Editing Cassander

{{Short description|King of Macedonia, Antipatrid dynasty}}
{{For|his uncle|Cassander (brother of Antipater)}}
{{More citations needed|date=April 2021}}{{Infobox royalty
| name         = Cassander
| image        = Kassander316BC.jpg
| caption      = Bronze coin of Cassander. The reverse depicts a lion and an inscription in Ancient Greek reading "ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΚΑΣΣΑΝΔΡΟΥ", [of] King Cassander.
| succession   = [[List of kings of Macedon|King of Macedonia]]
| reign        = 305 – 297 BC
| predecessor  = [[Alexander IV of Macedon|Alexander IV]]
| successor    = [[Philip IV of Macedon|Philip IV]]
| house        = [[Antipatrid dynasty]]
| spouse       = [[Thessalonike of Macedon]]
| issue        = {{plainlist|
*[[Philip IV of Macedon|Philip IV]]
*[[Alexander V of Macedon|Alexander V]]
*[[Antipater I of Macedon|Antipater I]]}}
| father       = [[Antipater]]
| birth_date   = 355 BC<ref>''The Age of Alexander: Nine Greek lives'': "CASSANDER c. 355-297 B.C. The son of Antipater, he did not accompany the Macedonian army on its invasion of Asia, but remained in Macedonia ".</ref>
| death_date   = 297 BC (aged 58)
| death_place  = [[Pella]]
| burial       = 
| religion     = [[Ancient Greek Religion]]
}}

'''Cassander''' ({{IPAc-en|k|ə|ˈ|s|æ|n|d|ər}};<ref>[http://www.dictionary.com/browse/cassander "Cassander"]. ''[[Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary]]''.</ref> {{langx|grc|Κάσσανδρος|Kássandros}}; {{circa}} 355 BC – 297&nbsp;BC) was king of the [[Ancient Greece|Ancient Greek]] kingdom of [[Macedonia (ancient kingdom)|Macedonia]] from 305 BC until 297 BC, and ''[[de facto]]'' ruler of southern Greece from 317 BC until his death.<ref name="Britannica">{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Cassander|title=Cassander|encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]|year=2014}}</ref>

A son of [[Antipater]] and a contemporary of [[Alexander the Great]], Cassander was one of the [[Diadochi]] who warred over Alexander's empire following the latter's death in 323 BC. Cassander later seized power by having Alexander's son and heir [[Alexander IV of Macedon|Alexander IV]] murdered.<ref name="Britannica2">{{cite encyclopedia |year=2014 |title=Cassander |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]] |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Cassander}}</ref> While governing Macedonia from 317 BC until 297 BC, Cassander focused on strengthening the northern borders and economic development, while founding or restoring several cities (including [[Thessalonica]], [[Cassandreia]], and [[Thebes, Greece|Thebes]]); however, his ruthlessness in dealing with political enemies complicates assessments of his rule.<ref name="Beckett, p.6882">Beckett, ''Universal Biography'', Vol. 1, p. 688</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Smith |first=Mahlon H. |title=Cassander |url=http://virtualreligion.net/iho/cassander.html |access-date=13 June 2018 |website=Into His Own: Perspective on the World of Jesus |publisher=American Theological Library Association}}</ref><ref name=":02">{{Cite book |title=A companion to ancient Macedonia |date=2010 |editor=Joseph Roisman |editor2=Ian Worthington|publisher=Wiley-Blackwell |isbn=978-1-4443-2751-9 |location=Chichester, West Sussex, U.K. |pages=214–215 |chapter=Alexander's Successors to 221 BC |oclc=676972389}}</ref>

==Early history==
In his youth, Cassander was taught by the philosopher [[Aristotle]] at the [[Lyceum]] in [[Macedonia (ancient kingdom)|Macedonia]]. He was educated alongside [[Alexander the Great]] in a group that included [[Hephaestion]], [[Ptolemy I of Egypt|Ptolemy]] and [[Lysimachus]].<ref name="Heckel, p.153">Heckel, ''Who's who in the age of Alexander the Great: prosopography of Alexander's empire'', p. 153</ref> His family were distant collateral relatives to the [[Argead dynasty]].<ref>[http://www.tyndalehouse.com/egypt/ptolemies/affilates/aff_ptolemies.htm Ptolemaic Dynasty - Affiliated Lines: The Antipatrids] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716100716/http://www.tyndalehouse.com/egypt/ptolemies/affilates/aff_ptolemies.htm |date=July 16, 2011 }}</ref>

Cassander is first recorded as arriving at Alexander the Great's court in [[Babylon]] in 323 BC, where he had been sent by his father, [[Antipater]], most likely to help uphold Antipater's regency in Macedon, although a later contemporary who was hostile to the Antipatrids suggested that Cassander had journeyed to the court to poison the King.<ref name="fox469">Fox, Robin Lane. ''Alexander the Great''. p. 469, 2004 Ed.</ref> Cassander left Alexander's court either shortly before or after the king's death in June of 323 BC, playing no part in the immediate power struggles over the empire.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Grainger |first=John D. |title=Antipater's dynasty |date=2019 |publisher=Pen & Sword Military |isbn=978-1-5267-3089-3 |location=Barnsley |pages=70, 73}}</ref> Cassander returned to Macedonia and assisted his father's governance, he was later assigned by Antipater to [[Antigonus I Monophthalmus|Antigonus]] as his [[chiliarch]] from 321 to 320, probably to monitor the latter's activities.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Grainger |first=John D. |title=Antipater's dynasty |date=2019 |publisher=Pen & Sword Military |isbn=978-1-5267-3089-3 |location=Barnsley |pages=111–117, 123}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Diodorus |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=d8SbDwAAQBAJ |title=The library, books 16-20dPhilip II, Alexander the Great, and the successors |date=2019 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-875988-1 |editor-last=Waterfield |editor-first=Robin |series=Oxford world's classics |location=Oxford |chapter=18.39.7}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Billows |first=Richard A. |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1525/9780520919044 |title=Antigonos the One-Eyed and the Creation of the Hellenistic State |date=1990-12-31 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-91904-4 |pages=72–73|doi=10.1525/9780520919044 }}</ref>

==Rule of Macedon==
[[File:Diadochi LA.svg|thumb|right|300px|
{{legend|#50A249|Kingdom of Cassander}}
Other [[diadochi]]
{{legend|#C3B933|Kingdom of [[Seleucus I Nicator|Seleucus]]}}
{{legend|#C38833|Kingdom of [[Lysimachus]]}}
{{legend|#787CAD|Kingdom of [[Ptolemy I Soter|Ptolemy]]}}
{{legend|#AF3662|[[Epirus (ancient state)|Epirus]]}}
Other
{{legend|#A361BD|[[Ancient Carthage|Carthage]]}}
{{legend|#70A9BE|[[Roman Republic]]}}
{{legend|#85AB54|[[Greek colonies]]}}
]]
As Antipater grew close to death in 319 BC, he transferred the regency of Macedon not to Cassander, but to [[Polyperchon]], possibly so as not to alarm the other Diadochi through an apparent move towards dynastic ambition, but perhaps also because of Cassander's own ambitions.<ref>Green, Peter. ''Alexander the Great and the Hellenistic Age''. pp. 35-36, 2007 Ed.</ref> Cassander rejected his father's decision, and immediately went to seek the support of [[Antigonus I Monophthalmus|Antigonus]], [[Ptolemy I Soter|Ptolemy]] and [[Lysimachus]] as his allies. Waging war on Polyperchon, Cassander destroyed his fleet, put Athens under the control of [[Demetrius of Phaleron]], and declared himself Regent in 317 BC. After [[Olympias]]’ successful move against [[Philip III of Macedon|Philip III]] later in the year, Cassander besieged her in [[Ancient Pydna|Pydna]]. When the city fell in the spring of 316, Olympias was killed, and Cassander had Alexander IV and [[Roxana]] confined at [[Amphipolis]].<ref name=":02"/>

That year, Cassander associated himself with the [[Argead dynasty]] by marrying Alexander's half-sister, [[Thessalonike of Macedon|Thessalonike]], and overseeing the burial of [[Philip III of Macedon|Phillip III]] and [[Eurydice I of Macedon|Eurydice]] in the royal cemetery at [[Aegae (Macedonia)|Aegae]]; he further cemented his authority by founding Thessalonica, Cassandreia, and rebuilding Thebes.<ref name=":02" /> From 314 to 310, Cassander campaigned to the west and north, for a time extending Macedonian power as far as [[Apollonia (Illyria)|Apollonia]] and [[Epidamus]], but was driven out by local rulers like [[Glaucias of Taulantii|Glaucius]]; his rule in Macedonia remained firm as he resettled defeated enemies in the tradition of [[Philip II of Macedon|Phillip II]] and fostered trade in the regions around his new cities.<ref name=":02" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=Diodorus |first=Siculus |title=The library. Books 16-20 : Philip II, Alexander the Great, and the successors |date=2019 |translator=Robin Waterfield |isbn=978-0-19-875988-1 |edition=Oxford world's classics paperback |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |chapter=20.53 |oclc=1082183474}}</ref> Cassander had Alexander IV and [[Roxana]] secretly poisoned in either 310 BC or the following year.<ref>{{Cite book |title=A companion to ancient Macedonia |date=2010 |editor=Joseph Roisman |editor2=Ian Worthington |publisher=Wiley-Blackwell |isbn=978-1-4443-2751-9 |location=Chichester, West Sussex, U.K. |pages=216 |chapter=Alexander’s Successors to 221 BC |oclc=676972389}}</ref>

By 309 BC, Polyperchon had begun to claim that [[Heracles of Macedon]] was the true heir to the Macedonian inheritance, at which point Cassander bribed Polyperchon to kill the boy, promising him an alliance and the return of his Macedonian estates.<ref>Green, Peter. ''Alexander the Great and the Hellenistic Age''. p. 44, 2007 Ed.</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Diodorus |first=Siculus |publisher=Oxford University Press |title=The library. Books 16-20 : Philip II, Alexander the Great, and the successors |date=2019 |translator=Robin Waterfield |isbn=978-0-19-875988-1 |edition=Oxford world's classics paperback |location=Oxford |chapter=20.28 |oclc=1082183474}}</ref> After this, Cassander's position in Greece and Macedonia was reasonably secure, and he proclaimed himself king in 305 BC.<ref>Green, Peter. ''Alexander the Great and the Hellenistic Age''. p. 163, 2007 Ed.</ref> [[Diodorus Siculus]] relates that Cassander, Ptolemy, and Lysimachus declared their kingships in response to the assumption of royal title by Antigonus, following his victory over Ptolemy at [[Battle of Salamis (306 BC)|Salamis]] in 306.

In 307–304 BC he fought the so-called Four–Years' War against Athens.<ref>Seibert, ''Diadochen'', pp. 141–142; Habicht, ''Pausanias'', pp. 78–80.</ref> In 304 BC, his rival [[Antigonus I Monophthalmus|Antigonus Monophthalmus]] sent his son [[Demetrius I of Macedon|Demetrius Poliorcetes]] to aid Athens against Cassander.<ref>Richard A. Billows, ''Antigonos the One-Eyed'', p. 169.</ref> Demetrius succeeded in driving Cassander from central Greece and created a Hellenic League, ''the League of Corinth'', against him.<ref>Richard A. Billows, ''Antigonos the One-Eyed'', p. 169–173.</ref> In the winter of 303–302 BC, Cassander opened negotiations with Antigonus with a view to establish peace, but Antigonus refused.<ref name="RAB174">Richard A. Billows, ''Antigonos the One-Eyed'', p. 174.</ref> At this Cassander turned to Lysimachus, Ptolemy, and [[Seleucus I Nicator|Seleucus]] and convinced them to reform the coalition of 314–311 against Antigonus.<ref name="RAB174" /> In early 302 BC, Cassander sent one of his generals, [[Prepelaus]], with an army from Macedon to join [[Lysimachus]] in an invasion of Antigonus's territory in Asia-Minor.<ref name="RAB174" /> Cassander himself marched with the main Macedonian field army into [[Thessaly]] to stop Demetrius from advancing into Macedon.<ref name="RAB174" /> Demetrius invaded Thessaly with a numerically superior force, Cassander stopped his advance by refusing to give battle and fortifying his positions.<ref>Richard A. Billows, ''Antigonos the One-Eyed'', p. 175.</ref> Lysimachus and Prepalaus had been very successful in Asia-Minor and Seleucus was marching with an army to join them.<ref>Richard A. Billows, ''Antigonos the One-Eyed'', pp. 175–176.</ref> In the spring of 302 BC, Antigonus marched with an army from Syria into Asia-Minor to confront his enemies; he confronted Lysimachus and drove him from [[Phrygia]].<ref>Richard A. Billows, ''Antigonos the One-Eyed'', pp. 176–178.</ref> Antigonus realizing that the war would probably have to be decided in a major battle in Asia-Minor recalled Demetrius from Thessaly.<ref name="RAB179">Richard A. Billows, ''Antigonos the One-Eyed'', p. 179.</ref> With Demetrius gone Cassander sent part of his army with his brother, [[Pleistarchus (son of Antipater)|Pleistarchus]], to join Prepalaus, Lysimachus and Seleucus in Asia-Minor.<ref name="RAB179" /> In 301 BC, the combined armies of Lysimachus, Seleucus, Prepalaus and Pleistarchus faced the combined armies of Antigonus and Demetrius at Ipsus. After the [[Battle of Ipsus]] in which Antigonus was killed, Cassander was undisputed in his control of Macedon; however, he had little time to savour the fact, dying of [[Edema|dropsy]] in 297 BC.<ref>{{Cite web |author=Pausanias |date=May 25, 2022 |title=Description of Greece |url=http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0160%3Abook%3D9%3Achapter%3D7%3Asection%3D2 }}</ref>

Cassander's dynasty did not live much beyond his death, with his son [[Philip IV of Macedon|Philip]] dying of natural causes, and his other sons [[Alexander V of Macedon|Alexander]] and [[Antipater II of Macedon|Antipater]] becoming involved in a destructive dynastic struggle along with their mother. When Alexander was ousted as joint king by his brother, [[Demetrius I of Macedon|Demetrius I]] took up Alexander's appeal for aid and ousted Antipater, killed Alexander V and established the [[Antigonid dynasty]]. The remaining Antipatrids, such as [[Antipater II Etesias]], were unable to re-establish the Antipatrids on the throne.

== Legacy ==
[[File:Thessaloniki_and_Cassandreia.png|thumb|Locations of [[Thessaloniki]] and [[Cassandreia]] in modern Greece.]]
Cassander stood out amongst the [[Diadochi]] in his hostility to Alexander's memory.<ref name="fox469" /> [[Arrian]] later reported that he could not pass a statue of Alexander without feeling faint.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Arrian. |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/1152271824 |title=Anabasis of Alexander Or, the History of the Wars and Conquests of Alexander the Great. |date=2019 |publisher=Forgotten Books |isbn=978-0-243-71825-2 |chapter=7.23.22 |oclc=1152271824}}</ref> Cassander has been perceived to be ambitious and unscrupulous, and even members of his own family were estranged from him.<ref>Fox, Robin Lane. ''Alexander the Great'', p. 475, 2004 Ed.</ref> However, historians like John D. Grainger argue this characterization owes much to stories spread by his rivals.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Grainger |first=John D. |title=Antipater's dynasty : Alexander the Great's regent and his successors |date=2019 |isbn=978-1-5267-3088-6 |publisher=Pen & Sword Military |location=Yorkshire |pages=138 |oclc=1041510654}}</ref>

Cassander was responsible for the deaths of more Argeads than other Diadochi, ([[Alexander IV of Macedon|Alexander IV]], [[Roxana]], and Alexander's supposed illegitimate son [[Heracles of Macedon|Heracles]], as well as allowing [[Olympias]] to be killed by a Macedonian assembly), he was not the only one willing to kill Alexander's relatives: Polyperchon and Antigonus were just as willing to do the same when it benefitted them.<ref>Green, Peter. ''Alexander the Great and the Hellenistic Age''. p. 38, 2007 Ed.</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Grainger |first=John D.|publisher=Pen & Sword Military|title=Antipater's dynasty : Alexander the Great's regent and his successors |date=2019 |isbn=978-1-5267-3088-6 |location=Yorkshire |pages=179–181 |oclc=1041510654}}</ref> From [[Numismatics|numismatic]] evidence, Evan Pitt argues that Cassander's actions until 311 BC were motivated more by self-preservation and maintenance of his own power rather than royal ambition and rivalry to Alexander the Great.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last=Pitt |first=Evan |date=2019 |title=An Ill-defined Rule: Cassander's Consolidation of Power |url=https://revistes.uab.cat/karanos/article/view/v2-pitt |journal=Karanos: Bulletin of Ancient Macedonian Studies |volume=2 |issue=2 |pages=33–42|doi=10.5565/rev/karanos.26 |s2cid=214304820 |doi-access=free }}</ref> Cassander's decision to restore [[Ancient Thebes (Boeotia)|Thebes]], which had been destroyed by Alexander, was perceived at the time to be a snub to the deceased king, though it also had the [[realpolitik]] effect of providing a power base for Cassander in [[Boeotia]].<ref>Green, Peter. ''Alexander the Great and the Hellenistic Age''. pp. 40-41, 2007 Ed.</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Grainger |first=John D. |publisher=Pen & Sword Military |title=Antipater's dynasty : Alexander the Great's regent and his successors |date=2019 |isbn=978-1-5267-3088-6 |location=Yorkshire |pages=156 |oclc=1041510654}}</ref>
[[File:Kassander_king_of_Macedonia_kingdom_of_greece.jpg|thumb|Coin of Cassander minted after 310 BCE, displaying Alexander or Cassander wearing the lion pelt cloak. Reverse with the Greek inscription: ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΚΑΣΣΑΝΔΡΟΥ, ''Basileōs Kassandrou'', "of King Cassander".|250x250px]]
Like the other Diodochoi, Cassander participated in the appropriation of regal iconography which linked him to Alexander the Great.<ref name=":1" /> Other Diadochi depicted themselves and Alexander on their coins in profile with varying attributes, such as elephant-hide headdresses or horns; Cassander followed Alexander's [[Alexander the Great#Coinage|own precedent]] and had himself or the dead king wearing a lion-skin cloak stamped on one side of his coins.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Alonso Troncoso |first=Víctor |title=After Alexander: the time of the Diadochi (323-281 bc) |date=2013 |publisher=Oxbow Books |isbn=978-1-84217-512-5 |editor1=Troncoso, Víctor Alonso |editor2= Anson, Edward M. |location=Oxford, UK; Oakville, CT |pages=357–363 |chapter=The Diodochi and the Zoology of Kingship: The Elephants}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Sheedy |first=Kenneth Alan |title=Alexander and the Hellenistic kingdoms: coins, image and the creation of identity the Westmoreland collection [exhibition, Museum of Ancient cultures, Macquarie university, opened on the 23rd of November 2007 at the start of the Second Biennal conference of the Numismatic association of Australia... to the 21 November 2008] |date=2007 |publisher=Numismatic association of Australia |others=Australian centre for ancient numismatic studies |isbn=978-0-646-48150-0 |series=Ancient coins in Australian collections |volume=1 |pages=15–16 |chapter=Magically back to life: some thoughts on ancient coins and the study of Hellenistic royal portraits}}</ref> These royal iconographies established by Alexander and continued by his immediate successors set patterns for royal coinage which were influential and enduring across the Mediterranean and West Asia.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Lawton |first=Carol C. |date=1996 |title=Hellenistic Coin Portraits |url=http://www2.lawrence.edu/dept/art/BUERGER/ESSAYS/HELLENIS.HTML |access-date=2023-06-01 |website=www2.lawrence.edu}}</ref> Also of lasting significance was Cassander's refoundation of [[Therma]] into [[Thessaloniki|Thessalonica]], naming the city after his wife. Cassander also founded [[Cassandreia]] upon the ruins of [[Potidaea]], as well as the city of [[Antipatreia]] in the Aspros Valley.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Grainger |first=John D. |publisher=Pen & Sword Military |title=Antipater's dynasty : Alexander the Great's regent and his successors |date=2019 |isbn=978-1-5267-3088-6 |location=Yorkshire |pages=156–157 |oclc=1041510654}}</ref>

== Notes ==
{{reflist}}

== References ==
*[[Diodorus Siculus]], ''Bibliotheca'' chapters xviii, xix, xx
*Green, Peter, ''Alexander the Great and the Hellenistic Age'', Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2007. {{ISBN|9780297852940}} 
* Richard A. Billows, ''Antigonos the One-Eyed and the Creation of the Hellenistic State'', University of California Press, Berkeley and Los Angeles, California, 1990. {{ISBN|0-520-20880-3}}
*[[Plutarch]], ''[[Parallel Lives]]'', "[[Demetrius I of Macedon|Demetrius]]", 18, 31; "[[Phocion]]", 31
*Franca Landucci Gattinoni: L'arte del potere. Vita e opere di Cassandro di Macedonia. Stuttgart 2003. {{ISBN|3-515-08381-2}}

==External links==
*[http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~jamesdow/s016/f020716.htm A genealogical tree of Cassander]

{{s-start}}
{{s-hou|[[Antipatrid dynasty]]||c. 355 BC||297 BC}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Polyperchon]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[List of kings of Macedon|Regent of Macedon]]|years=317&ndash;305 BC}}
{{s-aft|after=Assumed Kingship}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Alexander IV of Macedon|Alexander IV]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[List of kings of Macedon|King of Macedon]]|years=305&ndash;297 BC}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Philip IV of Macedon|Philip IV]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{MacedonKings}}
{{Hellenistic rulers}}
{{Diadochi}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:350s BC births]]
[[Category:297 BC deaths]]
[[Category:4th-century BC Macedonian monarchs]]
[[Category:3rd-century BC Macedonian monarchs]]
[[Category:4th-century BC regents]]
[[Category:Ancient Macedonian generals]]
[[Category:Hellenistic generals]]
[[Category:Regents of Macedonia (ancient kingdom)]]
[[Category:Conspirators against Alexander the Great]]
[[Category:Ancient Thessalonica]]
[[Category:Deaths from edema]]
[[Category:Hellenistic-era monarchs]]
[[Category:Antipatrid dynasty]]