HAMMOND, N. G. L., Alexander's Veterans After His Death , Greek, Roman and Byzantine 
Studies, 25:1 (1984) p.51 

Alexander's Veterans After His Death 

N. G. L. Hammond 

T HE INFANTRYMEN who had served with Alexander in the con­
quest of Asia were justly famous.! Hieronymus of Cardia, whose 
views we may deduce from Diodorus and Plutarch,2 gave a 

special accolade to the elite corps of that infantry, the Silvershields. 
"At this time lin 317 B.C.]," wrote Diodorus, "the youngest of the 
Silvershields was about sixty, most of the others about seventy and 
some even older, but all were irresistible through their experience 
and strength. So great in their case was their deftness of hand and 
their courage; for they had been trained continually in the school of 
danger." "The Silvershields were indeed the oldest of the men who 
had served with Philip and Alexander," wrote Plutarch of the same 
occasion, "masters of war without a defeat or a reverse during that 
span of time, many being already seventy and none younger than 
sixty. " 

Diod. 19.41.2, 7TavTES 8£ Tat~ EJ.t7TEtpW.t~ Kat Tat~ pWJ.l,at~ avV7To­
UTa TOt • Touavn1 7TEpt avTOV~ ;, v EVXEtpW. Kat TC)AJ.l,a 8w T7J V 
(J1JVEXEtaV T[;W KW8Vvwv (compare 19.28.1 and 19.30.5-6). 

Plut. Eum. 16.4, Kat yap ;'uav oi 7TPEU{3VTaTOt TWV 7TEpi <l>iAt7T7TOV 
, , A, ' /: ~ ., , (J' ' , ' , , " ~ Kat r1.J\E",aVupov, WU7TEp a I\.TJTat 7TOI\.EJ.l,WV aTJTTTJTOt Kat a7TTWTE~ 

Ei.~ EKEtVO xpOVOV. 

As the truth of these passages has been doubted,3 let us consider 
the implications of these and analogous statements. Men born respec­
tively ca 377 and ca 387, if recruited into the Hypaspists (as the 
Silvershields4 were then called) at the age of 25, had begun their 

I I adopt here the chronology of, for instance, K. J. Beloch, Griechische Geschichte2 

IV.2 (Berlin/Leipzig 1927) 235ff, and not that of R. M. Errington, "From Babylon to 
Triparadeisos: 323-320 B.C.," IHS 90 (970) 75-77; for the problems see J. Seibert, 
Das Zeitalter der Diadochenzei( (Darmstadt 1983) 76ff. 

2 For the use of Hieronymus by Diod. and Plut. Eum. see J. Hornblower, Hieronymus 
of Cardia (Oxford 1981) 18ff, esp. by Diod.; and by Arrian see P. A. Stadter, Arrian of 
Nicomedia (Chapel Hill 1980) 148. 

3 E.g. by R. H. Simpson, "Abbreviation of Hieronymus in Diodorus," AlP 80 (1959) 
376. 

4 The honorific title 'Silvershields', associated with a silvering of their shields, was 
awarded probably in 327 (Just. 12.7.5, giving the title but applying it erroneously to 
"his army") and certainly before 324 (Arr. 7.11.3). See E. M. Anson, "Alexander's 

51 



HAMMOND, N. G. L., Alexander's Veterans After His Death , Greek, Roman and Byzantine 
Studies, 25:1 (1984) p.51 

52 ALEXANDER'S VETERANS AFTER HIS DEATH 

service ca 352 and 362 respectively. By 317, the date of the occasion 
described, they had served for 35 and 45 years. Similar length of 
service was expected of those whom Alexander chose to select for 
overseas service in Asia in 334, "men who had served with his father 
and his uncles" (Just. 1l.6.4), i.e. since 370; for it was these men 
who were to continue serving through the Asian campaign. That a 
large part of the Macedonians with Alexander had served throughout 
Philip's reign is to be inferred from the speeches attributed to Alex­
ander.5 The difference in age between these men and the younger 
Macedonians was emphasised in the description of the siege of Hali­
carnassus in 334 (Diod. 17.27.1-2). The gap between the Silver­
shields and their younger opponents in 317 was a full generation 
(Plut. Eum. 16.4, E1ri 'TO~ 71'a'TEpa~ aJ.UlP'TaVE'TE).6 And we find "the 
descendants of the Hypaspists" in action in 317 and probably earlier, 
in 322, exceeding 3000 in number.7 

The success of the Macedonian infantryman was due to his physical 
toughness8 and his rigorous training in the use of a specialist weapon, 
the sarissa, and in the drill which was essential for phalanx-fighting. 
The best fighters were those in the upper age group; that is why 
Alexander chose for his infantry in 334 "not strong young men nor 
men in the first flower of their maturity, but veterans, mostly men 
who had served their full time already ... masters of the military art" 
(Just. 1l.6.4). These were the men who showed that precision in 
movement on the battlefield9 which British troops show on the pa-

Hypaspists and the Argyraspids," Historia 30 (981) 117-20; and contra, R. A. Lock, 
"The Origins of the Argyraspids," Historia 26 (I977) 373-78. 

5 Arr. 7.9.2; Curt. 3.10.4, Macedones tot bel/orum in EuroPa victores; Diod. 17.27.1 and 
19.41.1. 

6 The sources behind these passages are probably Ptolemy for Arr. 7.9.2; Cleitarchus 
for Just. 11.6.4, Curt. 3.10.4, and Diod. 17.27.1-2; and Hieronymus for Diod. 19.41.1 
and Plut. Eum. 16.4 (as I argued in Three Historians of Alexander the Great [Cambridge 
1983] 96, 128, and 39f for Just., Curt., and Diod.). Thus the belief in the advanced age 
of these soldiers is not peculiar to any single source. 

7 Diod. 19.28.1. If so, these men were in their thirties by 317, and one would expect 
their fathers to have been then in their sixties. For this interpretation of oi EK TWV 
Vrra(T'TrUTTWV see my article in CQ N.S. 28 (978) 133 and 135. 

8 Good health in the soldiers of both Lower and Upper Macedonia was a sine qua non 
for their military achievements. The suggestion that Macedonia was then malaria­
ridden, as proposed e.g. by E. N. Borza in Philip II. Alexander the Great and the Mace­
donian Heritage, edd. W. L. Adams and E. N. Borza (Washington 1982) 17ff, is little 
short of absurd to anyone who lived in the malarial regions of Greece before the war, 
suffered from malaria, and saw its debilitating effect on the population, as I did inter­
mittently in 1930-39 and 1943-44. 

9 Such strength in veterans of 60 to 70 years of age may seem incredible in some 
modern societies; but it is not in modern Greece, among shepherd communities espe­
cially. P. Leigh Fermor noted this in an account of the Sarakatsani shepherds (Roumeli 



HAMMOND, N. G. L., Alexander's Veterans After His Death , Greek, Roman and Byzantine 
Studies, 25:1 (1984) p.51 

N. G. L. HAMMOND 53 

rade-ground in the Trooping of the Colour. When Alexander decided 
to train young men-Asiatics-in the use of Macedonian weapons, 
six years passed before they joined the field-army. The superiority of 
veterans in phalanx fighting was demonstrated beyond dispute in 317, 
when the 3000 Silvershields charged the opposing phalanx of some 
11,000 men of less experience and killed 5000 of them without losing 
a man.10 

Another part of Alexander's Grande armee was formed by the vet­
eran Greek mercenaries. Many were inherited from Philip (e.g. Arr. 
3.l2.2, as cavalrymen in 331, oi apxaLoL KaAOVJ.J..EVOL gEvOL)~ and many 
thousands crossed with Alexander to Asia in 334 (Diod. 17.17.3). In 
his latter years Alexander placed many of them in his new cities, and 
during his absence in the Indus valley the satraps employed many of 
them. Immediately after his death 23,000 left the cities, and 8000 
who had been discharged by the satraps reached Greece and were 
recruited by Leosthenes for the Lamian War. The former were de­
scribed as "having gained experience often in warfare's engagements 
and being distingished for deeds of prowess" (Diod. 18.7.2, 8tactxJ­
POlJ() 'TaL~ av8pa'YaOuu~). The latter "having campaigned throughout 
Asia for a long time and having participated in many great actions 
had proved themselves masters of warfare" (18.9.3, aOATJ'Tai 'TOW 
Ka'Ta 1TOAE/-WV ep'Ywv). The first group were massacred by the Mace­
donians in 323, and after the Lamian War no more is heard of the 
other group. But the descriptions of Diodorus (Hieronymus) label 
them firmly as Alexander-veterans. 

The largest group of Macedonian infantrymen who fought with 
Alexander throughout Asia were the men of the six and later seven 
phalanx brigades, numbering perhaps some 10,000 men in early 324. 
If we add the old Hypaspists and the new Hypaspists at 3000 men 
each and a company of 1000 "Macedonian archers,"ll we can put the 
number of Macedonian first-line infantrymen at that time at approxi­
mately 17,000.12 Other Macedonians were serving on lines of com-

[New York 1966] 12): "Some were deeply stricken in years but all were hale and weath­
erbeaten: tall, beetling, white moustached, venerable and indestructible patriarchs." 

10 Diod. 19.43.1. See my article "Training in the Use 9f a Sarissa and Its Effect in 
Battle, 359-333 B.C.," Antichthon 14 (980) 53-63. 

11 At Gaugamela (Arr. 3.12.2). Thereafter Alexander made much use of archers both 
on foot and mounted (e.g. at the battle of the Hydaspes). The 'archers' who fought 
regularly alongside the Agrianians are likely to have been the same unit as that which 
fought at Gaugamela. The Persian unit of 1000 archers (Ath. 539E, Ael. VH 9.3) may 
well have been equivalent in size to the Macedonian unit. 

12 See now P. A. Brunt in his Loeb edition of Arrian, II (I983) 489f, where his 
arguments seem to lead to much the same conclusion for the infantry. 



HAMMOND, N. G. L., Alexander's Veterans After His Death , Greek, Roman and Byzantine 
Studies, 25:1 (1984) p.51 

54 ALEXANDER'S VETERANS AFTER HIS DEATH 

munication and with some satraps, but these were relatively few. All 
these men were esteemed for their prowess. As we shall see, the 
history of them was written by Hieronymus, and some scraps of that 
history have survived in Diodorus and Plutarch's Eumenes. The men 
are recognisable, because they were described in similar terms to 
those used for the Silvershields and for the veteran Greek merce­
naries. This seems to have been overlooked by those who have 
written about this period. 

We begin with two passages, covering the years 321-320, in which 
some infantrymen are described as being remarkable for their prowess: 

Diod. 18.30.4: EixE BE crVp:11'alJ'ra~ 1TE'O~ p,Ev Bwp,vpio1J(i, 6Jv .ryaav 
0;' 1TAEW1J(i MaKE&)vwv Bux.{3E{30'TIp,Evwv Tat~ avBpa'Ya9iat~, EV ot~ 
EtXE p,CtAWTa Ta~ EA1Tioo~ T7i~ ViK'TI~' 
(Craterus) had in all 20,000 infantrymen, among whom were the 
majority of Macedonians celebrated for their deeds of valour, and 
it was in these that he had especially his hopes of victory. 
Diod. 18.40.7: EtXE BE <> p,Ev 'AVTi'Yovo~ ... 1TE'O~ p,Ev 1TAEiw TWV 

, ...... •• ~ M s:>.! 9 \ \ \ • p,VptwV, wv 'TIuav Ot 'TIp,wEt~ aKEuuVE~ avp,aUTOt KaTa Ta~ av-
Bpa'Ya9ia~. 
Antigonus had more than 10,000 infantrymen, of whom the half 
were Macedonians admired for their deeds of valour. 

At the time of the first passage, in 321 B.C., the Silvershields were 
with Perdiccas, and at the time of the second, in 320, the Silver­
shields were engaged in bringing the treasure from Susa to Cilicia. 
Their number in any case was only 3000. It is thus certain that these 
two passages refer to groups of Alexander's famous phalangites. How 
had they come to be with these particular commanders? 

After Alexander's death in June 323 the Macedonians of the royal 
army, which was then in Babylonia, served under the command of 
Perdiccas until he was assassinated in Egypt in 32l. There was, how­
ever, a separate army, that of the 10,000 Macedonian soldiers whom 
Alexander had sent in 324 on their homeward journey under the 
command of Craterus, who was himself to take military command in 
Macedonia. The rising by the Greek states in the Lamian War found 
them still in Cilicia. When the Macedonian fleet established its su­
premacy at sea in 322, Craterus crossed into Europe with "6000 of 
those who had crossed with Alexander into Asia. "13 These were a 
part of the 10,000. The other 4000 stayed in or near Cilicia, and we 

13 Diod. 18.16.4. J. G. Droysen, Geschichte des Heflenismus2 ILl (Gotha 1878) 71, 
made the mistake of saying that Craterus took the 10,000 veterans ("er hatte die 
10,000 Veteranen aus dem grossen makedonischen Heere")~ this mistake was repeated 
by others, e.g. Tarn in CAH VI 458. It led to a further error in Droysen II.! 119. 



HAMMOND, N. G. L., Alexander's Veterans After His Death , Greek, Roman and Byzantine 
Studies, 25:1 (1984) p.51 

N. G. L. HAMMOND 55 

shall resume them later. Craterus took his 6000 veterans and some 
other troops straight into Thessaly to join the forces of Antipater and 
fight the battle of Crannon in September 322. 

It will be recalled that in 324 Alexander had originally planned to 
repatriate "those who for reasons of age or injury were unfit for 
battle." Then no number was mentioned (Arr. 7.8.0. Later, after the 
mutiny, men in this category who chose to go numbered up to 
10,000 (7.l2.1). Antipater was to bring out as a replacement for these 
men "Macedonians of those who were in their prime" (7.l2.4). It 
is, I think, clear that Alexander intended the 10,000 veterans-or 
the bulk of them - to continue in military service under Craterus 
in Macedonia; for otherwise the forces in Macedonia would have 
been reduced to a very low level. In other words Alexander sent 
home not 10,000 casualties but 10,000 men still able to serve but 
not in the condition which his form of campaigning required of first­
line troops. 

In 321 Craterus and Antipater crossed from Europe to Asia with an 
army of perhaps 30,000 infantry.14 That Craterus brought his famous 
veterans with him is to be expected. The two generals went different 
ways, each with his own army, and the task of Craterus was to defeat 
Eumenes, a general of Perdiccas, who was now their enemy. It was to 
this occasion that Diodorus 18.30.4, cited above, was directed: among 
Craterus' 20,000 infantrymen were "the majority of Macedonians 
celebrated for their deeds of valour" - that was the majority of the 
original 10,000 veterans. It was on their expertise in phalanx-fighting 
that he relied for victory. Thus Craterus still had some 6000 veterans 
under his command.15 

We may consider here the sense of the emendation of MaKe80vwv 
8ta{3ef30T)J.LEVWV to MaKe8oveS' 8ta{3ef30T)J,LEvot as proposed by Bekker 
and as printed in the standard texts of Diod. 18.30.4.16 The trans­
lation then becomes: "Craterus had in all 20,000 infantrymen, of 
whom the majority were Macedonians celebrated for their deeds of 
valour." This would require Craterus to have had now in his army 

14 Antipater and Craterus had 48,000 men at the battle of Crannon; but they had to 
leave a "considerable army" with Polyperchon in Macedonia, as they must have ex­
pected a further rising in Greece, as indeed happened (Diod. 18.38.6). So I suggest that 
they left 18,000 men in Macedonia and took 30,000 to Asia. 

15 This is not to deny that there may have been among them some Macedonians who 
had seen service only in Europe; but their record of two defeats and one victory in the 
Lamian War would not have qualified them for such a reputation for valour. 

16 All MSS. have MUKe80vwv; there is no justification for emending it to a nomi­
native. Only X has St.a{3e{30r/l-uvwv; the others have 6t.a{3e{30TJ~VOL, a natural corrup­
tion after ~<Tuv. 



HAMMOND, N. G. L., Alexander's Veterans After His Death , Greek, Roman and Byzantine 
Studies, 25:1 (1984) p.51 

56 ALEXANDER'S VETERANS AFfER HIS DEATH 

considerably more than 10,000 Alexander-veterans. But that is not 
possible, as he took only 6000 of them to Macedonia. 

Let us turn now to the fortunes of the 4000 Alexander-veterans 
who did not accompany Craterus to Europe in the summer of 322. 
We find a trace of them early in the following year, before Craterus 
and Antipater crossed from Europe to Asia. Since Perdiccas intended 
to invade Egypt with the royal army, he appointed Eumenes as his 
commander-in-chief in Asia Minor and ordered him to prevent such 
a crossing by Craterus and Antipater. He placed several notable 
officers under the command of Eumenes (Diod. 18.29.2)~ but Alce­
tas, who had been in command of a phalanx brigade at the battle of 
the Hydaspes river, and Neoptolemus, a famous commander and 
fighter under Alexander, refused to become his subordinates. Alcetas 
said that his Macedonians wanted Craterus "as their king17 and were 
ashamed to fight against Antipater" (Plut. Eum. 5.2). This suggests 
that they had served under Craterus, e.g. in Cilicia~ and their respect 
for Antipater suggests that they had served with Antipater before 
they crossed to Asia in 334. Neoptolemus said he had followed Alex­
ander with shield and spear, whereas Eumenes had done so with pen 
and writing-pad (Plut. Eum. 1.3). He had "a considerable force of 
Macedonians" (Diod. 18.29.4), opened secret negotiations with An­
tipater, and was then brought to battle by Eumenes. On his defeat 
the phalanx-troops of Neoptolemus were compelled to surrender and 
enter the service of Eumenes.18 Thus Eumenes "acquired a large 
number of Macedonians, men of valour" (Diod. 18.29.5, 1TPOUAa.{30-
l-'Evo~ MaKE80vwv a:ya(Jwv av8pwv 1TA.i,(JO~). These men were a part 
and probably the larger part of the 4000 veterans left in Cilicia. 

The critical moment came later in 321, when the army of Craterus 
was advancing to engage the army of Eum~nes. As we have seen, 
Craterus had in his phalanx "the majority" of the original 10,000 vet­
erans, and now Eumenes had forcibly incorporated the bulk of the 
other 4000 veterans in his phalanx. Neoptolemus, who had escaped 
to join Craterus, advised Craterus to reveal himself to the Mace­
donians in Eumenes' army, who were longing for him. As soon as 
they saw or heard Craterus, they would (said Neoptolemus) desert 
with their weapons and join Craterus (Plut. Eum. 6.1-2). It is no 
wonder that Craterus put his hopes of victory in his own veterans 
(Diod. 18.30.4), both as bait to win over the other veterans to his 

17 For the extraordinary popularity of Craterus and the Macedonians' regard for him, 
almost as if he were royalty. see Suda s. v. Kpa7'Epos- (K 2335): Ka7'(X {3aU'IAEa. 

18 Plut. Eum. 5.3. This is probably the action described in PSI XII 1284; cf A. B. 
Bosworth. GRBS 19 (1978) 227-37. 



HAMMOND, N. G. L., Alexander's Veterans After His Death , Greek, Roman and Byzantine 
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N. G. L. HAMMOND 57 

side and also as themselves superb fighters in a battle of phalanx­
formations. 

Eumenes had no intention of engaging in a battle of phalanges; for 
he was stronger in cavalry. He informed his army that the enemy 
were led by Neoptolemus and Pigres, and that Alexander himself had 
appeared to Eumenes and in effect promised him victory over the 
enemy. He then arranged his forces so that his non-Macedonian 
cavalry rode well ahead of his phalanx and charged the enemy cavalry 
at first sight. When Craterus saw them coming at him, he cursed 
Neoptolemus for having deceived him into supposing that the Mace­
donians of Eumenes would desert (Plut. Eum. 7.2). The charge 
resulted in the death of Craterus. On the other wing Eumenes killed 
Neoptolemus in another engagement of cavalry. With his own cavalry 
supreme Eumenes invited the enemy phalanx to surrender and enter 
his own service. They accepted and took the required oaths. Eumenes 
let them withdraw to any villages of their choice to obtain food; 19 and 
during the night they made off and joined Antipater. Eumenes tried 
to intercept them; but he was deterred by his own wounds and "by 
the valorous deeds of the retreating men" (Diod. 18.32.4, But: 'TE 'Ta~ 
apE'T(l~ 'TOW a7ToXWPOVV'Twv). Thus in two battles-only ten days apart 
according to Plutarch - Eumenes outsmarted and humiliated two large 
groups of Alexander's veterans, hitherto "undefeated. "20 They hated 
him for it, both those who fought on his side and those who fought 
against him, on the grounds that he, a naturalised foreigner, had 
used the armed might of the Macedonians to kill the leading Mace­
donian Craterus, the most glorious of men (Plut. Eum. 8.1). 

Meanwhile the veterans of Alexander who were serving in the 
royal army became mutinous. In Egypt "the entire phalanx of the 
infantrymen showed their estrangement (from Perdiccas) by uttering 
threatening shouts" (Diod. 18.36.4). They welcomed the assassina­
tion of Perdiccas. Immediately thereafter the news arrived that Crat­
erus and Neoptolemus had been killed, and an assembly of Make­
dones sentenced Eumenes and others to death as public enemies 
(Diod. 18.37.2, Arr. FGrHist 156F11.39). The Alexander-veterans 
generally were devoted to the royal house. When Alcetas arranged 
the murder of Cynane, a daughter of Philip, the veterans with AI­
cetas mutinied. They were appeased only when Perdiccas agreed that 

19 Eumenes wisely kept them apart from his own Macedonians by sending them to 
separate villages. He fed his own men from his own supplies. 

20 Diod. 18.53.3, "Eumenes conquered in set battle Craterus and Neoptolemus, 
famous officers, who were in command of the undefeated forces of the Macedonians" 
(nr., aVLK.qTOV., 'TWV MaKE80vwv ... 8vva1Lu.,). 



HAMMOND, N. G. L., Alexander's Veterans After His Death , Greek, Roman and Byzantine 
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58 ALEXANDER'S VETERANS AFfER HIS DEATH 

her daughter Eurydice would marry the king, Philip Arrhidaeus (Arr. 
Fll.23). 

The royal army elected two generals to serve as 'managers of the 
kings' in succession to Perdiccas. But they soon resigned~ for the 
army became mutinous at the instigation of Eurydice (Diod. 18.36.6-
7, 39.1-2). Antipater was elected in absentia in their place. But when 
he arrived with his army he found the royal army in a mutinous 
state. On this occasion, at Triparadeisus in Syria, there was a larger 
concourse of Alexander-veterans and of fresh Macedonians from 
Macedonia than ever occurred again: more than 5000 of Craterus' 
group of veterans, the royal army veterans including the Silvershields 
(probably more than 10,000 in alI),21 and the Macedonians brought 
from Macedonia by Antipater, perhaps some 5000.22 As the two kings 
were present, the decisions of the assembly of these Makedones were 
to be acts of state. After some rioting Antipater restored order, re­
duced Eurydice to silence, and arranged the various posts of com­
mand.23 He detached the 3000 Silvershields from the royal army and 
sent them to Susiane, where they were to take over the treasure at 
Susa and bring it to Cilicia. Even without their unruly presence An­
tipater met with further trouble from the royal army. The special 

21 The number of Macedonians whom Alexander retained in Babylonia in 323 is 
uncertain. He needed 6700 for the new mixed phalanx (see my book Alexander the 
Great: King, Commander and Statesman [Park Ridge 1980] 240, 245). It is probable that 
he kept both the old Hypaspists, known as 'the Silvershields', and the new Hypaspists, 
known as 'the descendants of the Hypaspists', as separate units, totalling 6000 men. 
Thus the minimum figure for Macedonian infantrymen was around 13,000. In fact 
Curtius alone gives figures for those to be retained in Asia: "13,000 infantry and 2000 
cavalry" (I0.2.8), i.e. after sending the older Macedonians home (senioribus militum in 
patriam remissis). In these and the following sections Curtius was writing of the Mace­
donian soldiers proper. It is therefore most probable that the figures he gave were for 
Makedones. How dependable are the figures? I have argued (supra n.6: 157£) that the 
probable source of this chapter was Diyllus, an accurate writer who was apt to give 
detailed numbers. We do not know whether Curtius had in mind 10,000 as the number 
of the seniores (his text breaks off before he comes to their departure); but if he did, 
Alexander had in 324 some 25,000 Macedonians of all kinds (infantry, cavalry, archers, 
garrison-troops, and sick). 

22 This figure is very uncertain. As a renewal of war in Greece was all too likely, An­
tipater must have left a strong Macedonian army in Macedonia. It is probable that he 
took to Asia a relatively small number of Macedonian soldiers; perhaps 3000 is nearer 
the mark. because that figure added to 5000 veterans of Craterus (Diod. 18.40.7. dis­
cussed above) brings us towards the figure of 10,000 which was given for the infantry 
in Antigonus' army on this occasion (Diod.). 

23 Diod. 18.39.5 and Arr. F 11.34 attribute the arrangement to Antipater. In 323 Per­
diccas made the arrangements but w.. 'APPLOOWV KE'\EVOVTO~; and the involvement of 
the king implied the participation of the assembly, as in Diod. 19.15.3, TO~ 1TPOKE­

KPL,."EVO~ lnrO TOV 1T,\~(JO~ anTpa1Ta~ Kat (TTpaTTJ,),o~. This is shown to have been so 
by the description of a satrap being appointed by "the king and Antipater and the other 
Makedones" (IG IF 401.7-10). 



HAMMOND, N. G. L., Alexander's Veterans After His Death , Greek, Roman and Byzantine 
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N. G. L. HAMMOND 59 

grievance of the veterans who made up the royal army was that, 
whereas the 10,000 veterans of Craterus had been given a special 
bounty of a talent each (Arr. 7.12.2), they had been promised but not 
paid a bounty for their long service with Alexander.24 

The army of Antipater and the royal army, 25 now commanded by 
Antigonus, campaigned against the supporters of Perdiccas-namely 
Eumenes, Alcetas, and Attalus- but not for long. Late in 321 Antip­
ater decided to escort the kings home to Macedonia. He took this 
opportunity to redistribute the Macedonian infantrymen into two new 
armies. He gave to Antigonus, as 'general in Asia', "8000 Mace­
donian phalangites from the force which had crossed over with him 
to Asia";26 among these, as we shall see, was the group of veterans 
which had joined him after the death of Craterus. He took to Europe 
the veterans of the royal army, who were persisting in their de­
mand for the bounty but were outwitted by the wily Antipater (Arr. 
F11.44-45). When they reached Macedonia, they formed an influen­
tial nucleus within the royal army there. 

After his defeat of Craterus Eumenes had a respite during which 
he won the hearts of the Macedonians in his army; important among 
them were those of Craterus' veterans who had been serving with 
Neoptolemus. He let them pillage a number of villages, and in return 
they honoured him, Greek though he was by birth, as if he were a 
Macedonian prince; indeed a thousand of them waited on him day 
and night as his bodyguard (Plut. Eum. 8.5-7). He encouraged them 
to see in him a second Alexander or at least a commander favoured 
by the ghost of Alexander. Then, in 320, Antigonus arrived, hoping 
to destroy his rival. Antigonus had "more than 10,000 infantrymen, 
of whom the half were Macedonians admired for their deeds of 
valour" (Diod. 18.40.7, cited supra 54), this half being the veterans 
of Craterus whom Antipater had allocated to Antigonus. The hope of 

24 Arr. Fl1.32. The words h1"t rfi (J"l)(npan0 mean "for the campaign with" (Sc. 
Alexander). The proposal of Errington (supra n.D 67 n.132 that the text is wrong 
seems to be purely subjective. He does not suggest any emendation which would give 
him the meaning which he wants, namely that Perdiccas owed arrears of pay to his 
troops. 

25 a i {3aatALKat 8VVUj.UL<; or Tj {3aatALK~ 8vva/.U<; (e.g. at Diod. 18.16.1,23.2,39.7) 
were 'the royal forces' in that they were accompanying the king or kings (e.g. Arr. 
Fl1.38 TOv., (3aatAEa<; c!>povpav n Kat 8Epa1rEVELv). When the kings moved to Europe, 
the army with them was the royal army. For other views see the summary in Errington 
(supra n.D 69 n.138. 

26 Arr. F 11.43. The text reads MaKE&)va<; OKTaKUrXLALOV<; Kat 1rEVTaKOULOV<; Kat 
i1r1rEa<; TW" f.TaLpWV LUOV<;. A noun has apparently dropped out after 1rEVTaKOULOV<;, 
because the number 8000 appears for the Macedonian infantrymen given by Antipater 
to Antigonus in Diod. 19.29.3. See my remarks in CQ (supra n.7) 134. 



HAMMOND, N. G. L., Alexander's Veterans After His Death , Greek, Roman and Byzantine 
Studies, 25:1 (1984) p.51 

60 ALEXANDER'S VETERANS AFTER HIS DEATH 

Antigonus was that the troops of Eumenes would desert. In the battle 
a cavalry force did so desert; but Eumenes' veterans stayed loyal to 
him. Eumenes retrieved his reverse by doubling back, returning to 
the battlefield, and honouring the dead in true Macedonian style with 
separate large tumuli over the ashes of the officers and over those of 
the other ranks.27 He could have captured, but preferred not to, the 
baggage of the army of Antigonus. That baggage, we are told, in­
cluded the riches "accumulated from so many wars and so many acts 
of pillaging" (Plut. Eum. 9.3 and 6). That description can apply only 
to the veterans who had fought with Alexander. 

In the winter of 320/319, when his army was scattered into winter 
quarters, Antigonus had trouble with some Macedonians who were 
probably veterans (Polyaen. 4.6.6). A group of 3000 "Macedonian 
hoplites," i.e. of the phalanx, mutinied and pillaged far and wide 
under the command of Holcias, a distinguished officer of Alexander. 
Antigonus was afraid they would desert to Alcetas (who had some of 
their fellow-veterans). He therefore sent an officer of the older gen­
eration, Leonidas, who posed as a mutineer and persuaded them not 
to go to Alcetas. When Antigonus finally got them into his power, he 
sent Leonidas and the 3000 men to Macedonia.28 There they became 
part of the royal army. 

If those 3000 were veterans, Antigonus still had some 2000 of 
Craterus' veterans. During this winter their number was increased 
by desertions from the army of Eumenes, which broke up (Diod. 
18.41.1). He brought some more into his army, when he defeated 
Alcetas (I8.45.4 and 50.1). But Eumenes made a spectacular recov­
ery. He escaped to Cyinda in Cilicia, won over the commanders of 
the Silvershields; and incorporated these famous 3000 veterans into 
his growing army (Plut. Eum. 13.1-4; Diod. 18.58.1 and 59.3). Off 
the battlefield they proved to be undisciplined and corrupt (Plut. 
Eum. 13.5-14.2). But on the battlefield, as "masters of war," they 
fought brilliantly in 317 and 316 (Diod. 19.30.5, 19.43.1 and 5; Plut. 
Eum. 16.4). But when Antigonus captured the baggage-train, which 
included their families, attendants, and possessions,29 they turned on 
Eumenes, handed him over to Antigonus in exchange for their 

27 Plut. Eum. 9.2; cf Diod. 18.40.8. For other instances of the use of tumuli see my 
article" 'Philip's Tomb' in Historical Context," GRBS 19 (1978) 332. 

28 See H. Herve, Das Alexanderreich II (Munich 1926) nos. 580 and 470. If, as I 
maintain, the 3000 were veterans, they wanted to go home; and being mutinous, like 
those who had returned home late in 321, they were of no use to Antigonus in Asia. 
In Europe they would serve under Antipater. 

29 See Polyaen. 4.6.13, "wives, children, girls, menservants, gold, silver, and every­
thing else they had acquired from their campaigning with Alexander." 



HAMMOND, N. G. L., Alexander's Veterans After His Death , Greek, Roman and Byzantine 
Studies, 25:1 (1984) p.51 

N. G. L. HAMMOND 61 

families, and insisted on having him put to death (Diod. 19.44.2, 
Plut. Eum. 18.1). They regarded Eumenes now as a false Alexan­
der~30 for the great Alexander had not only brought them victory but 
had safe-guarded their possessions. 

Antigonus was forewarned. He split this famous unit into two parts. 
He sent the most unruly of the veteran Silvershields to Arachosia, 
where the satrap, Sibyrtius, had secret orders to send them piecemeal 
on missions from which they would not return (Diod. 19.48.3, Plut. 
Eum. 19.2). He allocated the others to his phalanx brigades. Thus 
only a few splinter-groups of Alexander's famous army were left in 
Asia to fade away.31 The great bulk of that army was now in Mace­
donia itself. There their part in Macedonian politics was to be of 
paramount importance, but that is another story.32 

TRINITY COLLEGE, HARTFORD 

December, 1983 

30 Eumenes had tricked the Silvershields into believing that Alexander was present at 
the deliberations of Eumenes and his staff and guided their decisions: Plut. Eum. 13.3-
4; Diad. 18.60.4-61.3; Polyaen. 4.8.2; Nep. Eum. 7.2-3. 

31 Just. 14.4.20, Antigonus domitores illos orbis exercitui suo dividit, which means that 
he broke up the unit of 3000 and distributed them over his phalanx brigades, probably 
as file leaders. For such distribution see my article in JHS 103 (1983) 141-42. Antig­
onus had probably distributed in the same way the veterans he acquired on defeating 
Eumenes. 

32 This article owes much to the shrewd comments of G. T. Griffith, to whom I am 
most grateful.