The Battle of Cretopolis (Kretopolis) was a battle in the wars of the successors of

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, wikt:Ἀλέξανδρος, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Maced ...

(see

Diadochi The Diadochi (; singular: Diadochus; from grc-gre, Διάδοχοι, Diádochoi, Successors, ) were the rival generals, families, and friends of Alexander the Great who fought for control over his empire after his death in 323 BC. The War ...

) between general Antigonus Monopthalmus and the remnants of the Perdiccan faction. It was fought near

Cretopolis Cretopolis or Kretopolis ( grc, Κρητόπολις or Κρητῶν πόλις) was a town of ancient Pisidia, Lycia, or Pamphylia, according to various ancient writers. Historians of the Wars of the Diadochi, such as Diodorus, place it in Pisidi ...

Pisidia Pisidia (; grc-gre, Πισιδία, ; tr, Pisidya) was a region of ancient Asia Minor located north of Pamphylia, northeast of Lycia, west of Isauria and Cilicia, and south of Phrygia, corresponding roughly to the modern-day province of An ...

(a region of Asia Minor) in 319 BC and resulted in another stunning Antigonid victory (the second one that year).

Background

After the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC, his generals immediately began squabbling over his huge empire. Soon the squabbling degenerated into open warfare, with each general attempting to claim a portion of Alexander's vast Empire. One of the most talented successor generals (Diadochi) was Antigonus Monophthalmus, so called because of an eye he lost in a siege. After the second partition of the Empire, the

Partition of Triparadisus The Partition of Triparadisus was a power-sharing agreement passed at Triparadisus in 321 BC between the generals (''Diadochi'') of Alexander the Great, in which they named a new regent and arranged the repartition of the satrapies of Alexander's e ...

in 321 BC,

Antipater Antipater (; grc, , translit=Antipatros, lit=like the father; c. 400 BC319 BC) was a Macedonian general and statesman under the subsequent kingships of Philip II of Macedon and his son, Alexander the Great. In the wake of the collaps ...

, the new regent of the Empire, made Antigonus

strategos ''Strategos'', plural ''strategoi'', Linguistic Latinisation, Latinized ''strategus'', ( el, στρατηγός, pl. στρατηγοί; Doric Greek: στραταγός, ''stratagos''; meaning "army leader") is used in Greek language, Greek to ...

of Asia and charged him with hunting down and defeating the remnants of the Perdiccan faction. Antigonus took command of the Royal Army and after being reinforced with more reliable troops from Antipater's European army he marched against their enemies in Asia-Minor. He first marched into

Cappadocia Cappadocia or Capadocia (; tr, Kapadokya), is a historical region in Central Anatolia, Turkey. It largely is in the provinces Nevşehir, Kayseri, Aksaray, Kırşehir, Sivas and Niğde. According to Herodotus, in the time of the Ionian Revo ...

against

Eumenes Eumenes (; grc-gre, Εὐμένης; c. 362316 BC) was a Greek general and satrap. He participated in the Wars of Alexander the Great, serving as both Alexander's personal secretary and as a battlefield commander. He later was a participant in t ...

whom he defeated at the

Battle of Orkynia The Battle of Orkynia was a battle in the wars of the successors of Alexander the Great (see Diadochi) between Antigonus I Monophthalmus and Eumenes. It was fought near Orkynia in Cappadocia in 319 BC and resulted in a stunning Antigonid victory ...

. Eumenes escaped to the fortress of Nora where Antigonus invested him.

Prelude

Leaving the siege of Nora to a subordinate Antigonus then marched against the remaining Perdiccans who had gathered their forces in Pisidia near town called Cretopolis. Alketas (a brother of Perdiccas), Attalos (Perdiccas brother-in-law), Polemon (Attalos's brother) and Dokimos had gathered their forces in a passPolyainos, ''strategemata'' IV 6,7. near Cretopolis. Antigonos decided to use the element of surprise, and forcemarched his army to Cretopolis in seven days (a march of close to 300 miles).Diodorus Siculus, ''Bibliotheca Historica'' XVIII 44,2. In this way Antigonus took his enemies by complete surprise: the first warning they had that Antigonus was nearby was the trumpeting of his elephants. Antigonus occupied a couple of hills overlooking Alketas's position.

Battle

The Perdiccans were caught totally unprepared, they faced an assault in front and along the pass, and in the flank from the hills overlooking the pass. Leaving Attalos and Dokimos to draw up the phalanx, Alketas took the cavalry and the

peltasts A ''peltast'' ( grc-gre, πελταστής ) was a type of light infantryman, originating in Thrace and Paeonia, and named after the kind of shield he carried. Thucydides mentions the Thracian peltasts, while Xenophon in the Anabasis distin ...

and attacked Antigonus's troops on the ridge, trying desperately to dislodge them. During the fight for the ridge Antigonus charged with 6,000 cavalry into the pass and caught Alketas in the flank; at this Alketas was forced back from the ridge and just barely made it back to the phalanx, with the loss of most of his men. Unfortunately for the Perdiccans they did not have enough time to get their phalanx drawn up, and facing Antigonus's cavalry charge their men simply surrendered.

Aftermath

Alketas managed to escape with a guard of Pisidians, who were particularly loyal to him, and made his way to the almost impregnable city of

Termessos Termessos (Greek language, Greek Τερμησσός ''Termissós'') was a Pisidian city built at an altitude of more than 1000 metres at the south-west side of the mountain Solymos (modern-day Güllük Dağı) in the Taurus Mountains (moder ...

(here he would commit suicide when he heard the people of the city planned to hand him over to Antigonus); His colleagues Attalos, Polemon and Dokimos were captured by Antigonus, along with the rest of the army, close to 16,000 foot and 900 horse.Diodorus Siculus, ''Bibliotheca Historica'' XVIII 45,1–4. Antigonus could now claim to have destroyed the Perdiccan faction, but unfortunately for him Eumenes was not done causing trouble (see:

Second War of the Diadochi The Second War of the Diadochi was the conflict between the coalition of Polyperchon (as Regent of the Empire), Olympias and Eumenes and the coalition of Cassander, Antigonus, Ptolemy and Lysimachus following the death of Cassander's father, An ...

References

{{coord missing, Turkey 319 BC

Antigonus I Monophthalmus