But I am now called back, so that I may unroll what wars were waged among themselves, during these same times in which the Romans suffered these things, by the generals of the Macedonians, who after Alexander’s death obtained various provinces by lot and consumed one another in mutual wars.
1 At ego nunc reuocor, ut per haec eadem tempora, quibus Romani ista perpessi sunt, quae inter se bella gesserint Macedonum duces reuoluam, qui mortuo Alexandro diuersas sortiti prouincias mutuis se bellis consumpserunt.
As I look upon their most tumultuous time, I seem to myself like one who, gazing by night from a mountain watchtower on some vast camp, sees nothing in the great expanse of the plain but countless fires.
2 quorum ego tumultuosissimum tempus ita mihi spectare uideor, quasi aliqua inmensa castra per noctem de specula montis aspectans nihil in magno campi spatio praeter innumeros focos cernam.
So throughout the whole kingdom of Macedonia — that is, throughout all Asia, the greater part of Europe, and the very largest part of Libya — dreadful masses of wars suddenly blazed up together:
3 ita per totum Macedoniae regnum, hoc est per uniuersam Asiam et plurimam Europae partem Libyaeque uel maximam, horrendi subito bellorum globi conluxerunt:
and while they laid waste above all the places in which they had flared up, they troubled all the rest with the terror of rumour, as with the murk of smoke.
4 qui cum ea praecipue loca, in quibus exarsere, populati sunt, reliqua omnia terrore rumoris quasi fumi caligine turbauerunt.
But I shall by no means set out the wars and destructions of such great kings and kingdoms unless I first make known the kingdoms themselves together with their kings.
5 sed nequaquam tantorum regum ac regnorum bella excidiaque explicabo, nisi prius ipsa cum regibus regna prodidero.
Alexander, then, for twelve years held down with the sword a world trembling beneath him, while his chief men tore it apart for fourteen years, and, like greedy cubs rending a rich prey brought down by a great lion, provoked into strife with one another by rivalry over the prey, they broke one another to pieces.
6 Igitur Alexander per duodecim annos trementem sub se orbem ferro pressit, principes uero eius quattuordecim annis dilaniauerunt et ueluti opimam praedam a magno leone prostratam auidi discerpsere catuli, seque ipsos inuicem in rixam inritatos praedae aemulatione fregerunt.
So first, by lot, Egypt and part of Africa and Arabia fell to Ptolemy. Syria, bordering on this province, was received by Laomedon of Mytilene, Cilicia by Philotas, the Illyrians by Philo.
7 itaque prima Ptolemaeo Aegyptus et Africae Arabiaeque pars sorte prouenit. confinem huic prouinciae Syriam Laomedon Mytilenaeus, Ciliciam Philotas, Philo Illyrios accipiunt.
Atropates was set over Greater Media, the father-in-law of Perdiccas over Lesser Media. The Susian people was assigned to Scynus, Greater Phrygia to Antigonus, son of Philip.1
8 Mediae maiori Atropatus, minori socer Perdiccae praeponitur. Susiana gens Scyno, Phrygia maior Antigono Philippi filio adsignatur.
1Atropates was himself Perdiccas’s father-in-law and received Lesser Media (Atropatene); Greater Media went to Peithon. Orosius follows Justin’s garbled list.
Nearchus obtained Lycia and Pamphylia by lot, Cassander Caria, Menander Lydia. Leonnatus received Lesser Phrygia.2
9 Lyciam et Pamphyliam Nearchus, Cariam Cassander, Lydiam Menander sortiuntur. Leonnatus minorem Phrygiam accipit.
2Caria went to Asander, not Cassander.
Thrace and the regions of the Pontic Sea were given to Lysimachus, Cappadocia with Paphlagonia to Eumenes. The supreme command of the camp fell to Seleucus, son of Antiochus; Cassander, son of Antipater, was put in charge of the king’s guards and attendants.
10 Thracia et regiones Pontici maris Lysimacho, Cappadocia cum Paphlagonia Eumeni data. summa castrorum Seleuco Antiochi filio cessit; stipatoribus regis satellitibusque Cassander filius Antipatri praeficitur.
In further Bactria and in the regions of India the former governors, who had begun to hold office under Alexander, remained. Taxiles held the Seres, who dwell between the two rivers Hydaspes and Indus.3
11 In Bactriana ulteriore et Indiae regionibus praefecti priores, qui se sub Alexandro esse coeperant, permanserunt. Seres inter duos amnes Hydaspen et Indum constitutos Taxiles habuit.
3The Seres were the Chinese and have no place here; Taxiles held the land between the Indus and the Hydaspes, around Taxila.
Python, son of Agenor, was sent to the colonies founded among the Indians. Oxyartes received the Paropamisadae at the edge of the Caucasus mountains. The Arachosians and Gedrosians were assigned to Sibyrtius.
12 in colonias in Indis conditas Python Agenoris filius mittitur. Parapamenos fine Caucasi montis Oxyarches accepit. Arachossi Cedrosique Sibyrti decernuntur.
Stasanor obtained the Drangians and Arians by lot, Amyntas the Bactrians; Scythaeus received the Sogdians, Stacanor the Parthians, Philip the Hyrcanians, Phrataphernes the Armenians, Tlepolemus the Persians, Peucestes the Babylonians, Archon the Pelassi, Archelaus Mesopotamia.
13 Drancheos et Areos Statanor, Bactrianos Amyntas sortitur, Sogdianos Scythaeus, Stacanor Parthos, Philippus Hyrcanios, Fratafernes Armenios, Tleptolemus Persas, Peucestes Babylonios, Archo Pelassos, Archelaus Mesopotamiam adepti sunt.
The cause and origin of the wars, then, was a letter of King Alexander, in which he ordered all exiles to be restored to their fatherland and freedom. For the powerful men of the cities of Greece, fearing that the exiles, once they had recovered their freedom, would contemplate revenge, revolted from the kingdom of the Macedonians.
14 Igitur causa et origo bellorum epistula Alexandri fuit regis, qua iussit omnes exules patriae libertatique restitui. potentes enim ciuitatum Graeciae timentes, ne exules recepta libertate ultionem meditarentur, a regno Macedonum defecerunt.
The Athenians first, having gathered an army of thirty thousand men and two hundred ships, waged war with Antipater, to whom Greece had fallen by lot; through the orator Demosthenes, too, they joined to themselves as allies Sicyon, Argos, Corinth and the other cities, and surrounded Antipater with a siege.
15 primi Athenienses, contracto triginta milium exercitu et ducentis nauibus, bellum cum Antipatro, cui Graecia sorte uenerat, gerunt, per Demosthenen quoque oratorem Sicyonam Argos et Corinthum ceterasque ciuitates sibi socias adiungunt, Antipatrum obsidione cingunt.
There their general Leosthenes was pierced by a missile thrown from the walls and killed. The Athenians went to meet Leonnatus, who was bringing help to Antipater, and, crushing his forces, killed him.
16 ibi dux eorum Leosthenes telo e muris iacto perfossus occiditur. Athenienses Leonnato, qui Antipatro auxilium ferebat, occurrunt eiusque copiis conminutis ipsum interficiunt.
Perdiccas made war on Ariarathes, king of the Cappadocians, and defeated him. From this victory he gained nothing but wounds and dangers, for before the storming of their city all its people set fire to their houses and burned themselves and all their possessions.
17 Perdicca uero bellum Ariarato Cappadocum regi intulit eumque uicit. in qua uictoria nihil praeter uulnera et pericula conquisiuit, nam omnes ante inruptionem urbis suae succensis domibus suis se suaque omnia concremauerunt.
After this war arose between Antigonus and Perdiccas, and many provinces and islands were most grievously torn apart over help either refused or given.
18 Post haec bellum inter Antigonum et Perdiccam oritur, grauissime multis prouinciis et insulis ob auxilia uel negata uel praestita dilaceratis.
It was long debated whether the war should be carried into Macedonia or waged in Asia: at last Perdiccas himself made for Egypt with a huge army. Thus Macedonia, its generals running off in two directions, was armed against its own vitals.
19 diu deliberatum, utrum in Macedoniam bellum transferretur an in Asia gereretur: nouissime ipse Perdicca Aegyptum cum ingenti exercitu petit. sic Macedonia, in duas partes discurrentibus ducibus, in sua uiscera armatur.
Ptolemy, equipped with the strength of Egypt and the forces of Cyrene, prepared to meet Perdiccas in war. Meanwhile Neoptolemus and Eumenes fought it out with one another in a most bloody battle.
20 Ptolemaeus Aegypti uiribus et Cyrenensibus copiis instructus occurrere bello Perdiccae parat. inter haec Neoptolemus et Eumenes cruentissimo inter se proelio digladiati sunt.
Neoptolemus, defeated, fled to Antipater and pressed him to fall on Eumenes unexpectedly; Eumenes, foreseeing that this would happen, caught the plotters in their own plot.
21 uictus Neoptolemus ad Antipatrum fugit: quem ut Eumenen de insperato opprimat perurguet: quod Eumenes futurum ratus, insidiantes insidiis capit.
In that war Polyperchon was killed; Neoptolemus and Eumenes were pierced with wounds dealt by each other, but Neoptolemus perished, while Eumenes escaped as victor.4
22 in eo bello Polypercon occiditur, Neoptolemus et Eumenes mutuis uulneribus confossi, sed Neoptolemus interiit, Eumenes uictor euasit.
4It was Craterus, not Polyperchon, who fell in this battle (321 BC); Polyperchon lived for many years more and reappears at 3.23.30.
Perdiccas, having engaged Ptolemy in a most bitter war, lost his forces and was himself killed as well. Eumenes, Python, Illyrius, and Alcetas, the brother of Perdiccas, were proclaimed enemies by the Macedonians, and the war against them was entrusted to Antigonus.
23 Perdicca cum Ptolemaeo acerbissimo bello congressus, amissis copiis ipse quoque interfectus est. Eumenes Python et Illyrius et Alceta frater Perdiccae a Macedonibus hostes pronuntiantur, bellumque aduersus eos Antigono decernitur.
So Eumenes and Antigonus brought together very great forces against each other and clashed. Eumenes, defeated, fled to a certain very strongly fortified stronghold, from which he demanded through envoys the help of Antipater, then most powerful: alarmed by this news, Antigonus withdrew from the siege.
24 Itaque Eumenes et Antigonus conlatis aduersum se maximis copiis conflixerunt. Eumenes uictus in quoddam castellum munitissimum fugit, unde auxilia Antipatri tunc potentissimi per legatos poposcit: quo nuntio territus Antigonus ab obsidione discessit.
But not even so did Eumenes have firm hope or sure safety. Therefore, as a last resort, he asked for the help of the Argyraspides — so called from their silvered arms — that is, the soldiers who had served under Alexander:
25 sed nec sic Eumeni spes firma aut salus certa. quare ultimo consilio argyraspidas ob arma deargentata sic dictos, hoc est milites, qui sub Alexandro militauerant, in auxilium rogat:
and they, listening disdainfully to their general in the ordering of the war, were defeated by Antigonus and stripped of their camp, and lost their wives and children and, with them, everything they had acquired under Alexander.
26 qui fastidiose ducem in disponendo bello audientes ab Antigono uicti castrisque priuati, et uxores et liberos simulque omnia, quae sub Alexandro adquisierant, perdiderunt.
Afterwards they shamefully asked the victor through envoys to restore to them what they had lost. Antigonus promised to restore it if they would drag Eumenes to him in chains.
27 qui postea turpiter per legatos reddi sibi quae perdiderant, uictorem rogant. Antigonus autem redditurum pollicetur, si sibi uinctum Eumenen pertraherent.
So, lured by the hope of recovery, by a most disgraceful betrayal they — captives themselves — led their own general, whose standards they had followed shortly before, captured and in chains; and soon afterwards, with the foulest ignominy, they were dispersed through the army of Antigonus.
28 ita illi spe recuperationis inlecti, dedecorissima proditione ducem suum, cuius signa paulo ante secuti fuerant, captiui ipsi captum catenatumque duxerunt et mox cum foedissima ignominia in exercitu Antigoni dispersi sunt.
Meanwhile Eurydice, wife of Arrhidaeus, king of the Macedonians, committed many wicked deeds in her husband’s name through Cassander, whom she had shamefully taken as her lover and had advanced through all the grades of honours to the highest eminence: and he, at the woman’s whim, afflicted many cities of Greece.
29 interea Eurydice, Arridaei regis Macedonum uxor, multa sub nomine uiri nefaria gerit per Cassandrum, quem flagitiose cognitum ad summum fastigium per omnes honorum gradus prouexerat: qui ex libidine mulieris multas Graeciae ciuitates adflixit.
Then Olympias, mother of King Alexander, at the urging of Polyperchon, came from Epirus into Macedonia, escorted by Aeacides, king of the Molossians; and when she was barred from its territory by Eurydice, with the support of the Macedonians she ordered King Arrhidaeus and Eurydice to be killed.
30 tunc Olympias, mater Alexandri regis, hortante Polyperconta, cum ab Epiro in Macedoniam prosequente Aeacida rege Molossorum ueniret et ab Eurydice finibus prohiberetur, adnitentibus Macedonibus Arridaeum regem et Eurydicen iussit occidi.
Yet Olympias herself soon paid the penalty her cruelty deserved: for when, with a woman’s daring, she was carrying out many slaughters of leading men, on hearing of Cassander’s approach, distrusting the Macedonians, she withdrew with her daughter-in-law Roxane and her grandson Hercules into the city of Pydna:5
31 quamquam et ipsa Olympias continuo meritas crudelitatis poenas luit: nam cum muliebri audacia multas principum caedes ageret, audito aduentu Cassandri diffisa Macedonibus cum Roxa nuru sua et nepote Hercule in urbem Pydnam concedit:
5The boy with Roxane at Pydna was Alexander IV, her son by Alexander; Heracles was Alexander’s son by Barsine. The Hercules of 3.23.34 and 3.23.38, killed with his mother by Cassander about 310 BC, is likewise Alexander IV.
there she was soon captured and killed by Cassander. The son of Alexander the Great was sent with his mother to the citadel of Amphipolis to be kept under guard.
32 ubi continuo per Cassandrum capta et interfecta est. filius Alexandri Magni cum matre in arcem Amphipolitanam custodiendus est missus.
With Perdiccas, Alcetas, Polyperchon and the other generals of the opposing party — whom it would take long to recount — now killed, the wars among Alexander’s successors seemed to be at an end,
33 Perdicca Alceta et Polyperconte ceterisque ducibus, quos commemorare longum est, diuersae partis occisis finita bella inter successores Alexandri uidebantur,
when Antigonus, burning with the desire for domination, pretended that Hercules, the king’s son, must be freed by war from his confinement.
34 cum Antigonus ardens cupiditate dominandi liberandum bello Herculem regis filium ab obsidione simulat.
When they learned of this, Ptolemy and Cassander, entering into alliance with Lysimachus and Seleucus, energetically prepared war by land and sea. In that war Antigonus was defeated together with his son Demetrius.
35 his cognitis Ptolemaeus et Cassander, inita cum Lysimacho et Seleuco societate bellum terra marique enixe instruunt. Antigonus in eo bello cum filio Demetrio uincitur.
Cassander, having become Ptolemy’s partner in the victory, was returning to Apollonia when he came upon the Autariatae: they, having left their native soil and ancient dwellings because of an intolerable multitude of frogs and mice, were migrating and seeking new homes, holding out a pretence of peace for the time being.6
36 Cassander Ptolemaeo in uictoria particeps factus cum Apolloniam rediret, incidit in Auieniatas: qui propter intolerandae multitudinis ranas et mures relicto patrio solo et antiquis habitaculis emigrantes, nouas sedes praetenta interim pace requirebant.
6The Autariatae, an Illyrian people; Orosius writes Avieniatae.
But Cassander, recognizing both the valour and the numbers of the people, lest, driven by necessity, they should shake and invade Macedonia with war, received them into alliance and settled them in the farthest borders of Macedonia.
37 sed Cassander et uirtutem et multitudinem gentis adgnoscens, ne adacti necessitate Macedoniam bello quaterent atque inuaderent, receptos in societatem in ultimis Macedoniae finibus conlocat.
Then, when Hercules, son of Alexander, was now fourteen years old, fearing that all would prefer him as the lawful king, he secretly had him killed together with his mother.
38 inde cum iam Hercules Alexandri filius quattuordecim esset annorum, timens ne eum omnes quasi legitimum regem praeoptarent, occidendum tacite cum matre curauit.
Ptolemy again clashed with Demetrius in a naval battle, and, having lost almost his whole fleet and army, fled back defeated to Egypt.
39 Ptolemaeus iterum cum Demetrio nauali proelio conflixit et cum omnem paene classem atque exercitum perdidisset, uictus in Aegyptum refugit.
Elated by this victory, Antigonus ordered himself to be called king, together with his son Demetrius: following this example, all assumed for themselves the royal name and dignity.
40 hac uictoria elatus Antigonus, regem cum Demetrio filio appellari iubet: quod exemplum omnes secuti regium sibi nomen dignitatemque sumpserunt.
So Ptolemy and Cassander and the other generals of the opposing faction, seeing that they were being deceived one by one by Antigonus, encouraged one another by letters, agreed on a time and place for coming together, and prepared war against Antigonus with common forces.
41 igitur Ptolemaeus et Cassander ceterique alterius factionis duces cum decipi se ab Antigono singillatim uiderent, per epistulas se inuicem confirmantes coeundi in unum tempus locumque condicunt et bellum aduersus Antigonum communibus uiribus instruunt.
Cassander, entangled in wars with his neighbours, sent Lysimachus, the most illustrious general of all, with a huge force to help the allies in his place.
42 Cassander finitimorum bellis inplicitus Lysimachum, clarissimum inter omnes ducem, cum ingenti manu pro se sociis in auxilium misit.
Seleucus too, coming down from Greater Asia, joined them as a new enemy of Antigonus. For this Seleucus waged a great many wars throughout the East among the partners in the Macedonian kingdom.
43 Seleucus quoque ex Asia maiore descendens nouus Antigono hostis accessit. hic siquidem Seleucus plurima per orientem inter socios regni Macedonici bella gessit.
At the beginning he stormed and took Babylon by war. He thoroughly subdued the Bactrians, who were rising in new revolts.
44 principio Babylonam bello expugnauit et cepit. Bactrianos nouis motibus adsurgentes perdomuit.
Then he crossed into India, which after the death of Alexander had, as if dragging and shaking the yoke from its neck, killed his governors under the leadership of a certain Androcottus, to vindicate its freedom. Afterwards Androcottus, acting cruelly towards his fellow citizens, himself oppressed with slavery those whom he had defended from foreign domination.7
45 transitum deinde in Indiam fecit: quae post mortem Alexandri ueluti detracto excussoque a ceruicibus iugo praefectos eius occiderat Androcotto quodam ad uindicandam libertatem duce. qui postea crudeliter in ciues agens, quos de externa dominatione defenderat ipse seruitio premebat.
7Chandragupta Maurya, founder of the Mauryan empire; Justin calls him Sandracottus, the Greek writers Sandrokottos.