The Wars of the Diadochi ("successors") were a series of conflicts fought from 322 to 275 BC among the generals, family members and former companions of Alexander the Great following his death in 323 BC without a clear heir. Beginning with the Partition of Babylon, which divided Alexander's empire into satrapies under rival commanders including Perdiccas, Antigonus, Ptolemy, Seleucus, Lysimachus and Cassander, the wars unfolded across roughly four decades of shifting coalitions, betrayals and set-piece battles including Paraitacene, Gabiene and Ipsus. The fighting eliminated Alexander's own bloodline, including his son Alexander IV, and by its end had fractured the unified empire into the rival Hellenistic successor kingdoms, the Antigonid dynasty in Macedon, the Ptolemaic dynasty in Egypt and the Seleucid Empire across much of Asia, that would dominate the eastern Mediterranean and Near East for the following two centuries until Rome's later conquests absorbed them.
Facts
CombatantsAlexander the Great's successors, the Diadochi (Antigonus, Ptolemy, Seleucus, Lysimachus, Cassander), in shifting coalitions 1 OutcomeAlexander's empire fragmented into the Hellenistic kingdoms of Ptolemaic Egypt, the Seleucid realm and Antigonid Macedon 1 Classification
Conflict Type Connections
Associated With
The Companion Cavalry, Alexander's elite Macedonian horse, remained a core striking force for rival Diadochi armies in the succession wars
Commanders and Forces
Alexander the Great's Macedonian generals (the Diadochi) fought each other for his empire in a series of wars from 322 to 275 BC
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Wars of the Diadochi
WikipediaLead section (start year)
The Wars of the Diadochi were a series of conflicts fought between the generals of Alexander the Great, known as the Diadochi, over who would rule his empire following his death.
Lead section (end year)
The Wars of the Diadochi were a series of conflicts fought between the generals of Alexander the Great, known as the Diadochi, over who would rule his empire following his death.
Lead section (combatants)
The Wars of the Diadochi were a series of conflicts fought between the generals of Alexander the Great, known as the Diadochi, over who would rule his empire following his death.
Lead section (outcome)
The Wars of the Diadochi were a series of conflicts fought between the generals of Alexander the Great, known as the Diadochi, over who would rule his empire following his death.
- Internal succession conflict among Alexander's own generals over his empire, per the entity's own sourced description.
View the Source Frequently Asked Questions
How long did the Wars of the Diadochi last?
Fifty years, from 322 to 272 BC.
The Wars of the Diadochi ran for fifty years, from 322 BC, almost immediately after Alexander the Great's death, to 272 BC. The struggle passed through several distinct stages: the Battle of Ipsus in 301 BC established the Ptolemaic and Seleucid dynasties as the two major powers of the Hellenistic world, while the contest for Macedon and Greece was not settled in favor of the Antigonid dynasty until 272 BC, with the death of Pyrrhus of Epirus.
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