This article is about the specific polity Antigonid Macedonia and therefore only includes events related to its territory and not to its possessions or colonies. If you are interested in the possession, this is the link to the article about the nation which includes all possessions as well as all the different incarnations of the nation.
If you are looking for the page with the statistics about this polity you can find it here:All Statistics
Was the continuation of the Macedonian Empire initially in Asia minor and part of the eastern provinces after the Second War of the Diadochi. The Antigonid dynasty was later able to acquire Macedon and Greece that became the core of its territory. Antigonid Macedonia later fell to Rome after the Macedonian Wars.
Establishment
April 315 BC: Antigonus controlled Asia Minor and the eastern provinces.
April 315 BC: The kings of Cyprus, including Praxippos of Lapithos and Kyrenia, the Poumiaton of Kition and Stasioikos of Marion, allied themselves with Antigonus.
Chronology
Interactive Chronologies with maps are available in the section Changes Navigation
Were a series of conflicts that were fought between the generals of Alexander the Great, known as the Diadochi, over who would rule his empire following his death.
1.1.Second War of the Diadochi
Was the conflict between the coalition of Polyperchon (as regent of the Macedonian Empire), Olympias and Eumenes and the coalition of Cassander, Antigonus, Ptolemy and Lysimachus following the death of Cassander's father, Antipater (the old regent).
1.1.1.Consolidation of the borders after the Second War of the Diadochi
Were a series of events and military operations after the Second war of the Diadochi that led to the consolidation of the borders between the successor states of the Macedonian Empire.
January 314 BC: Ptolemy sent military support to his allies, providing troops under the command of Seleucus and Menelaus. Lapithos-Kyrenia was occupied after a siege and Marion capitulated. Diodorus Siculus tells us that Amathus was forced to provide hostages, while Kition was laid siege to in about 315 BC.
1.2.Third War of the Diadochi
Was a war between Macedonian Generals that saw Ptolemy, Lysimachus and Cassander fight against Antigonus.
April 314 BC: Ptolemy, Lysimachus and Cassander were unwilling to see Antigonus reign whole Asia, thus formed an alliance against him. Antigonos marched into Pheonicia and besieged Tyre.
September 314 BC: Antigonus conquered Joppa and Gaza.
November 314 BC: Cyprus conquered by Ptolemaic Kingdom.
January 313 BC: In 314 BC, King Cassander of Macedon took the city of Stratos.
January 313 BC: Death of Peithon, who was one of the Diadochi. Media fell under the rule of Macedonian general Seleucus.
September 313 BC: Antigpnos conquers Tyros.
September 313 BC: Aristodemus wins the Aitolians as allies and drives Alexander from the Peloponnese.
November 313 BC: Demetrios is appointed governor in Syria.
November 312 BC: Battle of Gaza: Ptolemy defeats Demetrios.
January 311 BC: By the end of the 4th century BC, Drangiana was part of the Seleucid Empire.
April 311 BC: Antigonus marches into Syria, Ptolemy retreats to Egypt.
1.3.Consolidation of the borders after the Third War of the Diadochi
Were a series of events and military operations after the Third war of the Diadochi that led to the consolidation of the borders between the successor states of the Macedonian Empire.
January 299 BC: Philip V of Macedon seized Zakynthos in the early 3rd century BC.
January 293 BC: Pyrrhus, King of Epirus, after Pyrrhus took control of the border region of Ambracia.
January 293 BC: In 294 BC, after forty-three years of semi-autonomy under Macedonian suzerainty, Ambracia was given by the son of Cassander to Pyrrhus, king of Epirus.
January 293 BC: Cyprus came once again under Ptolemaic control in 294 BC.
January 293 BC: Seleucus took most of Cilicia.
January 293 BC: Cassander died in 298 BC, and his sons, Antipater and Alexander, proved weaklings. After quarreling with his older brother, Alexander V called in Demetrius who invaded, killed Alexander, and seized control of Macedon for himself.
January 293 BC: While Demetrius consolidated his control of mainland Greece, his outlying territories were invaded and captured by Lysimachus, who recovered western Anatolia.
January 292 BC: Demetrios (Antigonid Dynasty) occupies Thrace.
February 292 BC: Demetrios (Antigonid Dynasty) leave Thrace.
January 291 BC: Pyrrhus marches through Thessaly to Thermopylae.
February 291 BC: Counter-offensive against Pyrrhus by Antigonid ruler Demetrius, who conquers Boeotia and passes through Epirus.
January 289 BC: Demetrius I of Macedon conquers Thebes. The city was put under siege by King Demetrius I of Macedon after it had revolted against Macedonian rule.
January 288 BC: Thebes was occupied by Demetrius of Macedon after a revolt. The Macedonian army left Thebes after executing a few leaders of the rebellion.
1.4.Babylonian War
Was a conflict fought in 311-309 BC between Antigonus I Monophthalmus and Seleucus I Nicator, ending in a victory for Seleucus.
June 311 BC: The Babylonian War was a conflict fought between the Diadochi kings Antigonus I Monophthalmus and Seleucus I Nicator. Seleucus, reinforced with Macedonian veterans from Harran, reached his former capital Babylon. He was soon recognized as the new ruler.
December 311 BC: Antigonus' satraps in Media and Aria, Nicanor and Euagoras, now decided to intervene with an army of 10,000 infantry and 7,000 horsemen, but Seleucus and an army of 3,000 infantry and 400 cavalry had been waiting for them near the Tigris since September. By hiding his men in one of the marshes and attacking by night, Seleucus was able to defeat the Macedonian soldiers in the army of Nicanor and Euagoras, after which the Iranian soldiers decided to side with the ruler of Babylonia.
June 310 BC: Seleucus drives Demetrios out of Babylon.
June 310 BC: News of the defeat of Nicanor and Euagoras must have reached Antigonus at about the time of his signing the Peace of the Dynasts (December 311 BC). He ordered his son Demetrius Poliorcetes to restore order; he arrived in the early spring of 310 BC.
September 310 BC: The forces of general Antigonus leave Babylon.
November 310 BC: Without any problems, Seleucus could move through the Zagros Mountains, occupy Ecbatana (the capital of Media), and continue to Susa (the capital of Elam). He now controlled southern Iraq and the greater part of Iran.
April 309 BC: Antigonos is repulsed from Babylon.
January 308 BC: The victor now moved to the east and reached the Indus valley, where he concluded a treaty with Chandragupta Maurya. The Mauryan emperor received the eastern parts of the Seleucid Empire, which included Afghanistan, Pakistan and west India, and gave Seleucus a formidable force of five hundred war elephants.
1.5.Fourth War of the Diadochi
Was a war between Macedonian generals that saw Ptolemy, Lysimachus and Cassander fight against Antigonus and Demetrios.
September 308 BC: Ptolemy seizes Sicyon and Corinth.
January 307 BC: When the Macedonian commander Alexander was murdered in Sicyon in 314 BC, his wife Cratesipolis took control of the city and ruled it for six years, until she was induced by king Ptolemy I to hand it over to the Egyptians.
April 306 BC: Battle of Salamis: Demetrios defeats Ptolemy by land and sea and conquers Cyprus.
April 304 BC: Military offensive of Cassander in Aetolia and in Athens.
September 304 BC: Demetrios (Antigonid Dynasty) liberates Chalkidiki, Boeotia, and Aetolia.
January 302 BC: In 303 BC Sicyon was conquered by Demetrius Poliorcetes.
November 302 BC: Cassander's offensive in Thessaly against Demetrios.
January 301 BC: But now Cassander called in aid from his allies, and Anatolia was invaded by Lysimachus.
January 301 BC: Demetrius forced to leave Thessaly.
April 301 BC: Ptolemy annexes Coile-Syria.
September 301 BC: Battle of Ipsos: Antigonus falls, Seleucus annexes Syria and Cappadocia, Lysimachus annexes Hellespont, Phrygia and Ionia. Cilicia went to Cassander's brother Pleistarchus (as an indipendent reign). Demetrius, retained control of Cyprus, the Peloponnese, and many of the Aegean islands, as well as the Aegean coast.
1.6.Fifth War of the Diadochi
Was a war between Macedonian Generals that saw Ptolemy, Lysimachus and Seleucus fight against Demetrios.
January 285 BC: Demetrius was ultimately captured by Seleucus, drinking himself to death two years later. Lysimachus and Pyrrhus divided the Kingdom between them.
1.7.Consolidation of the borders after the Fifth War of the Diadochi
Were a series of events and military operations after the Fifth war of the Diadochi that led to the consolidation of the borders between the successor states of the Macedonian Empire.
January 284 BC: Pyrrhos was a Greek general and statesman who ruled the Kingdom of Epirus. Antigonos Gonatas was a Macedonian nobleman and king of Macedonia. Lysimachus was a general and successor of Alexander the Great, ruling over Thrace and parts of Asia Minor. In -285, Lysimachus defeated Pyrrhos and Antigonos Gonatas, annexing Macedonia to his own kingdom.
Were military confrontations between the Antigonid Dynasty, one of the successors of the Macedonian Empire, and the Nabataean Kingdom.
January 311 BC: Antigonus appointed one of his officers, Athenaeus, to attack the Nabataeans. Athenaeus marched with 4000 men and 600 horsemen into Petra.
February 311 BC: The macedonians were expelled by "an 8,000 Nabataean camel cavalry force".
Was a war of succession that happened in the Bosporan Kingdom somewhere between 311 and 308 BCE and lasted for about a year.
January 309 BC: In 310-309 BC King Aripharnes took part in the Bosporan Civil War.
Were a series of wars fought by the Roman Republic in Illyria (the Adriatic coast of the Balkanic Peninsula) first to eradicate piracy and then to conquer the region.
4.1.First Illyrian War
Was a war fought by the Romans in Illyria mainly against the Ardiaean Kingdom.
January 249 BC: The Ardiaean Kingdom originated in the III Century BC.
Were a series of six wars between the Seleucid Empire and the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt, successor states to Alexander the Great's empire, during the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC mainyl over the region then called Coele-Syria.
5.1.Third Syrian War
Was one of the wars between the Seleucid Kingdom and the Ptolemaic Kingdom over the domain in the Levant.
January 245 BC: Ptolemaic forces conquered several cities of the coast of Propontic Thrace during the Third Syrian War around 246 BC.
Was a war fought between Sparta and the Achaean League for the control of the Peloponnese.
January 221 BC: After the Cleomenean War in -222, the whole territory of Sparta was taken over by Sparta. This war was fought between Sparta, led by King Cleomenes III, and the Achaean League. The conflict resulted in Sparta gaining control over its own territory once again.
January 221 BC: Antigonus III Doson of Macedon leaves Sparta having militarly occupied the city for a short time.
6.1.Spartan Domination of the Peloponnese
Was a Spartan campaign in the Peloponnese.
January 225 BC: In 226 BC, the citizens of Mantinea appealed to Cleomenes to expel the Achaeans from the city. One night, he and his troops crept into the citadel and removed the Achaean garrison before marching off to nearby Tegea.
6.2.Macedonian intervention
Was a Macedonian military campaign against Sparta during the Cleomenean war.
January 224 BC: Antigonus sent 1,500 men under the command of Aratus to sail to Epidaurus and, from there, he marched to Argos.
January 222 BC: In the early spring of 223 BC, Antigonus advanced upon Tegea. He was joined there by the Achaeans and together they laid siege to it. The Tegeans held out for a few days before being forced to surrender by the Macedonians' siege weapons.
January 222 BC: Antigonus of Macedonia proceeded to capture Mantinea, Heraea, and Telphusa, which confined Cleomenes to Laconia.
January 222 BC: Cleomenes of Sparta conquers Megalopolis.
September 222 BC: The Battle of Sellasia took place during the summer of 222 BC between Macedon and the Achaean League, led by Antigonus III Doson, and Sparta under the command of King Cleomenes III. The battle was fought at Sellasia on the northern frontier of Laconia and ended in a Macedonian-Achaean victory. Antigonus' army occupied Sparta.
Was an internal conflict fought from around 220 BC to about 216 BC between two coalitions of Cretan city-states, led by Cnossus and Polyrrhenia respectively.
January 215 BC: In 220 BC Crete was tormented by a war between two coalitions of cities. As a result, the Macedonian king Philip V gained hegemony over the island.
Were a seris of conflicts between the Roman Republic and Antigonid Macedonia over control of Greece and the eastern Mediterranean Basin. .
8.1.First Macedonian War
Was a war fought by Rome, allied (after 211 BC) with the Aetolian League and Attalus I of Pergamon, against Philip V of Macedon, contemporaneously with the Second Punic War (218-201 BC) against Carthage. There were no decisive engagements, and the war ended in a stalemate.
January 212 BC: Lissos was besieged and successfully taken by King Philip V of Macedon.
8.1.1.Macedonian Attack in Illyria
Was a military campaign led by Philip V of Macedon in Illyria during the first Macedonian War.
September 214 BC: In the late summer of 214 BC, Philip of Macedon attempted a new invasion of Illyria by sea, with a fleet of 125 bireme lembi. He first besieged Apollonia, then went up the Aoo (today's river Voiussa), and even attacked Oricum, which he occupied without encountering any difficulties.
January 213 BC: Roman general Levinus set off with the fleet and army towards Oricum, managing to conquer the city after a brief battle against the garrison left by Philip V of Macedon.
January 211 BC: Philip of Macedon finally managed to gain access to the Adriatic by capturing the city of Lissus and its citadel.
8.1.2.Campaign of Laevinus in Greece
Was a Roman military campaign in Greece led by Marcus Valerius Laevinus during the first Macedonian War.
January 209 BC: The Macedonian king probably took Phalara.
January 209 BC: A treaty was signed by the Romans with the Aetolians in 211 BC. The territories conquered by the Romans in Greece would go to them. Roman general Laevinus took possession of Zakynthos.
January 207 BC: The Macedonians took Thronium, followed by Tithronium and Drymaea north of the Cephissus river, at that point controlling all of Locris.
January 207 BC: Macedonian conquest of Oreus.
January 207 BC: In 208 BC the Roman fleet, made up of 35 ships from Pergamon and 25 Roman ships, failed to conquer Lemnos, but instead occupied and plundered the hinterland of the island of Peparethos, present-day Skopelos.
January 207 BC: Philip of Macedon managed to destroy Thermos, the capital of the Aetolians (207 BC).
January 204 BC: After another season of fighting, in 206 BC, the members of the Aetolian League surrendered and, without the consent of Rome, signed a separate peace on the terms imposed on them by Philip of Macedon. With no more allies in all of Greece, but having nonetheless achieved their objective of preventing Philip from helping Hannibal, the Romans were now willing to sign peace. A treaty was signed at Phoenix in 205 BC, the so-called Peace of Phoenix, thus ending the First Macedonian War.
8.2.Second Macedonian War
Was a war fought by Rome, allied with the Kingdoms of Pergamons and Rhodes, against Antigonid Macedonia.
January 203 BC: In the last years of the 3rd century, Macedonia under king Philip V began a renewed expansion to the east, exploiting the weakness of the Ptolemies after the death of Ptolemy IV.
January 203 BC: In 205 BC. Ptolemy IV Pharaoh of Egypt died, leaving his six-year-old son Ptolemy V Epiphanes on the throne. Philip V of Macedonia and Antiochus III the Great, king of the Seleucid Empire, decided to exploit the young pharaoh's weakness by stipulating a secret pact which promised the Macedonian king hegemony in the Aegean and Antiochus hegemony over Coele-Syria, Cilicia, the Phenicia and Palestine. Philip first focused on the Greek city-states in Thrace and the Dardanelles area. His advance in the area, with the conquest of Cio, alarmed Rhodes and Pergamum.
January 197 BC: In -198, the Roman general Flaminino launched a military campaign against King Philip V of Macedon in the regions south of Thessaly. The campaign was successful, with Philip being forced to retreat to Thessaly as a result of Flaminino's aggressive tactics.
January 196 BC: The Romans defeated the Macedonians a first time in the battle of Aous and a second time, in June 197 BC, in the subsequent battle of Cynocephalus. At that point Philip V was forced to negotiate peace with Rome. Philip was forced to accept the withdrawal of the Macedonian troops from the newly conquered cities in Thrace and Asia Minor, and to abandon all of Greece.
8.3.Third Macedonian War
Was a war fought by Rome against Antigonid Macedonia. The war was won by Rome, and Macedonia was divided in four client states of Rome.
January 170 BC: Perseus marched to the land of the Perrhaebi in the northernmost district of Thessaly and seized all the main towns north of the River Peneus, which crosses northern Thessaly: Cyretiae, Mylae, Elatia and Gonnus.
January 169 BC: Epirus, on the west coast of Greece, went over to the Macedonians.
June 169 BC: In -169, Quintus Marcius, a Roman military commander, led a daring expedition into Macedon through the challenging terrain of the Olympus range. This feat demonstrated his strategic prowess and bravery in the service of the Roman Republic.
January 168 BC: Perseus moved to the land of the Penestae (in southern Illyria) and went on to Stubera.
June 168 BC: Nigdelis, P. III. Roman Macedonia (168 BC-AD 284). Pp.51-53
Was fought by King Philip V of Macedon, the Aetolian League, many Cretan cities (of which Olous and Hierapytna were the most important) and Spartan pirates against the forces of Rhodes and later Attalus I of Pergamum, Byzantium, Cyzicus, Athens, and Knossos.
January 204 BC: Philip captured and razed Cius as well as its neighbour Myrleia.
January 204 BC: Philip handed these cities over to his brother-in-law, the King of Bithynia, Prusias I.
January 200 BC: Philip Macedon seized the cities of Iasos, Bargylia, Euromus and Pedasa in quick succession.
January 200 BC: He took the island of Samos from Ptolemy V.
January 200 BC: Philip of Macedon seized the city of Myus and gave it to the Magnesians.
January 200 BC: The Macedonians captured Thyatira.
January 199 BC: The macedonian hegemenoy over Crete lasted to the end of the Cretan War (205-200 BC).
January 199 BC: Philip attacked and occupied the cities in Thrace which still belonged to Ptolemy, Maroneia, Cypsela, Doriscus, Serrheum and Aemus.
January 199 BC: In -200, the Macedonians, led by King Philip V of Macedon, advanced on the Thracian Chersonese and captured several cities including Perinthus, Sestos, Elaeus, Alopeconnesus, Callipolis, and Madytus. This expansion of territory was part of Philip V's efforts to strengthen his control over the region.
January 199 BC: The city of Skyathos was destroyed by Philip V of Macedon in 200 BC.
January 199 BC: The Ptolemaic Kingdom was captured by Philip V of Macedon in 200 BC.
January 199 BC: Rhodes annexed eastern Crete.
Were a series of succesful military campaigns by Antiochus III to expand Selecuid territories in Asia Minor.
10.1.Conquest of territories of Pergamon
Was a military campaign led by Antiochus III the Great against the Kingdom of Pergamon.
January 197 BC: Taking advantage of the Second Macedonian War between Rome and Philip V, Antiochos led an ambitious policy which led him to intervene in Asia Minor and Thrace with the intention, it seems, of restoring the empire of Seleucus. It clashes with the kingdom of Pergamum from 198 BC and occupies the territories taken by Attale I in Achaios, without Eumenes II being able to intervene. He also got along with Prusias of Bithynia, to whom he offered a portion of Phrygia.
10.2.Conquest of the territories in Asia minor up to the the Hellespont
Was a military campaign led by Seleucid ruler Antiochus III the Great that resulted in conquests up to the Hellespont.
January 196 BC: In the spring of 197, Seleucid ruler Antiochos III reached the Hellespont and then occupied the Straits, subjugating the Greek cities that were autonomous or formerly under Antigonid authority. He made Ephesus his main naval base in the Aegean Sea. In Ionia its successes are more limited: Miletus and Magnesia of the Meander remain independent.
10.3.Conquest of Thracia
Was a succesful military campaign led by Seleucid ruler Antiochus III in Thrace.
January 195 BC: Seleucid ruler Antiochus conquered Thrace.
Was a military conflict between two coalitions led by the Roman Republic and the Seleucid Empire. The fighting ended with a clear Roman victory. In the Treaty of Apamea, the Seleucids were forced to give up Asia Minor, which fell to Roman allies.
January 191 BC: Seleucid Invasion of Greece up to the Thermopylae.
January 190 BC: Athamania is conquered by the Macedonians.
January 190 BC: The Roman general Marcus Fulvius Nobilior finally conquered Zakynthos in 191 BC for Rome.
11.1.Treaty of Apamea
Was a peace treaty conducted in 188 BC between the Roman Republic and Antiochus III, ruler of the Seleucid Empire. It ended the Roman-Seleucid War.
January 187 BC: The Romans sent an army to Greece which defeated Antiochus' army at Thermopylae. This defeat proved crushing, and the Seleucids were forced to retreat from Greece.
January 187 BC: King Amynander returns and frees Athamania from the Macedonians.
January 301 BC: Pharnavaz, victorious in a power struggle, became the first king of Iberia (c.302- c.237 BC).
January 251 BC: Cassander was an antigonid king.
January 251 BC: Stratos fell to the Aetolians.
January 251 BC: Antiochus II campaigned in the Thracian interior in around 252 BC.
January 245 BC: Ptolemaic forces conquered several cities of the coast of Propontic Thrace during the Third Syrian War around 246 BC.
January 229 BC: Dropion: last known Paeonian king in 230 BC, of a dwindling kingdom.
January 216 BC: When Philip V rose to the Macedonian throne. The skirmishing with Dardani began in 220-219 BC and he managed to capture Bylazora from them in 217 BC.
January 208 BC: In 209 BC, a force of Dardani led by Aeropus, a claimant to the Macedonian throne, seized control of Lychnidus and plundered Macedonia. This event marked a significant shift in power dynamics within the region, as the Kingdom of Dardania expanded its territory at the expense of Macedonia.
February 208 BC: In 209 BC, a force of Dardani led by Aeropus, a pretender to the Macedonian throne, captured Lychnidus and looted Macedonia. This event occurred during the period of the Antigonid dynasty in the Kingdom of Macedonia, a time marked by political instability and power struggles.
January 199 BC: In the 3rd century BC, colonies on the Dobrujan coast paid tribute to the basilei Zalmodegikos and Moskon, who probably also ruled northern Dobruja.
January 182 BC: The Macedonians defeated the Odrysians and other local tribes and conquered Philipopolis.
January 181 BC: The Odrysians, a Thracian tribe ruled by King Teres III, reconquered Philippopolis (modern Plovdiv).
January 180 BC: While in 181, Philip was still climbing the Haemus in northern Thrace, his Thracian empire collapsed with his death two years later.
January 178 BC: While in 181, Philip was still climbing the Haemus in northern Thrace, his Thracian empire collapsed with his death two years later.
Disestablishment
January 168 BC: Perseus moved to the land of the Penestae (in southern Illyria) and went on to Stubera.
June 168 BC: Nigdelis, P. III. Roman Macedonia (168 BC-AD 284). Pp.51-53
Selected Sources
Detorakis, T. (1994): History of Crete, Iraklion, p. 74
Detorakis, T. (1994): History of Crete, Iraklion, pp. 76-80
Piganiol, A. (1989): Le conquiste dei romani, Milan (Italy), p. 236
Piganiol, A. (1989): Le conquiste dei romani, Milan (Italy), p. 237
Polybius, The Histories, IV 53–55
Polybius: The Histories, VIII, 15-16
Titus Livius: Ab Urbe Condita, XXVIII, 5
Titus Livius: Ab Urbe Condita, XXIV, 40.1-3
Titus Livius: Ab Urbe Condita, XXIV, 40.4-6
Titus Livius: Ab Urbe Condita, XXVIII, 8.
Antigonid Macedonia
