Perdiccas

[Yassar]

dear friends,Kind regards. I recently read in a book on Alexandria (from the New Horizon series) that at the time of Alexander's death, Perdiccas was the most powerful man in the empire. Was this because Alexander had given his ring to him, or did he command the respect of the troops or any other reason?Are there any ancient accounts of the exact nature of the power he held, or was it theoretical?I hope you can helpThanks, sincerely
yassar

[abm]

the ring is one reason. others are that he was entrusted with the transport of Hephaistion's body to Babylon and that he was appointed as Hephaistion's successor as chiliarch of the companion cavalry (possibly without the title, however).Perdikkas was also the one who spoke first at the meeting in Babylon on the day after Alexander's death (see Curtius X 6.8-9 and Justin XIII 2.5), thus he was probably the most important of the present generals (the main reason for his primacy here was of course his possession of the ring).One must not forget, however that Krateros was held in high esteem by Alexander too, but he had left for Europe and was in Cilicia at the time of Alexander's death.A good account of Perdikkas' career, with references to the ancient sources is to be found in W. Heckel, The Marshals of Alexander's Empire, London 1992.regards,abm

[Kit]

Perdiccas also had in his possession (so to speak) Alexander's wives, including Roxanne (pregnant with Alexander IV) and Philip Arrhidaeus (the last Argaed).In short he held all the cards, but unfortunately proved to be a poor card player!Kit.

[abm]

one might say that he had Rhoxane in his possession, but he certainly did not have enough possession of Arrhidaios to prevent Meleagros from using Arrhidaios against him.

[Kit]

I suppose it depends on what we mean by 'at the time of Alexander's death'? Perdiccas certainly removed the threat of Meleagros quite quickly and once that was done he did have possession of Arrhidaeus as well.regardsKit

[abm]

if you interpret it that way, you're right, but that was already about a month after Alexander's death, so it really does depend on your perspective.regards,abm