KINGS of MACEDON. Antigonos I Monophthalmos. As Strategos of Asia, 320-306/5 BC, or King, 306/5-301 BC. AR Drachm (17mm, 4.21 g, 1h). In the name and types of Alexander III. Teos mint. Struck circa 310-301 BC. Head of Herakles right, wearing lion skin / AΛEΞANΔPOY, Zeus Aëtophoros seated left; in left field, griffin seated left above monogram. Price 2279. Lightly toned, underlying luster, some die wear. EF.
After Perdikkas, Antigonos Monophthalmos was perhaps the most powerful of the Diadochs upon Alexander’s death. Having been entrusted with overseeing the Macedonian rule in Asia Minor, Antigonos was left in control of vast resources that enabled him to persevere through the wars of the Diadochs. At the height of his power, his territories stretched from the Hellespont to Babylon. While his military prowess was keen, so too were his diplomatic skills. In fact, it was his skill of using the other Diadochs against one another that was more attributable to his success in building his domains than his military victories. By 306 BC, Antigonos was so certain of his dominance that he proclaimed himself king, the first of the Diadochs to do so. It was this event, which he thought to be his triumphant moment, that proved his undoing. From that moment, the other Diadochs clearly saw Antigonos and his son, Demetrios Poliorketes, as their primary opponents. Putting aside their differences for the first time, all the other Diadochs – Ptolemy, Seleukos, Lysimachos, and Kassander – joined forces against Antigonos. For a year the allies pressured the Antigonid forces around the Aegaean. Finally, at the battle of Ipsos in 301 BC, Antigonos was defeated by the combined forces of Seleukos and Lysimachos. Antigonos was killed in the battle, but Demetrios was able to escape and continue fighting the others for years, though he never regained the sizeable territory that his father had once ruled.
