Partition of Babylon

The partition was solidified at the further agreements at Triparadisus and Persepolis[1] over the following years and began the series of conflicts that comprise the Wars of the Diadochi.

[3] Holding a "council of the chief men" (consilium principum virorum); that is, the sunedrion, Perdiccas divides the imperium, or "Empire", between the top rank (summa) held by the king and the satrapes.

He clarifies, "the empire having been divided into parts" (divisis imperii partibus), or partitioned between individuals who could defend or choose to expand them.

Contemporaneously with the two, another parliamentarian and historian, Edward Bunbury, was using the concepts of Droysen, not Grote, in the standard reference works being chaired by William Smith.

Meanwhile, he perpetuates the cultural legacy of Alexander, most notably with the museum and library, and the recruitment of population for Alexandria from many different nations.

He had given his signet ring to his second-in-command, Perdiccas, on the previous day, according to the main account, that of Quintus Curtius Rufus, in History of Alexander,[7] which is summarized here.

Modern authorities disagree on whether or not this report is true, but if it is, Alexander's prediction would not have required the gift of clairvoyance and would have been largely stating the obvious; he had been dealing with mutiny among the Macedonian troops since before the expedition to India.

At that time he formed a special unit of Persian young men, the Epigoni, to be armed and trained in Macedonian ways.

Nearchus, the fleet commander, proposed Heracles, the illegitimate son of Alexander by his Persian mistress Barsine, be made king.

Ptolemy took the floor to say that selecting Heracles would be a disgrace (piget), because his mothers was a "captive" (captivi), and what would be the good of conquest if the conquered ruled the conquerors?

[9] An ordinary soldier saved the day by standing forward to shout that there was no need for civil war when Arrhidaeus, Alexander's half-brother, was the legal heir.

According to Peter Green, "xenophobia played its part here: the Macedonian rank and file did not relish the prospect of kowtowing to a half-Oriental monarch.

"[8] The party for Meleager collected so many adherents that Perdiccas, "terrified", called for 600 elite troops, "the royal guard of young men"; that is, the unit of Persian Epigoni formed by Alexander to protect him from his men, under Ptolemy, and took up a defensive position around the quarters where Alexander's body yet lay.

Meleager commanded them to remain in place while he hunted Perdiccas, but the latter escaped to the Euphrates River, where he was reinforced by the Hetairoi cavalry under Leonnatus.

Under properly skilled generals, the forces in the city might have sallied out to break the blockade and crush its instigators, but the defenders took no action.

Holding another council, the Macedonians in the city decided the king should send emissaries to Perdiccas to ask for terms of peace.

The ceremony of reconciliation, based on Macedonian practice, required assembly of both sides under arms in a field between the bowels of a sacrificed dog.

As the two sides closed, Perdiccas's men, perhaps the Epigoni, arrested 300 known leaders of sedition, dragging them away for immediate execution, by one account by being trampled by war elephants goaded on for the purpose.

Perdiccas, as epimelētēs (guardian or regent) and with the authority conferred by Alexander's seal ring, summoned a new council, in the language of ancient legislators, "to which it was pleasing to divide the empire".

Antigonus One-Eye, who was commander of central Phrygia and responsible for keeping the route to Europe open, stayed where he was, in the fortress at Celaenae.

[12] Nevertheless, the partition took place forthwith, the divisions apparently being negotiated ad hoc, as Ptolemy was able to ask for and received the satrapy of Egypt.

Perdiccas believed he was carrying out Alexander's plans, extending the modified Persian Empire into Greece, western Asia and Africa.

[18] The second is Dexippus's History of events after Alexander (codex 82),[19] which itself seems to be based on Arrian's account; compare Arrian: Cappadocia, Paphlagonia, and the country on the shore of the Euxine as far as Trapezus (a Greek colony from Sinope), to Eumenes with Dexippus: Eumenes Cappadocia, Paphlagonia, and the shores of the Euxine as far as Trapezus (Trebizond).

It is possible there is a copying error in Justin's work; the name of a satrap often occurs adjacent to the satrapy that Diodorus allots them (but not directly associated with it).

Pelasgia does not appear to have been the name of a real Persian or Greek satrapy and the insertion of this word may have shifted the satraps by one place in the list, dislocating them.

One possible interpretation of the passage would be: Amyntas was allotted the Bactrians, Scythaeus the Sogdians, Nicanor; the Parthians, Philippus; the Hyrcanians, Phrataphernes; the Armenians (the Carmanians), Tleptolemus; the Persians, Peucestes; the Babylonians, Archon; the Pelasgians Arcesilaus, Mesopotamia.

By removing one (apparently meaningless) word and slightly altering the punctuation, five satraps now match the satrapy allotted to them in Diodorus.

Amyntas was allotted the Bactrians, Scythaeus the Sogdians, Nicanor the Parthians, Philippus the Hyrcanians, Phrataphernes the Armenians, Tlepolemus the Persians, Peucestes the Babylonians, Archon the Pelasgians, Arcesilaus, Mesopotamia.This passage seems to be directly derived from Diodorus, listing the satrapies in more-or-less the same order, cf.

He gave Arachosia and Cedrosia to Sibyrtius, Aria and Dranginê to Stasanor of Soli, Bactrianê and Sogdianê to Philip, Parthia and Hyrcania to Phrataphernes, Persia to Peucestes, Carmania to Tlepolemus, Media to Atropates, Babylonia to Archon, and Mesopotamia to Arcesilaüs.Pelasgia does not appear in any other accounts, and does not seem to have been a real satrapy; it is possible that the insertion of this word has caused some of the satraps to shift by one place in the interpretation of Justin's passage.Note 1 In addition, Armenia, also not mentioned in any other accounts as a satrapy may be a mistake for Carmania (which appears in the same position in Diodorus's list).

The equivalent passage is missing from Arrian, although it does appear in Dexippus – albeit with its own mistakes: Siburtius ruled the Arachosians and Gedrosians; Stasanor of Soli the Arei and Drangi; Philip the Sogdiani; Radaphernes the Hyrcanians; Neoptolemus the Carmanians; Peucestes the Persians ... Babylon was given to Seleucus, Mesopotamia to Archelaus.Radaphernes is presumably Phrataphernes, and Dexippus has possibly confused Tlepolemus (clearly named by Arrian, Justin and Diodorus) with Neoptolemus (another of Alexander's generals).