Eumenes

For other uses, see Eumenes (disambiguation).
Eumenes of Cardia
Gold stater (319-317 BC) of the Macedonian mint at Susa. Eumenes struck the coin to fund his war against Antigonus I Monophthalmus.[1] Athena depicted left, Nike depicted right.
Native name
Εὐμένης
Born361 BC[2]
Cardia (near the Gulf of Saros, Turkey)
Diedwinter of 316-315 BC (aged 45)[3]
Gabiene, Persia (modern-day Iran)
Cause of deathStrangulation (Execution)
AllegianceMacedonian Empire
Argead Dynasty
RankPersonal secretary
General
Satrap of Cappadocia and Paphlagonia
Battles / wars
Spouse(s)Artonis, daughter of Achaemenid satrap Artabazus II

Eumenes (/juːˈmɛniːz/; ‹See Tfd›Greek: Εὐμένης; fl. 361–315 BC) was a Greek general, satrap, and Successor of Alexander the Great. He participated in the Wars of Alexander the Great, serving as Alexander's personal secretary and later on as a battlefield commander. Eumenes depicted himself as a lifelong loyalist of Alexander's dynasty and championed the cause of the Macedonian Argead royal house.[4]

In the Wars of the Diadochi after Alexander's death, Eumenes initially supported the regent Perdiccas in the First Diadochi War, and later the Argead royalty in the Second Diadochi War. Despite less experience as a commander, Eumenes defeated Craterus, one of Alexander's most accomplished generals, at the Battle of the Hellespont in 321 BC. After Perdiccas' murder in 320 BC Eumenes became a public enemy of the new Post-Alexander regime under Antipater and Antigonus. In 319 BC he was defeated by Antigonus at the Battle of Orkynia and confined to Nora.

Eumenes escaped and then allied with Polyperchon and Olympias, Alexander's mother, against Cassander and Antigonus. From 318 BC onward he led a hard-fought campaign against Antigonus, defeating him at the Battle of Paraitakene, then being indecisively defeated later at the Battle of Gabiene. Afterward, Eumenes was betrayed by his soldiers (the Silver Shields) and given over to Antigonus. Antigonus executed him in the winter of 316–315 BC.

The Greek biographer and essayist Plutarch chose Eumenes as the focus of one of his biographies in Parallel Lives, where he was paired with Quintus Sertorius, the rebel Roman general who led a revolt against Rome in the 70s BC.

  1. ^ https://www.academia.edu/40812159 p.1 asserts they were struck in 317-316 BC, before the battles of Paraitakene and Gabiene in 315.
  2. ^ Anson 2015, p. 41.
  3. ^ Heckel 2006, p. 120; Anson 2015, p. 41; Nep., 13.1. Note; TroncosoAnson 2013, p. 105 dates Eumenes' death to the January of 315 BC.
  4. ^ Waterfield 2011, p. 102; Heckel 2006, p. 120. Eumenes' motives are debated. Views are, generally, that Eumenes upheld the Argead cause either out of genuine loyalty, or due to opportunism. Ancient sources rather uniformly suggest Eumenes was a genuine royalist, and as cited some modern scholars agree, while Plutarch believes Eumenes waged war for the sake of power. Scholars who believe he was an opportunist argue that he remained loyal because; Bosworth 2005, p. 168, "he had no alternative but loyalty to the crown" if he wanted to pursue his own interests and retain power.
    Notably, unlike other Successors of Alexander, Eumenes was not Macedonian, and so could not inherently stake a claim to the throne; Anson 2015, the most authoritative source on the career of Eumenes, believes that "As with his contemporaries, Eumenes' first concern was his own self-interest, not any loftier ideals" and that Eumenes had an "all consuming" ambition for personal power (pp. 1, 205). Whatever his true motives, which are ultimately unknowable, Eumenes was essentially the last hope of the royals, and his defeat spelled their end as a powerful political force.