Battle of Ipsus The Battle of Ipsus ( ) was fought between some of the Diadochi ( the successors of Alexander the Great ) in 301 BC near the village of that name in Phrygia . Antigonus I Monophthalmus and his son Demetrius I of Macedon were pitted against the coalition of three other companions of Alexander : Cassander , ruler of Macedon ; Lysimachus , ruler of Thrace ; and Seleucus I Nicator , ruler of Babylonia and Persia . Sources . Diodorus Siculus is the principal source for the history of the Diadochi , in his ' Library of history ' ( " Bibliotheca historica " ) . Diodorus is often derided by modern historians for his style and inaccuracies , but he preserves many details of the ancient period found nowhere else . Diodorus worked primarily by epitomizing the works of other historians , omitting many details where they did not suit his purpose , which was to illustrate moral lessons from history However , since Diodorus provides the only continuous narrative for the history of the " Diadochi " , we have no alternative but to rely on his account . Unfortunately , from book XXI onwards ( 301 BC ) , including the actual Battle of Ipsus , the " Bibliotheca " only exists in fragments . Nevertheless , Diodorus provides extensive details of the Fourth War of the Diadochi leading up to Ipsus . It is generally thought that Diodorus ' s source for much of this period was the now - lost history of the Diadochi written of Hieronymus of Cardia . Hieronymus was a friend of Eumenes , and later became a member of the Antigonid court ; he was therefore very much familiar and contemporary with the events he described , and possibly a direct eyewitness to some . The only full description of the battle available is in Plutarch ' s " Life of Demetrius " . Plutarch was writing some 400 years after the events in question , and is therefore a secondary source , but he often names his sources , which allows some degree of verification of his statements . Plutarch was also primarily interested in moral lessons from history , rather than actually detailing history in depth , and thus his description of the battle does not go into great detail . Background . In the aftermath of the Second War of the Diadochi ( 315 BC ) , the ageing satrap Antigonus Monophthalmus had been left in undisputed control of the Asian territories of the Macedonian empire ( Asia Minor , Syria and the vast eastern satrapies ) . This left Antigonus in prime position to claim overall rule over the Macedonian empire . Antigonus ' s growing power alarmed the other major Successors , resulting in the eruption of the Third War of the Diadochi in 314 BC , in which Antigonus faced a coalition of Cassander ( ruler of Macedonia ) , Lysimachus ( ruler of Thrace ) and Ptolemy ( ruler of Egypt ) . This war ended in a compromise peace in 311 BC , after which Antigonus attacked Seleucus , who was attempting to re - establish himself in the eastern Satrapies of the empire . The resulting Babylonian War lasted from 311 - 309 BC , and resulted in defeat for Antigonus , allowing Seleucus to re - claim the satrapy of Babylonia and overlordship of the territories to the east . While Antigonus was distracted elsewhere , Ptolemy had been expanding his power into the Aegean Sea and to Cyprus . Antigonus thus resumed the war with Ptolemy in 308 BC , beginning the Fourth War of the Diadochi . Antigonus sent his son Demetrius to regain control of Greece , and in 307 BC he took Athens , expelling Demetrius of Phaleron , Cassander ' s governor , and proclaiming the city free again . Demetrius then turned his attention to Ptolemy , invading Cyprus and defeating Ptolemy ' s fleet at the Battle of Salamis - in - Cyprus . In the aftermath of this victory , Antigonus and Demetrius both assumed the crown of Macedon , in which they were shortly followed by Ptolemy , Seleucus , Lysimachus , and eventually Cassander . In 306 , Antigonus attempted to invade Egypt , but storms prevented Demetrius ' s fleet from supplying him , and he was forced to return home . With Cassander and Ptolemy both weakened , and Seleucus still occupied by attempting to assert his control over the East , Antigonus and Demetrius now turned their attention to Rhodes , which was besieged by Demetrius ' s forces in 305 BC . The island was reinforced by troops from Ptolemy , Lysimachus , and Cassander . Ultimately , the Rhodians reached a compromise with Demetrius – they would support Antigonus and Demetrius against all enemies , save their ally Ptolemy . Ptolemy took the title of Soter ( " Savior " ) for his role in preventing the fall of Rhodes , but the victory was ultimately Demetrius ' s , as it left him with a free hand to attack Cassander in Greece . Demetrius thus returned to Greece at set about liberating the cities of Greece , expelling Cassander ' s garrisons , and the pro - Antipatrid oligarchies . This occupied much of Demetrius ' s efforts in 303 and 302 BC . Seeing that Demetrius ' s war effort was aimed at destroying his power in Greece , and ultimately in Macedonia , Cassander tried to come to terms with Antigonus . However , Antigonus rejected these advances , intent on forcing Cassander ' s complete surrender . Cassander therefore held counsel with Lysimachus , and they agreed on a joint strategy that included sending envoys to Ptolemy and Seleucus , asking them to join in combatting the Antigonid threat . Seeking to take the initiative , Cassander sent a significant portion of the Macedonian army under Prepelaus to Lysimachus , which was to be used in joint operations in Asia Minor . Meanwhile , Cassander took the rest of the Macedonian army into Thessaly to confront Demetrius . Prelude . Lysimachus crossed over the Hellespont in 302 BC , intending to take advantage of Antigonus ' s absence in Syria by overrunning Asia Minor . The cities of Lampsakos and Parion submitted to him , but he had to storm Sigeion , after which he installed a garrison there . He then sent Prepelaus with 7000 men to attack Aeolis and Ionia , while he besieged Abydos . This siege was unsuccessful however , since Demetrius sent the city reinforcements from Greece by sea . Lysimachus instead went on to win over Hellespontine Phrygia , and then captured the major administrative centre of Synnada . Meanwhile , Prepelaus captured Adramyttion , Ephesos , Teos and Colophon ; he could not however capture Erythrae or Clazomenae , again due to sea - borne reinforcements . Finally , Prepelaus moved inland and captured Sardis , another major administrative centre . When Antigonus received news of the invasion , he abandoned preparations for a great festival to be held in Antigonia , and quickly began to march his army northwards from Syria , through Cilicia , Cappadocia , Lycaonia and into Phrygia . Lysimachus , hearing of the approach of Antigonus ' s army , held counsel with his officers , and decided to avoid open battle until Seleucus ' s arrival . The allies thus defended their camp with entrenchments and palisades , and when Antigonus arrived offering battle , they remained within the camp . Antigonus therefore moved to cut off the allies provisions , forcing Lysimachus to abandon the camp and make a night - time march of some 40 miles to Dorylaion . There , the allies built a new , triple - pallisaded camp amongst the hills , with relatively easy access to food and water . Antigonus followed closely behind , and laid siege to the allied camp , bringing up catapult s for the assault . Lysimachus sent sorties to try and disrupt the siege - works , but the Antigonid forces always ended with the upper hand in ensuing skirmishes . With the siege works nearing completion and food running low , Lysimachus decided to abandon the camp , and marched away during a night - time storm . Antigonus again attempted to follow , but as winter approached with further rain , conditions became difficult , and he abandoned pursuit and dispersed his men into winter quarters instead . The allied army marched on into Bithynia and went into winter quarters in and around the city of Heraclea . Whilst settling his army for the winter , Antigonus heard the news the Seleucus was en route from the eastern satrapies to support Lysimachus . He therefore dispatched messengers to Demetrius , ordering him to bring his army over to Asia to reinforce the Antigonid forces . Demetrius had in the meantime continued his campaign in Greece , and although Cassander had blocked the land - passes , Demetrius had entered Thessaly by sea . There had followed a somewhat inconsequential campaign of manouevre between the two armies in Thessaly , before Demetrius received his father ' s messages asking for reinforcements . Demetrius thus hastily arranged a truce with Cassander , and took his army by sea across the Aegean to Ephesos . He re - captured Ephesos , and marched north to the Hellespont , where he established a strong garrison and fleet to prevent European reinforcements reaching the allied army in Asia . Demetrius then also dispersed his army into winter quarters . In the absence of Demetrius , Cassander now felt able to send further reinforcements to Lysimachus , under the command of his brother , Pleistarchus . Since Demetrius was guarding the easy crossing points at the Hellespont and the Bosphorus , Pleistarchus attempted to ship his men directly across the Black Sea to Heraclea , using the port of Odessos . The men had to be sent in batches due to a lack of ships , and although the first batch arrived safely , the second shipment was intercepted by Demetrius ' s fleet , and the third wrecked in a storm . Pleistarchus himself narrowly survived the wreck of his command ship , eventually being carried to Heraclea to recuperate over the winter . Similarly , the concentration of Antigonid forces in Asia now made Ptolemy feel secure enough to bring an army out of Egypt to try to conquer Coele Syria . He captured a number of cities , but while laying siege to Sidon , he was brought false reports of an Antigonid victory , and told that Antigonus was marching south into Syria . He thus garrisoned the cities he had captured , and retreated into Egypt . At around the same time , Seleucus appears to have finished his march from the east , arriving in Cappadocia with his army , which he then sent into winter quarters . Diodorus completes book XX of his Library at this point , saying that he will describe the battle between the Kings at the start of the next book . However , only fragments remain of books XXI onwards , and although some fragments of his description of the battle do remain , they do not form a coherent narrative . In his description of the battle , Plutarch does not describe the preliminary manoeuvring that must have occurred in 301 BC before the battle , so it is unclear how events unfolded . Lysimachus and Seleucus were probably anxious to bring Antigonus to battle , since their respective power - centres in Thrace and Babylon were vulnerable in their prolonged absence . The armies eventually met in battle around 50 miles north - east of Synnada , near the village of Ipsus . Bennett and Roberts hypothesise that Lysimachus was marching east from Bithynia to cut Antigonus ' s lines of communication with Syria . Antigonus was aware of Ptolemy ' s raid on Syria the previous year , and thus would have been loath to be cut off from Syria and his capital in Antigonia , and thus moved to intercept the allied army . The exact location of the battle is unknown , but it occurred in a large open plain , well - suited for both the allied preponderance of elephants and the Antigonid superiority in cavalry numbers and training . Opposing forces . Antigonids . According to Plutarch , Antigonus ' s army before the battle numbered around 70 , 000 infantry , 10 , 000 cavalry and 75 war elephants . The majority of this number were presumably supplied by Antigonus ' s army that marched from Syria , since Demetrius ' s army in Greece had no elephants and only 1 , 500 cavalry . Diodorus claims that Demetrius ' s had approximately 56 , 000 infantry in Greece ( 8 , 000 Macedonian phalangites , 15 , 000 mercenaries , 25 , 000 troops from Greek cities and 8 , 000 light troops ) , but it is unclear what proportion of this infantry accompanied him to Asia . Based on other battles between the Diadochi , Bennett and Roberts estimate that of the 70 , 00 Antigonid infantry , perhaps 40 , 000 were phalangites and 30 , 000 were lightly armed troops of various kinds . Allies . Plutarch gives a total of 64 , 000 infantry for the allies , with 10 , 500 cavalry , 400 elephants and 120 scythed chariot s . Diodorus claims that Seleucus brought 20 , 000 infantry , 12 , 000 cavalry ( including mounted archers ) , 480 elephants and more than a hundred scythed chariots with him from the eastern satrapies . The numbers of elephants and chariots supposed to be present at the battle are therefore relatively consistent between these sources . However , Seleucus ' s cavalry component according to Diodorus is alone larger than Plutarch ' s claims for the whole allied cavalry , and Lysimachus must have had at least some cavalry — he sent at least 1 , 000 horsemen with Prepelaus the previous year . Both Davis and Bennett and Roberts thus estimate the total number of allied cavalry at 15 , 000 . Of the 44 , 000 non - Seleucid infantry , it is unclear what proportion were supplied by Cassander and Lysimachus respectively . Cassander sent 12 , 000 men under Pleistarchus , of which two - thirds were lost in crossing the Black Sea , but it is not clear how many men were in the initial dispatch of troops send under Prepelaus . Bennett and Roberts estimate that , of the allies ' total infantry , perhaps 30 , 000 – 40 , 000 were phalangites , with the remainder being lightly armed troop types . Strategic and tactical considerations . In terms of overall strategy , it is clear that both sides had resolved on battle ; for the allies , it represented the best chance of stopping Antigonid expansion , rather than allowing themselves to be defeated piecemeal . For Antigonus , the chance to defeat all his enemies at once could not be passed up , even if he would have preferred to defeat them individually . However , little is known about the specific strategic considerations facing the two sides before the battle , as the precise circumstances and location of the engagement remain uncertain . As mentioned above , it has been suggested that the allied army was trying to cut Antogonus ' s lines of communication with Syria , in order to prompt him into battle , but this is only one of several possible scenarios . Tactically , both sides faced the common problem of the wars fought amongst the Successors ; how to defeat an army equipped in the same manner and using the same basic tactics . The Diadochi seem to have been inherently conservative , and continued to favour a strong attack with cavalry on the right wing of the battle - line ( tactics commonly used by both Philip and Alexander ) as the principal tactical thrust — even though they must have been aware of the likelihood their opponents would perform the same manoeuvre on the opposite side of the battlefield . When armies were numerically even and deploying the same tactics , gaining a clear advantage was difficult . The use of novel weapons such as war elephants and scythed chariots to change the tactical balance was one approach used by the Diadochi , but such innovations were readily copied . Thus both sides at Ipsus had war elephants , although thanks to Seleucus , the allies were able to field an unusually high number , in addition to scythed chariots . Both sides therefore sought an open battlefield ; the allies in order to use their elephants to full potential , and the Antigonids to allow full use of their strong cavalry arm . For the Antigonids , strong in both infantry and cavalry , the tactical situation was straightforward , and followed the template Successor tactic of a massive cavalry assault on the right wing . For the allies , weaker in infantry , the tactics would have been to maximise their overwhelming superiority in elephants , though it is not clear exactly how they intended to do this . Nevertheless , the elephants played a pivotal role in the battle . Battle . Deployment . Both sides probably deployed their troops in a standard Macedonian formation , with the phalanx of heavy infantry in the centre of the battle line . In front , and to the sides of the phalanx , light infantry were deployed to act as skirmishers and to protect the flanks of the phalanx ; cavalry was split between the two wings . In the Antigonid line , Demetrius commanded the best of the cavalry , stationed on the right wing . Antigonus , with his personal bodyguard was positioned in the centre behind the phalanx . The 75 elephants were deployed in front of the battle - line with their infantry guards . The situation with the allied deployment is less clear . Plutarch states that Seleucus ' s son Antiochus was in command of the cavalry on the left wing , traditionally the weaker wing in the Macedonian system , intended only to skirmish . However , its has been suggested that on this occasion the allied cavalry were evenly split between the two wings . We do not know who commanded the right wing , nor where Lysimachus , Seleucus or Pleistarchus were stationed . It is clear that some of Seleucus ' s elephants were placed in front of the battle line , but not how many , though a figure of 100 is often suggested . It has been suggested that Seleucus retained command of the majority of his elephants in a tactical reserve , but the use of such a large reserve would have been unprecedented in battles amongst the successors . Furthermore , it would have meant shunning an opportunity to deploy the major tactical advantage held by the allies . As Bennett and Roberts point out , understanding this ' elephant problem ' is key to understanding the outcome of the battle , but the ancient sources do not allow the point to be resolved . Initial phase . The battle seems to have begun in earnest with a clash of the elephants from both sides . Diodorus says that " the elephants of Antigonus and Lysimachus fought as if nature had matched them equally in courage and strength " , suggesting that they were also equal in number ( and supporting the idea of a large reserve of elephants on the allied side ) . Demetrius then launched the principal Antigonid thrust , manoeuvering his cavalry round the elephants , and attacking the allied cavalry under Antiochus . Plutarch says that Demetrius " " fought brilliantly and routed his enemy " " . However it is also clear that Demetrius allowed the pursuit of the routing allied cavalry to go too far , and resulting in his men becoming isolated from the battlefield . Second phase . It is not explicitly stated by Plutarch , but it has been assumed that the two phalanxes engaged each other during the battle . If this was the case , then the Antigonid strategy would have been for Demetrius to take his cavalry and attack the rear of the allied phalanx ; or alternatively , return to station on the right wing and protect the Antigonid phalanx ' s flank . However , Demetrius found himself unable to return to the battlefield because of the deployment of 300 elephants in his path . The ancient sources repeatedly emphasise the effect of elephants on horses , which are alarmed by the smell and noise of elephants and are loathe to approach them . Demetrius would not have been able to take his horses through the line of elephants , nor manoeuvre around such a large quantity of elephants . This ' elephant manoeuvre ' was the decisive moment in the battle , but it is not clear how it came about ; Plutarch only says that " " the [ allied ] elephants were thrown in his way " " . If the elephants had indeed been held in reserve , then it might have been relatively straightforward to deploy them , but as discussed , it is not clear why so many elephants would have been held in reserve . W . W . Tarn went as far as to suggest that Antiochus ' s withdrawal was a deliberate ploy to isolate Demetrius from the battle - field and block his return with the elephants . However , it is also possible that the deployment of the elephants was a piece of improvisation during the battle , though moving such a large number of elephants in such a coordinated manoeuvre in the middle of the battle would have been difficult . Since he was the only allied commander with significant experience of handling elephants , it has been assumed that Seleucus was responsible for this manoeuvre . With Demetrius now isolated from the battlefield , the Antigonid phalanx was exposed on its right flank . Plutarch describes what followed : This move against the Antigonid right flank probably involved detaching cavalry from the allies own right wing , including Seleucus ' s horse - archers , who could rain down missiles on the immobile phalanx . The morale of the troops appears to have collapsed , and it seems that some of the heavy infantry either defected to the allied side or otherwise fled . Antigonus , stationed in the centre , tried to rally his men , hoping for Demetrius ' s return . However , he was gradually surrounded by allied infantry and eventually killed by several javelins thrown by allied skirmishers . With the death of its commander , the Antigonid battle - line dissolved , and the battle effectively ended . Aftermath . From the wreck of the Antigonid army , Demetrius managed to recover 5 , 000 infantry and 4 , 000 cavalry , and escaped with them to Ephesos . Despite the expectation that he would raid the Epehesian treasury , Demetrius instead immediately set sail for Greece " putting his chief remaining hopes in Athens " . However , he was to be disappointed ; the Athenians had voted not to allow any of the kings into Athens . Concealing his wrath , he asked the Athenians for the return of his ships that were moored there , and then sailed on to the Isthmus of Corinth . He found that everywhere his garrisons were being expelled , and his erstwhile allies defecting to the other kings . He left Pyrrhus of Epirus ( at that time was part of the Antigonid faction ) in charge of the Antigonid cause in Greece , and himself sailed to the Thracian Chersonesos . The last chance to reunite the Alexandrine Empire had already been passed when Antigonus lost the Babylonian War and two thirds of his empire . Ipsus confirmed this failure . As Paul K . Davis writes , " Ipsus was the high point of the struggle among Alexander the Great ’ s successors to create an international Hellenistic empire , which Antigonus failed to do . " Instead , the empire was carved up between the victors , with Ptolemy retaining Egypt , Seleucus expanding his power to eastern Asia Minor , and Lysimachus receiving the remainder of Asia Minor . Eventually Seleucus would defeat Cassander and Lysimachus ( in 281 BC ) , but he was assassinated shortly afterward . Ipsus finalized the breakup of an empire , which may account for its obscurity ; despite that , it was still a critical battle in classical history and decided the character of the Hellenistic age .