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For other persons named Antipater, see Antipater (disambiguation).
Antipater (latin) Antipatros (greek) (c. 397 BC-319 BC,Greek:Αντίπατρος) was a Macedonian general, a supporter of kings Philip II of Macedon and Alexander the Great. In
321 BC he became main regent of all Alexander's empire.
He first appears in history as Philip's envoy. He had been sent as ambassador of Philip to Athens and negotiated peace, making peace in 347 BC - 346 BC. He aided Alexander in the successional struggle after Philip's death, in 336 BC. During Alexander's campaign in the East, Antipater was governor of Macedonia and general of Europe, posts he held from 334 BC to 323 BC.
This was a busy post at first; tribes in Thrace rebelled in 332 BC, followed shortly by the revolt of Agis III of Sparta, whom Antipater defeated in battle of Megalopolis in 331 BC. Antipater was disliked for supporting oligarchs and tyrants in Greece, but he also worked with the Greek League of Philip. His regency was greatly troubled by the ambition of Olympias, mother of Alexander. Antipater was nominally superseded by Craterus in 323 BC. Craterus should, from then on, be the supreme commander of the Macedonian forces in Europe, but Alexander suddenly died in Babylon.
After Alexander 's death (323), Perdiccas, new regent, left Antipater in control of Macedonia and Greece. Antipater faced revolts in Athens, Aetolia, and Thessaly that made up the Lamian War of Greeks who had attempted to re-assert their independence. He defeated them in the Battle of Crannon in 322 BC, with Craterus help, and broke up the rebellion. As part of this he imposed oligarchy upon Athens and demanded the surrender of Demosthenes, who committed suicide instead. Antipater and Craterus were engaged in a war against the Aetolians, when the news arrived from Asia. Antigonus reported that Perdiccas contemplated making himself as master of the all empire. Antipater and Craterus accordingly of war against Perdiccas, and allied themselves with
Ptolemy, the satrap of Egypt. Antipater crossed over on Asia in
321 BC. While was still in Syria, Antipater received information that Perdiccas had been murdered by his own soldiers.
In Treaty of Triparadisus (321) Antipater made a new division of Alexander's great kingdom. Antipater was appointed as supreme regent of all Alexander's empire and was left in control of Macedonia and Greece as guardianship of Alexander IV of Macedon and
Philip III of Macedon.
Antipater returned to Macedonia, where he arrived in 320 BC. Soon after he was seized by an illness which minated his active career, and died, leaving the regency to Polyperchon, passing over his son Cassander.
This article incorporates text from the public domain 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica.
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