Meleager (general)

Meleager, a Macedonian soldier from the 4th century BC. C. contemporary of Alexander the Great. He was one of the Diadochi.

Biography

He was the great enemy of Perdiccas and after the death of Alexander the Great he plotted an affair to get rid of this rival. Perdiccas, in the time of Alexander the Great, had been commander-in-chief in Asia. He called a meeting in which he proposed to the other generals to choose a chief until Roxana (his widow) gave birth. But the proposal was not accepted and they decided to wait for the delivery without naming anyone.

When Meleager saw that the cavalry soldiers were allowed to attend, he went in search of the foot soldiers to make enemies against them, for not having been invited to the meeting. He proposed to them, for further intrigue, that they choose Alexander's half-brother Philip Arrideus (who was mentally retarded) as successor king. And so it was done; the foot soldiers proclaimed the latter king and escorted him to the assembly hall, where the generals deliberated.

For a few days, and after these events, it was feared that the cavalry and the infantry would make war on each other. They finally reconciled and decided to keep the two kings as Alexander's successors: Philip III of Macedonia and the future Alexander IV who was about to be born. They also made another decision which was to name Perdiccas head of the cavalry and Meleager head of the infantry.

Shortly after these events an unfortunate event occurred. Pérdicas reviewed the army and ordered the arrest of 30 infantry, leaders of the previous uprising, when disputes with the cavalry. He sentenced them to death and they were executed by skillfully led elephants, which placed their paws on top of each head, crushing it to death. Meleager was afraid of being arrested too and fled, taking refuge in a temple, but he was found and beheaded right there.

After these events, the son of Alejandro and Roxana was born. The latter ordered the execution of her rival, the other widow of Alexander the Great, Barsine-Estatira, daughter of the former Great King Darius III Codomano.

Perdicas was also assassinated by a group of officers led by Seleucus I Nicator.