King of Macedon

Abstract

I begin by reconstructing the operations in the northern Aegean that enabled Antigonus to keep Antiochus of Asia at bay while he attempted to recover Macedon. At first, he was defeated by Ptolemy Ceraunus, but he returned. It took several attempts, but he did eventually succeed. In this he was aided by the peace accord reached with Antiochus, and by a stroke of luck: he came upon a band of marauding Celts, and by defeating them in the battle of Lysimachea could represent himself as the savior of Macedon. Once he had eliminated a few pretenders, the throne was his. He married Phila, the daughter of Antiochus. I discuss his elevation of the god Pan to major status. But his seat on the throne was not yet stable, and Pyrrhus of Epirus took back most of the country for a couple of years, before Antigonus was able to eliminate him in southern Greece. I then turn to how Antigonus stabilized his country and his reign by a program of reform, by which he devolved some of the power of the throne to high-ranking individuals and to the towns and cities of Macedon. I end with some speculations on Antigonus’s finances.