The First War of the Diadochi ended in 321 BC with the Partition of Triparadisus; Antipater became the new regent of the empire and made Antigonus strategos of Asia, charged with hunting down and defeating the remnants of the Perdiccan faction.

[10] Antigonus had spent the autumn and winter of 318 BC in western Asia Minor consolidating his position and gathering a fleet.

[1] The two fleets met in battle near Byzantium, and Cleitus won a victory in which some 70 of Nicanor's ships were captured, sunk or disabled.

At dawn the next day Antigonus launched an assault by land and sea; caught completely by surprise, Cleitus's entire force was captured or killed.

[11] This brilliant stroke greatly enhanced Antigonus's reputation for military genius (he had won three stunning victories in a row) and freed him from further worry of Polyperchon interfering in Asia.