Alexander the Great conquered an enormous empire - stretching from Greece to the Indian subcontinent - and his death triggered forty bloody years of world-changing events. These were years filled with high adventure, intrigue, passion, assassinations, dynastic marriages, treachery, shifting
alliances, and mass slaughter on battlefield after battlefield. And while the men fought on the field, the women, such as Alexander's mother Olympias, schemed from their palaces and pavilions.
Dividing the Spoils serves up a fast-paced narrative that captures this turbulent time as it
revives the memory of the Successors of Alexander and their great contest for his empire. The Successors, Robin Waterfield shows, were no mere plunderers. Indeed, Alexander left things in great disarray at the time of his death, with no guaranteed succession, no administration in place suitable for
such a large realm, and huge untamed areas both bordering and within his empire. It was the Successors - battle-tested companions of Alexander such as Ptolemy, Perdiccas, Seleucus, and Antigonus the One-Eyed - who consolidated Alexander's gains. Their competing ambitions, however, eventually led to
the break-up of the empire. To tell their story in full, Waterfield draws upon a wide range of historical materials, providing the first account that makes complete sense of this highly complex period.
Astonishingly, this period of brutal, cynical warfare was also characterized by
brilliant cultural achievements, especially in the fields of philosophy, literature, and art. A new world emerged from the dust and haze of battle, and, in addition to chronicling political and military events, Waterfield provides ample discussion of the amazing cultural flowering of the early
Hellenistic Age.
List of Illustrations
List of Maps
Preface
Acknowledgements
Maps
1. The Legacy of Alexander the Great
2. The Babylon Conferences
3. Rebellion
4. Perdiccas, Ptolemy, and Alexander's Corpse
5. The First War of the Successors
6. Polyperchon's Moment
7. The
Triumph of Cassander
8. Hunting Eumenes in Iran
9. Antigonus, Lord of Asia
10. The Restoration of Seleucus
11. Warfare in Greece
12. The End of Antigonus
13. The Kingdoms of Ptolemy and Seleucus
14. Demetrius Resurgent
15. The Fall of Demetrius
16. The Last
Successors
Timeline
Cast of Characters
Genealogies
Notes
Bibliography
Index
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Robin Waterfield is an independent scholar and translator. In addition to translating numerous Greek classics, he is the author of Why Socrates Died: Dispelling the Myths, Xenophon's Retreat: Greece, Persia, and the End of the Golden Age, and Athens: A History, From Ancient Ideal to Modern
City. He lives in the far south of Greece on a small olive farm.
