All Topics  
Cassander

 

 
   Email Print
   Bookmark   Link
 

 

Cassander
 
 
  Topics Cassander Topic Home

Cassander (Greek
Ancient Greek

Ancient Greek is the historical stage in the development of the Greek language spanning across the Archaic Greece , Classical Greece , and Hellenistic civilization periods of ancient Greece and the classical antiquity....
: ??ssa?d???, Kassandros Antipatros; ca. 350 - 297 BC), King of Macedon
Macedon

Macedon or Macedonia was the name of a monarchy centred in the northernmost part of ancient Greece. The homeland of the ancient Macedonians, it was bordered by the kingdom of Epirus to the west and the region of Thrace to the east....
 (305 - 297 BC), was a son of Antipater
Antipater

Antipater was a Macedonian general and a supporter of kings Philip II of Macedon and Alexander the Great. In 320 BC, he became regent of all of Alexander's empire....
, and founder of the short-lived Antipatrid dynasty
Antipatrid dynasty

The Antipatrid dynasty was a Macedonian dynasty founded by Cassander, the son of Antipater, who declared himself Kings of Macedon in 302 BC. This dynasty did not last long; in 294 BC it was overthrown by the Antigonid dynasty, whose members proved to be more effective rulers....
.

ander is first recorded as arriving at Alexander the Great’s
Alexander the Great

Alexander the Great , also known as Alexander III of Macedon was an ancient Greeks King of Macedon . He was one of the most successful military commanders of all time and is presumed undefeated in battle....
 court in Babylon
Babylon

Babylon was a city-state of ancient Mesopotamia, sometimes considered an empire, the remains of which can be found in present-day Al Hillah, Babil Governorate, Iraq, about 85 kilometers south of Baghdad....
 in 323 BC, where he had been sent by his father, Antipater, likely to help uphold Antipater’s regency in Macedonia, although a later contemporary suggestion hostile to the Antipatrids was that Cassander had journeyed to poison the King.

Whatever the truth of this suggestion, Cassander certainly proved to be singularly noted amongst the diadochi
Diadochi

The Diadochi were the rival successors of Alexander the Great, and their Wars of the Diadochi followed Alexander's death. This was the beginning of the Hellenistic period of Greek history, the time when many people who were not Greek themselves adopted Greek philosophy and styles, Greek urban life, and aspects of the Greek religion....
 in his hostility to Alexander‘s memory.






Discussion
Ask a question about 'Cassander'
Start a new discussion about 'Cassander'
Answer questions from other users
Full Discussion Forum



Encyclopedia


Diadochen1
Cassander (Greek
Ancient Greek

Ancient Greek is the historical stage in the development of the Greek language spanning across the Archaic Greece , Classical Greece , and Hellenistic civilization periods of ancient Greece and the classical antiquity....
: ??ssa?d???, Kassandros Antipatros; ca. 350 - 297 BC), King of Macedon
Macedon

Macedon or Macedonia was the name of a monarchy centred in the northernmost part of ancient Greece. The homeland of the ancient Macedonians, it was bordered by the kingdom of Epirus to the west and the region of Thrace to the east....
 (305 - 297 BC), was a son of Antipater
Antipater

Antipater was a Macedonian general and a supporter of kings Philip II of Macedon and Alexander the Great. In 320 BC, he became regent of all of Alexander's empire....
, and founder of the short-lived Antipatrid dynasty
Antipatrid dynasty

The Antipatrid dynasty was a Macedonian dynasty founded by Cassander, the son of Antipater, who declared himself Kings of Macedon in 302 BC. This dynasty did not last long; in 294 BC it was overthrown by the Antigonid dynasty, whose members proved to be more effective rulers....
.

Early history

Cassander is first recorded as arriving at Alexander the Great’s
Alexander the Great

Alexander the Great , also known as Alexander III of Macedon was an ancient Greeks King of Macedon . He was one of the most successful military commanders of all time and is presumed undefeated in battle....
 court in Babylon
Babylon

Babylon was a city-state of ancient Mesopotamia, sometimes considered an empire, the remains of which can be found in present-day Al Hillah, Babil Governorate, Iraq, about 85 kilometers south of Baghdad....
 in 323 BC, where he had been sent by his father, Antipater, likely to help uphold Antipater’s regency in Macedonia, although a later contemporary suggestion hostile to the Antipatrids was that Cassander had journeyed to poison the King.

Whatever the truth of this suggestion, Cassander certainly proved to be singularly noted amongst the diadochi
Diadochi

The Diadochi were the rival successors of Alexander the Great, and their Wars of the Diadochi followed Alexander's death. This was the beginning of the Hellenistic period of Greek history, the time when many people who were not Greek themselves adopted Greek philosophy and styles, Greek urban life, and aspects of the Greek religion....
 in his hostility to Alexander‘s memory. Alexander IV
Alexander IV of Macedon

Alexander IV Aegus was the son of Alexander the Great and the princess Roxana, of Bactria....
, Roxanne
Roxana

Roxana , was a Bactrian noble and a wife of Alexander the Great. She was born earlier than the year 341 BC, though the precise date remains uncertain....
, and Alexander’s supposed illegitimate son Heracles would all be executed on his orders, and a guarantee to Olympias
Olympias

Olympias , ca. 376–316 BC, was an Epirote princess, the fourth wife of King Philip II of Macedon of Macedon and mother of Alexander the Great....
 to spare her life was not respected. So too, Cassander would restore Thebes
Ancient Thebes (Boeotia)

Thebes was a Boeotian city-state , situated to the north of the Cithaeron range, which divides Boeotia from Attica, Greece, and on the southern edge of the Boeotian plain....
, which had been destroyed under Alexander. This gesture was perceived at the time to be a snub to the deceased King. It was even said that he could not pass a statue of Alexander without feeling faint. Cassander has been perceived to be ambitious and unscrupulous, and even members of his own family were estranged from him.

Later history

As Antipater grew close to death in 319 BC, he transferred the regency of Macedon not to Cassander, but to Polyperchon
Polyperchon

Polyperchon son of Simmias from Tymphaia in Epirus , was a Macedonian general who served under Philip II of Macedon and Alexander the Great, accompanying Alexander throughout his long journeys....
, 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. Cassander rejected his father’s decision, and immediately went to court Antigonus
Antigonus I Monophthalmus

Antigonus I Monophthalmus son of Philip from Elimiotis, was a Macedonian nobleman, general, and satrap under Alexander the Great. He was a major figure in the Wars of the Diadochi after Alexander's death, declaring himself king in 306 BC and establishing the Antigonid dynasty....
, Ptolemy
Ptolemy I Soter

Ptolemy I Soter was a Macedonian general under Alexander the Great who became ruler of Egypt and founder of both the Ptolemaic Kingdom and the Ptolemaic Dynasty....
 and Lysimachus
Lysimachus

Lysimachus was a Macedonian officer and Diadochi of Alexander the Great, who became a basileus in 306 BCE, ruling Thrace, Anatolia andMacedonia....
 as allies. Waging war on Polyperchon, Cassander would destroy his fleet, put Athens under the control of Demetrius of Phaleron, and declare himself Regent in 317 BC. After Olympias’ successful move against Philip III
Philip III of Macedon

Philip III Arrhidaeus , king of Macedon from June 10, 323 BC until his death, was a son of King Philip II of Macedon by Philinna of Larissa, allegedly a Thessaly dancer, and a half-brother of Alexander the Great....
 later in the year, Cassander would besiege her in Pydna
Pydna

Pydna , also Pidna was a Greek city in ancient Macedon, the most important in Pieria. Modern Pydna is a rural municipality and coastal town in the northeastern part of the Prefecture of Pieria....
. When the city fell two years later, Olympias was killed, and Cassander would have Alexander IV and Roxanne confined at Amphipolis
Amphipolis

Amphipolis was an Ancient Greece Greece Polis in the region once inhabited by the Edoni people in the present-day Peripheries of Greece of Central Macedonia....
.

Cassander associated himself with the Argead dynasty
Argead dynasty

The Argead dynasty was the ancient Greeks ruling house of Macedon from about 700 BC to 310 BC. Their tradition, as described in ancient Greek historiography, traced their origins to Argos, in southern Greece ....
 by marrying Alexander’s half-sister, Thessalonica, and had Alexander IV and Roxanne executed in either 310 BC or the following year. Certainly, in 309, Polyperchon would begin forwarding the claims of Heracles as the true heir to the Macedonian inheritance, at which point Cassander bribed him to have the boy killed. After this, Cassander’s position in Greece and Macedonia was reasonably secure, and he would proclaim himself King in 305 BC. After the Battle of Ipsus
Battle of Ipsus

The Battle of Ipsus was fought between some of the Diadochi in 301 BC near the village of that name in Phrygia. Antigonus I Monophthalmus and his son Demetrius I of Macedon were pitted against the coalition of three other companions of Alexander: Cassander, ruler of Macedon; Lysimachus, ruler of Thrace; and Seleucus I Nicator, ruler of Babyl...
 in 301 BC, in which Antigonus
Antigonus I Monophthalmus

Antigonus I Monophthalmus son of Philip from Elimiotis, was a Macedonian nobleman, general, and satrap under Alexander the Great. He was a major figure in the Wars of the Diadochi after Alexander's death, declaring himself king in 306 BC and establishing the Antigonid dynasty....
 was killed, he was undisputed in his control of Macedonia. However, he had little time to savour the fact, dying of dropsy in 297 BC.

Cassander’s dynasty did not live much beyond his death, with his son Philip
Philip IV of Macedon

Philip IV of Macedon was the son of Cassander. He briefly succeeded his father on the throne of Macedon prior to his death....
 dying of natural causes, and his other sons Alexander
Alexander V of Macedon

Alexander V of Macedon , was the third and youngest son of Cassander and Thessalonica of Macedon, who was a half-sister of Alexander the Great. He ruled as King of Macedon along with his brother Antipater II of Macedon from 297 to 294 BC....
 and Antipater
Antipater II of Macedon

Antipater II of Macedon , was the son of Cassander and Thessalonica of Macedon, who was a half-sister of Alexander the Great. He was king of Macedon from 297 BC until 294 BC, jointly with his brother Alexander V of Macedon....
 becoming involved in a destructive dynastic struggle along with their mother. When Alexander was ousted as joint king by his brother, Demetrius I
Demetrius I of Macedon

Demetrius I , called Poliorcetes , son of Antigonus I Monophthalmus and Stratonice , was a king of Macedon . He belonged to the Antigonid dynasty....
 took up Alexander's appeal for aid and ousted Antipater, killed Alexander, and established the Antigonid dynasty
Antigonid dynasty

The Antigonid dynasty was a dynasty of Hellenistic kings descended from Alexander the Great general Antigonus I Monophthalmus .History...
. The remaining Antipatrids such as Antipater Etesias
Antipater Etesias

Antipater Etesias was the nephew of Cassander. He became king after the death of Ptolemy Keraunos and the ousting of Meleager . His reign lasted only few months before he was killed by his cousin Sosthenes of Macedon....
 would prove unable to re-establish the Antipatrids on the throne.

Of more lasting significance was Cassander’s transformation of Therma
Therma

Therma was a Greek city founded by Eretria or Corinthians in late 7th century BC in ancient Mygdonia , situated at the northeastern extremity of a great gulf of the Aegean Sea, the Thermaic Gulf....
 into Thessalonica
Thessaloniki

Thessaloniki , Thessalonica, or Salonica is the List of largest cities and second largest cities by country in Greece and the capital of Macedonia , the nation's largest Regions of Greece....
, naming the city after his wife. Cassander also founded Cassandreia
Cassandreia

Cassandra was one of the most important cities in Ancient Macedonia founded by and named after Cassander in 316 BC located near the site of the earlier Ancient Greece city of Potidaea....
 upon the ruins of Potidaea
Potidaea

Potidaea was a colony founded by the Corinthians around 600 BC in the narrowest point in Pallene in the western point of Chalcidice in what was known as Thrace....
.

Cassander as a fictional character

  • Mary Renault
    Mary Renault

    Mary Renault born Mary Challans, was an England writer best known for her historical novels set in Ancient Greece. In addition to vivid fictional portrayals of Theseus, Socrates, Plato and Alexander the Great, she wrote a non-fiction biography of Alexander....
     refers to Cassander in the Alexander Trilogy by his Greek name, Kassandros, and depicts him highly negatively. In Funeral Games
    Funeral Games

    Funeral Games is a 1981 historical novel by Mary Renault, dealing with the death of Alexander the Great and its aftermath, the gradual disintegration of his empire....
    , he is the villain of the piece.
  • In the Oliver Stone
    Oliver Stone

    William Oliver Stone is an United Statesn film director and screenwriter. Stone came to prominence as a director with a series of films about the Vietnam War, in which he had participated as an American infantry soldier, and his work continues to focus frequently on contemporary political and cultural issues, often controversially....
     film Alexander
    Alexander (film)

    Alexander is a 2004 in film epic film, based on the life of Alexander the Great . It was directed by Oliver Stone.The film is based mostly on the book Alexander the Great, written in the 1970s in literature by historian Robin Lane Fox, who gave up his screen credit in return for being allowed to take part in the epic cavalry charge...
    , he is portrayed by Jonathan Rhys Meyers.


External links