Ghost on the Throne (2012)
Perdiccas (Greek: Περδίκκας, Perdikkas; c. 355 BC – 320 BC) was a Macedonian general and bodyguard (somatophylax) of Alexander the Great, and the regent of Alexander's empire after his death. When Alexander was dying, he entrusted his signet ring to Perdiccas, initially the most pre-eminent of the successors due to being second-in-command. Perdiccas effectively ruled Alexander's increasingly unstable empire from Babylon for three years until his assassination. Perdiccas was born to Macedonian nobility. A supporter, somatophylax (bodyguard) and hetairos (elite cavalry commander) of Alexander, he took part in Alexander's campaign against the Achaemenid Persian Empire, distinguishing himself at the battles of Thebes and Gaugamela, and followed Alexander into India. When Alexander died in 323 BC, Perdiccas rose to become supreme commander of the imperial army, as well as regent for Alexander's vast empire, ruling on behalf of Alexander's intellectually disabled heir, King Philip III Arrhidaeus, and Alexander's infant son, King Alexander IV of Macedon. Perdiccas gained supreme power as guardian of the two kings, but also inherited the problems of Alexander's quickly conquered and…
- Published
- 2012
- Pages
- 341
