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27 Eumenes sent a Macedonian:The episode recounted here, described in a papyrus fragment of Arrian’s Events After Alexander(known by its catalog number, PSI 1284), has caused much debate among scholars. The coercion of an enemy phalanx might have occurred either after the battle against Neoptolemus or after that against Craterus and Neoptolemus, and the papyrus gives no clues as to which is its proper context. Cogent reasons have been advanced on either side, and the issue is still unresolved. I have preferred to locate the episode here, based on the arguments of Thompson (“PSI 1284”) against those of Bosworth (“Eumenes, Neoptolemus”).
28 The humility of the gesture:I am guessing that Eumenes’ humility is the point of Antipater’s laughter. In Plutarch’s account ( Eumenes8.3), Antipater utters a jest that explained what was so fu
29 Ptolemy’s defense:Probably not delivered by Ptolemy in person, though the source, Events After Alexander1.28, leaves open that possibility.
30 to draw off water:The stratagem is mentioned only by Diodorus (18.33.2) in terms that are somewhat obscure. It appears Perdiccas attempted to open an old, disused canal, but a sudden incursion of water destroyed his engineering works.
31 At first light:The details of Perdiccas’ disastrous Egyptian campaign are taken from Diodorus (18.33–36.5), by far our most complete source for the episode.
32 Had this victory been known:The hypothesis is not my own but that recorded by Diodorus (18.37.1), probably based on the original judgment of Hieronymus.
Chapter 7: The Fortunes of Eumenes
1 Whether such contacts preceded:There is no evidence in the sources of collusion between Peithon and Ptolemy in Perdiccas’ murder, but scholars often assume it took place, based on the political skills of Ptolemy. There were enough defectors and spies passing back and forth that it would have been easy for the two to stay in contact.
2 before the assembled army:Such is the version of Diodorus (18.36.6); Arrian, by contrast, seems to have described a smaller meeting, between Ptolemy and the army leadership ( Events After Alexander1.28).
3 he took the liberty of commandeering:An inference based on the fact that Ptolemy later had Indian war elephants in his possession, and this seems to have been his best opportunity to get hold of them. African elephants, though freely available in Egypt, were not trained for use in war until after Ptolemy’s death.
4 Alexander had promised one:The evidence is ambiguous because of the uncertainties over the Greek text in a crucial passage of Arrian’s Anabasis.At 7.8.1 of that work, where Alexander is dispatching the veterans from Opis, our manuscripts also have him promising to give rewards to those staying(with him). However, some modern editors delete the word that translates “those staying” on the assumption that Alexander wanted to reward those leaving his service, not those remaining in Asia. The demands made by his veterans after his death, however, argue in favor of the manuscript text.
5 ( Perdiccas’ brother-in-law Attalus):Attested by Arrian, Events After Alexander1.33. Some scholars believe this was a different Attalus from the officer in Perdiccas’ regime, who had been condemned to death by the royal army and therefore would not be quick to show himself among them. I have followed Heckel ( Who’s Who) and others in assuming this was indeed the Attalus who had served under Perdiccas.
6 the rescue effort:Details of the scene that follows are taken from Polyaenus 4.6.4, supplemented by Arrian, Events After Alexander1.33.
7 ten or more Nicanors:Heckel in Who’s Wholists twelve but with notes in the biographies of several that indicate they may be identical with others already listed. The effort to disentangle people who share common names is one of the most challenging forms of historical research; Bosworth’s “New Macedonian Prince” is a brilliant example, involving the disambiguation of two other important Nicanors.
8 his father twitted him:Such a delightful story can have come only from Plutarch ( Demetrius14).
9 as champion of that cause:My views of the motives of Perdiccas, and especially of Eumenes, are more generous than those of many historians. It is possible to see both men as acting solely out of self-interest and desire for power, but it is also possible that the safety and authority of Alexander’s heirs, especially the king’s son by Rhoxane, were their primary motive. Certainly Eumenes was portrayed by the ancient sources as gravely concerned for the young Alexander, and we ca
10 Eumenes called them together:As reported by Justin 14.1.
11 Whatever its purposes:Bosworth has made an ingenious, but to my mind unconvincing, argument (“Ptolemy and the Will of Alexander”) that the Last Daysis the work of Ptolemy and his supporters and dates to around 308 B.C. Heckel has advanced a very different theory in his book Last Days and Testament of Alexander.
12 Perhaps Antipater himself:Bosworth has most recently suggested, to my mind unconvincingly, that Eumenes had the Journalspublished (perhaps in a doctored version) to clear himself of poisoning charges (“Alexander’s Death,” p. 409).
13 In all likelihood, Perdiccas was dead:There is no agreement among scholars about the date at which Ptolemy wrote his memoir of the Asian campaign, but it was almost certainly later than 321. Some would argue that Ptolemy wrote it late in life, in the 290s or 280s, but evidence is lacking.
14 This was an awkward development:The reasons for Cleopatra’s discomfort and reluctance in dealing with Eumenes are supplied by Arrian Events After Alexander1.40.
15 and now accused him:The summary of Arrian’s Events After Alexanderspeaks of unspecified indictments that Cleopatra leveled against Antipater (1.40); presumably, the poisoning of Alexander was principal among these.
16 even, perhaps, entered:Josephus has an account, unknown from other sources, of Alexander’s negotiations with the high priests during a visit to Jerusalem ( Jewish Antiquities11.8).
17 no Greek writer:Herodotus is a possible exception, since he discusses a race of “Palestinian Syrians” who practice circumcision (2.104). But the fact that such a well-traveled and inquisitive Greek did not know this race by a more specific name is nonetheless significant. On Theophrastus’ very limited knowledge of the Jews, see chapter 1 of Bezalel Bar-Kochva, The Image of the Jews in Greek Literature: The Hellenistic Period(Berkeley, Calif., 2009).
18 Ptolemy, however, knew a lot:The story is related by Josephus Jewish Antiquities12.1. It is usually correlated with Ptolemy’s first invasion of Phoenicia and “Hollow” Syria (there were others), mentioned by Diodorus at 18.43 and dated to 319 B.C.