Antigonus (father of Demetrius)

Also known as: Antigonus · Family: Macedonian · Role: king · First appears: Book 1 · Chapter 6

In Book 1, Chapter 6, after the death of Perdiccas, Ptolemy (son of Lagus) seized Syria and Phœnicia and welcomed Seleucus, whom Antigonus had driven into exile. Antigonus advanced against Ptolemy, who withdrew into Egypt; Antigonus and his son Demetrius (son of Antigonus) blockaded it by land and sea, but Ptolemy preserved his kingdom. Antigonus had entrusted forces to Demetrius, described as “a boy in years a man in intellect.” He later fought Lysimachus, Cassander and Seleucus, after having been Cassander’s benefactor, and the chapter says he died, worn down by the long war against Eumenes.

In Book 1, Chapter 13, Antigonus fortified Macedonian towns and entered the Peloponnese during the Laconian war to prevent Pyrrhus (son of Æacides) from expanding into Macedonia. Chapter 16 recounts that Seleucus, fearing Antigonus’s arrival at Babylon after Alexander’s death, fled to Ptolemy; later, Seleucus returned, defeated Antigonus’s army and killed him. In later accounts, Antigonus and Demetrius were honored with statues: Tydeus erected statues of Antigonus and Seleucus, and statues of Antigonus and his son were sent to Delphi.