Where can we find more details about the third Diadochi War

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LeGrandAriel
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Where can we find more details about the third Diadochi War

Post by LeGrandAriel »

All events except for Battle of Gaza is obscure and in fragments...Hard to orginize the whole history line by original resources.
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Paralus
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Re: Where can we find more details about the third Diadochi

Post by Paralus »

LeGrandAriel wrote:All events except for Battle of Gaza is obscure and in fragments...
Not a nice way to describe Diodorus!

The war essentially begins as a result of Antigonus' "settlement of the east" in the spring and summer of 316. His removal of satraps (Pithon murdered, Peucestas deposed and Seleucus threatened into flight) indicated his intentions. On his way west he collected the bullion of the eastern (Ecbatana and Susa) treasuries to aid in the finance of those intentions. By the time he reached Cilicia in November 316 he was presented with an ultimatum by the three remaining Diadochoi (Lysimachus, Cassander and Ptolemy): territory and treasure or war. He chose the later.

The only continuous narrative source is Diodorus (Plutarch, more interested in anecdote, has allusions and brief mentions), the passages being 19.55-65; 66-69; 73-100 (including Antigonus' attempt to subdue the Arabs); 105.1 - the Peace of The Dynasts. It can be difficult to follow as you read - especially with Diodorus having to move from the East to Thrace to Coele-Syria thence the Hellespont as well as affairs in Greece and back again (not counting Sicilian forays). Probably the most confusing thing is the comings and goings of a plethora of Ptolemy's, Polemy's, Assanders, Cassanders, Nicanors, Philips: a veritable Macedonian chorus line.

Even more vexing is the chronology with the "high" and the "low" at odds. Neither is totally correct but that is an essay. In basic structure:
  • *Eumenes defeated Gabiene early January 316
    *Seleucus scarpers to Egypt, mid to late summer 316
    *Antigonus back in Cilicia November 316
    *Siege of Tyre 315-314/13
    *Battle of Gaza early December 312
    *Seleucus takes Babylon Spring 311
    *Peace of Dynasts autumn 311.
The peace allowed Antigonus to return east and deal with Seleucus in another campaign like that of 318-317/16. Here he was fought (310-08) to a detente and Seleucus "officially" became the fourth nascent Hellenistic Kingdom.

Works on the period discuss the war and probably the most accessible (though with a differing chronology) is Billows' Antigonus Monophthalmus and the Creation of the Hellenistic State.
Paralus
Ἐπὶ τοὺς πατέρας, ὦ κακαὶ κεφαλαί, τοὺς μετὰ Φιλίππου καὶ Ἀλεξάνδρου τὰ ὅλα κατειργασμένους;
Wicked men, you sin against your fathers, who conquered the whole world under Philip and Alexander.

Academia.edu
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