Antigonus II Gonatas Antigonus II Gonatas ( ) ( 319 – 239 BC ) was a powerful ruler who firmly established the Antigonid dynasty in Macedonia and acquired fame for his victory over the Gauls who had invaded the Balkans . Birth and family . Antigonus Gonatas was born around 319 BC , probably in Gonnoi in Thessaly unless " Gonatas " is derived from an iron plate protecting the knee ( Ancient Greek " gonu " , genitive " gonatos " ) . He was related to the most powerful of the Diadochi ( the generals of Alexander who divided the empire after his death in 323 BC ) . Antigonus ' s father was Demetrius Poliorcetes , who was the son of Antigonus I Monophthalmus , who then controlled much of Asia . His mother was Phila , the daughter of Antipater . The latter controlled Macedonia and the rest of Greece and was recognized as regent of the empire , which in theory remained united . In this year , however , Antipater died , leading to further struggles for territory and dominance . The careers of Antigonus ' s grandfather and father showed great swings in fortune . After coming closer than anyone to reuniting the empire of Alexander , Antigonus Monophthalmus was defeated and killed in the great battle of Ipsus in 301 BC and the territory he formerly controlled was divided among his enemies , Cassander , Ptolemy , Lysimachus , and Seleucus . Demetrius ' s general . The fate of Antigonus Gonatas , now 18 , was closely tied with that of his father Demetrius , who escaped from the battle with 9 , 000 troops . Jealousy among the victors eventually allowed Demetrius to regain part of the power his father had lost . He conquered Athens and in 294 BC he seized the throne of Macedonia from Alexander , the son of Cassander . Because Antigonus Gonatas was the grandson of Antipater and the nephew of Cassander through his mother , his presence helped to reconcile the supporters of these former kings to the rule of his father . In 292 BC , while Demetrius was campaigning in Boeotia , he received news that Lysimachus , the ruler of Thrace and the enemy of his father , had been taken prisoner by Dromichaetes , a ruler of the Getae . Hoping to seize Lysimachus ' s territories in Thrace and Asia , Demetrius delegated command of his forces in Boeotia to Antigonus and immediately marched north . While he was away , the Boeotians rose in rebellion , but were defeated by Antigonus , who bottled them up in Thebes . After the failure of his expedition to Thrace , Demetrius rejoined his son at the siege of Thebes . As the Thebans defended their city stubbornly , Demetrius often forced his men to attack the city at great cost , even though there was little hope of capturing it . It is said that , distressed by the heavy losses , Antigonus asked his father : " Why , father , do we allow these lives to be thrown away so unnecessarily ? " Demetrius appears to have showed his contempt for the lives of his soldiers by replying : " We don ' t have to find rations for the dead . " But he also showed a similar disregard for his own life and was badly wounded at the siege by a bolt through the neck . In 291 BC , Demetrius finally took the city after using siege engines to demolish its walls . But control of Macedonia and most of Greece was merely a stepping stone to his plans for further conquest . He aimed at nothing less than the revival of Alexander ' s empire and started making preparations on a grand scale , ordering the construction of a fleet of 500 ships , many of them of unprecedented size . Such preparations and the obvious intent behind them , naturally alarmed the other kings , Seleucus , Ptolemy , Lysimachus , and Pyrrhus , who immediately formed an alliance . In the spring of 288 BC Ptolemy ' s fleet appeared off Greece , inciting the cities to revolt . At the same time , Lysimachus attacked Macedonia from the east while Pyrrhus did so from the west . Demetrius left Antigonus in control of Greece , while he hurried to Macedonia . By now the Macedonians had come to resent the extravagance and arrogance of Demetrius , and were not prepared to fight a difficult campaign for him . In 287 BC , Pyrrhus took the Macedonian city of Verroia and Demetrius ' s army promptly deserted and went over to the enemy who was much admired by the Macedonians for his bravery . At this change of fortune , Phila , the mother of Antigonus , killed herself with poison . Meanwhile in Greece , Athens revolted . Demetrius therefore returned and besieged the city , but he soon grew impatient and decided on a more dramatic course . Leaving Antigonus in charge of the war in Greece , he assembled all his ships and embarked with 11 , 000 infantry and all his cavalry to attack Caria and Lydia , provinces of Lysimachus . By separating himself from his son and departing into Asia , Demetrius seemed to take his bad luck with him , but in reality it was the fear and the jealousy of the other kings . As Demetrius was chased across Asia Minor to the Taurus Mountains by the armies of Lysimachus and Seleucus , Antigonus attained success in Greece . Ptolemy ' s fleet was driven off and Athens surrendered . In the wilderness . In 285 BC , Demetrius , worn down by his fruitless campaign , surrendered to Seleucus . At this point he wrote to son and his commanders in Athens and Corinth telling them to henceforth consider him a dead man and to ignore any letters they might receive written under his seal . Macedonia , meanwhile had been divided between Pyrrhus and Lysimachus , but like two wolves sharing a piece of meat , they soon fought over it with the result that Lysimachus drove Pyrrhus out and took over the whole kingdom . Following the capture of his father , Antigonus proved himself a dutiful son . He wrote to all the kings , especially Seleucus , offering to surrender all the territory he controlled and proposing himself as a hostage for his father ' s release , but to no avail . In 283 BC , at the age of 55 , Demetrius died in captivity in Syria . When Antigonus heard that his father ' s remains were being brought to him , he put to sea with his entire fleet , met Seleucus ' s ships near the Cyclades , and took the relics to Corinth with great ceremony . After this , the remains were interred at the town of Demetrias that his father had founded in Thessaly . In 282 BC , Seleucus declared war on Lysimachus and the next year defeated and killed him at the Battle of Corupedium in Lydia . He then crossed to Europe to claim Thrace and Macedonia , but Ptolemy Keraunos , the son of Ptolemy , murdered him and seized the Macedonian throne . Antigonus decided the time was ripe to take back his father ' s kingdom , but when he marched north , Ptolemy Ceraunus defeated his army . Ptolemy ' s success , however , was short - lived . In the winter of 279 BC , a great horde of Gauls descended on Macedonia from the northern forests , crushed Ptolemy ' s army , and killed him in battle , starting two years of complete anarchy in the kingdom . After plundering Macedonia , the Gauls invaded further regions of Greece moving southwards . Antigonus cooperated in the defence of Greece against the barbarians , but it was the Aetolians who took the lead in defeating the Gauls . In 278 BC , a Greek army with a large Aetolia n contingent resisted the Gauls at Thermopylae and Delphi , inflicting heavy casualties and forcing them to retreat . The next year ( 277 BC ) , Antigonus , sailed to the Hellespont , landing near Lysimachia at the neck of the Thracian Chersonese . When an army of Gauls under the command of Cerethrius appeared , Antigonus laid an ambush . He abandoned his camp and beached his ships , then concealed his men . The Gauls looted the camp , but when they started to attack the ships , Antigonus ' s army appeared , trapping them with the sea to their rear . In this way , Antigonus was able to inflict a crushing defeat on them and claim the Macedonian throne . It was around this time , under these favorable omens , that his son and successor , Demetrius II Aetolicus was born by his niece - wife Phila . King of Macedonia . Antigonus against Pyrrhus . Pyrrhus , king of Epirus , Macedonia ' s western neighbour , was a general of mercurial ability , widely renowned for his bravery , but he did not apply his talents sensibly and often snatched after vain hopes , so that Antigonus used to compare him to a dice player , who had excellent throws , but did not know how to use them . When the Gauls defeated Ptolemy Ceraunus and the Macedonian throne became vacant , Pyrrhus was occupied in his campaigns overseas . Hoping to conquer first Italy and then Africa , he got involved in wars against Rome and Carthage , the two most powerful states in the western Mediterranean . He then lost the support of the Greek cities in Italy and Sicily by his haughty behaviour . Needing reinforcements , he wrote to Antigonus as a fellow Greek king , asking him for troops and money , but Antigonus politely refused . In 275 BC , the Romans fought Pyrrhus at the Battle of Beneventum which ended inconclusively , although many modern sources wrongly state that Pyrrhus lost the battle . Pyrrhus had been drained by his recent wars in Sicily , and by the earlier " Pyrrhic victories " over the Romans , and thus decided to end his campaign in Italy and return to Epirus . Pyrrhus ' s retreat from Italy , however , proved very unlucky for Antigonus . Returning to Epirus with an army of eight thousand foot and five hundred horse , he was in need of money to pay them . This encouraged him to look for another war , so the next year , after adding a force of Gallic mercenaries to his army , he invaded Macedonia with the intention of filling his coffers with plunder . The campaign however went better than expected . Making himself master of several towns and being joined by two thousand deserters , his hopes started to grow and he went in search of Antigonus . attacking his army in a narrow pass and throwing it into disorder at the Battle of the Aoos River . Antigonus ' s Macedonian troops retreated , but his own body of Gallic mercenaries , who had charge of his elephants , stood firm until Pyrrhus ' s troops surrounded them , whereupon they surrendered both themselves and the elephants . Pyrrhus now chased after the rest of Antigonus ' s army which , demoralised by its earlier defeat , declined to fight . As the two armies faced each other , Pyrrhus called out to the various officers by name and persuaded the whole body of infantry to desert . Antigonus escaped by concealing his identity . Pyrrhus now took control of upper Macedonia and Thessaly , while Antigonus held on to the coastal towns . But Pyrrhus now wasted his victory . Taking possession of Aegae , the ancient capital of Macedonia , he installed a garrison of Gauls , who greatly offended the Macedonians by digging up the tombs of their kings and leaving the bones scattered about as they searched for gold . He also neglected to finish off his enemy . Leaving him in control of the coastal cities , he contented himself with insults . He called Antigonus a shameless man for still wearing the purple , but he did little to destroy the remnants of his power . Before this campaign was finished , Pyrrhus had embarked upon a new one . In 272 BC , Cleonymus , an important Spartan , invited him to invade Laconia . Gathering an army of twenty - five thousand foot , two thousand horse , and twenty - four elephants , he crossed over to the Peloponnese and occupied Megalopolis in Arcadia . Antigonus , after reoccupying part of Macedonia , gathered what forces he could and sailed to Greece to oppose him . As a large part of the Spartan army led by king Areus was in Crete at the time , Pyrrhus besieged Sparta with great hopes of taking the city easily , but the citizens organized stout resistance , allowing one of Antigonus ' s commanders , Aminias , the Phocian , to reach the city with a force of mercenaries from Corinth . Soon after this , the Spartan king , Areus , returned from Crete with 2 , 000 men . These reinforcements stiffened resistance , and Pyrrhus , finding that he was losing men to desertion every day , broke off the attack and started to plunder the country . The most important Peloponnesian city after Sparta was Argos . The two chief men , Aristippus and Aristeas , were keen rivals . As Aristippus was an ally of Antigonus , Aristeas invited Pyrrhus to come to Argos to help him take over the city . Antigonus , aware that Pyrrhus was advancing on Argos , marched his army there as well , taking up a strong position on some high ground near the city . When Pyrrhus learned this , he encamped about Nauplia and the next day dispatched a herald to Antigonus , calling him a coward and challenging him to come down and fight on the plain . Antigonus replied that he would choose his own moment to fight and that if Pyrrhus was weary of life , he could find many ways to die . The Argives , fearing that their territory would become a war zone , sent deputations to the two kings begging them to go elsewhere and allow their city to remain neutral . Both kings agreed , but Antigonus won over the trust of the Argives by surrendering his son as a hostage for his pledge . Pyrrhus , who had recently lost a son in the retreat from Sparta , did not . Indeed , with the help of Aristeas , he was plotting to seize the city . In the middle of the night , he marched his army up to the city walls and entered through a gate that Aristeas had opened . His Gallic troops seized the market place , but he had difficulty getting his elephants into the city through the small gates . This gave the Argives time to rally . They occupied strong points and sent messengers asking Antigonus for help . When Antigonus heard that Pyrrhus had treacherously attacked the city , he advanced to the walls and sent a strong force inside to help the Argives . At the same time Areus arrived with a force of 1 , 000 Cretans and light - armed Spartans . These forces attacked the Gauls in the market place . Pyrrhus , realising that his Gallic troops were hard pressed , now advanced into the city with more troops , but in the narrow streets this soon led to confusion as men got lost and wandered around . The two forces now paused and waited for daylight . When the sun rose , Pyrrhus saw how strong the opposition was and decided the best thing was to retreat . Fearing that the gates would be too narrow for his troops to easily exit the city , he sent a message to his son , Helenus , who was outside with the main body of the army , asking him to break down a section of the walls . The messenger , however , failed to convey his instructions clearly . Misunderstanding what was required , Helenus took the rest of the elephants and some picked troops and advanced into the city to help his father . With some of his troops trying to get out of the city and others trying to get in , Pyrrhus ' s army was now thrown into confusion . This was made worse by the elephants . The largest one had fallen across the gateway and was blocking the way , while another elephant , called Nicon , was trying to find its rider . This beast surged against the tide of fugitives , crushing friend and foe alike , until it found its dead master , whereupon it picked him up , placed him on its tusks , and went on the rampage . In this chaos Pyrrhus was struck down by a tile thrown by an old woman and killed by Zopyrus , a soldier of Antigonus . Thus ended the career of the most famous soldier of his time . Alcyoneus , one of Antigonus ' s sons , heard that Pyrrhus had been killed . Taking the head , which had been cut off by Zopyrus , he rode to where his father was and threw it at his feet . Far from being delighted , Antigonus was angry with his son and struck him , calling him a barbarian and drove him away . He then covered his face with his cloak and burst into tears . The fate of Pyrrhus reminded him all too clearly of the tragic fates of his own grandfather and his father who had suffered similar swings of fortune . He then had Pyrrhus ' s body cremated with great ceremony . After the death of Pyrrhus , his whole army and camp surrendered to Antigonus , greatly increasing his power . Later , Alcyoneus discovered Helenus , Pyrrhus ' s son , disguised in threadbare clothes . He treated him kindly and brought him to his father who was more pleased with his behaviour . " This is better than what you did before , my son , " he said , " but why leave him in these clothes which are a disgrace to us now that we know ourselves the victors ? " Greeting him courteously , Antigonus treated Helenus as an honored guest and sent him back to Epirus . This was not the end of Antigonus ' problems with Epirus : shortly after Alexander II , the son of Pyrrhus and his successor as king of Epirus , repeated his father ' s adventure by conquering Macedonia . But only a few years after Alexander was not only expelled from Macedonia by Antigonus ' son Demetrius , but he also lost Epirus and had to go into exile in Acarnania . His exile didn ' t last long , as the Macedonians had at the end to abandon Epirus under pressure from Alexander ' s allies , the Acarnanians and the Aetolians . Alexander seems to have died about 242 BC , leaving his country under the regency of his wife Olympias who proved anxious to have good relations with Epirus ' powerful neighbour , as was sanctioned by the marriage between the regent ' s daughter Phthia and Antigonus ' son and heir Demetrius . Chremonidean War . With the restoration of the territories captured by Pyrrhus , and with grateful allies in Sparta and Argos , and garrisons in Corinth and other cities , Antigonus securely controlled Macedonia and Greece . The careful way he guarded his power shows that he wished to avoid the vicissitudes of fortune that had characterized the careers of his father and grandfather . Aware that the Greeks loved freedom and autonomy , he was careful to grant a semblance of this in as much as it did not clash with his own power . Also , he tried to avoid the odium that direct rule brings by controlling the Greeks through intermediaries . It is for this reason that Polybius says , " No man ever set up more absolute rulers in Greece than Antigonus . " The next stage of Antigonus ' s career is not documented and what we know has been patched together from a few historical fragments : Antigonus seems to have been on very good terms with Antiochus , the Seleucid ruler of Asia , whose love for Stratonice , the sister of Antigonus , is very famous . Such an alliance naturally threatened the third successor state , Ptolemaic Egypt . In Greece , Athens and Sparta , once the dominant states , naturally resented the domination of Antigonus . The pride , which in the past had made these cities mortal enemies , now served to unite them . In 267 BC , probably with encouragement from Egypt , an Athenian by the name of Chremonides persuaded the Athenians to join the Spartans in declaring war on Antigonus ( see Chremonidean War ) . The Macedonian king responded by ravaging the territory of Athens with an army while blockading them by sea . In this campaign he also destroyed the grove and temple of Poseidon that stood at the entrance to Attica near the border with Megara . To support the Athenians and prevent the power of Antigonus from growing too much , Ptolemy II Philadelphus , the king of Egypt , sent a fleet to break the blockade . The Egyptian admiral , Patroclus , landed on a small uninhabited island near Laurium and fortified it as a base for naval operations . The Seleucid Empire had signed a peace treaty with Egypt , but Antiochus ' s son - in - law , Magas , king of Cyrene , persuaded Antiochus to take advantage of the war in Greece to attack Egypt . To counter this , Ptolemy dispatched a force of pirates and freebooters to raid and attack the lands and provinces of Antiochus , while his army fought a defensive campaign , holding back the stronger Seleucid army . Although successfully defending Egypt , Ptolemy II was unable to save Athens from Antigonus . In 263 BC , the Athenians and Spartans , worn down by several years of war and the devastation of their lands , made peace with Antigonus , who thus retained his hold on Greece . Ptolemy II continued to interfere in the affairs of Greece and this led to war in 261 . After two years in which little changed , Antiochus II , the new Seleucid king , made a military agreement with Antigonus , and the Second Syrian War began . Under the combined attack , Egypt lost ground in Anatolia and Phoenicia , and the city of Miletus , held by its ally , Timarchus , was seized by Antiochus II Theos . In 255 BC , Ptolemy made peace , ceding lands to the Seleucids and confirming Antigonus in his mastery of Greece . Two years later , however , the Egyptian interfered again , inducing with his subsidies the Macedonian governor of Corinth and Euboea , Alexander , son of Craterus , to challenge his king , seeking independence as a tyrant . Alexander ' s revolt was the most serious threat to the Macedonian hegemony in Greece , and since Antigonus ' military efforts were unsuccessful , he probably resolved to poison the traitor in 247 BC . By offering a marriage with his heir Demetrius II Aetolicus Antigonus took in his widow Nicaea and regained control of Corinth in the winter of 245 / 44 BC . Antigonus against Aratus . Having successfully repelled the external threat to his control of Greece , the main danger to the power of Antigonus lay in the Greek love of liberty . In 251 BC , Aratus , a young nobleman in the city of Sicyon , expelled the tyrant Nicocles , who had ruled with the acquiescence of Antigonus , freed the people , and recalled the exiles . This led to confusion and division within the city . Fearing that Antigonus would exploit these divisions to attack the city , Aratus applied for the city to join the Achaean League , a league of a few small Achaea n towns in the Pelopennese . Preferring to use guile rather than military power , Antigonus sought to regain control over Sicyon through winning the young man over to his side . Accordingly , he sent him a gift of 25 talents , but , Aratus , instead of being corrupted by this wealth , immediately gave it away to his fellow citizens . With this money and another sum he received from Ptolemy II Philadelphus , he was able to reconcile the different parties in Sicyon and unite the city . Antigonus was troubled by the rising power and popularity of Aratus . If he were to receive extensive military and financial support from Ptolemy , Aratus would be able to threaten his position . He decided therefore to either win him over to his side or at least discredit him with Ptolemy . In order to do this , he showed him great marks of favour . When he was sacrificing to the gods in Corinth , he sent portions of the meat to Aratus at Sicyon , and complimented Aratus in front of his guests : " I thought this Sicyonian youth was only a lover of liberty and of his fellow - citizens , but now I look upon him as a good judge of the manners and actions of kings . For formerly he despised us , and , placing his hopes further off , admired the Egyptians , hearing much of their elephants , fleets , and palaces . But after seeing all these at a nearer distance , and perceiving them to be but mere stage props and pageantry , he has now come over to us . And for my part I willingly receive him , and , resolving to make great use of him myself , command you to look upon him as a friend . " These words were readily believed by many , and when they were reported to Ptolemy , he half believed them . But Aratus was far from becoming a friend of Antigonus , whom he regarded as the oppressor of his city ' s freedom . In 243 BC , in an attack by night , he seized the Acrocorinth , the strategically important fort by which Antigonus controlled the Isthmus and thus the Pelopennese . When news of this success reached Corinth , the Corinthians rose in rebellion , overthrew Antigonus ' party , and joined the Achaean League . Next Aratus took the port of Lechaeum and captured 25 of Antigonus ' s ships . This setback for Antigonus sparked a general uprising against Macedonian power . The Megarians revolted and together with the Troezen ians and Epidaurians enrolled in the Achaean League . With this increased strength , Aratus invaded the territory of Athens and plundered Salamis . Every Athenian freemen whom he captured was sent back to the Athenians without ransom to encourage them to join the rebellion . The Macedonians , however , retained their hold on Athens and the rest of Greece . Relations with India . Antigonus is mentioned in the Edicts of Ashoka as one of the recipients of the Indian Emperor Ashoka ' s Buddhist proselytism . No Western historical record of this event remains . Death and appraisal . In 239 BC , Antigonus died at the age of 80 and left his kingdom to his son Demetrius II , who was to reign for the next 10 years . Except for a short period when he defeated the Gauls , Antigonus was not a heroic or successful military leader . His skills were mainly political . He preferred to rely on cunning , patience , and persistence to achieve his goals . While more brilliant leaders , like his father Demetrius and his neighbour Pyrrhus , aimed higher and fell lower , Antigonus achieved a measure of mediocre security . It is also said of him that he gained the affection of his subjects by his honesty and his cultivation of the arts , which he accomplished by gathering round him distinguished literary men , in particular philosophers , poets , and historians . A tomb in Vergina is suggested to be his own .