It is 304 BC and following 11 years of almost-constant conflict, the great climax to the Wars of
the Successors is fast approaching. Compared to previous fights, this bloody engagement
would overshadow all before it: The Battle of Ipsus.
Following his failure to capture the city of Rhodes, Demetrius set sail for Greece as
ordered by his father. Much had changed on the Greek mainland - Cassander was once again
active in the area and for the past 2 years the city of Athens had been fighting a war
against this Macedonian King. Although initially successful, by 304 BC Athenian resistance
was crumbling, and the city was besieged. Cassander had defeated the fleet of Athens
and blockaded it. Athenian capitulation seemed almost-certain.
But as Athens appeared doomed to fall, news reached Cassander that would alter his plans
completely: Demetrius had landed his greatly reinforced army at Aulis. Fearful of being
surrounded, Cassander quickly broke off the siege and headed back towards Macedonia. Yet
Demetrius managed to intercept his forces near the Kallidromo mountains and in the ensuing
engagement, 6,000 of Cassander’s Macedonians deserted. Humiliated, Cassander and his remaining
forces withdrew into Macedonia. Rather than pursuing, Demetrius now turned
his attention to affairs in central Greece. In the Peleponnese, the influence of Cassander
and Ptolemy was still formidable and not wanting to leave his forces exposed Demetrius launched
a full-scale campaign in the region and took both Cassander’s and Ptolemy’s holdings
in the Peloponnese . Demetrius now aimed to consolidate his new
gains. Not only did he declare the cities free, but Demetrius made one other critical
move. At the Isthmus near Corinth, Demetrius was proclaimed ‘Commander of the Greeks’,
following in the footsteps of both Philip II and Alexander the Great. Nearly all the
mainland Greek cities south of Thessaly, except for Sparta, were incorporated into this grand
alliance and contributed troops to the young Antigonid’s army. His control of Greece
was now secured. Demetrius married the Molossian princess,
Deidameia and thus allied himself with the Epirote League to the West. And no now could
look north towards his goal: Macedonia. Cassander had been watching Demetrius’ actions
with growing alarm. An invasion was only a matter of time. Desiring an end to the conflict
Cassander sent envoys to Antigonus in Syria offering peace. Antigonus however had no intentions
of stopping: there would be no peace unless Cassander gave up all his belongings to the
Antigonid kingdom. The message reached Cassander in 302 BC and
he naturally refused. War was inevitable and he now called for aid from his neighbouring
Macedonian ruler in Thrace – Lysimachus, whose role in the previous wars had been almost
non-existent, as he been prioritised with the lingering barbarian threat across the
Danube River. Now however, he travelled to Pella to aid Cassander. They dispatched envoys
to strengthen the alliance against Antigonus further – to Ptolemy in Egypt and Seleucus
in Asia. The Grand Coalition against Antigonus was beginning to take shape. Ptolemy quickly
accepted the offer and prepared his army once more. Seleucus’ reply, however, would take
much longer to reach them: At the time, Seleucus was far away in India,
campaigning against the Mauryan King Chandragupta. The war did not go well for Seleucus and after
suffering a defeat against Chandragupta he was forced to give up his most eastern lands
to the Mauryan Empire. In return Seleucus received a staggering 500 Indian War elephants.
With these beasts in tow, Seleucus began to march back to the heartlands of his empire
in Mesopotamia. Not long after he departed India, the envoys
from Cassander, finally reached Seleucus’ army and, asked for his assistance. Seleucus
accepted the call and commenced his long journey towards Asia Minor.
Meanwhile back in the West, the first move against Antigonus had been made. Two armies,
under the command of Lysimachus and Cassander’s best general, Prepelaus had launched a surprise
attack on Antigonus, invading Asia Minor and quickly capturing much Antigonid territory
in Western Asia Minor . Cassander himself had remained in Macedonia to defend against
any attack from Demetrius. Antigonus had been residing at his capital
of Antigonia when he heard of Lysimachus’ unexpected invasion. Although now eighty years
old, he quickly prepared to lead his army once more. Arriving in Asia Minor in the autumn
of 302 BC, Antigonus pursued Lysimachus’ forces around the Anatolian plateau. Eventually
however, winter descended and both forces retired to await the Spring.
It would be then, however, that news reached Antigonus that would turn his plans upside
down. In record timing Seleucus and his great army had arrived in Asia Minor. If more information
on his march survived, we would likely regard it as one of the most fascinating military
achievements in history – eclipsing that of even the great Hannibal Barca. Pressing
on, Seleucus soon reached Lysimachus’, and they united their armies.
As for Ptolemy, he and his army at that time were besieging the Antigonid city of Sidon
in Syria. He would advance no further however, as a false rumour had reached his ears that
the armies of Seleucus and Lysimachus had been crushed by Antigonus. Believing the rumours,
Ptolemy returned to Egypt with his army. Back in Asia Minor, realising that he was
now greatly outnumbered thanks to Seleucus’ arrival, Antigonus sent word to Demetrius,
ordering him and his army to cross over from Greece and join him for the impending showdown.
Demetrius duly obeyed and having landed at Ephesus, quickly recaptured many of the cities
on the coast that had defected to Lysimachus; he then joined his father at Celaenae. With
both sides substantially reinforced, they now awaited the spring and the climactic battle
that would soon occur. As the winter subsided, on a plain near the
town of Ipsus in Phyrgia, the two great armies collided. Antigonus had in his army 70,000
infantry, mostly heavily-armed pikemen battle-hardened from many previous campaigns. These he deployed
in the centre, along with the best mercenaries money could buy. On his right wing, Antigonus
placed Demetrius, in charge of 5,000 of their finest cavalry, among whom was the young,
exiled Molossian king Pyrrhus. On his left, Antigonus deployed the remaining 5,000 of
his horsemen; and in front of his line, Antigonus placed his 75 war elephants, with light infantry
stationed close-by protecting the beasts. Seleucus and Lysimachus’ army was similarly
large. In their centre, they deployed their own infantry, 64,000 strong. Many once again
were armed in the Macedonian manner, although Seleucus’ infantry consisted mostly of various
Asian levies, hailing from his Kingdom’s heartlands in Mesopotamia, to Bactria and
the Hindu Kush in the East. They equally-divided their cavalry on both
flanks, placing 7,500 on each wing. As for his elephants, Seleucus deployed a portion
of them in front of the army line. The rest, he kept in reserve. Seleucus also had a number
of scythed chariots, but they were not used. The battle commenced with an elephant charge
by both sides, with the infantry following up close behind. Meanwhile, Demetrius ordered
his elite cavalry wing to charge their opposing horsemen, which were under the command of
Seleucus’ son, Antiochus. Quickly overwhelmed, Antiochus and his cavalry retreated from the
fight and Demetrius, chased them. In the center the phalanxes had engaged and very quickly
the experienced foot soldiers of Antigonus’ began to push those of Lysimachus and Seleucus
back. An Antigonid victory looked likely. It would be then, however, that Seleucus used
his ‘secret weapon.’ Having finally called off the pursuit, Demetrius reorganised his
cavalry and started to return to the battlefield, intending to crash into the enemy infantry
line from behind. Seleucus however had anticipated the move; as soon as he saw Demetrius returning,
he deployed his 300 war elephants in reserve to block the young Antigonid’s path.
Demetrius’ cavalry was blocked and powerless – their mounts unwilling to charge directly
into elephants; and Seleucus now issued the fateful order.
He ordered their light cavalry, equipped with javelins and bows, to wheel-round onto Antigonus’
now-exposed right wing and hail a rain of missiles into the dense Antigonid phalanx
from its weak flank. Outflanked and unprotected, Antigonus’ army soon crumbled.
Antigonus himself remained on the field until the end. Even as the enemy forces approached,
he never gave up hope that Demetrius would return and turn the tide of battle. Yet Demetrius
never came, contained by Seleucus’ great beasts. Never losing confidence in his son,
Antigonus perished in a shower of enemy javelins. The man who at multiple times in the past
20 years had controlled great swathes of Alexander the Great’s empire, was no more.
There ended the Battle of Ipsus. Antigonus lay dead on the field and his son, despairing,
fled to Greece. From there Demetrius and his descendants would continue the fight, eventually
taking control of Macedonia for the next 100 years.
Antigonus had been very close to achieving the nigh-impossible goal of reuniting Alexander’s
Empire. With his death, a new epoch began and Alexander’s former empire was forever
fragmented between the remaining Successors, never to be reunited again.
As for the victors of Ipsus, they enjoyed the spoils of war, dividing Antigonus’ vast
lands in Asia Minor and Syria between them. Yet almost straight away, new quarrels stirred
up. In Syria, immediately, the seeds for a new dispute between Seleucus and Ptolemy arose.
Each would claim control, with neither giving ground. War once again loomed.
Ipsus was the end of one era of Hellenistic warfare, but also the beginning of the next,
and in our future videos, we will discuss the Pyrrhic, Macedonian and Syrian Wars, so
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