Now, to the not directly relevant (to the 318 ff issue) but interesting question of winter quarters for 320/319. Once more it means getting down with those ants.
Plutarch Eumenes 8
3 When Eumenes fell in with the royal herds of horse that were pasturing about Mount Ida, he took as many horses as he wanted and sent a written statement of the number to the overseers, at this, we are told, Antipater laughed and said that he admired Eumenes for his forethought, since he evidently expected to give an account of the royal properties to them, or to receive one from them. 4 Because he was superior in cavalry, Eumenes wished to give battle in the plains of Lydia about Sardis, and at the same time he was ambitious to make a display of his forces before Cleopatra; but at the request of that princess, who was afraid to give Antipater any cause for complaint, he marched away into upper Phrygia and wintered at Celaenae. Here Alcetas, Polemon, and Docimus strove emulously with him for the chief command, whereupon he said: "This bears out the saying, 'Of perdition no account is made.' “ 5 Moreover, having promised to give his soldiers their pay within three days, he sold them the homesteads and castles about the country, which were full of slaves and flocks. Then every captain in the phalanx or commander of mercenaries who had bought a place was supplied by Eumenes with implements and engines of war and took it by siege; and thus every soldier received the pay that was due him, in a distribution of the captured properties. 6 In consequence of this, Eumenes was again in high favour; and once when letters were found in his camp which the leaders of the enemy had caused to be scattered there, wherein they offered a hundred talents and honours to anyone who should kill Eumenes, his Macedonians were highly incensed and made a decree that a thousand of the leading soldiers should serve him continually as a body-guard, watching over him when he went abroad and spending the night at his door. 7 These carried out the decree, and were delighted to receive from Eumenes such honours as kings bestow upon their friends. For he was empowered to distribute purple caps and military cloaks, and this was a special gift of royalty among Macedonians.
Diodoros XVIII 39 -40
7 As general of the royal army he appointed Antigonus, assigning him the task of finishing the war against Eumenes and Alcetas; but he attached his own son Cassander to Antigonus as chiliarch so that the latter might not be able to pursue his own ambitions undetected. Antipater himself with the kings and his own army went on into Macedonia in order to restore the kings to their native land.
40 1 Antigonus, who had been designated general of Asia for the purpose of finishing the war with Eumenes, collected his troops from their winter quarters. After making preparations for the battle, he set out against Eumenes, who was still in Cappadocia. 2 Now one of Eumenes' distinguished commanders named Perdiccas had deserted him and was encamped at a distance of three days' march with the soldiers who had joined him in the mutiny, three thousand infantry and five hundred cavalry. Eumenes, accordingly, sent against him Phoenix of Tenedos with four thousand picked foot-soldiers and a thousand horsemen. 3 After a forced night march Phoenix fell unexpectedly on the deserters at about the second watch of the night, and catching them asleep, took Perdiccas alive and secured control of his troops. 4 Eumenes put to death the leaders who had been most responsible for the desertion, but by distributing the common soldiers among the other troops and treating them with kindness, he secured them as loyal supporters.
Goteborg Palimpsest
{When . . . } was {at that} time . . . to all of them, those who were caught inside could neither break out nor come to each others' assistance, because all of them were threatened with personal danger; of those who were trapped one part . . . to themselves . . . of Eumenes, but to the foreigners . . . and on [payment of] ransom . . . in three [days] they had plenty to pay [the soldiers] 10 . . . collecting over 800, except for what . . . they did not pay the price in proportion to what had been taken away - and it was reckoned at not far short of one thousand [talents]. After acquiring this unexpected abundance of resources without any effort or danger, they held Eumenes in high esteem; and the enemy, who were astonished by the speed and the unexpectedness of his attack, still more admired his skill as a general and his very quick-witted intelligence. At the same time, they began to despise Antipater, 20because although he brought with him much larger and stronger forces to contend the war, after he set up camp near to their enemies he was unable to offer any assistance to his allies. Within sight of him and his army, the allies were captured and destroyed and sold off as booty, while Antipater was nothing better than a spectator of their sufferings.
After achieving this, while it was still winter, Eumenes sent envoys to Alcetas and Attalus and Polemon and Docimus 30 and to the others who had been appointed by Perdiccas as commanders and satraps, but had now been sentenced to death by the Macedonians. He urged them to combine all their forces and jointly undertake the war, because not only would they be a match for he enemy if they were united, but also they would be more effective if they had a common plan. If all their forces were combined, they would be the equal of the enemy in numbers, and they controlled a large amount of territory, from which they could easily support their army. If they prolonged the war, they would consistently gain extra strength, 40 because Antigonus and Antipater were already considered odious, and after failing so far to achieve anything worthy of mention, they were not surprisingly regarded with contempt. Their continual losses would make the enemy weak and easy to defeat, so that if they learned that the others were working together and uniting their forces, they would immediately sue for a truce. They would leave the others in possession of their existing territory, and content themselves with their original allotment, thereby ridding Asia of many evils. 50 If any of the commanders were not convinced by this, he told them to explain what better course they could choose instead of it, to provide deliverance from the present dangers and safety for the future. Alcetas was one of the first to do as Eumenes suggested; he wanted to attach to himself the large Macedonian army which Eumenes commanded, so that if the firm foundation of this force of foot-soldiers {was added} to the cavalry which he already had and to the mass of . . .
Arrian Ta Meta Alexandron 11
The tenth book relates how Eumenes, having heard what had befallen Perdiccas, and that he himself had been declared an enemy by the Macedonians, made all preparations for war ; how Alcetas, the brother of Perdiccas, took refuge with him on that account; how Attalus, who had been one of the ringleaders in the insurrection against Antipater, also joined the exiles with a force of 10,000 foot and 800 horse; how Attalus and his troops attacked Cnidus, Caunus, and Rhodes. The Rhodians, under their admiral, Demaratus, completely repulsed them. 40 How Eumenes nearly came to blows with Antipater on his arrival at Sardis, but Cleopatra, Alexander's sister, to prevent the Macedonian people accusing her of being the cause of the war, persuaded Eumenes to leave Sardis. Notwithstanding, Antipater reviled her for her friendship with Eumenes and Perdiccas. She defended herself more vigorously than a woman could have been expected to do, brought countercharges against him, and in the end they parted amicably. 41 Eumenes, having unexpectedly attacked those who did not acknowledge his authority, collected much booty and money, which he distributed amongst his soldiers. He also sent messages to Alcetas and his friends, begging them to assemble all their forces in one place so that they might unitedly attack the common enemy. But differences of opinion arose amongst them, and they finally refused. 42 Antipater, not yet daring to engage Eumenes, sent Asander against Attalus and Alcetas; after the battle had long remained undecided, Asander was defeated. 43Cassander was at variance with Antigonus, but by command of his father, Antipater, he abandoned his opposition. Nevertheless, Cassander, when he met his father in Phrygia, advised him not to get too far from the kings, and to keep watch on Antigonus ; but the latter, by his quiet behaviour, courtesy, and good qualities, did all he could to remove suspicion. Antipater, being appeased, appointed him to the command of the forces which had crossed over with him toAsia - 8500 Macedonian 'infantry, and the same number of foreign cavalry, together with half the elephants (that is, seventy) - to assist him in ending the war against Eumenes. 44 Thus Antigonus began the war. Antipater, with the kings and the rest of his forces, pretended to be going to cross over into Macedonia, but the army again mutinied and demanded their pay. Antipater promised that he would pay them when he reached Abydus, or let them have, if not the whole, at least the greater part of it. 45 Having thus encouraged their hopes, he reached Abydus without disturbance, but having deceived the soldiers, he crossed the Hellespont by night, with the kings, to Lysimachus. On the following day the soldiers also crossed, and for the moment made no further demand for their pay.
Diadoch Chronicle BCHP 3/ABC 10
24 {5'} {lú ERÍN LUGAL} lú ERÍN.MEŠ LUGAL ina gišTUKUL GAZ.MEŠ ITI APIN UD 10 [+? KAM .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..] The troops of the king were slaughtered. Month VIII, day 10 (14 November 320) [.. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..]
25 {6'} LÚ GAL.UKKIN KUR URI.KI ana E.KI KU4 MU BI SAHAR.HI.A [šá É.SAG.ÍL (.....) id-de-ku-ú] the satrap of Akkad entered Babylon. That month, debris [of Esagila was (not?) removed.]
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26 {7'} MU 5.KAM mPi-líp-i-si ITI NU ZU LUGAL mAn-ti-gu-n[u-su .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..] Year 5 of Philip (319/18), unknown month. The king [left] Antigon[us in charge (...) and he]
27 {8'} a-na KUR Ma-ak-<ka->du-nu i-bir-ma ana EGIR-šú NU GUR-ár ina /ku\-t[a?-al-li (?) šatti(?) .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..] went to the land Macedonia and did not return. In a later part? [of the year?.. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..]
Polyainos IV 6
While Antigonus was wintering in Cappadocia, three thousand Macedonian hoplites revolted from him. They took up a strong position on the mountains, from which they ravaged Lycaonia and Phrygia. Antigonus thought it cruel, to put such a number of men to death; and yet was afraid, lest they should join the enemy, who were commanded by Alcetas. He therefore carried out the following stratagem. He dismissed Leonidas, one of his generals; who immediately went over to the rebels, and offered to join them. They readily accepted his offer; and appointed him their general. The first step he took, was to persuade them not to attach themselves to any party, which relieved Antigonus of his fears. Leonidas afterwards contrived to draw them from the mountains to a place, which was suitable for cavalry action, though they themselves had no cavalry. There Antigonus surprised them with a detachment of horsemen, and seized Holcias and two of the leaders of the revolt. They threw themselves upon his mercy, and begged for their lives; which he granted, on condition, that they would leave the camp without tumult or confusion, and return to Macedonia. They accepted the terms; and Leonidas was sent to conduct them to Macedonia, and deliver them to their respective homes
Most of this is above but it might be easier to have the texts to hand. A good place to start is Triparadeisos; a good indication of when this ended is the entry of Seleukos into Babylon on day 10 of month VIII. Triparadeisos was in upper Syria perhaps near Laodicea ad Libanum, near modern Al Qusayr, from there to Babylon is c.775 miles via Thapsakos. At an average of 30 mpd this is 26 days, add in a rest day every four and we get 40 days as the quickest Seleukos would probably have moved putting Triparadeisos at the beginning of October 320 (Dios, Babylonian month VII Tashritu). Were he to move at army pace it would be 80 days with Triparadeisos ending in the last week of August (Gorpiaos, Babylonian V Abu).
Antipatros we know moved from Triparadeisos to Sardes this is 930 miles, 150 miles further so he would have reached Sardis about two weeks after Seleukos reached Babylon, if they set off at the same time, and both moved at army rates. It is apparent why the Gotesborg palimpsest puts the fund raising raids of Eumenes and Antipatros and Antigonos’ passive spectating in winter. This was probably from a camp in Phrygia, the proximity to the enemy is stated and Kelenai is the capital of Greater Phrygia. Eumenes operating here also explains why those he predates upon are termed ‘allies’ as they are the inhabitants of Antigonos’ satrapy.
I would suggest that Antipatros went ahead with part of the army and left Antigonos and Kassandros to bring up the tail, including the elephants, thus speeding his march but leaving him too weak to attack Eumenes. This allows Kassandros to meet his father in Phrygia without Eumenes having to withdraw from his stated winter quarters in Plutarch. United the Royal army was still felt too weak to move against Eumenes so divided it seems only a part was sent against Alketas with Asandros. The army was clearly dispersed for winter quarters, as Antigonos has to ‘gather’ it, the same would be so for Eumenes’ forces which predicates some separation (similar circumstances prevailing on the Iranian plateau before Gabiene). The HQs would have been in a comfortable city however which means Kelanai for Eumenes and Sardis for Antipatros et al. No army would move base in mid-winter for fun; Antipatros had demonstrated that he was not a threat to Eumenes and the latter would not have posed a threat to Sardis until spring. In the event the Perdikkans’ refusal to act in concert forced Eumenes to retreat to his own base in Kappadokia.
Polyainos puts Antigonos’ winter quarters in Kappadokia, but since he was with Antipatros this must be a confusion on his part, which makes the raiding of Lykaonia similarly suspect, Phrygia lying between Sardis and Kelenai seems right, it could be an error for Lykia, though why that would happen is a mystery.
The Babylonian Chronicle puts Antipatros’ departure for Europe in Philip’s fifth year which began in Artemisios/Nisanu 319, April, which is when we would expect him to move.
When you think about, it free-choice is the only possible option.