Eumenes

▪ Greek general

born c. 362 BC

died 316

      Greek general who upheld the cause of the Macedonian royal house in the civil war that followed the death of Alexander the Great in 323.

      Ancient sources agree that Eumenes was an extremely able general. In the distribution of the empire after Alexander's death, he was assigned Cappadocia in eastern Asia Minor. He gave valuable aid to the regent Perdiccas, Alexander's legitimate successor, in Perdiccas' struggle against the rebel Macedonian generals Antigonus Monophthalmus (Antigonus I Monophthalmus), Antipater, Craterus, and Ptolemy, each of whom controlled different parts of the empire. After the murder of Perdiccas by his own men, the rebel generals gathered at Triparadisus (321) and condemned Eumenes to death. He escaped but was recognized two years later by the new regent (Polyperchon) as the royal general in Asia. Eumenes collected an army in Cilicia and marched toward the eastern provinces, pursued by Antigonus. Eumenes held Antigonus in check during a long and hard campaign on the Iranian plateau, but he was finally betrayed to the enemy and put to death.

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