Antigonos the One-Eyed and the Creation of the Hellenistic State

Richard A. Billows

• Publisher: University of California Press
• Year: 2023
• Print ISBN: 9780520208803
• eBook ISBN: 9780520919044
• Edition: 1
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Ancient History
• Index: History

Called by Plutarch "the oldest and greatest of Alexander's successors," Antigonos the One-Eyed (382-301 BC) was the dominant figure during the first half of the Diadoch period, ruling most of the Asian territory conquered by the Macedonians during his final twenty years. Billows provides the first detailed study of this great general and administrator, establishing him as a key contributor to the Hellenistic monarchy and state. After a successful career under Philip and Alexander, Antigonos rose to power over the Asian portion of Alexander's conquests. Embittered by the persistent hostility of those who controlled the European and Egyptian parts of the empire, he tried to eliminate these opponents, an ambition which led to his final defeat in 301. In a corrective to the standard explanations of his aims, Billows shows that Antigonos was scarcely influenced by Alexander, seeking to rule West Asia and the Aegean, rather than the whole of Alexander's Empire.


Called by Plutarch "the oldest and greatest of Alexander's successors," Antigonos the One-Eyed (382-301 BC) was the dominant figure during the first half of the Diadoch period, ruling most of the Asian territory conquered by the Macedonians during his fin

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents 1
• List of Illustrations
• List of Abbreviations
• Preface
• Introduction
• Part I Antigonos’s Life and Career
• I The Early Years ANTIGONOS’S BACKGROUND AND YOUTH (382-359 B.C.)
• THE REIGN OF PHILIP (359-336 B.C.)
• THE REIGN OF ALEXANDER (336-323 B.C.)
• 2 Antigonos’s Rise to Power
• THE CRISIS AFTER ALEXANDER’S DEATH (323-320 B.C.)
• THE FIRST DIADOCH WAR (320-319 B.C.)
• 3 The Establishment of Antigonos’s Rule over Asia
• THE SECOND DIADOCH WAR (318—315 B.C.)
• THE THIRD DIADOCH WAR (314-311 B.C.)
• 4 Antigonos’s Assumption of the Kingship
• THE LEAD-UP TO ROYAL STATUS (310-306 B.C.)
• THE ASSUMPTION OF THE KINGSHIP AND ITS MEANING
• 5 The Final Years
• ATTEMPTS TO ELIMINATE RIVALS (306-302 B.C.)
• THE CAMPAIGN OF IPSOS (302-301 B.C.)
• EPITAPH
• 6 Antigonos’s Relations with the Greeks
• COMMON PEACES AND AUTONOMY IN THE FOURTH CENTURY B.C.
• ANTIGONOS’S CAREER IN RELATION TO THE GREEKS
• ANTIGONOS’S RELATIONS WITH INDIVIDUAL POLEIS
• GREEK REACTIONS TO ANTIGONOS
• 7 Antigonos’s Administration of His Asian Realm
• THE GEOGRAPHY OF ANTIGONOS’S ASIAN REALM
• ANTIGONOS’S KINGSHIP AND INSTRUMENTS OF RULE
• CENTRAL ADMINISTRATIVE INSTITUTIONS AND PRACTICES
• PROVINCIAL ADMINISTRATIVE INSTITUTIONS
• 8 Economic, Settlement, and Cultural Policies ECONOMIC POLICY
• SETTLEMENT POLICY: URBANIZATION AND COLONIZATION
• CULTURAL POLICY
• Conclusion
• Appendix I The Literary Sources
• Appendix 2 Antigonos’s Military and Naval Forces
• Appendix 3 A Prosopography of Antigonos’s Friends and Subordinates
• Maps
• List of Sources Mentioning or Relevant to Antigonos
• Bibliography
• Name Index
• Place Index
• Subject Indexadministration: of Alexander, 46-47, 268, 277; of Antigonos, 5-6, 46-47, 136, 147, 156, 161, 173, 189, 232, 237-85, 308-9, 315, 322-23, 325; of Macedonian Empire, 58, 243-44; of Persian Empire, 6, 46, 243-44, 251, 268, 272η, 275η, 277, 279, 283-85, 322-23; of Philip, 6, 34-35, 284-85, 322-23; of Seleukid Empire, 5, 251, 27m, 274, 276, 279, 283-85, 315, 323, 325