The Hellenic empire was created by Alexander the Great, king of
Macedonia,
in his conquests between 334-326 BC. Essentially it encompassed all
of the territory that was now under Macedonian control, from Greece
to
India, and was the largest empire that the world had seen at the
time. Alexander rarely paused in extending its borders, especially
eastwards even though his army felt that enough was enough and forced
an about-turn. The unexpected death of Alexander in 323 BC changed the
situation dramatically.
Immediately his generals divided the empire between them, all the while
paying nominal allegiance to the regent and Alexander's puppet successor.
Lysimachus was appointed to help control
Phrygia and
Thrace, quite
possibly governing in parallel with the last
Odrysian
king in the latter, although strife between them was reported. Lysimachus'
focus was elsewhere, however, as he fought in the various Wars of the
Diadochi (the successors, Alexander's former generals). In 314 BC he
joined Ptolemy (based in
Egypt), Cassander (based in
Macedonia),
and Seleucus (hoping to re-secure his temporarily lost seat in
Babylonia) in the Third War of the Diadochi against what would soon
become the
Antigonid empire. When terms were concluded in 311 BC, Lysimachus had
managed to survive with his domains intact. When Antigonus proclaimed himself
king in 306 BC, all the other surviving generals followed suit, confirming
the dismantling of the Greek empire into various regional domains.
In some ways the Greeks were their own worst enemy. Their culture bore
some similarities with that of their
Indo-European cousins, the
Celts, in that they would
seemingly fight anyone, especially each other. Partially symptomatic of
a culture that did not especially set out laws and which did not
especially respect any laws that were set out, Greek history is rife with
rebellions, pretenders, and civil wars, so much so that towards the end
of the Hellenic period they essentially self-destructed their surviving
empires, effectively handing them over to
Rome to replace them
as the dominant force in the ancient world.
(Information by Peter Kessler, with additional information by Edward Dawson,
from Jewish War & Jewish Antiquities, Flavius Josephus,
from Alexander the Great: A Reader, Ian Worthington (Routledge, 2012),
from Bibliotheca Historica, Diodorus Siculus, from Historiae
Alexandri Magni, Quintus Curtius Rufus, from Anabasis Alexandri,
Arrian of Nicomedia, from The Generalship of Alexander the Great,
J F C Fuller, from the Historical Dictionary of Ancient Greek Warfare,
J Woronoff & I Spence, from Who's Who in the Age of Alexander the
Great: Prosopography of Alexander's Empire, Waldemar Heckel (Ed), from
The Histories, Herodotus (Penguin, 1996), from The Persian Empire,
J M Cook (1983), and from External Links:
Encyclopædia Britannica, and Diodorus of Sicily at the Library of World
History (dead link).)
The Argead were the ruling family and founders of
Macedonia who
reached their greatest extent under Alexander the Great and his two
successors before the kingdom broke up into several Hellenic sections.
Following Alexander's conquest of central and eastern
Persia in 331-328 BC, the
Greek empire
ruled the region until Alexander's death in 323 BC and the subsequent
regency period which ended in 310 BC. Alexander's successors held no real
power, being mere figureheads for the generals who really held control of
Alexander's empire. Following that latter period and during the course of
several wars, much of western Asia Minor (Anatolia) and southern
Thrace was left in
the hands of the Antigonid empire from 319 BC.
Lysimachus, son of Agathocles of Pella, was one of the bodyguards of King
Philip II of Macedonia. Aged about twenty-seven when Alexander invaded
Persian-held Anatolia, he is not mentioned in connection with any of the
early battles but is certainly with Alexander by the time he reaches
north-western
India, where he takes part in lion hunts. He also participated in
Alexander's
Northern Indus battle of 326 BC against King Porus. Following the death
of Alexander in 323 BC, Lysimachus was confirmed as satrap of Thrace, a
region that no longer recognised Macedonian overlordship. The
Odrysian King
Seuthes III resisted any attempts to re-establish control and Lysimachus
was soon distracted by the Wars of the Diadochi. Even in those, though, he
was largely anonymous at first, until he was one of the last senior generals
left standing.
(Information by Peter Kessler, with additional information from Jewish
War & Jewish Antiquities, Flavius Josephus, from The
Persian Empire, J M Cook (1983), from The Histories, Herodotus
(Penguin, 1996), from the Cyropaedia & Anabasis, Xenophon
of Athens, from The Cambridge Ancient History, John Boardman, N G L
Hammond, D M Lewis, & M Ostwald (Eds), from Ancient and Modern
Assyrians: A Scientific Analysis, George V Yana (Xlibris Corporation,
2008), from Brill's Companion to Alexander the Great, Joseph Roisman
(BRILL, 2002), and from External Links:
Encyclopædia Britannica, and Appian's History of Rome: The Syrian
Wars at
Livius.org, and Diodorus of Sicily at the Library of World History
(dead link), and
Encyclopaedia Iranica, and the
Nabonidus Chronicle, contained within Assyrian and Babylonian
Chronicles, A K Grayson (Translation, 1975 & 2000, and now
available via Livius in an improved version).)
Feeble-minded half-brother of Alexander the Great.
317 - 310 BC
Alexander IV of Macedonia
Infant son of Alexander the Great and Roxana.
336 BC
Alexander III puts down the
Thracian
rebellion, gaining submission from all the tribes, and they become the
earliest component in his
Greek empire.
The traditional Thracian border with Macedonia is shifted from the River
Struma to the River Mesta. Thracian troops accompany Alexander when he
crosses the Hellespont which links Thrace to Asia Minor. Seuthes III
appears to retain his throne but probably only as a client king under
Macedonian domination.
The route of Alexander's ongoing campaigns are shown in this
map, with them leading him from Europe to Egypt, into Persia,
and across the vastness of eastern Iran as far as the Pamir
mountain range (click or tap on map to view full sized)
Wanting to make his mark with a conquest of some kind, Zopyrion assembles
30,000 men and marches into
Scythia. He besieges
Olbia, which is a colony of
Miletus
(itself already in Alexander's hands since 334 BC). The siege fails after
the Olbians free their slaves to aid with the defence, and Zopyrion's navy
forces may also be battered by a great storm. He retreats in disorder and
his forces are picked off by Scythian raids and then destroyed by the
Danubian Getae and Thracian Triballi. Zopyrion himself is killed.
To an extent the Greeks retain control of Thrace following this disaster,
but perhaps only along the Aegean coastal strip. Seuthes of the
Odrysian
kingdom would seem to restore a good deal of his kingdom's former
independence, although he does also seem to agree a certain level of
peaceful co-existence with Lysimachus from after 323 BC until 300 BC
(despite some apparent fighting to the contrary).
Following the death of Alexander the Great, Antigonus is confirmed in his
territories of
Lycia and
Pamphylia while Alexander's former secretary, Eumenes of Cardia, commands
Cappadocia,
Mysia,
and
Paphlagonia. He is confirmed in 322 BC by the
Greek regent,
Perdiccas. Thrace is
granted to Lysimachus while Hellespontine
Phrygia is handed to Leonnatus (who is subsequently killed in action,
virtually gifting his command to Lysimachus).
The remains of the tower that guarded the fourth century BC
royal residence of the Odrysian kings at Kozi Gramadi,
uncovered by Bulgaria's National History Museum in 2011
A coalition of Greek cities has sprung up with the intention of detaching
Greece from the
Macedonians,
including
Athens and the Aetolian League. Despite two impressive victories in
battle on land, the allies are undone when the Athenian navy fails to
secure control of the seas. The Macedonians are able to bring in
reinforcements and the war ends in victory for the Macedonians and their
Boeotian allies. General Leonnatus, satrap of
Phrygia, has been killed in the process of gaining it, however, so
Lysimachus gains this territory in the subsequent settlement of titles.
The First War of the Diadochi (the successors - the generals of
Alexander's army) between 322-320 BC sees civil war break out between the
generals as two factions become apparent, one of which supports the regency.
Lysimachus seems not to take any noticeable part in these events, during
which Antipater in
Macedonia, Antigonus from
Lycia and
Pamphylia, Ptolemy Soter (based in
Egypt), and Craterus (soon killed) team up to oppose Perdiccas and
Eumenes. Perdiccas is murdered by his own generals during an invasion of
Egypt. Alexander's successor, Philip III, agrees terms with the murdering
generals and appoints them as regents.
A new agreement with Antipater in 320 BC makes him regent of the Macedonian
empire and commander of the European section. Antigonus remains in charge
of Lycia and Pamphylia, to which is added overlordship of Lycaonia,
Syria, and
Phoenicia, making him commander of the Asian section. His main task is
to defeat Eumenes. Ptolemy retains Egypt, Lysimachus retains Phrygia and
Thrace, while the
three murderers of Perdiccas - Seleucus, Peithon, and Antigenes - are given
the former
Persian provinces of
Babylonia,
Media, and
Susiana respectively.
Although Greek settlers had been populating coastal Anatolia
for centuries, the Argead period of occupation opened the way
for the full Hellenisation of the region and the blossoming
of towns such as Rhodiapolis (of which the tombs are shown
here)
319 - 315 BC
The death of Antipater leads to the Second War of the Diadochi.
Philip III is killed by his stepmother, Olympias, in 317 BC with her being
killed by Cassander the following year. Cassander also captures Alexander
IV and Roxana and installs a governor in
Athens,
subsuming its democratic system.
The result is that Cassander controls the European territories (including
Macedonia),
while Antigonus controls those in Asia (Asia Minor, centred around
Lycia and
Pamphylia and extending as far as
Susiana). He also holds
Paphlagonia (from 316 BC). Polyperchon remains in control of part
of the Peloponnese.
314 - 311 BC
The Third War of the Diadochi results because the
Antigonids have grown too powerful in the eyes of the other generals, so
Antigonus is attacked by Ptolemy (of
Egypt), Lysimachus (of
Phrygia and
Thrace - his first major
participation in any of the wars), Cassander (of
Macedonia), and
Seleucus (who is hoping to regain
Babylonia).
308 - 306 BC
The Fourth War of the Diadochi soon breaks out, although Seleucus has
already dealt Antigonus a decisive defeat in 309 BC to fully secure his hold
on
Babylonia. Ptolemy and Cassander face the two
Antigonid leaders in this conflict, with
Syria being the prize that Ptolemy especially desires.
Babylon was the great prize of the Near East for the
participants of the Wars of the Diadochi, although once
the wars had been settled the city was almost immediately
sidelined in favour of a brand new - fully Hellenic - city
nearby (click or tap on image to view full sized)
In 306 BC, Ptolemy is defeated in a naval battle off
Salamis, cutting off
another attempt to snatch territory from the Antigonids. Probably seeing
the obvious conclusion that any semblance of maintaining the
Greek empire
is now truly dead, Antigonus proclaims himself king of his
Antigonid empire. In the following year the other generals do the same
in their domains. Lysimachus becomes head of the
Lysimachian empire.
Lysimachus seemingly fought in few of the wars during the campaigns of
Alexander the Great, although he was there at least towards the end. He
also seems to have kept a low profile during much of the Wars of the
Diadochi ('successors', these being Alexander the Great's generals), as
the Greek empire
fragmented, only becoming a major participant in the third and fourth of
them. The Fourth War of the Diadochi followed the murder of Alexander IV (son
of Alexander) and helped to stave off any real advances by the
Antigonid bloc that was led by the eponymous Antigonus Monophthalmus. It
also served to establish each of the remaining leading generals as kings in
their respective domains. The illusion of maintaining the survival of
Alexander's empire was over.
Babylon was the great prize for Antigonus, but he was defeated in a last
attempt to recapture it in 309 BC. When he proclaimed himself king in 306 BC,
all the other surviving generals followed suit in the following year,
confirming the dismantling of the empire into various regional domains. The
stage was set for the final showdown at the Battle of Ipsus in 301 BC, which
saw defeat for Antigonus (as well as his death). Lysimachus was secure in his
own small empire, Cassander was in firm control of
Macedonia and
much of Greece, and Seleucus virtually unchallenged between Anatolia and
Central Asia in his newly-formed
Seleucid empire. Antigonus' own empire was divided between the victors
so that within a few more years it would cease to exist entirely.
As the ruler of (southern)
Thrace and well on his
way to claiming royal prerogatives, in 309 BC Lysimachus built a capital for
himself in the Thracian Chersonesos which he named Lysimacheia. In order to
find settlers to live in his new foundation he destroyed the nearby Greek
city of Kardia (Cardia) and forcibly transferred its inhabitants to
Lysimacheia. Such heavy-handedness became a hallmark of his foundation
policies and did nothing to endear him to the locals. Following his death
at about eighty years of age the city served as little more than a fortress
for various competing Greek factions, and was destroyed in 144 BC.
Greek
general and former satrap of
Thrace (323-305 BC).
302 - 301 BC
Lysimachus enters western Asia Minor in 302 BC, governed as part of
Phrygia, and gains (or regains) control of much of it. Following the
death of Antigonus at the Battle of Ipsus in 301 BC, his territories are
carved up by the other diadochi. Lysimachus gains
Caria, Ionia,
Lydia, Phrygia, and the southern Black Sea coast of Asia Minor. Lydia
appears to fall under the control of the
Seleucids at some point afterwards.
This silver tetradrachm was issued by Lysimachus, and shows the
deified head of Alexander the Great on the obverse, with the
goddess Athena on the reverse
300 BC
Odrysian
opposition to Lysimachus possibly comes to an end, probably upon the death
of Seuthes III. The Odrysian throne may remain vacant for another two decades
or so while Lysimachus controls part of the region directly. An alternative
possibility is that
Odrysian
sub-rule continues, dividing in two under Macedonian domination.
292 BC
The son of Lysimachus, Agathocles, is captured by
Thracians,
perhaps now more openly hostile towards
Macedonians than
they seem to have been under Seuthes III. Some time later Lysimachus himself
is also taken prisoner, possibly while trying to mount a rescue. He is
forced to cede land in return for release.
288 BC
The combined forces of Pyrrhus (of
Epirus), Ptolemy (of
Egypt) and Lysimachus oblige Demetrius I of
Macedonia to leave
his kingdom. He passes into Asia and attacks Lysimachus' provinces but famine
and plague destroys much of his forces and he is abandoned by his troops on
the field of battle, surrendering to the founder of the
Seleucids, Seleucus. Lysimachus and Pyrrhus share Macedonia between
them, with Lysimachus also taking Thessaly in 286 BC.
One of the gates of the city of Amantia in Epirus show very
clearly how the tribal people there were 'civilised' during
the course of Classical Greece's progression towards dominating
the ancient world (reproduced with permission by Carole Raddato
at External Link:
Amantia, Albania - click or tap on image to view full sized)
282 - 281 BC
Lysimachus' general, Philetaerus, takes greater control of the city of
Pergamon, with his successors forming a kingdom centred around it. Around
the same time, Lysimachus has to execute his own son, Agathocles, on charges
of treason which have been brought by his stepmother, Arsinoë. Lysimachus dies
in battle at Corupedium against the
Seleucid empire in the following year. His death appears to pave the way
for a restoration of the
Odrysian
kingdom in Thrace within a year or so, while
Lycia would seem to become a possession of
Egypt.
Widow of Lysimachus. Remarried to Ptolemy II Ceraunus.
281 BC
Ptolemy assassinates Seleucus in 281 BC and rushes back to Lysimacheia in
Thrace to
have himself proclaimed king by the
Macedonian army.
Safe in his rule both of the Lysimachian empire and Macedonia, and having
his main rival, the
Antigonid King Antigonus II Gonatas bottled up in his own capital,
Ptolemy kills Arsinoë's two sons for conspiracy against him. Arsinoë
flees to
Egypt to seek protection from her brother.
279 BC
Ptolemy is killed during an invasion of
proto-GalatianCelts which
begins just the year after his accession. Greece is plunged into anarchy
as the Celts invade further into Greece, and only the Aetolians seem to
be able to take the lead in defending Greek territory.
The Gauls moved into an Anatolian landscape to found new
Galatian tribal kingdoms, while also finding that landscape
to be littered with remnants of previous kingdoms, notably
that of Arzawa, which formerly dominated the Phrygian lands
The Lysimachian empire ceases to exist, with the
Antigonid King Antigonus II having to rescue Greece from the Celts in
277 BC. Then he is able to claim the throne of
Macedonia, combining
the Macedonian-controlled southern reaches of
Thrace with
the kingdom, which he is able to pass onto his son when he dies at the grand
old age of eighty.
