Macedonian-Hellenistic War

Macedonian-Hellenistic War
Date
308 BC
Location
Mainland Greece
Result
Greek victory
<TR> Combatants</TR>
<TR>
<TD>Kingdom of Macedon<BR>Amazons<BR>Antigonid Empire</TD>
<TD>Hellenic League<BR>Carthage<BR>Bithynia</TD>
</TR>
<TR>Commanders</TR>
<TR>
<TD>Cassander<BR>Otrere Thalestris<BR>Antigonus</TD>
<TD>Thucydides<BR>Kratesipolis<BR>Leonida<BR>Subotai Khan</TD>
</TR>
<TR>Macedonian-Hellenistic War</TR>
<TR>
<TD>Battle of Athens</TD>
<TD>Marathon</TD>
</TR>
<TR>
<TD>Attica</TD>
<TD>Siege of Athens</TD>
</TR>
The Macedonian-Hellenistic War was a short conflict which erupted from turmoil in Greece. Due to alliances, many factions were drawn into the conflict that were otherwise not interested in the freedom of Athens itself, but rather the balance of power.
==Prelude==
After Cassanders crowning as the King of Macedon, there was much dissent in the southern parts of Greece. Athens was the most outspoken objector to Cassander and wanted to become independent of his rulership. In 308 BC, the citizens of Athens revolted under the leadership of Agathocles and Thucydides. Despite past turmpoil, Athens had secured an alliance with Sparta which promised to aid her against the Macedonian rulers. The Queen of Sparta, Leonida, had through her dealings with Kratesipolis managed to secure alliance and aid from Taras and Syracuse. Leonida had also established an alliance with Subotai Khan of the Carthaginian faction, and the alliance had been sealed with a political marriage.
Meanwhile, Cassander had planned to invade independent Greece all along but simply lacked a good reason to do so. This gave him the perfect opportunity. He had sealed an alliance with Antigonus who would provide naval support and invade Greece from the south. Once all was planned out with Antigonus, Cassander marched south to besiege Athens....
==Conflict Escelates==
Outside of the walls of Athens, Cassander met and defeated the forces of Thucydides. The Hellenic Army suffered heavy casualties in the rout. Cassander then immediately besieged Athens, not knowing that Kratesipolis was on the march with reinforcements aling with Niceas of Taras. After this, three battles were fought at roughly the same time across Greece and it's shores.
Near the village of Marathon, a small Bithynian army had landed. They were led by Ziboetes who was interested in gaining the favour of the greeks and had thus arrived to support them in their war against Macedon. Thalestris, an ally of Cassander, was dispatched from Athens to deal with Ziboetes. The Amazons took the Bithynians by surprise and routed all of them, causing heavy casualties thus securing another victory for the Macedonian side.
The first setback for Macedon happened during the Battle of Attica. The naval forces of Antigonus met with the fleets of Carthage and Taras just outside Atticas shores where a bloody battle was long and drawn out with no clear victor in sight. It ended with Demetrius, the son of Antigonus, slaying Admiral Adherbaal of the Carthaginian fleet and the two sides calling a truce. This indecisive batlle meant that Antigonus could not invade Greece from the south as intended, and thus leaving Cassander with no reinforcements.
After a few days of besieging Athens, Cassander assaulted the city. Leonida had organized the defences together with the Celtic warchief Athelstan and it proved to be a hard days battle ahead. Hoplites from the Macedonian kingdom charged the walls and fought with the defending Spartan and Athenian forces. In the end, the greeks pushed the Macedonians back when Leonida defeated Cassander in a duel, leaving him severly wounded. Macedonian morale sunk and the King called off the siege.
==Aftermath==
The war was a great victory for Greece even if they had lost alot of men in the process. Macedon suffered greatly politically, but it's military forces were still more or less intact. However, Athens, Sparta and Corinth united meant that southern Hellas had become a force to be reckoned with and continuing the war was pointless. In the Treaty of Leuctra the two sides agreed on peace with Athens remaining independent. Thus the Hellenic League was the true victor of this conflict, leaving a dent in Macedons power and influence.
Category:Wars