Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition/Antipater

ANTIPATER, regent of Macedonia during Alexander s Eastern expedition, 334 B.C. He gained this distinguished position by his faithful attachment and his prudence. In 330 he had to subdue the rebellious tribes of Thrace; but even before this insurrection was quelled, the Spartan king Agis had risen against Macedonia. Having settled affairs in Thrace as well as he could, Antipater hastened to the south, and in a battle near Megalopolis, gained a complete victory over the insurgents. His regency was greatly molested by the arrogance and ambition of Olympias, the mother of Alexander. The repeated complaints which both parties sent to Alexander induced the latter to invite Antipater to Asia, and to appoint Craterus regent in his instead. But before this could be effected, Alexander died at Babylon. In the first partition of the empire among the Macedonian generals, Antipater and Craterus had allotted to them the administration of the dominions in Europe with the exception of Thrace, which was given to Lysimachus. The death of Alexander tempted the Greeks to assert their independence, but the prudence and valour of Antipater crushed all attempts in the Lamian war, and established the Macedonian rule in Greece on a firm footing. At the same time Craterus was engaged In a war against the ^Etolians, when news arrived from Asia which induced Antipater to conclude peace with them ; for Antigonus reported that Perdiccas contemplated making himself sole master of the empire. Antipater and Craterus accordingly prepared for war against Perdiccas, and allied themselves with Ptolemy the governor of Egypt. Antipater crossed over into Asia in 321; and while still in Syria, he received information that Perdiccas had been murdered by his own soldiers. Antipater now, as sole regent, made several new regulations, and having commis sioned Antigonus to continue the war against Eumenes and the other partisans of Perdiccas, returned to Macedonia, where he arrived in 320. Soon after he was seized by an illness which terminated his active career 319 B.C. Passing over his son Cassander, he appointed Polysperchon regent, a measure which gave rise to much confusion and ill feeling.