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Antipater's Dynasty: Alexander the Great's Regent and his Successors
"A compelling review of Antipater and his family . . . A gripping story of a real game of thrones" from the author of the Seleukid Empire trilogy (Firetrench).
Antipater was a key figure in the rise of Macedon under Philip II and instrumental in the succession of Alexander III (the Great). Alexander entrusted Antipater with ruling Macedon in his long absence and he defeated the Spartans in 331 BC. After Alexander's death he crushed a Greek uprising and became regent of the co-kings, Alexander's mentally impaired half-brother (Philip III Arrhideus) and infant son (Alexander IV). He brokered a settlement between the contending Successors but died in 319 BC, having first appointed Polyperchon to succeed as regent in preference to his own sons.
Antipater's eldest son Cassander later became regent of Macedon but eventually had Alexander IV killed and made himself king. Three of his sons in turn briefly succeeded him but could not retain the throne. Antipater's female heirs are shown to be just as important, both as pawns and surprisingly independent players in this Macedonian game of thrones. The saga ends with the failed bid by Nikaia, the widow of Antipater's great grandson Alexander of Corinth, to become independent ruler of Macedon.
"A great book by a great author on one of the most important of the Diadochi." --A Wargamers Needful Things
Antipater was a key figure in the rise of Macedon under Philip II and instrumental in the succession of Alexander III (the Great). Alexander entrusted Antipater with ruling Macedon in his long absence and he defeated the Spartans in 331 BC. After Alexander's death he crushed a Greek uprising and became regent of the co-kings, Alexander's mentally impaired half-brother (Philip III Arrhideus) and infant son (Alexander IV). He brokered a settlement between the contending Successors but died in 319 BC, having first appointed Polyperchon to succeed as regent in preference to his own sons.
Antipater's eldest son Cassander later became regent of Macedon but eventually had Alexander IV killed and made himself king. Three of his sons in turn briefly succeeded him but could not retain the throne. Antipater's female heirs are shown to be just as important, both as pawns and surprisingly independent players in this Macedonian game of thrones. The saga ends with the failed bid by Nikaia, the widow of Antipater's great grandson Alexander of Corinth, to become independent ruler of Macedon.
"A great book by a great author on one of the most important of the Diadochi." --A Wargamers Needful Things
277 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 12, 2020
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
April 18, 2021
Grainger finds a way to focus in on some of the details of the early Hellenistic period by concentrating on the shortest-lived dynasty of the Successors, while arguing for its pivotal position in the period. I think he stretches the point a bit at the end, but in general, it's convincing.
The bulk of the book is about Antipater himself, and examines what can be known of him from the sources. The first part starts with his early life (which is pretty much all speculation, if reasonable), and carries through to the death of Alexander. Antipater was presumably of one of the prominent families of Macedon (a subject that the sources just don't go into at all), and saw first-hand the chaos around civil wars and unstable dynastic struggles from before Philip II.
Grainger assumes this is behind a lot of Antipater's later actions as he first administers Macedon for Philip while he's on campaign, and then when Alexander is on campaign, and then acts as effective regent for Philip III and Alexander IV. He's shown as interested in stability and continuity, and doesn't show any real signs taking power in his own name during the early wars of the Successors. Its one of those things that's hard to know, but it is reasonable.
There is of course, also a good history of the Lamian War in here, as the apparent maneuvers are looked at in some detail. Other conflicts (notably with Epirus and the northern frontier) are covered less well, mostly because of the lack of sources, which still leads to a fair amount of supposition with any of these. I could really have used a detail map of Macedonia and the directly adjacent regions.
The second section deals with Kassander, showing him moving into position as regent and King of Macendon after his father's death, and his attempts at state-building. The big surprise here was his foundation (and re-foundation) of a few cities, only one of which really took off, named after his wife, Thessalonike. The last three chapters go into the remnants of the family after his death and the end of the dynasty with the Antigonids taking over Macedonia. This part really suffers from being about people not at the center of power, and therefore not mentioned as much in the sources, but Grainger pulls out a few facts, and certainly shows Antipater's daughters as having some real influence.
Grainger states up front that part of the idea for the book was to be able to focus his attention down, and it works. This is a nicely detailed history from just pre-Alexander through much of the diodochoi era, and brought a lot of things into focus. It suffers a little from going into things that there's not a lot of sources for, but that is often the curse of ancient history.
The bulk of the book is about Antipater himself, and examines what can be known of him from the sources. The first part starts with his early life (which is pretty much all speculation, if reasonable), and carries through to the death of Alexander. Antipater was presumably of one of the prominent families of Macedon (a subject that the sources just don't go into at all), and saw first-hand the chaos around civil wars and unstable dynastic struggles from before Philip II.
Grainger assumes this is behind a lot of Antipater's later actions as he first administers Macedon for Philip while he's on campaign, and then when Alexander is on campaign, and then acts as effective regent for Philip III and Alexander IV. He's shown as interested in stability and continuity, and doesn't show any real signs taking power in his own name during the early wars of the Successors. Its one of those things that's hard to know, but it is reasonable.
There is of course, also a good history of the Lamian War in here, as the apparent maneuvers are looked at in some detail. Other conflicts (notably with Epirus and the northern frontier) are covered less well, mostly because of the lack of sources, which still leads to a fair amount of supposition with any of these. I could really have used a detail map of Macedonia and the directly adjacent regions.
The second section deals with Kassander, showing him moving into position as regent and King of Macendon after his father's death, and his attempts at state-building. The big surprise here was his foundation (and re-foundation) of a few cities, only one of which really took off, named after his wife, Thessalonike. The last three chapters go into the remnants of the family after his death and the end of the dynasty with the Antigonids taking over Macedonia. This part really suffers from being about people not at the center of power, and therefore not mentioned as much in the sources, but Grainger pulls out a few facts, and certainly shows Antipater's daughters as having some real influence.
Grainger states up front that part of the idea for the book was to be able to focus his attention down, and it works. This is a nicely detailed history from just pre-Alexander through much of the diodochoi era, and brought a lot of things into focus. It suffers a little from going into things that there's not a lot of sources for, but that is often the curse of ancient history.
August 29, 2021
Detta är en dubbelbiografi över Antipatros, en av Alexanders generaler, och hans son Kassander. Den senares arvingar berörs, men de är inte fokus.
Boken har två helt olika tonlägen. Antipatrosdelen är försiktig, prövande, och besatt av detaljer utan att förklara dem. Detta gör bokens första halva svårgenomträngd. Även Kassanderdelen är faktarik, men här är det tydligt att författaren är villig att tolka utifrån fakta, och här kommer också de förklarande sidonoterna tätare, så att beteendena blir begripliggjorda. Min egen upplevelse, var att den första halvan krävde två månaders kamp medan den andra försvann under en eftermiddag och ett par koppar kaffe.
Jag rekommenderar denna bok starkt, om man är intresserad av diadocherna.
Boken har två helt olika tonlägen. Antipatrosdelen är försiktig, prövande, och besatt av detaljer utan att förklara dem. Detta gör bokens första halva svårgenomträngd. Även Kassanderdelen är faktarik, men här är det tydligt att författaren är villig att tolka utifrån fakta, och här kommer också de förklarande sidonoterna tätare, så att beteendena blir begripliggjorda. Min egen upplevelse, var att den första halvan krävde två månaders kamp medan den andra försvann under en eftermiddag och ett par koppar kaffe.
Jag rekommenderar denna bok starkt, om man är intresserad av diadocherna.
December 18, 2022
informative
The history was brief and informative, however the use of common names by all parties did at times make confusing. Eg antigonas, Alexander, Phillip, krateros, ptolemy & demetrios. A pet gripe of mine is the scarcity of maps which would helped greatly
.
The history was brief and informative, however the use of common names by all parties did at times make confusing. Eg antigonas, Alexander, Phillip, krateros, ptolemy & demetrios. A pet gripe of mine is the scarcity of maps which would helped greatly
.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews