The Athenians, upon learning of the death of Alexander the Great in June 323 BC, decided to turn against Macedonian hegemony in the rest of Greece.
Seeing their infantry in retreat, the Athenian cavalry disengaged from the battle, leaving the field and handing victory to the Macedonians.
After conferring with his cavalry commander, Menon of Pharsalus, Antiphilus therefore sent an embassy to Antipater the next day asking for terms.
Antipater refused to conclude any general peace with the Athenian led alliance as a whole, insisting instead that each city send its own ambassadors.
In the peace imposed by Antipater, the Athenians were forced to accept a Macedonian garrison as well as a replacement of democracy with an oligarchy under the leadership of Phocion.