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For other uses, see Perdiccas (disambiguation).

Perdiccas
Περδίκκας
Regent of Macedon
In office 323 BC – 321/320 BC
Monarch	Alexander IV
Preceded by	Alexander III (as King)
Succeeded by	Peithon and Arrhidaeus
Personal details
Born	c. 355 BC
Died	321/320 BC (aged 34–36)
Cause of death	Killed by his own soldiers
Occupation	General
Military service
Allegiance	Macedonia
Years of service	335 – 321/320 BC
Battles/wars	Wars of Alexander the Great Wars of the Diadochi

Perdiccas (Greek: Περδίκκας, Perdikkas; c. 355 BC – 321/320 BC) was a general of Alexander the Great. He took part in the Macedonian campaign against the Achaemenid Empire, and, following Alexander's death in 323 BC, rose to become supreme commander of the imperial army, as well as regent for Alexander's half brother and intellectually disabled successor, Philip Arridaeus (Philip III).

He was the first of the Diadochi who fought for control over Alexander's empire. In his attempts to establish a power base and stay in control of the empire, he managed to make enemies of critical generals in the Macedonian army—including Antipater, Craterus and Antigonus—who decided to revolt against the regent. In response to this formidable coalition and a provocation from another general, Ptolemy, Perdiccas invaded Egypt, but his soldiers revolted and killed him when the invasion floundered.

Family background

According to Arrian, Perdiccas was the son of the Macedonian nobleman, Orontes, a descendant of the independent princes of the Macedonian province of Orestis. While his actual date of birth is unknown, he would seem to have been of a similar age to Alexander. He had a brother called Alcetas and a sister, Atalantê, who married Attalus.

Hetairos

As the commander of a battalion of the Macedonian phalanx (heavy infantry), Perdiccas distinguished himself during the conquest of Thebes (335 BC), where he was severely wounded. Subsequently, he held an important command in the Indian campaigns of Alexander. In 324 BC, at the nuptials celebrated at Susa, Perdiccas married the daughter of the satrap of Media, a Persian named Atropates. When Hephaestion unexpectedly died the same year, Perdiccas was appointed his successor as commander of the Companion cavalry and chiliarch. As Alexander lay dying in his bed, he gave his ring to Perdiccas.

Diadoch

Further information: Partition of Babylon

Following the death of Alexander the Great on the 11 June 323 BC in Babylon, his generals met to discuss their next steps. Perdiccas proposed that a final decision wait until Alexander's wife Roxana, who was pregnant, had given birth. If the child was a boy, then Perdiccas proposed that the child be chosen as the new king. This meant that Perdiccas would be the regent and effectively the ruler of Alexander's empire until the boy was old enough to rule on his own. Despite misgivings amongst the other generals, most accepted Perdiccas' proposal.

However, the infantry commander, Meleager, disagreed with Perdiccas' plans. Meleager argued in favour of Alexander's half brother, Arridaeus, whom he considered first in succession. The infantry supported this proposal with Meleager's troops willing to fight in favour of Arridaeus. Perdiccas, who most likely wanted to sway support away from Meleager, came up with a new proposal. They would still have the unborn child of Roxana as king, but there would be multiple regents ruling in place instead of one, all-powerful one. When Perdiccas and the rest of the generals announced this proposal, the enraged infantry gathered their weapons to kill the dissenting generals. Eventually, the anger turned into remorse and the fighting stopped. Meleager, who probably wanted to get rid of the political opposition, demanded they stay in the palace. However, at the first opportunity the generals fled from the palace although Perdiccas decided to stay behind. Presumably, he was confident that he could sway the infantry to his side and weaken Meleager. At night, Meleager sent men to take Perdiccas to him or kill him if he hesitated. Perdiccas decided to insult them over and over again calling them "Meleager's lackeys". The sheer confidence from Perdiccas caused them to back off and Perdiccas fled to join the other generals.

On the plains between the Euphrates and Babylon, the generals started gathering support from the rest of Alexander's army such as the Macedonian cavalry and the Asian infantry. With this newfound military power, they placed Babylon under siege. With a battle seeming imminent, Perdiccas went to the infantry and managed to convince them to stop the infighting. As a compromise, they named Arridaeus king as well as Roxana's child, if it was a son, as joint king. Furthermore, Craterus, a famous general known for his loyalty to Alexander, was named the highest authority as regent. Meleager was named second in command under Perdiccas, however there was much dissent in the army about Meleager's rise to power. Perdiccas suggested that they have a "purification ceremony" where the army would stand out in the plains and single out the dissenters to be purged. However during the ceremony, the people that were drawn out were Meleager's supporters. Perdiccas then used war elephants to brutally crush them. Perdiccas most likely used the compromise to lower Meleager's guard and isolate his power base. Meleager later fled to a temple but Perdiccas's men hunted him down and killed him.

Regent

Coin of Philip III Arrhidaios struck under Perdiccas in Babylon, circa 323-320 BC. AR Tetradrachm (17.20 g, one h). Head of Herakles left, wearing lion skin headdress / [BASILEWS FILIPPOU], Zeus Aëtophoros seated right; wheel and monogram in left field, monogram below throne.

Through the Partition of Babylon, a compromise was reached under which Perdiccas was to serve as "Regent of the Empire" and supreme commander of the imperial army. Arridaeus and the unborn child of Alexander's wife Roxana (the future Alexander IV of Macedon) were recognized as joint kings. While the general Craterus was officially declared "Guardian of the Royal Family", Perdiccas effectively held this position, as the joint kings were with him in Babylon. Perdiccas soon showed himself intolerant of any rivals and, acting in the name of the two kings, sought to hold the empire together under his own hand. Alexander the Great's second wife, Stateira, was murdered.

While Perdiccas did hold the top authority in the empire, he probably did not want to risk a large group of generals revolting against him. In order to satisfy the generals, he awarded them satrapies across the empire. One of the largest and richest satrapies was Egypt, with the bonus it was very well defended. Ptolemy, a general who was very popular amongst the other generals, asked to be the satrap of Egypt. It is very likely that Perdiccas was very reluctant to give such an important part of the empire to him, as Ptolemy was one of his biggest rivals. However because Ptolemy had so much influence, he probably had no choice but to give it to him. As a condition, he required Cleomenes, at the time the current satrap of Egypt, to be Ptolemy's second-in-command. Perdiccas may have been hoping that Cleomenes would serve as his ally and curb Ptolemy's influence in Egypt.

Perdiccas' authority as regent and his control over the royal family was immediately challenged. Perdiccas appointed Leonnatus, one of Alexander's bodyguards or somatophylakes, as satrap of Hellespontine Phrygia on the western coast of Asia Minor. However, instead of assuming that position, Leonnatus sailed to Macedonia when Alexander's sister, Cleopatra, widow of king Alexander I of Epirus, offered her hand to him. Upon learning of this, in spring 322 BC Perdiccas marched the imperial army towards Asia Minor to reassert his dominance as regent. Perdiccas ordered Leonnatus to appear before him to stand trial for disobedience, but Leonnatus died during the Lamian War before the order reached him.

At around the same time, Cynane, Alexander's half-sister, arranged for her daughter, Eurydice II, to marry the joint king, Arridaeus (Philip III). Fearful of Cynane's influence, Perdiccas ordered his brother Alcetas to murder her. The discontent expressed by the army at the plan to murder her and their respect for Eurydice as a member of the royal family persuaded Perdiccas not only to spare her life but to approve of the marriage to Philip III. Despite the marriage, Perdiccas continued to hold control over the affairs of the royal family firmly.

As regent and commander-in-chief, Perdiccas considered it essential to consolidate Alexander's empire. A critical step in achieving this was to conquer Cappadocia, which remained under the rule of Ariarathes. Horses were extremely important in Cappadocian culture, therefore the crux of the battle was on Ariarathes's cavalry wing which had around 10,500 men. In the first battle, Perdiccas managed to rout Ariarathes, however the Persian warlord managed to retreat and regroup his forces. However the second time, the Cappadocian cavalry lost and without the cavalry the infantry quickly followed as well. In an attempt to presumably cement his authority, Perdiccas tortured and executed Ariarathes's entire family. Perdiccas had now secured the Asian part of Alexander's empire.

There was another pocket of resistance that Perdiccas set his eyes on, the Isauri. The Isauri were a tribe that lived in the mountains and had a very strong sense of independence. They had a culture of ambushing and plundering nearby communities, resulting in extreme wealth. Perdiccas decided to siege Isaura, the tribe's central fort. The first day of sieging resulted in a loss for Perdiccas, the same for the second day. By the third day, resistance had greatly fallen. Not wanting to surrender to Macedonians, the Isaurans decided to burn themselves and their city. Perdiccas and his army plundered the loot and promptly left.

However, many potential threats to Perdiccas's reign had started to form. Craterus had allied himself with Antipater, another powerful general, by marrying one of his daughters. Ptolemy, one of Perdiccas's biggest rivals had joined them by also marrying one of Anitpater's daughters. This was added on to the fact that in Egypt, Ptolemy had killed Cleomenes on charges of embezzlement. This meant that Egypt would no longer be under Perdiccas's watch. Perdiccas's possible marriage with Nicaea, another one of Antipater's daughters, would lessen the chances of this coalition forming against him.

Olympias, Alexander the Great's mother, had also proposed that Cleopatra be married to Perdiccas. Perdiccas could have been thinking of the pros and cons of the two marriages. On the one hand, marrying Cleopatra would mean that Perdiccas would be a part of the royal family and maybe in the future help his legitimacy in claiming the throne. On the other hand, rejecting Nicaea would anger Antipater and cause a powerful coalition to rise against him. In the end, Perdiccas chose Nicaea, however he afterwards sent gifts and a marriage offer to Cleopatra. This suggests that he saw an alliance with Antipater as temporary and was prepared to marry Cleopatra later.

Back when Perdiccas was invading Cappadocia, he had called on Antigonus, the satrap of Pamphlia and Lycia, to help him. When Antigonus refused, Perdiccas ordered Antigonus to appear before his court for his insubordination. Fearing for his life, Antigonus fled to Antipater's court in Macedonia. He brought the news to Antipater that Perdiccas did not actually want to ally with him and that Perdiccas was already trying to court Cleopatra.

Civil war and invasion of Egypt

As a result of these events and actions, Perdiccas earned Antipater's animosity, while Antigonus had reason to fear Perdiccas. Another general, Craterus, was also unhappy at being ignored by Perdiccas despite his important position within the army when Alexander was alive. So Antipater, Craterus and Antigonus agreed to revolt against Perdiccas.

In late 321 BC, Perdiccas intended to send Alexander's body back to Aegae in Macedonia, the traditional place of burial for the Macedonian Royal Family. Arrhidaeus was chosen to escort the body back to Macedonia. However, when Alexander's remains were passing through Syria, Ptolemy was able to bribe the escort and seize the body. Ptolemy brought Alexander's remains back to Egypt, where they were housed in the city of Memphis. Perdiccas regarded Ptolemy's action as an unacceptable provocation and decided to invade Egypt.

Antipater and Craterus would try to invade Asia by crossing the Hellespont. Perdiccas sent Eumenes with a land army and Cleitus with a naval fleet to guard against their passage. Antipater, who had many old allies in Asia minor, was able to immediately sway the satraps of Caria and Lydia. Antipater would then try to persuade Perdiccas's officers to defect, ending up with Cleitus defecting. When Perdiccas was marching towards Ptolemy, he got rid of the satraps in Cilicia and Babylonia as they were suspected to be close to Craterus and Ptolemy respectively. Due to Cleitus defecting, Craterus and Antipater were allowed to cross the Hellespont. Craterus was sent to fight Eumenes while Antipater would march to Cilicia. Craterus was an extremely famous general and known throughout the known world for his feats under Alexander. Eumenes decided to hide the identity of the enemy commander from his men, most likely to prevent morale from dropping. With Craterus's phalanx much stronger than his own, he decided to rely on his cavalry instead. He sent his cavalry in before the enemy formations were fully formed and managed to rout the cavalry, the surrounded the infantry surrendered. In the battle, Craterus's horse fell and he was trampled to death.

Perdiccas marched to attack Ptolemy in Egypt, but when he reached the most easterly tributary of the Nile near Pelusium, he discovered that the opposite side was garrisoned. In response, he marched upstream to find a suitable point to cross, soon coming across a ford which led to the cities of Tanis and Avaris on the other side of the Nile. However, a fort defended by an Egyptian force known as the 'Camel's Rampart' inhibited his advance. Perdiccas then ordered his war elephants and Silver Shield infantry to attack. A larger army under Ptolemy arrived, denying Perdiccas an easy victory. Despite this disadvantage, the attack proceeded, but Perdiccas was overwhelmed and forced to retreat and search for another crossing. He came across one near Memphis. Perdiccas placed his elephants upstream of this new crossing, so as to block the currents that would otherwise sweep away his men, and his cavalry downstream, to catch any unlucky enough to be swept away regardless of the elephants' makeshift dam. For a time this worked, enabling a sizeable contingent of Perdiccas's army to cross the river and reach an island at its center. However, the elephants began to sink in the mud of the riverbed, and the currents rose quickly. This proved to be a disaster for Perdiccas, as he had to abandon the crossing, leaving many of his infantry stranded on the island. Perdiccas had no choice but to recall the men. Most of this contingent drowned trying to make it back to the eastern bank. After the battle, Ptolemy gathered the bodies of the drowned men back to his base. He then gave each of the soldiers a funeral as well as the proper honors. At the end, he gave the corpses back to their friends and family. Ptolemy most likely did this to gain the favor of Perdiccas's soldiers and sway their allegiance to his side.

Death

Following what was so far a disastrous campaign, a mutiny broke out amongst Perdiccas' soldiers, who were disheartened by his failure to make progress in Egypt. Perdiccas was murdered by his officers (Peithon, Antigenes, and Seleucus) some time in either 321 or 320 BC. His officers and the rest of his army defected to Ptolemy.

References

• Austin, M. M. (1994). The Hellenistic World from Alexander to the Roman Conquest: a Selection of Ancient Sources in Translation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-29666-8.
• Green, Peter (1990). Alexander to Actium. University of California Press. pp. 3–15. ISBN 0-520-05611-6.
• Hornblower, S.; Spawforth, T., eds. (2000). Who's Who in the Classical World. Oxford University Press. p. 282. ISBN 0-19-280107-4.
• Hughes, Tristan (2022-03-18). The Perdiccas Years, 323–320 BC: Alexanders Successors at War. Pen and Sword Military. ISBN 978-1-5267-7512-2.
• Waterfield, Robin (2011-05-06). Dividing the Spoils The War for Alexander the Great's Empire. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-1998-3054-1.

External links

• Lendering, Jona. "Perdiccas". Livius.org.
• Smith, Mahlon H. (2008). "Perdiccas". Into His Own. American Theological Library Association.