Meanwhile, Ptolemy had been securing his position in Egypt and in spring 321 BC he kidnapped Alexander’s body, which had been bound for Macedonia, and placed it temporarily at Memphis, as though Alexander had been his ancestor. He then openly joined the coalition against Perdiccas.
Perdiccas, rather than face an army commanded by the empire’s most experienced generals, decided to deal with Ptolemy first. He told his ally Eumenes (who was expendable) to hold Asia Minor and thereby delay Antipater’s advance. Antipater crossed the Hellespont and marched towards Cilicia to attack the rear of Perdiccas, while Craterus confronted Eumenes in order to secure the flank. Eumenes, however, defeated and killed Craterus along with the satrap Neoptolemus. In Egypt, Perdiccas’ attempts to break through the defences at Pelusium failed, and he suffered heavy losses in several unsuccessful attempts to cross the Nile farther south. The army mutinied and killed Perdiccas.
The armies met at Triparadisus in Syria. Antipater was chosen as regent of the empire. Most members of the coalition were confirmed in their satrapies. Vacancies were filled with loyal officers: Arrhidaeus (2) received Hellespontine Phrygia; Cleitus received Lydia; Nicanor received Cappadocia (and Paphlagonia?); Philoxenus received Cilicia; Amphimachus received Mesopotamia; Seleucus-I received Babylonia; Philip received Parthia/Hyrcania; Antigenes (d.316 BC) received Susiana; and Stasanor’s satrapy was expanded to include Sogdiana and Bactria.
Antipater married off his daughter Phila (d.287 BC) to Antigonus’ son Demetrius-I Poliorcetes (‘Besieger’) (54; r.294-288 BC; d.283 BC); gave Antigonus the Asia army to hunt down Eumenes and to eliminate the remnants of Perdiccas’ army; appointed his son Cassander (c.53; r.305-297 BC) as Antigonus’ chiliarch; then returned with Philip III and Alexander IV to Macedonia.
In the winter of 321/0 BC Cassander returned to Macedonia. In the meantime, Antigonus defeated Eumenes and drove him out of Cappadocia. With six thousand supporters, Eumenes entered the fortress city of Nora on the Cappadocian border. While laying siege to Nora, Antigonus mopped up the last of the Pediccan faction, Alcetas (d.320 BC) and Attalus (fl.330-317 BC), in Pisidia in 320 BC.
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