Following the debacle at Gaza in 312 BC, Antigonid dominance in the Near East is in jeopardy.
Enemies to the West, East and South surround Antigonus and his son Demetrius, but they
still have enough supporters to push back, so the fate of the Alexander’s Empire is
still in balance and the winner of the wars of his successors is undecided.
With his army shattered at Gaza, Demetrius moved north to Cilicia; Ptolemy now pressed
his advantage, reclaiming territories as far north as Tyre.
As for Seleucus, Ptolemy gave his ally some troops to head east and reassert his authority
in Babylon.
News that Demetrius returned to Northern Syria with a small army reached Ptolemy when he
was in Coele Syria.
Believing Demetrius was finished, Ptolemy ordered one of his generals, Cilles, to lead
an army north and crush the remnants of the Antigonid’s forces.
This proved careless, as Demetrius successfully ambushed Cilles’ army near a town named
Myus, capturing 7,000 troops and much wealth in the process.
Buoyed with this victory, Demetrius returned to his base and requested reinforcements from
his father, Antigonus.
Antiogonus has defeated Asander’s remaining forces in Caria and taken control of Asia’s
Aegean coastline.
On receiving Demetrius’ letter, he once again headed east.
In late 312 BC, he arrived in Syria and, joining with Demetrius, he quickly recaptured all
the lands that had been lost, forcing Ptolemy to retreat to Egypt.
Antigonus followed in pursuit, arriving at the border of Ptolemy’s domain with over
80,000 men.
Yet his gaze would be quickly diverted to the South-East where the Nabataeans were hostile
to him.
Antigonus decided to launch a campaign against these people to secure his flanks.
His son besieged Petra, but the campaign proved costly, time-consuming and indecisive.
In the end an agreement was reached with no real gains on either side.
In the fall of 311 BC, Antigonus received news that Seleucus defeated a small Antigonid
army in Iran and recaptured Babylon.
Upon hearing this, Antigonus shelved any plans to invade Egypt; the threat of losing his
eastern provinces to Seleucus was too great.
Desiring to march on Babylon, Antigonus therefore proposed peace-talks with his fellow Successors
– most notably Cassander and Lysimachus.
Ptolemy was later also included and, in the end, a treaty was reached and peace agreed.
The ramifications of this peace would be far-reaching, most notably in Macedonia, as the governor
– Cassander was not eager to share his power.
He ordered the execution of Alexander the Great’s son, his mother Rhoxane.
The Argead dynasty of Alexander and Philip had been wiped out; the consequences would
soon be clear for all to see.
Back in Syria, Antigonus was now free to focus on Seleucus and he dispatched Demetrius with
19,000 men to tackle this problem.
In the beginning of 310 BC, Demetrius and his army reached Babylon.
Yet Seleucus had already left the city with most of his forces and the city was captured
without a fight.
One of the citadels however remained in Seleucus’ control and defiantly resisted.
Not being able to afford a lengthy siege, Demetrius left 6,000 of his troops under the
command of his general, Archelaus, to continue the siege while he returned west, to his impatient
father.
Seleucus however, proved a dogged opponent and later that year, Antigonus was forced
to lead an army east to fight this enemy.
Our knowledge of this war, dubbed the Babylonian War, is almost non-existent.
What we do know however, is following Antigonus’ sacking of Babylon, Seleucus defeated Antigonus
in a major battle in 308 BC and a peace was agreed.
In this act, Antigonus’ hold on the East was severed and the ageing general returned
to the West.
Meanwhile, a new threat had been growing for Antigonus: his old adversary Ptolemy had been
secretly intriguing against him, while gaining territory and influence in the Aegean.
Determined to reassert his power, Antigonus ordered his son Demetrius to cross over from
Ephesus and take Greece from Cassander.
The short-lived peace was at end.
Demetrius landed at Athens in 307 BC, quickly gaining control of the region.
Further successes were to follow for the young Antigonid at both Megara and Munichya.
However, Antigonus was eager to weaken Ptolemy by taking his most-prized possessions – Cyprus.
So, Demetrius was ordered to leave Greece with his army and return east.
In early 306 BC, he departed Athens with most of his army and headed towards Cyprus.
On his way, Demetrius stopped at Rhodes, hoping to add the formidable Rhodian navy to his
forces.
The Rhodians however, refused, claiming neutrality.
Demetrius continued east and soon reached Cilicia, where more troops awaited him, sent
from his father.
Reinforced, Antigonus’ son crossed over to Cyprus, landing on the Karpass peninsula
with 15,000 infantry and 400 cavalry in the Spring of 306 BC.
He also had 110 triremes, 53 heavy warships and many troop transports.
Demetrius quickly solidified his position on the island, capturing the towns of Carpasia
and Urania.
He then turned to his main goal: The city of Salamis.
As Demetrius approached Salamis, the Ptolemaic forces stationed there - some 12,000 infantry
and 800 cavalry, under the command of Ptolemy’s brother, Menelaus - were awaiting his arrival
on a nearby plain.
Battle ensued, and Demetrius won the victory, killing 1,000 and capturing 3,000 of Menelaus’
forces.
With his remaining forces, Menelaus retreated to Salamis.
Demetrius now began to besiege the city on both land and sea.
He had had previous expertise of sieges before then, most notably at Munichya, and he therefore
had many siege weapons in his army – mechanical engines such as catapults and ballistae, designed
especially to help assault a settlement.
To aid him further, Demetrius also ordered the construction of some formidable siege
engines, including two battering rams and a siege tower.
This was no ordinary siege tower however.
Nine-stories high, it was the largest the world had yet seen.
It was called the helepolis, the ‘taker of cities.’
Over a month was needed to construct the engines, but finally they were ready.
Demetrius ordered the assault and both the rams and helepolis succeeded in clearing the
walls of Menelaus’ defenders; soon, the city appeared to be on the brink of defeat.
That night however, Menelaus sallied out from Salamis and burnt down Demetrius’ siege
engines.
With them destroyed, the city gained the respite it desperately needed: Demetrius was unable
to capture the city and the siege continued.
Meanwhile in Egypt, Ptolemy had not been idle.
Before Demetrius had been able to finish his blockade, Menelaus had sent word to his brother
of the situation.
On hearing of Menelaus’ defeat, Ptolemy had quickly taken action; he was determined
not to lose control of Cyprus – an island so critical to his naval power.
Gathering a large army and navy, Ptolemy sailed over to Cyprus, arriving at Paphos with a
fleet of 140 warships and 200 troop transports carrying 10,000 infantry.
As Ptolemy then proceeded along the south coast of the island, he was further bolstered
by his Ptolemaic allies situated on Cyprus and quickly reached Kition.
There, Ptolemy managed to send word to Menelaus.
He knew that if they could combine their naval forces together, their force would have a
great numerical advantage over the foe.
He ordered Menelaus to sneak the 60 ships he had in Salamis out of the harbour under
the cover of night and join him.
Demetrius however, got word of Ptolemy’s plans.
That night, he placed both his siege equipment and best men aboard his ships, and sailing
around to the harbour of Salamis, sure that any attempt by Menelaus to sneak past his
lines would prove impossible.
As Menelaus’ forces failed to arrive, Ptolemy realised his plans had been foiled; nevertheless,
he sailed round Cape Pedalium with his armada and prepared for battle.
On seeing Ptolemy’s arrival, Demetrius quickly reorganised.
He left ten ships to blockade the narrow exit of Salamis’ harbour, preventing Menelaus’
sally.
The rest of his navy, he placed facing Ptolemy.
On his left, Demetrius deployed his greatest ships in a double line, hoping to quickly
crush Ptolemy’s right.
Demetrius stationed himself in the front ranks of this wing, although he himself was not
to be in command.
Realising his inexperience at naval warfare, he had sensibly deferred command to his most
experienced admiral, Medius of Larissa.
Demetrius deployed the rest of his ships in a single line.
Adopting a similar strategy Ptolemy strengthened his own left wing, hoping to quickly break
through his opponent’s right.
The battle commenced with an advance by Demetrius against Ptolemy’s right.
Very quickly, Demetrius’ most powerful warships, aided by siege engines they had attached to
them, destroyed the opposing forces.
Medius now ordered the ships starboard in order to start folding up Ptolemy’s line
with Demetrius himself being in the thickest of the action.
Meanwhile, Ptolemy had successfully overcome Demetrius’ right flank.
His attack proved too slow however and as he began to envelop Demetrius’ centre, he
saw with dismay that the rest of his fleet was already routed.
Believing the battle lost, Ptolemy retreated.
Meanwhile, Menelaus successfully managed to break through Demetrius’ 10-ship blockade.
It would prove too late however.
By the time Menelaus had entered the battlefield, Ptolemy was already in flight.
The engagement had been a disaster for Ptolemy.
Over 40 warships and 100 supply ships were captured, along with their crews.
As for Demetrius, only 20 of his ships had been damaged, although scholars now debate
whether Demetrius lost more on his right wing.
The implications of this victory were far reaching.
Salamis duly surrendered to Demetrius and Menelaus retreated to Alexandria.
As Salamis fell, all other Ptolemaic holdings in Cyprus followed suit.
In total, Demetrius captured 16,000 infantry and 600 cavalry – many of whom then joined
the Antigonid army.
For Ptolemy, the battle had been a disaster, losing control of Cyprus, one of his most
cherished possessions.
For the Antigonids however, Demetrius’ victory meant that their power was now unmatched on
both land and sea; they were the superpower, but more challenge was soon
to follow…
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