Diadochi The Diadochi ( plural of Latin Diadochus , from , " Diadokhoi " , " Successors " ) were the rival generals , family and friends of Alexander the Great who fought for the control of Alexander ' s empire after his death in 323 BC . The Wars of the Diadochi opened the Hellenistic period . Background . When Alexander the Great died ( June 10 , 323 BC ) , he left behind a huge empire which comprised many essentially independent territories . Alexander ' s empire stretched from his homeland of Macedon itself , along with the Greek city - states that his father had subdued , to Bactria and parts of India in the east . It included parts of the present day Balkans , Anatolia , the Levant , Egypt , Babylonia , and most of the former Persia , except for some lands the Achaemenids formerly held in Central Asia . " The first rank " . Perdiccas . Perdiccas served as a commander of the Macedonian phalanx during Alexander ' s campaigns against the Persian Empire . When Hephaestion unexpectedly died in 324 BC , Alexander appointed him as his successor as commander of the elite Companion cavalry and " chiliarch " , a position akin to the modern office of prime minister . With the Partition of Babylon after Alexander ' s death in 323 BC , Perdiccas was selected to serve as Regent of the Empire and supreme commander of the imperial army . While the general Craterus was officially declared Guardian of the Royal Family , Perdiccas effectively held this position as the joint kings Philip III of Macedon ( the epilptic son of Alexander ' s father Philip II of Macedon ) and the unborn child ( the future Alexander IV of Macedon ) of Alexander ' s wife Roxana were with Perdiccas in Babylon . Perdiccas ' authority as Regent and his control over the royal family were immediately questioned . Perdiccas appointed Leonnatus , one of Alexander ' s Royal Guards , as Satrap of Hellespontine Phrygia on the western coast of Asia Minor . However , instead of assuming that position , Leonnatus sailed to Macedonia when Alexander ' s sister Cleopatra , widow of King Alexander I of Epirus , offered her hand to him . Upon learning of this , in spring 322 BC Perdiccas marched the imperial army towards Asia Minor to reassert his dominance as Regent . Perdiccas ordered Leonnatus to appear before to stand trial for disobedience , but Leonnatus died during the Lamian War before the order reached him . At the same time , Cynane , Alexander ' s half - sister , arranged for her daughter Eurydice II to marry Philip III , Alexander ' s half - brother and nominal joint king of Macedon . Fearful of Cynane ' s influence , Perdiccas ordered his brother Alcetas to murder her . The discontent expressed by the army at the murder and their respect for Eurydice as a member of royal family induced Perdiccas to not only to spare her life but to approve of the marriage to Philip III . Despite the marriage , Perdiccas continued to hold a firm control over the affairs of the royal family . To strengthen his control over the empire , Perdiccas agreed to marry Nicaea , the daughter of Satrap of Greece Antipater . However , he broke off the engagement when Olympias , mother of Alexander , offered him the hand of Alexander ' s sister Cleopatra . Given the intellectual disability of Philip III and the limited acceptance of the boy Alexander IV due to his mother being a Persian , the marriage would have given Perdiccas a claim as Alexander ' s true successor , not merely as Regent . However , Antigonus I Monophthalmus , Satrap of Pamphylia and Lycia in northern Asia Minor , learned of this secret plan and fled to Antipater in Greece . Craterus . Craterus was an infantry and naval commander under Alexander during his conquest of Persia . After the revolt of his army at Opis on the Tigris River in 324 , Alexander ordered Craeterus to command the veterans as they returned home to Macedonia . Antipater , commander of Alexander ' s forces in Greece and regent of the Macedonian throne in Alexander ' s absence , would led a force of fresh troops back to Persia to joined Alexander while Craterus would assume become regent in his place . When Craeterus arrived at Cilicia in 323 BC , news reached him of Alexander ' s death . Though his distance from Babylon prevented him from participating in the distribution of power , Craterus hastened to Macedonia to assume the protection of Alexander ' s family . The news of Alexander ' s death caused the Greece to rebel in the Lamian War . Craeterus and Antipater defeated the rebellion in 322 BC . Despite his absence , the generals gathered at Babylon confirmed Craterus as Guardian of the Royal Family . However , with the royal family in Babylon , the Regent Perdiccas assumed this responsibly until the royal household could return to Macedonia . Antipater . Antipater was an adviser to King Philip II , Alexander ' s father , a role he continued under Alexander . When Alexander left Macedon to conquer Persia in 334 BC , Antipater was named Regent of Macedon and General of Greece in Alexander ' s absence . In 323 BC , Craterus was ordered by Alexander to march his veterans back to Macedon and assume Antipater ' s position while Antipater was to march to Persia with fresh troops . Alexander ' s death that year , however , prevented the order from being carried out . When Alexander ' s generals gathered in Babylon to divide the empire between themselves , Antipater was confirmed as General of Greece while the roles of Regent of the Empire and Guardian of the Royal Family were given to Perdiccas and Craterus , respectively . Together , the three men formed the top ruling group of the empire . Struggle for unity ( 323 – 319 BC ) . Partition of Babylon . Without a chosen successor there was almost immediately a dispute among Alexander ' s generals as to who his successor should be . Meleager and the infantry supported the candidacy of Alexander ' s half - brother , Arrhidaeus , while Perdiccas , the leading cavalry commander , supported waiting until the birth of Alexander ' s unborn child by Roxana . A compromise was arranged – Arrhidaeus ( as Philip III ) should become King , and should rule jointly with Roxana ' s child , assuming that it was a boy ( as it was , becoming Alexander IV ) . Perdiccas himself would become Regent of the entire Empire , and Meleager his lieutenant . Soon , however , Perdiccas had Meleager and the other infantry leaders murdered , and assumed full control . The other cavalry generals who had supported Perdiccas were rewarded in the partition of Babylon by becoming satraps of the various parts of the Empire . Ptolemy received Egypt ; Laomedon received Syria and Phoenicia ; Philotas took Cilicia ; Peithon took Media ; Antigonus received Phrygia , Lycia and Pamphylia ; Asander received Caria ; Menander received Lydia ; Lysimachus received Thrace ; Leonnatus received Hellespontine Phrygia ; and Neoptolemus had Armenia . Macedon and the rest of Greece were to be under the joint rule of Antipater , who had governed them for Alexander , and Craterus , Alexander ' s most able lieutenant , while Alexander ' s old secretary , Eumenes of Cardia , was to receive Cappadocia and Paphlagonia . In the east , Perdiccas largely left Alexander ' s arrangements intact – Taxiles and Porus ruled over their kingdoms in India ; Alexander ' s father - in - law Oxyartes ruled Gandara ; Sibyrtius ruled Arachosia and Gedrosia ; Stasanor ruled Aria and Drangiana ; Philip ruled Bactria and Sogdiana ; Phrataphernes ruled Parthia and Hyrcania ; Peucestas governed Persis ; Tlepolemus had charge over Carmania ; Atropates governed northern Media ; Archon got Babylonia ; and Arcesilas ruled northern Mesopotamia . Revolt in Greece . Meanwhile , the news of Alexander ' s death had inspired a revolt in Greece , known as the Lamian War . Athens and other cities joined together , ultimately besieging Antipater in the fortress of Lamia . Antipater was relieved by a force sent by Leonnatus , who was killed in action , but the war did not come to an end until Craterus ' s arrival with a fleet to defeat the Athenians at the Battle of Crannon on September 5 , 322 BC . For a time , this brought an end to Greek resistance to Macedonian domination . Meanwhile , Peithon suppressed a revolt of Greek settlers in the eastern parts of the Empire , and Perdiccas and Eumenes subdued Cappadocia . First War of the Diadochi , ( 322 – 320 BC ) . Soon , however , conflict broke out . Perdiccas ' marriage to Alexander ' s sister Cleopatra led Antipater , Craterus , Antigonus , and Ptolemy to join together in rebellion . The actual outbreak of war was initiated by Ptolemy ' s theft of Alexander ' s body , and diversion of it to Egypt . Although Eumenes defeated the rebels in Asia Minor , in a battle at which Craterus was killed , it was all for nought , as Perdiccas himself was murdered by his own generals Peithon , Seleucus , and Antigenes during an invasion of Egypt . Ptolemy came to terms with Perdiccas ' s murderers , making Peithon and Arrhidaeus regents in his place , but soon these came to a new agreement with Antipater at the Treaty of Triparadisus . Antipater was made regent of the Empire , and the two kings were moved to Macedon . Antigonus remained in charge of Phrygia , Lycia , and Pamphylia , to which was added Lycaonia . Ptolemy retained Egypt , Lysimachus retained Thrace , while the three murderers of Perdiccas — Seleucus , Peithon , and Antigenes — were given the provinces of Babylonia , Media , and Susiana respectively . Arrhidaeus , the former Regent , received Hellespontine Phrygia . Antigonus was charged with the task of rooting out Perdiccas ' s former supporter , Eumenes . In effect , Antipater retained for himself control of Europe , while Antigonus , as leader of the largest army east of the Hellespont , held a similar position in Asia . Death of Antipater . Soon after the second partition , in 319 BC , Antipater died . Antipater had been one of the few remaining individuals with enough prestige to hold the empire together . After his death , war soon broke out again and the fragmentation of the empire began in earnest . Passing over his own son , Cassander , Antipater had declared Polyperchon his successor as Regent . A civil war soon broke out in Macedon and Greece between Polyperchon and Cassander , with the latter supported by Antigonus and Ptolemy . Polyperchon allied himself to Eumenes in Asia , but was driven from Macedonia by Cassander , and fled to Epirus with the infant king Alexander IV and his mother Roxana . In Epirus he joined forces with Olympias , Alexander ' s mother , and together they invaded Macedon again . They were met by an army commanded by King Philip Arrhidaeus and his wife Eurydice , which immediately defected , leaving the king and Eurydice to Olympias ' s not so tender mercies , and they were killed ( 317 BC ) . Soon after , though , the tide turned , and Cassander was victorious , capturing and killing Olympias , and attaining control of Macedon , the boy king , and his mother . Decline and fall . This division was to last for a century , before the Antigonid Kingdom finally fell to Rome , and the Seleucids were harried from Persia by the Parthians and forced by the Romans to relinquish control in Asia Minor . A rump Seleucid kingdom limped on in Syria until finally put to rest by Pompey in 64 BC . The Ptolemies lasted longer in Alexandria , though as a client under Rome . Egypt was finally annexed to Rome in 30 BC . Historical uses as a title . Aulic rank title . Ironically in the formal ' court ' titulature of the Hellenistic empires ruled by dynasties we know as Diadochs , the title was not customary for the Monarch , but has actually been proven to be the " lowest " in a system of official rank titles , known as Aulic titulature , conferred – ex officio or nominatim – to actual courtiers " and " as an honorary rank ( for protocol ) to various military and civilian officials . Notably in Ptolemaic Egypt , it was reported as the lowest aulic rank , under Philos , during the reign of Ptolemy V Epiphanes . Modern revival . In the modern Kingdom of Greece , established in 1832 after Greece attained independence from the Ottoman Empire ( 1830 ) , under a Bavarian dynasty , the title of " Diadochos " was ' revived ' as particular princely style for the heir apparent or heir presumptive to the constitutional royal throne , as unique as the Dauphin of France , but not linked to any territory . However , the " Diadochos " from 1868 until 1913 – i . e . Crown Prince Constantine , the later King Constantine I of Greece – enjoyed the specific geographic style of Duke of Sparta .