Perdiccas

Perdiccas (Greek: Περδίκκας, Perdikkas; c. 355BC – 320BC) was a Macedonian general and bodyguard (somatophylax) of Alexander the Great, and the regent of Alexander's empire after his death. When Alexander was dying, he entrusted his signet ring to Perdiccas, initially the most pre-eminent of the successors due to being second-in-command. Perdiccas effectively ruled Alexander's increasingly unstable empire from Babylon for three years until his assassination.

Perdiccas was born to Macedonian nobility. A supporter, somatophylax (bodyguard) and hetairos (elite cavalry commander) of Alexander, he took part in Alexander's campaign against the Achaemenid Persian Empire, distinguishing himself at the battles of Thebes and Gaugamela, and followed Alexander into India. When Alexander died in 323BC, Perdiccas rose to become supreme commander of the imperial army, as well as regent for Alexander's vast empire, ruling on behalf of Alexander's intellectually disabled heir, King Philip III Arrhidaeus, and Alexander's infant son, King Alexander IV of Macedon.

Perdiccas gained supreme power as guardian of the two kings, but also inherited the problems of Alexander's quickly conquered and unstable empire. To consolidate power and retain authority, Perdiccas crushed numerous revolts, like that of Ariarathes, and assassinated rivals, like Meleager. Perdiccas' position as regent was never fully secure, however, and his authority was repeatedly contested by other high officers. His attempt to marry Cleopatra of Macedon, Alexander's sister, which would have given him claim to the Macedonian throne, angered critical generals—including Antipater, Craterus and Antigonus—who decided to revolt against the regent in the First War of the Diadochi. In response to this formidable coalition and a provocation from another general, Ptolemy, Perdiccas invaded Egypt, but his soldiers mutinied and killed him in 320BC when the invasion foundered.