Cassander

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For his uncle, see Cassander (brother of Antipater).
Cassander
King of Macedonia
Reign305 – 297 BC
PredecessorAlexander IV
SuccessorPhilip IV
Born355 BC[1]
Died297 BC (aged 58)
Pella
SpouseThessalonike of Macedon
Issue
Ancient Greek Religion

Cassander (

romanized: Kássandros; c. 355 BC – 297 BC) was king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia from 305 BC until 297 BC, and de facto ruler of southern Greece from 317 BC until his death.[2]

A son of

Thessalonica, Cassandreia, and Thebes); however, his ruthlessness in dealing with political enemies complicates assessments of his rule.[4][5][6]

Early history

In his youth, Cassander was taught by the philosopher

Ptolemy and Lysimachus.[7] His family were distant collateral relatives to the Argead dynasty.[8]

Cassander is first recorded as arriving at Alexander the Great's court in Babylon in 323 BC, where he had been sent by his father, Antipater, most likely to help uphold Antipater's regency in Macedon, although a later contemporary who was hostile to the Antipatrids suggested that Cassander had journeyed to the court to poison the King.[9] Cassander left Alexander's court either shortly before or after the king's death in June of 323 BC, playing no part in the immediate power struggles over the empire.[10] Cassander returned to Macedonia and assisted his father's governance, he was later assigned by Antipater to Antigonus as his chiliarch from 321 to 320, probably to monitor the latter's activities.[11][12][13]

Rule of Macedon

Greek colonies

As Antipater grew close to death in 319 BC, he transferred the regency of Macedon not to Cassander, but to

Demetrius of Phaleron, and declared himself Regent in 317 BC. After Olympias’ successful move against Philip III later in the year, Cassander besieged her in Pydna. When the city fell in the spring of 316, Olympias was killed, and Cassander had Alexander IV and Roxana confined at Amphipolis.[15]

That year, Cassander associated himself with the

Epidamus, but was driven out by local rulers like Glaucius; his rule in Macedonia remained firm as he resettled defeated enemies in the tradition of Phillip II and fostered trade in the regions around his new cities.[15][16] Cassander had Alexander IV and Roxana secretly poisoned in either 310 BC or the following year.[17]

By 309 BC, Polyperchon had begun to claim that Heracles was the true heir to the Macedonian inheritance, at which point Cassander bribed Polyperchon to kill the boy, promising him an alliance and the return of his Macedonian estates.[18][19] After this, Cassander's position in Greece and Macedonia was reasonably secure, and he proclaimed himself king in 305 BC.[20] Diodorus Siculus relates that Cassander, Ptolemy, and Lysimachus declared their kingships in response to the assumption of royal title by Antigonus, following his victory over Ptolemy at Salamis in 306.

In 307–304 BC he fought the so-called Four–Years' War against Athens.

dropsy in 297 BC.[29]

Cassander's dynasty did not live much beyond his death, with his son

Antipater II Etesias
, were unable to re-establish the Antipatrids on the throne.

Legacy

Locations of Thessaloniki and Cassandreia in modern Greece.

Cassander stood out amongst the Diadochi in his hostility to Alexander's memory.[9] Arrian later reported that he could not pass a statue of Alexander without feeling faint.[30] Cassander has been perceived to be ambitious and unscrupulous, and even members of his own family were estranged from him.[31] However, historians like John D. Grainger argue this characterization owes much to stories spread by his rivals.[32]

Cassander was responsible for the deaths of more Argeads than other Diadochi, (

Thebes, which had been destroyed by Alexander, was perceived at the time to be a snub to the deceased king, though it also had the realpolitik effect of providing a power base for Cassander in Boeotia.[36][37]

Coin of Cassander minted after 310 BCE, displaying Alexander or Cassander wearing the lion pelt cloak and bearing the inscription "King Cassander" in Greek on the reverse.

Like the other Diodochoi, Cassander participated in the appropriation of regal iconography which linked him to Alexander the Great.

Antipatreia in the Aspros Valley.[41]

Notes

  1. ^ The Age of Alexander: Nine Greek lives: "CASSANDER c. 355-297 B.C. The son of Antipater, he did not accompany the Macedonian army on its invasion of Asia, but remained in Macedonia ".
  2. Encyclopedia Britannica
    . 2014.
  3. Encyclopedia Britannica
    . 2014.
  4. ^ Beckett, Universal Biography, Vol. 1, p. 688
  5. ^ Smith, Mahlon H. "Cassander". Into His Own: Perspective on the World of Jesus. American Theological Library Association. Retrieved 13 June 2018.
  6. OCLC 676972389
    .
  7. ^ Heckel, Who's who in the age of Alexander the Great: prosopography of Alexander's empire, p. 153
  8. ^ Ptolemaic Dynasty - Affiliated Lines: The Antipatrids Archived July 16, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
  9. ^ a b Fox, Robin Lane. Alexander the Great. p. 469, 2004 Ed.
  10. ISBN 978-1-5267-3089-3
    .
  11. ISBN 978-1-5267-3089-3
    .
  12. ISBN 978-0-19-875988-1
    .
  13. ISBN 978-0-520-91904-4
    .
  14. ^ Green, Peter. Alexander the Great and the Hellenistic Age. pp. 35-36, 2007 Ed.
  15. ^
    OCLC 676972389
    .
  16. OCLC 1082183474
    .
  17. OCLC 676972389
    .
  18. ^ Green, Peter. Alexander the Great and the Hellenistic Age. p. 44, 2007 Ed.
  19. OCLC 1082183474
    .
  20. ^ Green, Peter. Alexander the Great and the Hellenistic Age. p. 163, 2007 Ed.
  21. ^ Seibert, Diadochen, pp. 141–142; Habicht, Pausanias, pp. 78–80.
  22. ^ Richard A. Billows, Antigonos the One-Eyed, p. 169.
  23. ^ Richard A. Billows, Antigonos the One-Eyed, p. 169–173.
  24. ^ a b c d Richard A. Billows, Antigonos the One-Eyed, p. 174.
  25. ^ Richard A. Billows, Antigonos the One-Eyed, p. 175.
  26. ^ Richard A. Billows, Antigonos the One-Eyed, pp. 175–176.
  27. ^ Richard A. Billows, Antigonos the One-Eyed, pp. 176–178.
  28. ^ a b Richard A. Billows, Antigonos the One-Eyed, p. 179.
  29. ^ Pausanias (May 25, 2022). "Description of Greece".
  30. OCLC 1152271824
    .
  31. ^ Fox, Robin Lane. Alexander the Great, p. 475, 2004 Ed.
  32. OCLC 1041510654
    .
  33. ^ Green, Peter. Alexander the Great and the Hellenistic Age. p. 38, 2007 Ed.
  34. OCLC 1041510654
    .
  35. ^
    S2CID 214304820
    .
  36. ^ Green, Peter. Alexander the Great and the Hellenistic Age. pp. 40-41, 2007 Ed.
  37. OCLC 1041510654
    .
  38. ISBN 978-1-84217-512-5
    .
  39. ISBN 978-0-646-48150-0
    .
  40. ^ Lawton, Carol C. (1996). "Hellenistic Coin Portraits". www2.lawrence.edu. Retrieved 2023-06-01.
  41. OCLC 1041510654
    .

References

External links
Cassander
Born: c. 355 BC Died: 297 BC
Preceded by
Regent of Macedon

317–305 BC 		Succeeded by
Assumed Kingship
Preceded by
King of Macedon

305–297 BC 		Succeeded by
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Cassander&oldid=1218705365"