Antipatrid Kingdom of Macedonia

Origins

After the regent Antipater died in 319 BCE, his son Cassander fought Polyperchon and Olympias for Macedon and won control by 316 BCE, executing Olympias. He married Alexander's half-sister Thessalonike. Around 310 BCE he had Alexander IV and his mother Roxane killed, and in 305 BCE took the title of king.

Rule and society

Cassander ruled from Pella with the support of the Macedonian aristocracy, controlling much of Greece through garrisons and friendly governments, such as that of Demetrius of Phalerum at Athens. He refounded Thebes and founded Thessalonica and Cassandreia, the latter on the site of Potidaea. He was an ally of Lysimachus, Seleucus and Ptolemy against Antigonus I.

Decline and legacy

Cassander died in 297 BCE. His son Philip IV died soon after, and the brothers Antipater II and Alexander V fought over the throne. Demetrius Poliorcetes, called in by Alexander V, murdered him in 294 BCE and took Macedon, ending the dynasty and opening the way for the Antigonid Kingdom of Macedonia.