page_title: Craterus
hierarchical_section_title: Craterus
caption_attribution_description: Lion hunt. Mosaic from Pella (ancient Macedonia), late 4th century BC, depicting Alexander the Great and Craterus. Housed in the Pella Museum. From Olga Palagia (2000). "Hephaestion’s Pyre and the Royal Hunt of Alexander," in A.B. Bosworth and E.J. Baynham (eds), Alexander the Great in Fact and Fiction. Oxford &amp; New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780198152873, p. 185: “A floor mosaic of the late fourth century, excavated in one of the dining rooms of the 'House of Dionysus', a palatial mansion at Pella, shows two Macedonians hunting a lion on foot, using spear and sword (Fig. 8). They are both heroically nude but for a billowing chlamys, and shown as equals, with the king on the left being differentiated by his kausia. The egalitarian spirit of the mosaic reflects the mores of the Macedonian nobles: not for them the mounted king in mixed Oriental dress...This mosaic has long been thought to represent Craterus coming to Alexander's rescue...”
context_page_description: Craterus or Krateros was an ancient Macedonian general under Alexander the Great and one of the Diadochi.
  Craterus was the son of a Macedonian nobleman named Alexander from Orestis and brother of admiral Amphoterus. Craterus commanded the phalanx and all infantry on the left wing in Battle of Issus in 333 BC. In Hyrcania he was sent on a mission against the Tapurians, his first independent command with the Macedonian army. At the Battle of the Hydaspes in 326 BC, near modern Jhelum, he commanded the rearguard, which stayed on the western bank; his men crossed the river only during the final stages of the battle.
  At the festivities in Susa, Craterus married princess Amastris, daughter of Oxyathres, the brother of Darius III. Craterus and Polyperchon were appointed to lead 11,500 veteran soldiers back to Macedonia. Craterus was in Cilicia, where he was building the fleet, when Alexander unexpectedly died in Babylon.
  In 322 Craterus aided Antipater in the Lamian War against Athens. He sailed with his Cilician navy to Greece and led troops at the Battle of Crannon in 322.
context_section_description: Craterus or Krateros (Greek: Κρατερός; c. 370 BC – 321 BC) was an ancient Macedonian general under Alexander the Great and one of the Diadochi.
  Craterus was the son of a Macedonian nobleman named Alexander from Orestis and brother of admiral Amphoterus. Craterus commanded the phalanx and all infantry on the left wing in Battle of Issus in 333 BC. In Hyrcania he was sent on a mission against the Tapurians, his first independent command with the Macedonian army. At the Battle of the Hydaspes in 326 BC, near modern Jhelum, he commanded the rearguard, which stayed on the western bank; his men crossed the river only during the final stages of the battle.
  At the festivities in Susa, Craterus married princess Amastris,  daughter of Oxyathres, the brother of Darius III.  Craterus and Polyperchon were appointed to lead 11,500 veteran soldiers back to Macedonia. Craterus was in Cilicia, where he was building the fleet, when Alexander unexpectedly died in Babylon.
  In 322 Craterus aided Antipater in the Lamian War against Athens. He sailed with his Cilician navy to Greece and led troops at the Battle of Crannon in 322. When Antigonus rose in rebellion against Perdiccas and Eumenes, Craterus joined him, alongside Antipater and Ptolemy. He married Antipater's daughter Phila, with whom he had a son, also called Craterus.
  He was killed in battle against Eumenes in Asia Minor when his charging horse fell over him, somewhere near the Hellespont, in 321.
caption: Alexander and Craterus in a lion hunt, mosaic in Pella
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