadochi....
, Antigenes
Antigenes (general)
Antigenes was a general of Alexander the Great, who also served under Philip II of Macedon, and lost an eye at the siege of Perinthus . After the death of Alexander he obtained the satrapy of Susiana. He was one of the commanders of the Argyraspides and espoused with his troops the side of Eumenes...
, and Seleucus
Seleucus I Nicator
Seleucus I was a Macedonian officer of Alexander the Great and one of the Diadochi. In the Wars of the Diadochi that took place after Alexander's death, Seleucus established the Seleucid dynasty and the Seleucid Empire...
) sometime in either 321 or 320 BC. Problems with the chronology of Diodorus have led to uncertainty as to the year in which he died.
Historical Novels
- Perdiccas appears as one of the main characters in the historical novel Funeral Games, by Mary RenaultMary RenaultMary Renault born Eileen Mary Challans, was an English writer best known for her historical novels set in Ancient Greece...
. Renault uses the spelling Perdikkas.
- Perdiccas is one of the characters in the historical novel Roxana Romance by A.J. Cave with the Hellenic spelling of Perdikkas.
External links
- Perdiccas article by Jona Lendering on Livius: Articles in Ancient History
- Perdiccas entry in historical sourcebook by Mahlon H. Smith