Battle of Byzantium

Coordinates: 40°12′N 26°24′E / 40.2°N 26.4°E / 40.2; 26.4
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Battle of Byzantium (Byzantion)
Part of the Second War of the Diadochi
Location of Byzantion
Date317 BC
Location
near Byzantium
(modern-day Istanbul, Turkey)
40°12′N 26°24′E / 40.2°N 26.4°E / 40.2; 26.4
Result Antigonid victory
Belligerents
The coalition of Antigonus Monophtalmus and Cassander The coalition of Polyperchon and Cleitus the White
Commanders and leaders
Antigonus Monophthalmus Cleitus the White
Strength

First battle:
Diod. 100+ ships[1]
Poly. 130 ships[2]

Second battle:
The sea assault: 60 ships
peltasts[3]

First battle:
slightly larger[1][2]

Second battle:
unknown (Cleitus's entire army and fleet)[2][3]
Casualties and losses
unknown Cleitus's entire force was captured or killed
Cleitus the White Executed

The Battle of Byzantium (Byzantion) took place during the wars of the successors of

Hellespont in 317 BC and resulted in a stunning Antigonid victory.[4]

Background

After the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC, his generals immediately began squabbling over his huge empire. Soon the squabbling degenerated into open

satrapy. Cleitus fled to Polyperchon who equipped him with a large fleet and sent him to take command of the Hellespont at the beginning of the summer of 317 BC.[10]

Prelude

Antigonus had spent the autumn and winter of 318 BC in western Asia Minor consolidating his position and gathering a fleet. He now sent Nicanor with a fleet of 100–130 ships to do battle against Cleitus in the Hellespont while he himself marched there with an army. Cleitus was in the Hellespont with a slightly larger fleet.[1]

The Battles

The two fleets met in battle near Byzantium, Cleitus won a victory in which some 70 ships of Nicanor were captured, sunk or disabled, the remnant managing to escape to Chalcedon, where they were joined by Antigonus and his army. Antigonus ordered the remaining 60 ships to be readied for renewed action, and assigned his strongest and most loyal soldiers as marines to these ships. Meanwhile, the Byzantines transported his archers, slingers and peltast to the European shore, where Cleitus's victorious forces were encamped. At dawn the next day Antigonos launched an assault by land and sea and caught Cleitus completely by surprise; Cleitus’s entire force was captured or killed.[11]

Aftermath

Cleitus managed to escape with a single ship, but he was soon forced to run it aground and tried to reach Macedon by land. He was intercepted and executed by some soldiers working for Lysimachus .[11] This brilliant stroke greatly enhanced Antigonus's reputation for military genius (he had won three stunning victories in a row) and freed him from further worry of Polyperchon interfering in Asia. He at once set out to deal with Eumenes who was causing trouble in Cilicia, Syria and Phoenicia.

References

  1. ^
    Bibliotheca Historica
    XVIII 72,3.
  2. ^ a b c Polyainos, Strategemata, book IV 6,8.
  3. ^
    Bibliotheca Historica
    XVIII 72,4.
  4. Bibliotheca Historica
    XVIII 72,3–4; Polyainos, Strategemata, IV 6,8.
  5. ^ Richard A. Billows, Antigonos the one-eyed and the creation of the Hellenistic State, p. 72.
  6. ^ Richard A. Billows, Antigonos the one-eyed and the creation of the Hellenistic State, p. 77; Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica XVIII 41, 1–3; Plutarch, Eumenes, 10,2–4.
  7. ^ Richard A. Billows, Antigonos the one-eyed and the creation of the Hellenistic State, p. 77; Diodorus, Bibliotheca Historica XVIII 41, 5–7; Plutarch, Eumenes, 10,2–4.
  8. Polyainos
    , strategemata IV 6,7.
  9. ^ Richard A. Billows, Antigonos the one-eyed and the creation of the Hellenistic State, pp. 84–85.
  10. Bibliotheca Historica
    XVIII 72, 2–3.
  11. ^
    Bibliotheca Historica
    XVIII 72, 3–4.
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