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Perdiccas

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For other uses, see Perdiccas (disambiguation).
Perdiccas
Περδίκκας
Silver tetradrachm of Philip III Arrhidaeus struck under Perdiccas in Babylon, circa 323-320 BC.[1]
Regent of Macedon
In office
323 BC – 321/320 BC
MonarchAlexander IV
Preceded byAlexander III (as King)
Succeeded byPeithon and Arrhidaeus
Personal details
Bornc. 355 BC
Died321/320 BC (aged 34–36)
Cause of deathKilled by his own soldiers
OccupationGeneral
Regent
Military service
AllegianceMacedonia
Years of service335 – 321/320 BC
Battles/wars

Perdiccas (Greek: Περδίκκας, Perdikkas; c. 355 BC – 321/320 BC) was a Macedonian general, Successor of Alexander the Great, and regent of Alexander's empire after his death. When Alexander was dying, he entrusted his signet ring to Perdiccas.[2]

Perdiccas was born to Macedonian nobility. A supporter and somatophylax of Alexander, he took part in Alexander's campaign against the Achaemenid Empire, distinguishing himself in Thebes and Gaugamela, and following Alexander into India. When Alexander died in 323 BC, Perdiccas rose to become supreme commander of the imperial army, as well as regent for Alexander's vast empire, ruling on behalf of his intellectually disabled heir, Philip III Arrhidaeus and Alexander's infant son, Alexander IV of Macedon.

Perdiccas effectively ruled Alexander's empire from Babylon[3] for three years as the kings he ruled for were unable to do so.[4] Initially the most pre-eminent of the Diadochi, in his attempts to consolidate power and stay in control of the empire, Perdiccas crushed numerous revolts, like that of Ariarathes, and assassinated rivals, like Meleager.

Perdiccas' position as regent was never fully secure, however, and his authority was repeatedly contested by other generals. His attempt to marry Cleopatra of Macedon, Alexander's sister, which would have given him claim to the Macedonian throne, angered 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 mutinied and killed him in 321/320 BC when the invasion foundered.

Family background and early life

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According to Arrian, Perdiccas was the son of the Macedonian nobleman, Orontes,[5][6] a descendant of the independent princes of the Macedonian province of Orestis.[7][8] 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[9] and a sister, Atalantê, who married Attalus.[10] Perdiccas may have had, through some distant relation, blood of the Argead royal family.[11]

Little is known of Perdiccas' youth, but he was probably brought to the Macedonian court in Pella to serve as page like many other young nobles.[7] When Pausanias assassinated King Philip II of Macedon in 336 BC, Alexander the Great's father, Perdiccas was among those who chased the assassin down and killed him.[11][12]

Career under Alexander

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17th century French illustration of the death of Alexander the Great. Perdiccas is pictured receiving Alexander's signet ring.

As the commander of a battalion of the Macedonian phalanx (heavy infantry), Perdiccas fought in the Illyrian campaigns of Alexander and distinguished himself during the conquest of Thebes (335 BC), where he was severely wounded.[13] Perdiccas led his battalion at the battles of Granicus, Issus, and Gaugamela, where he was again wounded. Perdiccas became somatophylax (bodyguard) of Alexander following this, and his influence probably grew steadily thereafter.[14]

When Philotas was in suspicion by Alexander, Perdiccas was among the close companions who joined Alexander in discussing what should be done.[15] When Alexander attempted to kill Cleitus the Black in 328 BC, Perdiccas was among those who held the king back.[14]

Subsequently, he held an important command in the Indian campaigns of Alexander. Perdiccas and Hephaestion, Alexander's closest companion, were generally compatible and seemed to have got along, as both were selected to ford the Indus River by Alexander and did so without issue.[16] Perdiccas was part of the cavalry under Alexander's control at the Battle of the Hydaspes in 326 BC and crossed the river with him in said battle. Perdiccas later plundered around Sangala, and assaulted and sacked the Mallian towns.[16] Alexander was wounded in this campaign, having been shot in the chest with an arrow; some traditions say Perdiccas was the one who cut it out with a sword.[17]

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, effectively becoming Alexander's second-in-command. He was also entrusted with the responsibility of transferring Hephaestion's corpse to Babylon for burning and burial.[18] As Alexander lay dying in his bed, he gave his signet ring to Perdiccas.[19]

Succession and crisis

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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.[20] Perdiccas was very influential at this point, as a close friend of Alexander, his second-in-command at the time of his death, and possessing the signet ring Alexander gave him.[21]

The infantry, also wanting to listen to the discussion, broke into the room. Perdiccas, having placed the ring he received from Alexander on the throne, along with the royal robes and diadem,[22] 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.[23] 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.[24] Though his later actions would show Perdiccas had ambitions to be king, during the assembly, when Aristonous proclaimed he should be made king and the suggestion was met with approval, Perdiccas hesitated to accept the position.[25] Despite misgivings amongst the other generals, most accepted Perdiccas' proposal of waiting until the birth of Alexander IV of Macedon.

However, the infantry commander, Meleager, disagreed with Perdiccas' plans. Meleager argued in favour of Alexander's half brother, Philip III Arrhidaeus, whom he considered first in succession. The infantry supported this proposal with Meleager's troops willing to fight in favour of Philip III, who they crowned. The infantry began to riot, and the generals united under Perdiccas' authority.[26] After a brief scuffle, the generals fled Babylon, but Perdiccas remained for a time hoping to regain the allegiance of the infantry.[27][28] Meleager sent assassins to kill him. Despite only having page boys with him, Perdiccas met the assassins openly, and taunted and terrified them into fleeing.[29]

Perdiccas joined the generals outside of Babylon and put the city to siege, cutting off the supply lines.[30] Meleager's powerbase began to diminish, and he was eventually convinced by Eumenes of Cardia, Alexander's former secretary, to reconcile with the generals, perhaps in collusion with Perdiccas.[30] Perdiccas announced Philip III and the unborn child of Alexander's wife Roxana (the future Alexander IV of Macedon) would be recognized as joint kings to placate Meleager.[31] While the general Craterus was officially declared "Guardian of the Royal Family",[32] Perdiccas effectively held this position, as the joint kings were with him in Babylon. Antipater was confirmed as viceroy of Macedon and Greece. To formalize the reconciliation between the generals and infantry, Perdiccas announced a lustration (a religious purification ritual) and review of the army, convincing Meleager and the infantry to attend.[33]

As he controlled all the cavalry, when the infantry accepted and marched outside Babylon, Perdiccas held a clear military advantage. He then sent Philip III to order the capture the rebellious leaders of the infantry, except for Meleager. Perdiccas had these 300 men killed by trampling from his war elephants. Soon afterward, having cowed the infantry, Perdiccas had Meleager executed as well.[34] Though successful in resecuring his power, the incident left the chiliarch and regent Perdiccas "suspected by all and full of suspicions".[35]

Regent

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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. 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.

Fictitious portrait of Perdiccas. 18th century engraving.

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 defeated Ariarathes I and his large army (30,000 infantry, 15,000 cavalry) in two pitched battles, and executed him, allowing his supporter Eumenes to claim his satrapy.[36] Perdiccas also 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 king, 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 Persian rule. However, Antigonus I Monophthalmus, the Macedonian satrap of Pamphylia and Lycia, was unwilling to support Perdiccas when in 322 BC Perdiccas successfully invaded Cappadocia. When Perdiccas ordered Antigonus to appear before his court, Antigonus fled to Antipater's court in Macedonia.

To strengthen his control over the empire, Perdiccas agreed to marry Nicaea, the daughter of Antipater, the regent of Macedon. However, he broke off the engagement in 322 BC when Olympias, mother of Alexander the Great, offered him the hand of Alexander's full sister Cleopatra. Given the intellectual disability of Philip III and the limited acceptance of the boy, Alexander IV, due to his mother being a Persian, the marriage would have given Perdiccas a claim as Alexander's true successor, not merely as regent.

Civil war and invasion of Egypt

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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 (not the king) was chosen to escort the body back to Macedonia. However, when Alexander's remains were passing through Syria, Ptolemy, the satrap of Egypt, 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.

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.

Death

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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.

Legacy

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The ancient accounts are largely negative toward Perdiccas, claiming that, though "outstanding on the battlefield", he was arrogant, high-handed, and imperious.[37] Diodorus Siculus calls him phonikos, a "man of slaughter".[38] This may be due to the enmity of Ptolemy, whose now lost account served as the basis for the surviving sources we have for Perdiccas' career.[39][40][41][42]

Though Perdiccas was evidently a capable leader and effective soldier, a "military man", he is seen to have lacked the qualities his position as regent required.[43][44] His rule was authoritarian and abrasive, winning him little love from the rank and file, and his punishments were often brutal.[43][7] Anson believes that Perdiccas "was not a man to be crossed" and that "most acceded to his demands in his presence rather than incur his wrath".[43] Conversely, Romm writes that "Perdiccas' arrogance and bloody-mindedness were no more pronounced than Alexander's ... but Alexander, unlike the hapless Perdiccas, knew little of failure".[45] Perdiccas' death and the transferring of the regency to Antipater has been seen as marking the end "for the empire as Alexander had envisioned it".[46]

Perdiccas' motives are debated. Some, such as Romm, believe he did not act out of ambition, but from a desire to protect Alexander IV and maintain the unity of Alexander's empire.[47] Anson disbelieves this, citing Perdiccas' duplicitous communications with the Aetolian League against Antipater.[48] Heckel's view is that "Perdiccas' career is an unfortunate tale of lofty ideals combined with excessive ambition and political myopia", but also that Perdiccas' attempts at keeping Alexander's empire united "suggests that he [like Hephaestion] understood Alexander's policies", and that he was "a great but flawed man, a victim of his own success and the envy of others".[49][50]

References

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  1. ^ Head of Heracles left, wearing lion skin headdress / [BASILEWS FILIPPOU]. Zeus Aëtophoros seated right; wheel and monogram in left field, monogram below throne.
  2. ^ Heckel 2006, p. 198; Diod., 17.117.3, 18.2.4.
  3. ^ Besides Macedon and Greece, which were held by Antipater.
  4. ^ Anson 2014, p. 59; Diod., 18.36.7.
  5. ^ Austin, M.M. (1981). The Hellenistic World from Alexander to the Roman Conquest: A Selection of Ancient Sources in Translation. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-29666-3.
  6. ^ Arrian, Anabasis, 3.11.9
  7. ^ a b c Heckel 2016, p. 154.
  8. ^ Arrian, Anabasis, 6.28.4
  9. ^ Arrian, Successors, 1.21
  10. ^ Diodorus Siculus, The Library of History, 18.37.2
  11. ^ a b Heckel 2006, p. 197.
  12. ^ Diod., 16.94.4.
  13. ^ Heckel 2016, p. 156.
  14. ^ a b Heckel 2016, p. 158.
  15. ^ Heckel 2016, pp. 157–158.
  16. ^ a b Heckel 2016, p. 159.
  17. ^ Heckel 2016, p. 160.
  18. ^ Heckel 2016, p. 161.
  19. ^ Anson 2014, p. 15; Heckel 2016, p. 162, who believes that this is something "Ptolemy the historian took pains to suppress".
  20. ^ Anson 2014, pp. 11–15.
  21. ^ Heckel 2016, p. 162.
  22. ^ Waterfield 2011, p. 20.
  23. ^ Anson 2014, p. 14.
  24. ^ Anson 2014, p. 15. "It is also very possible that Perdiccas desired to be king in his own right".
  25. ^ Anson 2014, p. 15; Waterfield 2011, p. 22. Reasons why are debated..
  26. ^ Anson 2014, p. 19.
  27. ^ Roisman 2012, p. 73.
  28. ^ Heckel 2016, p. 165.
  29. ^ Anson 2014, p. 19, citing Quintus Curtius Rufus 10.8.1-3; Roisman 2012.
  30. ^ a b Heckel 2016, p. 166.
  31. ^ Waterfield 2011, p. 24.
  32. ^ Heckel 2006, p. 199.
  33. ^ Heckel 2006, p. 199. Meleager believed Perdiccas now trusted him, as he promised him a coregency. Perdiccas had told him the men he planned to kill were those who protested Meleager's new ascendant position.
  34. ^ Waterfield 2011, p. 25.
  35. ^ Phot., 92.2. A different translation has been used for readability. Given Photius is transcribing the writings of Arrian, who is known to have followed Ptolemy I Soter, this view is likely that of the generals who Perdiccas now held pre-eminence over.
  36. ^ Anson 2014, p. 47; Diod., 18.16.2.
  37. ^ Heckel 2016, pp. 183–184, citing Arrian Succ. Fragment 27..
  38. ^ Romm 2011, p. 212; Anson 2015, p. 116; Diod., 18.33.3. Another translation, given by Romm, is "man of blood".
  39. ^ Romm 2011, p. 212. Romm, Errington, and Heckel believe this to be the case, Roisman does not.
  40. ^ Errington, R. M. (1969-01-01). "Bias in Ptolemy's History of Alexander". The Classical Quarterly. 19 (2): 233–242. doi:10.1017/S0009838800024642. JSTOR 637545. S2CID 170128227.
  41. ^ Heckel 2016, pp. 155–156.
  42. ^ Roisman, Joseph (1984-01-01). "Ptolemy and His Rivals in His History of Alexander". The Classical Quarterly. 34 (2): 373–385. doi:10.1017/S0009838800031001. JSTOR 638295. S2CID 163042651.
  43. ^ a b c Anson 2014, p. 65.
  44. ^ Heckel 2016, pp. 154–156, 159.
  45. ^ Romm 2011, p. 212.
  46. ^ Heckel 2016, p. 183. Alexander wanted to structure his empire in Asia, hence the administrative capital in Babylon. Antipater, once having gained the kings, returned them to Macedon, and thereafter Alexander's cross continental empire was split, and was never again held by a single Macedonian ruler.
  47. ^ Anson 2014, p. 56.
  48. ^ Anson 2014, p. 57.
  49. ^ Anson 2014, p. 57, citing Heckel 1992, p.151.
  50. ^ Heckel 2016, pp. 161, 183.

Bibliography

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Ancient sources

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Modern sources

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  • Anson, Edward M. (2014). Alexander's Heirs: The Age of the Successors. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 9781444339628.
  • Anson, Edward M. (2015). Eumenes of Cardia: a Greek among Macedonians. Vol. 383 (2nd ed.). Brill. ISBN 978-9004297159.
  • 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.
  • Bosworth, A.B. (2005). The Legacy of Alexander: Politics, Warfare, and Propaganda under the Successors. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780198153061.
  • Green, Peter (1990). Alexander to Actium. University of California Press. pp. 3–15. ISBN 0-520-05611-6.
  • Heckel, Waldemar (2006). Who's Who in the Age of Alexander the Great: Prosopography of Alexander's Empire. Blackwell Publishing. ISBN 9781405112109.
  • Heckel, Waldemar (2016). Alexander's Marshals A Study of the Makedonian Aristocracy and the Politics of Military Leadership. Routledge, Taylor & Francis. ISBN 9781138934696.
  • Hornblower, S.; Spawforth, T., eds. (2000). Who's Who in the Classical World. Oxford University Press. p. 282. ISBN 0-19-280107-4.
  • Roisman, Joseph (2012). Alexander's Veterans and the Early Wars of the Successors. University of Texas Press, Austin. ISBN 9780292735965.
  • Romm, James (2011). Ghost on the Throne. Alfred A. Knoff: Random House. ISBN 9780307701503.
  • Waterfield, Robin (2011). Dividing the Spoils. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780195395235.
[edit]
Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article " Perdiccas".
Political offices
Preceded byas King Regent of Macedon
323–321/320 BC 		Succeeded by
Peithon and Arrhidaeus
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