Pleistarchus

1. Biography

The dynast of Cilicia and Caria Pleistarchus (350/340-c. 290 BC) was born into an aristocratic family of Macedonia and was probably raised in the royal court of Pella, where he received military training. His father, Antipater (397-319 BC), was epimeletes1 of Alexander’s state; his brother Cassander (316-298/297 BC) became king of Macedonia, while his sisters Phila, Nicaea and Eurydice were married to some of Alexander the Great's successors.2

2. Political and Military Activity

Pleistarchus’ activities are connected with the policy of Cassander originally in Greece and later in Asia Minor. In 312 BC he was appointed commander of the Macedonian garrison at Chalcis, failing, however, to maintain his brother’s rule over that city for long. He probably led an unsuccessful siege of Athens in 304/303 BC, an another, equally ill-fated, in the Peloponnese in 303 BC.3

In 302 BC he led a small infantry contingent in Asia Minor, dispatched by Cassander to his ally Lysimachus, but his troops were decimated in the Hellespont, and only 4,000 soldiers managed to reach their destination. In 301 BC he took part in the Battle of Ipsus and as a representative of his brother he was rewarded with the region of Cilicia. Pleistarchus’ reign in Cilicia lasted approximately for two years. In 299/298 BC, Demetrius I Poliorketes (=the Besieger) begun raiding the coastal areas of this region with the consent of Seleucus I. Pleistarchus’ protests to Seleucus and Cassander proved fruitless, and as a result he was forced to leave Cilicia in order to seek help from his brother in Macedonia. Taking advantage of his absence, Demetrius capture the whole of Cilicia, while the death of Cassander in 298/297 BC, erased all of Pleistarchus’ hopes of regaining control over this region.4

Although Plutarch describes him solely as the ruler of Cilicia, certain epigraphical testimonies reveal that he was also dynast in parts of Caria too. His state in Caria apparently extended over the northern hinterland and included Heraclea by Latmus, which in his honour was renamed to Pleistarcheia,5 Sinuri close to Mylasa, probably the city of Mylasa itself, Hyllarima, Euromus, perhaps even Tralles. The great distance between Cilicia and Caria and the insufficient evidence on the beginning and end of Pleistarchus' rule over Caria cast doubts over whether these two areas came under his rule at the same time, i.e. in 301 BC, or successively.6

Pleistarchus simultaneous rule over two geographically distant regions is rather possible, given that his brother Cassander had in the past laid claims to two other geographically distant regions of Asia Minor. In the case of the simultaneous concession of these possessions, the control of a part of Caria would have facilitated Pleistarchus’ communication with Macedonia, as compared with the much more distant Cilicia.7

According to another version, Caria was not ceded to Pleistarchus at the same time as Cilicia, but at a later date, after the final dissolution of the state of Cilicia at the latest (298 BC). His rule over this region lasted for seven years, but it is unknown when and under which circumstances it came to an end. According to the hypothesis that his rule there dates from 301 BC, his hegemony ended in 296/295 BC at the earliest, possibly in 294 BC, when the sons of Antipater become kings of Macedonia, resulting in Pleistarchus’ loss of a significant political footing. If, again, we accept the view that Caria came under his control in 298 BC, then his rule over the region ended at c. 290 BC at the earliest.8

Pleistarchus’ dynasty acted as a foothold of Cassander’s rule over Asia Minor, and its ending could be possibly correlated with the end of Cassander and his sons’ reign in Macedonia.



1. I.e. he was an official responsible for administering Alexander’s state.

2. See Gregory, Pearce Α., "A Macedonian Δυνάστης: Evidence for the Life and Career of Pleistarchos Antipatrou", Historia 44 (1995), pp. 12ff. On the marriages of his three sisters see Seibert, J., Historische Beiträge zu den dynastischen Verbindungen in hellenistischer Zeit (Historia Einzelschriften 10, Wiesbaden 1967), pp. 11ff.

3. Paus. 1.15.1. See also Gregory, Pearce Α., "A Macedonian Δυνάστης: Evidence for the Life and Career of Pleistarchos Antipatrou", Historia 44 (1995), pp. 14ff.

4. Diod. Sic. 20.112. 1ff. Plut., Demetr. 31.6-7, 32. It appears that Lysimachus attempted to help Pleistarchus, see Plut.,Demetr. 20.8. See also Buraselis, Κ., Das hellenistische Makedonien und die Ägäis. Forschungen zur Politik des Kassandros und der drei ersten Antigoniden (Antigonos Monophthalmos, Demetrios Poliorketes und Antigonos Gonatas) im ägäschen Meer und im Westkleinasien (Münchner Beitrage zur Papyrusforschung und Antiken Rechtsgeschichte 73, München 1982), p. 24.

5. Steph. Byz., see under entry ‘Πλειστάρχεια’. See also, Robert, L., Le sanctuaire de Sinuri près de Mylasse, 1: Les Inscriptions Grecques, Mémoires de l' Institut Français d' Archéologie de Stamboul, publiés sous la direction de M. Albert Gabriel, VII), p. 55ff., no. 44; Roos, P., "Alte und neue Inschriftenfunde aus Zentralkarien", Ist. Mitt. 25 (1975), pp. 338ff; Merkelbach, R., "Ein Zeugnis aus Tralles iiber Pleistarchos", ZPE 16 (1975), p. 163; Billows, R.A., "Anatolian Dynasts: The Case of the Macedonian Eupolemos in Karia", ClAnt. 8 (1989), p. 90.

6. According to a lees likely view, Pleistarchus’ domain did not only incorporate Caria and Cilicia but also all of the intermediate areas, i.e. Lycia, Pamphylia, Cataonia, Messogis. See Beloch, K.J., Griechische Geschichte1 (Die Griechische Weltherrschaft 4.1, Berlin -Leipzig 1925), p. 169, and Beloch, K.J., Griechische Geschichte7- (Die Griechische Weltherrschaft 4.2, Berlin - Leipzig 1927), pp. 317ff.; Kobes, J., Kleine Könige. Untersuchungen zu den Lokaldynasten im hellenistischen Kleinasien (323-188 v. Chr. (Pharos. Studien zur griechisch- römischen Antike 8, St. Katharinen 1996), pp. 123ff. This view, however, is not supported by any evidence, see Robert, L., Le Sanctuaire de Sinuri près de Mylasa 1: Les Inscriptions Grécques (Mémoires de l'Institut Français d'Archéologie de Stamboul 7, Paris 1945), pp. 55ff., no. 44. On the circumstances under which Caria came under Pleistarchus’ control see Buraselis, K., Das hellenistische Makedonien und die Ägäis. Forschungen zur Politik des Kassandros und der drei ersten Antigoniden (Antigonos Monophthalmos, Demetrios Poliorketes und Antigonos Gonatas) im ägäischen Meer und im Westkleinasien (Münchner Beiträge zur Papyrusforschung und Antiken Rechtsgeschichte 73, München 1982), pp. 27ff.

7. This view is supported by the argument that Cassander’s control over the hinterland of Caria probably dates to an earlier period, for the dynasty of Eupolemus in this region can be considered a protectorate of his, see Buraselis, Κ., Das hellenistische Makedonien und die Ägäis. Forschungen zur Politik des Kassandros und der drei ersten Antigoniden (Antigonos Monophthalmos, Demetrios Poliorketes und Antigonos Gonatas) im ägäischen Meer und im Westkleinasien (Münchner Beiträge zur Papyrusforschung und Antiken Rechtsgeschichte 73, München 1982), pp. 29ff. A more recent study of Eupolemus’ career, however, argues that his dynasty in Caria should be dated after and not before that of Pleistarchus. According to this theory, Caria was ceded to Pleistarchus during the same period as Cilicia, i.e. in 301 BC, and it was governed by Eupolemus who was under Pleistarchus’ command. When the latter’s hegemony came to an end, Eupolemus installed his own dynasty. See Billows, R.A., "Anatolian Dynasts: The Case of the Macedonian Eupolemos in Karia", ClAnt. 8 (1989), pp. 174 ff., esp. pp. 188ff.

8. On the duration of his rule over Caria see Robert, L., Le Sanctuaire de Sinuri près de Mylasa 1: Les Inscriptions Grécques (Mémoires de l'Institut Français d'Archéologie de Stamboul 7, Paris 1945), pp. 55ff., no. 44; Gregory Pearce, Α., "A Macedonian Δυνάστης: Evidence for the Life and Career of Pleistarchos Antipatrou", Historia 44 (1995), pp. 24ff. See also Buraselis, Κ., Das hellenistische Makedonien und die Ägäis. Forschungen zur Politik des Kassandros und der drei ersten Antigoniden (Antigonos Monophthalmos, Demetrios Poliorketes und Antigonos Gonatas) im ägaischen Meer und im Westkleinasien (Münchner Beiträge zur Papyrusforschung und Antiken Rechtsgeschichte 73, München 1982), p. 30; Billows, R.A., "Anatolian Dynasts: The Case of the Macedonian Eupolemos in Karia", ClAnt. 8 (1989), pp. 190ff.