Lysimachos in the wake of Alexander – Part II

 [continued from Lysimachos in the wake of Alexander - Part I]

Skipping the many details and intertwined relationships, let us pick up the story when Seleucos added his forces to those of Lysimachos and his allies to fight the elderly Antigonus Monophthalmus and his son Demetrios Poliorcetes. The battle took place in 301 BC at Ipsus and ended with Antigonus’ defeat and death. The victors subsequently divided his territory among them. Lysimachos acquired a significant share with Lydia, Ionia, and Phrygia, including the entire north coast of Asia Minor. Seleucos received Syria, and Cassander was now secure in Macedonia and Greece. 

Until then, Antigonus Monophthalmus had been the most successful among the generals in recreating Alexander’s empire. His son Demetrios attempted to follow in his father’s footsteps, but he lacked a broader view. 

Around that time, Nicaea died, and Lysimachos honored her by naming a city in Asia Minor after her, modern Iznik in Turkey. 

As Seleucos was growing ever more powerful, Lysimachos thought it wise to seek the support of Ptolemy. Around 300 BC, he elected to marry Arsinoe, the daughter of Ptolemy, and his mistress Berenice. Amastris, as said above, stepped back and divorced herself from Lysimachos, moving back to Herakleia Pontus. 

Although this marriage of Lysimachos was not a happy one, Arsinoe stayed with her husband till his death. She bore him three sons: Ptolemy I Epigonos, Lysimachos, and Philip. Her jealousy, however, incited her to convince her husband to kill his oldest son and heir, Agathocles (from his marriage to Nicaea), based on treason. The murder happened in 284 BC despite the young man successfully leading his father’s army in combat. Although he was only in his early thirties, his men loved him much. 

Meanwhile, Cassander died in 297 BC. His sons were more interested in fighting each other for power than ruling the country. Macedonia eventually fell into the hands of Demetrios. So, in 287 BC, Lysimachos agreed to fight alongside Pyrrhus to drive Demetrios out of Macedonia. They successfully ruled the country jointly until Lysimachos broke up with Pyrrhus and seized Macedonia for himself. 

Lysimachos’ greed and thirst for power equaled that of the other generals, now kings in their realms. The fighting was not over yet. 

Seleucos, in 282 BC, broke his alliance with Lysimachos as he attempted to take his territory in Asia Minor. The final clash happened in Lydia at Corupedium in 281 BC. It ended with the death of Lysimachos. By then, the King of Thracia must have been in his late 70s. He had lived a life of almost continuous and repeated battles, inspired by the greatest conqueror of all times, Alexander the Great. 

Like the other new self-proclaimed kings, Lysimachos had minted his own coins. However, he did not follow them by stamping his personal image on these coins but kept using the effigy of Alexander instead. Could that be seen as a late posthumous homage and tribute to his boyhood friend? 

Lysimachos is also being honored as a friend and benefactor of Samothrace. He received the title of Lysimachos Euergetes as inscribed on the altar erected in his honor and used during annual festivals. A stele found on the island reads a dedication of King Lysimachos from between 288 and 281 BC. Based on the surviving first fifteen lines, Lysimachos was honored for restoring sacred lands on the mainland initially granted to Samothrace by either Philip II or Alexander the Great or by Philip Arrhidaeus III and Alexander IV. There were boundary stones for said sacred land near Alexandroupolis in Greece. 

Money was never an issue throughout all those years of bickering, conniving, and fighting. Lysimachos, like all the other generals, had cashed his share of Alexander’s fortune. In his case, it was a mere 9,000 talents in silver and gold, roughly worth several billion in today’s value. The money was safely kept on the Acropolis of Pergamon. However, when Attalus III gave the city to Rome in 133 BC, the entire treasure (not limited to Lysimachos’ share) fell into Roman hands. This fortune contributed largely to the rise of the Roman Empire – but that is another story.

Sardes, the capital of ancient Lydia and a key-city for Alexander’s Successors

My last visit to Sardes goes back several years and it seems that Turkey is finally promoting this unique site. Tourism is definitely on the rise, but whether that is a good thing or not, depends on how we want to look at things. The tourists bring in the badly needed cash but too many people treading the ancient floors is not necessarily a blessing.

Sardes is being praised as the capital of Lydia ruled by wealthy King Croesus from 560 until 546 BC when the envious Persians conquered the city. We will remember that the first gold coins ever were issued by Croesus. Yet I have not seen any traces of the Lydians in Sardes itself – maybe one day something will surface, who knows? What we see today is mainly Roman but the place has been occupied from about the 7th century BC till the 7th century AD and has seen Persians, Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, and Ottomans occupying its houses and streets. One of the highlights definitely is the Temple of Artemis, the fourth largest Ionic temple in the world that was converted into one of the seven holy churches of Christianity. There is evidently a lot to see and to explore.

Wherever I go, I always automatically look for Alexander the Great simply because he has been to so many places, and that includes Sardes. I already followed Alexander to Sardes in a previous article “Heading for Dascylium and Sardes”, but since the city is in the news once again it may be worth elaborating a little more about its important role.

Licensed under CC BY-SA2.5-2.0-1.0 via Wikimedia Commons 

To begin with, Sardes was the start of the main road built by the Persians to connect it with Susa in the heart of the Persian Empire. That shows how important this city in Asia Minor was. Seleucos, Alexander’s successor in Asia, later had palaces all over his kingdom since it was simply too large to have a fixed center. This means that his capital was wherever he happened to be, which was either at Susa, Seleucia-on-the-Tigris, Antioch-on-the-Orontes, Celaenae, or Sardes. I wish there were some remains to confirm Alexander’s passage or Seleucos’ pal ce at Sardes.

Closer to Alexander, there is the role his sister, Cleopatra, played. She was Queen of Epirus after her husband, Alexandros, had died, and she was an excellent match for anyone aiming for more power after her brother’s death. She was first ready to marry Leonnatus, but he died while fighting on Antipater’s side during the siege of Lamia. At Olympias’ instigation, Cleopatra moved to Sardes to marry Perdiccas, who was preparing his wedding to Nicaea, Antipater’s daughter. We know that Antipater was Olympias’ constant enemy, and she would have loved to see her daughter married to Perdiccas. This general had led the Babylon Conferences (see: What if …?) and was on his way to Macedonia escorting Alexander’s corpse, accompanied by the two kings (the simple-minded Arrhidaeus/Philip and the infant Alexander IV) at the head of the veteran’s army that had campaigned on Alexander’s side. As a matter of course, Perdiccas was tempted by Cleopatra, for through this marriage, he would rule the empire, but on the other hand, he could not ignore Antipater; so, he went ahead to marry Nicaea. Shortly thereafter, however, he sent Eumenes, once Philip’s and Alexander’s secretary and presently Olympias’ messenger, to Sardes, loaded with gifts for Cleopatra and a marriage proposal. At this stage, Perdiccas even installed his bride-to-be as satrap of Lydia.

Perdiccas was moving at a slow pace, escorting Alexander’s body to Macedonia and the entire train and army. Events took a sharp turn when Ptolemy “hijacked” Alexander’s corpse and took it to Memphis, leaving Perdiccas no choice but to set in pursuit to recuperate the body. Ptolemy was ready to meet Perdiccas, whose attack ended in disaster as part of this army drowned in the Nile. He failed his duty to his troops, and a group of his senior officers decided to simply murder Perdiccas.

Now the road was open for Ptolemy, who approached Cleopatra soon after, asking for her hand in marriage. She agreed, and they soon saw themselves as king and queen on the throne of Macedonia. But this time, it was Antigonus Monophthalmus, who by now ruled over most of Asia Minor, who thwarted the plan by preventing her from leaving Sardes and eventually had her killed so she would not fall into the hands of any of the successors who would use her to rise to a higher power.

Poor Cleopatra, she was widowed while in her early thirties and ended up being a pawn in the Successors’ fight for legitimation. She cannot have been much older than forty-five when she died. Love and/or happiness were no issue in those days, and in a way, I am glad Alexander did not live to witness this.

The last time Sardes was in the news in connection, although remotely, with Alexander, happened during the final confrontation between Lysimachus and Seleucos, the last two of the Successors. This was in 281 BC during the battle of Corupedium, the “Plain of Plenty”, just west of Sardes. It was here that Lysimachus was killed. Seleucos became the last of the Successors still alive.

Well, much of this part of history will most certainly be ignored by the guides taking the tourists around Sardes. King Croesus and King Alexander III are certain to steal the show, but even …

[Click here for more pictures of Sardes]