Polyperchon and his son Alexandros

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ruthaki
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Polyperchon and his son Alexandros

Post by ruthaki »

Can anyone tell me if Polyperchon's son Alexandros was with him in Macedonia while Kassandros was amassing his army to take over Pella? Or had Polyperchon left him in the Peloponnese to guard their holdings there? I need to know who Polyperchon might have left in charge of the army when he took off for Asia Minor to recruit help against Kassandros.
Thanks in advance
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Paralus
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Post by Paralus »

It can be very confusing keeping up with the differing individuals and the constantly altering alliances. If only all was as straightforward as Eumenes in Asia. Here's a quick stab at a precis.

Polyperchon spent the time between the spring of 318 and 315 either in the Peloponnese, Attica or Epirus. A lot of travelling in between as well one imagines.

At the time of Cassander's march (or sail) on Macedonia – and Olympias – the old bugger was holed up in Perrhaebia with, ostensibly, the royal army,(east of Epirus) having restored Olympias to power. He was singularly unsuccessful in thwarting Cassander's invasion. This was, given his record, nothing unusual. His first mistake was reviving the deadly old matriarch and sending her on her killing spree after returning her to Pella not long before.

I can’t recall Polyperchon travelling to Asia to raise forces against Cassander. He sent letters of authority, on behalf of the kings, to Eumenes to take whatever funds necessary to raise a “royal army” against Antigonus as well as to the Silver Shields instructing them to take service under Eumenes. That in 318. In 315 Monophthalmos, having just survived the seminal campaign against Eumenes in Iran and having removed Pithon and Seleucus (who’d fled to Egypt), sent one Aristodemus (of Miletus) to “to the Peloponnese with a thousand talents, instructing him to establish friendship with Alexander and Polyperchon and, after raising an adequate force of mercenaries, to carry on the war against Cassander” (Diod. 19.57.5). By this time though, Cassander had rid himself of Olympias and Polyperchon was, once again, chief condottiere of Peloponnese.

His son Alexander is a little harder to follow. He is left, in 318, in Attica with half the army. Later that year, Polyperchon commences a siege of Megalopolis and “arrived with his whole army” and set up camps “one for the Macedonians and one for the allies” (Diod. 18. 70.4). One might suspect that his son had followed him if this was Polyperchon’s “whole army”. Polyperchon, despairing of carrying this off, raised the siege and “went off about more necessary business” (18.71.1) – God knows where.

In any case, when Olympias embarks on her rather frightful reign of retribution, Cassander – now besieging Tegea in the Peloponnese – decamps and makes his way, army in tow, to Macedonia. He avoids the eminently avoidable Polyperchon and left “his allies [in the Peloponnese] in complete confusion; for Polyperchon’s son, Alexander with an army was waiting to attack the cities of Peloponnese” (19.35.1). One imagines he was reasonably adjacent to, if not in, the Peloponnese at this time. This seems confirmed by the fact that Cassander and his army, in 315, had to take ship to Epidaurus to avoid Alexander’s blocking of the Isthmus.

Alexander, a chip of the old man’s blockhead, not too long after (314?) accepted Cassander’s offer of alliance and the meaningless title of “Strategos of the Peloponnese”. This was, in fact, the same title Antigonus bought his father with not so long ago – with the added bonus of 1,000 talents. Like father, like son.

Not to be left out of the poker game, Antigonus gave Alexander’s bastard son Heracles to Polyperchon as a final bargaining chip (311/10). Cassander, displaying a perspicacious understanding of father and son, offered to confirm the sedulous old ditherer in his old position of “Strategos” on the condition Heracles was terminated – along with his mother. Predictable to the end, Polyperchon agreed and little more is heard of him afterwards.
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ruthaki
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Polyperchon and his son Alexandros

Post by ruthaki »

Thanks so much for this reply. You're right -- trying to keep track of these characters is really a puzzle. It seems they swing any way the pendulum goes for their own benefit.

I must recheck all my research notes but I am positive I'd read that Polyperchon went off to Asia Minor ('to secure more troops' - supposedly) when his army was deserting him. Why else wasn't he near helping Olympias and the rest of them when they were trapped inside Pynda? And if he went 'east' of Epiros...well that's the sea coast and where would he be but near Dodona and I understand Kassandros had already convinced the young titular king there to join up with him. This is so darn confusing!

I figured Alexandros was still down south in the Peloponnese. But getting Polyperchon figured out is a bit difficult. And yes, I knew about the deal with Herakles and how that ended up.

Thanks again for helping me to solve this.
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Paralus
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Post by Paralus »

Yes, near Dodona is about right:
Diodorus, 19.35. 2-3:
The Aetolians, who wished to please Olympias and Polyperchon, had occupied the pass at Thermopylae and barred Cassander from the passage. Cassander decided against forcing his way through this region, which was difficult to attack, but he secured boats and barges from Euboea and Locris and transported his army into Thessaly. Hearing that Polyperchon and his army was in Perrhaebia, he dispatched his general Callas with an army, ordering him to carry on the war with Polyperchon.
Subsequently, Olympias is bottled up in Pydna by Cassander and his general Atarrhias is sent to Epirus which he then dislodges from the Olympias/Polyperchon “alliance” after securing the exile of the king, Aecides.

As for the quick-witted and sure-footed Polyperchon:
Diodorus 19.36. 5:
Her [Olympias’] only hope of aid was from Polyperchon, and this was also unexpectedly crushed; for when Callas, who had been sent by Cassander as general, drew near Polyperchon in Perrhaebia and camped there, he corrupted most of Polyperchon’s soldiers by bribes so that there remained only a few and these the most faithful.
This, then, is the desertion of Polyperchon by his troops. Prior to this, his allies had deserted him as he had come to be “regarded with contempt” by the Greek cities due to his failure at Megalaopolis and the Greeks felt that he lacked “both the wisdom and the energy in representing the kings and his allies”. Neatly judged I’d have thought.

The only contact I can recall with Asia Minor that Polyperchon had was that related in the earlier post. That is, Antigonus having survived the Iranian campaign, killed Pithon and frightened Seleucus off to Egypt, plies Polyperchon with mercenaries (and a thousand talents) via Aristodemus and appoints him “strategos of the Peloponnese” so as to continue to annoy Cassander. This so he can then deal with Lysimachus and Ptolemy without the annoyance of the mainland.
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Ἐπὶ τοὺς πατέρας, ὦ κακαὶ κεφαλαί, τοὺς μετὰ Φιλίππου καὶ Ἀλεξάνδρου τὰ ὅλα κατειργασμένους;
Wicked men, you sin against your fathers, who conquered the whole world under Philip and Alexander.

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ruthaki
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Polyperchon and his son Alexandros

Post by ruthaki »

OK, thanks. You folks are awesome.
Now...where the heck would Perrhaebia be located? Can you suggest a modern location that i might relate to?
One reason it's taking me so long to finish this novel is trying to sort out all these plots and sub plots (of which there are many - a tangled web indeed!). I don't want to speculate and 'romanticize' this dilemma (even though I'm writing fiction) so I appreciate all the help I get here.
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Paralus
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Post by Paralus »

Perrhaebia is the area to the east and somewhat north of Dodoni. It would centre on the plains somewhere near to Meteora in northern Greece, between the great mountain ranges.

There are a couple of shots of the terrain in this folder of photostaken in Jan '07.
Last edited by Paralus on Wed Feb 06, 2008 3:18 am, edited 1 time in total.
Paralus
Ἐπὶ τοὺς πατέρας, ὦ κακαὶ κεφαλαί, τοὺς μετὰ Φιλίππου καὶ Ἀλεξάνδρου τὰ ὅλα κατειργασμένους;
Wicked men, you sin against your fathers, who conquered the whole world under Philip and Alexander.

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ruthaki
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Polyperchon and his son Alexandros

Post by ruthaki »

Paralus, thanks evharisto poli.
Coincidentally, I was just preparing a story for my travel web site about this area (Meteora). I've been through there several times.

I did google Perrhailia and more or less figured out it's location but this makes it more precise. Now what in heck was Polyperchon doing away over there if Kassandros was encamped at Dion on the coast?
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Paralus
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Post by Paralus »

One can only postulate that he was exercising his renowned strategic genius...not.

Well, I'd hazard the guess that he was securing the passes into Macedonia in the region and securing the Epirote/Molossian forces’ allegiance. At this stage he likely did not know or was in no position to do much about the fact that Olympias' erstwhile army, following her swathe through the Macedonian notables and supporters of Cassander/Antipater, had deserted her. Thus, whilst Cassander hurried north to deal with the fearsome “black widow”, the far from agile and decisive Polyperchon found he had Cassander’s general Callas to contend with.

Polyperchon, faithful and recidivist old royalist that he was, sorely lacked the wherewithal of his often brutal younger counterparts. This was a new game and, aside from he and the casually cruel Antigonus, it was played by ruthless younger aggrandisers with the gleam of power in their eyes. Polyperchon tried hard to adapt to this game of murder and swindle but he lacked the singular cruelty, driving ambition and skill that underpinned his betters in this field. Cassander played both he and his son as a lyre and Antigonus utilised him as some play-piece in a Macedonian version of Monopoly where the prize was empire; the moves included murder, treachery and dynastic marriage; rent for setting foot on another Diodoch's territory was paid in blood; where no one - especially Olympias - was given a get out jail free card and were very few were able to "pass Cyinda" and collect thousands of talents.

He was out of his depth
Paralus
Ἐπὶ τοὺς πατέρας, ὦ κακαὶ κεφαλαί, τοὺς μετὰ Φιλίππου καὶ Ἀλεξάνδρου τὰ ὅλα κατειργασμένους;
Wicked men, you sin against your fathers, who conquered the whole world under Philip and Alexander.

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ruthaki
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Polyperchon vs Kassandros in Thessaly

Post by ruthaki »

I suppose it's safe to make up names for Polyperchon's chief officers. Or has anyone run across any legitimate names?

I had also queried about the Macedonian fortresses -- what were they like - the layout? But somehow this seems to have been deleted from the forum. Since then I found on google the name of a Greek classical scholar who is an expert on this subject. Emailed him but haven't had a reply as yet. Guess I'll have to make that up too???
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Post by Paralus »

Yep: sometimes that's what just has to happen in fiction.

I'm not pulling out Diodorus 18 &19 as I need to get to the office. My recollection is that Polyperchon's officers are not deemed worthy of recording in his summary of events outside, of course, of his son Alexander. You would need to thoroughly read the Greek mainland narrative in those books. I think you'll find only the commanders of fortresses (Nicanor in Athens; Aristonous in Amphipolis, etc) are named outside of the "number ones" (Alexander and Kallas for example).
Paralus
Ἐπὶ τοὺς πατέρας, ὦ κακαὶ κεφαλαί, τοὺς μετὰ Φιλίππου καὶ Ἀλεξάνδρου τὰ ὅλα κατειργασμένους;
Wicked men, you sin against your fathers, who conquered the whole world under Philip and Alexander.

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ruthaki
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Officers names

Post by ruthaki »

Thanks Paralus, So I guess they will get names that I deem suitable. I actually wasn't going to name them (already so many names) but my critique group suggest I should 'tag' a couple of them -- at least his chief commander -- so I will find something suitable.
Ach...all these little icky-pickys -- but I like to try and get things are 'correct' as possible.
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Re: Polyperchon vs Kassandros in Thessaly

Post by amyntoros »

ruthaki wrote:I had also queried about the Macedonian fortresses -- what were they like - the layout? But somehow this seems to have been deleted from the forum...
No, not deleted. You asked the question on the "Comments, help, suggestions etc." forum. At the time I wondered why you put it there, but I figured you had your reasons. :) You've had no responses though, but that could because no one here knows much about the fortresses either. At a guess I'd say that if you find some info about any Greek fortress you could probably take it from there. The Macedonian fortresses would be quite similar, don't you think?

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Paralus
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Post by Paralus »

Found this - Ancient Greek Fortifications 500-300 BC- whilst looking for some recent articles on the Babylonian Chronicle of the Successors (how it relates to my search is anyone's guess). It might fill your need for some fortification construction.
Paralus
Ἐπὶ τοὺς πατέρας, ὦ κακαὶ κεφαλαί, τοὺς μετὰ Φιλίππου καὶ Ἀλεξάνδρου τὰ ὅλα κατειργασμένους;
Wicked men, you sin against your fathers, who conquered the whole world under Philip and Alexander.

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ruthaki
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Macedonian Fortresses

Post by ruthaki »

You folks are amazing! Thanks for the info on the book which I have no purchased from Amazon.
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