Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 2.djvu/1190

Rh 1176 NICANOR. Issus, and of Arbela, He afterwards accompanied Alexander with a part of the troops under his command, during the rapid march of the king in pursuit of Dareius (b. c. 330) ; which was pro- bably his last service, as he died of disease shortly afterwards, during the advance of Alexander into Bactria. His death at this juncture was probably a fortunate event, as it saved him from participat- ing either in the designs or the fate of his brother Philotas. (Arrian, Anab. i. 14, ii. 8, iii. 11, 21, 25 ; Curt. iii. 24. § 7, iv. 50. § 27, v. 37. § 19, vi. 22. § 18; Diod. xvii. 57.) 2. Father of Balacrus, the satrap of Cilicia. [Balacrus.] It is probably this Nicanor who is alluded to in an anecdote related by Plutarch of Philip of Macedon, as a person of some distinction during the reign of that monarch. (Plut. Apophth. p. 177.) 3. Son of Balacras, and grandson of the preced- ing. (Harpocration, s. v. 'NLKoivap.) 4. Of Stageira, was despatched by Alexander to Greece to proclaim, at the Olympic games of the year b. c. 324. the decree for the recall of the exiles throughout the Greek cities. (Diod. xviii. 8; Deinarch. adv. Demosth. p. 199, ed. Bekk.) It is perhaps the same person whom we find at an e;irlier period entrusted with the command of the fleet during the siege of Miletus (Arr. Anab. i. 18, 19) ; at least it seems probable that the Nicanor there mentioned is not the son of Parmenion ; he may, however, be identical with the following. 5. A Macedonian officer of distinction, who, in the division of the provinces at Triparadeisus, after the death of Perdiccas (b. c. 321), obtained the important government of Cappadocia. (Arrian, ap. Phot. p. 72, a. ; Diod. xviii. 39 ; App. Mithr. 8.) H6 attached himself to the party of Antigonus, whom he accompanied in the war against Eumenes, and when, after the second battle in Gabiene, the mutinous Argyraspids consented to surrender their general into the hands of Antigonus [Eumenes], it was Nicanor who was selected to receive their prisoner from them. (Plut. JS^wJrt. 17.) After the defeat of Pithon and his associates, B.C. 316, Nicanor was appointed by Antigonus, governor of Media and the adjoining provinces, commonly termed the upper satrapies, which he continued to hold until the year 312, when Seleucus made him- self master of Babylon. Thereupon Nicanor as- sembled a large force and marched against the invader, but was surprised and defeated hy Se- leucus at the passage of the Tigris, and his troops were either cut to pieces or went over to the enemy. According to Diodorus, he himself escaped the slaughter, and fled for safety to the desert, from whence he wrote to Antigonus for assistance. Appian, on the contrary, represents him as killed in the battle. It is certain, at least, that we hear no more of him. (Diod. xix. 92, 100; Appian, Syr. 55.) 6. A Macedonian officer under Cassander, by ■whom he was secretly despatched immediately on the death of Antipater, b. c. 319, to take the com- mand of the Macedonian garrison at Munychia. Nicanor arrived at Athens before the news of An- tipater's death, and thus readily obtained posses- sion of the fortress, which he afterwards refused to give up notwithstanding the orders of Polysper- chon. He however entered into friendly relations ■with Phocion, and through his means began to negotiate with the Athenians, who demanded the NICANOR. withdrawal of the Macedonian garrison from Mu- nychia, according to the decree just issued by Polysperchon. But while he thus deluded them with false hopes, instead of surrendering Munychia, he took the opportunity to surprise the Peiraeeus also, and, having occupied it with a strong garrison, declared his intention to hold both fortresses for Cassander. (Diod. xviii. 64; Plut. Phoc. 31, 32 ; Com. Nep. Phoc. 2.) In vain did Olympias, at this time on friendly terms with the regent, unite in commanding him to withdraw his troops : nor did Alexander, the son of Polysperchon, who ar- rived in Attica the following spring (b. c. 318) at the head of a considerable army, effect anything more. Shortly after, Cassander himself arrived with a fleet of thirty-five ships, and Nicanor imme- diately put him in possession of the Peiraeeus, while he himself retained the command of Mu- nychia. He was, however, quickly despatched by Cassander with a fleet to the Hellespont, where he was joined by the naval forces of Antigonus ; and though at first defeated by Cleitus, the admiral of Polysperchon, he soon after retrieved his fortune, and gained a complete victory, destroying or cap- turing almost the whole of the enemy's fleet. On his return to Athens he was received by Cassander v/ith the utmost distinction, and reinstated in his former command of Munychia. But his late suc- cesses had so much elated him that he incurred the suspicion of aiming at higher objects, and intending to set up for himself. On these grounds Cassander determined to rid himself of one who was begin- ning to give him umbrage, and having succeeded by the basest treachery in decoying Nicanor into his power, he caused him to be put to death, after undergoing the form of a trial before the Macedo- nian army. (Plut. Phoc. 33 ; Diod. xviii. 65, 68, 72, 75 ; Polyaen. iv. 6. § 8, 11. § 1. ; Trog. Pomp. prol. xiv.) 7. A son of Antipater and brother of Cassander, put to death by Olympias, b.c. 317. (Diod. xix. 8. A friend and general of Ptolemy, the son of Lagus, who was despatched by the Egyptian king in B. c. 320, with an army to reduce Syria and Phoenicia ; an object which he quickly effected, taking prisoner Laomedon, the governor of those provinces. (Diod. xviii. 43.) 9. A Syrian Greek, who, together with a Gaul named Apaturius, assassinated Seleucus III. Ce- raunus, during his expedition into Asia against Attalus, B. c. 222. He was immediately seized and executed by order of Achaeus. (Polyb. iv. 48; Euseb. Arm. p. 165, fol. ed.) 10. Surnamed the Elephant, a general under Philip V. king of Macedonia, who invaded Attica with an army shortly before the breaking out of the war between Philip and the Romans, B. c. 200; but, after laying waste part of the open country, he was induced, by the remonstrances of the Roman ambassadors then at Athens, to withdraw. (Polyb. xvi. 27.) He is again men- tioned as commanding the rearguard of Philip's army at the battle of Cynoscephalae, B. c. 197. (Id. xviii. 7 ; Liv. xxxiii. 8.) 1 1. An Epeirot, son of Myrton, who united with his father in supporting the oppressive and rapa- cious proceedings of Ciiarops in the government of their native country. [Chakups.J (Polyb. xxxii. 21.) 12. Son of Patroclus, was apparently the chief J