1. Historical background – Events

In 321 BC, at Triparadisus in north Syria, Alexander’s former empire was divided by Antipater, regent of Macedonia. Two competent and ambitious generals prevailed there: Seleucus, one of the murderers of Perdiccas, Alexander’s general, took control of Babylon, while Antigonus Monophthalmus was declared general emperor of Asia and was responsible to carry out the war against Eumenes of Cardia, a faithful supporter of Perdiccas. Thus, he repulsed Eumenes to the East, compelling him with 600 soldiers to take refuge to the small fortress Nora in Cappadocia, where Antigonus besieged them.¹ Very soon Monophthalmos violated the treaty of Triparadisus and turned against other satraps of the empire, gaining the absolute control of the greatest part of central Asia Minor.

However, Antipater’s death in 319 BC and the arbitrary appointment of Polyperchon in his position caused the reaction of the Successors, which resulted in a total inversion of the situation so far. When Polyperchon appointed the faithful to the kings Eumenes to replace Antigonus, as a royal general, Antigonus came to terms with Eumenes and he resolved the siege in Nora in order to confront Arrhidaeus, the satrap of Hellespontine Phrygia, in the so-called War of Successors II (319-315 BC). He invaded Lydia and conquered Ephesus, in order to challenge Polyperchon, especially after seizing the amount of 600 talents which was transported to Macedonia by a small fleet under the command of Aeschylus the Rhodian.² Then he sent his troops to arrest Eumenes in Cappadocia³ and later in Cilicia.⁴ By regaining his prestige after the sudden naval and land attacks in Byzantium against Cleitus the admiral of Polyperchon’s and Arrhidaeus’ fleet, Antigonus deterred Eumenes from assembling a competent fleet off the Phoenician shores. After the repulse of Antigonus’ troops by Eumenes at Susa, near the river Coprates, a tributary of the Pasitigris river, Monophthalmus headed to Media and Persia, and he initially defeated Eumenes’ troops in the battle of Paraetacene (317 BC)⁵ and consequently in the battle of Gabiene (316 BC).⁶ Chased by Antigonus, Eumenes was finally delivered to his enemy by his troops, who had him tried, condemned and executed,⁷ while Monophthalmus, master of the Upper Satrapies, suppressed temporarily a series of revolts by Iranian satraps⁸ and took to Babylon the treasure of 25.000 talents which he had gathered from loots and gifts.⁹

2. Consequences

Eumenes’ death in Gabiene in 316 BC meant the loss of the last faithful supporter of the ideas of Alexander the Great, leaving henceforth to Monophthalmus the initiative for the reorganisation of a unified Macedonian state. The victory in Gabiene gave Antigonus control of a territory in Asia from Hindu Kush to the Aegean and allowed him to assign his most loyal followers as satraps. Consequently, with an unforeseen attack in Babylon, Monophthalmus forced Seleucus to abandon the area and to seek shelter in the Ptolemaic realm (Spring 315 BC)¹⁰ in order to avert a potential coalition against him. The success and the great resources of Monophthalmus generated envy with his erstwhile allies,¹¹ who had not foreseen this result, and turned Ptolemy, Seleucus, Cassander and Lysimachus against him during the Third War of Diadochi (314-311 BC).¹²