Cassander

Cassander (Greek: Κάσσανδρος Ἀντιπάτρου, Kassandros son of Antipatros; ca. 350 BC – 297 BC), was king of the Kingdom of Macedon from 305 BC until 297 BC, son of Antipater, and founder of the Antipatrid dynasty. He was the namesake of his paternal uncle, Cassander.

Early history

In his youth, Cassander was taught by the philosopher Aristotle at the Lyceum in Macedonia. He was educated alongside Alexander the Great in a group that included Hephaestion, Ptolemy and Lysimachus. His family were distant collateral relatives to the Argead dynasty.

Cassander is first recorded as arriving at Alexander the Great’s court in Babylon in 323 BC, where he had been sent by his father, Antipater, most likely to help uphold Antipater’s regency in Macedon, although a later contemporary who was hostile to the Antipatrids suggested that Cassander had journeyed to the court to poison the King.

Whatever the truth of this suggestion, Cassander stood out amongst the diadochi in his hostility to Alexander's memory. As Cassander and the other diadochi struggled for power, Alexander IV, Roxana, and Alexander’s supposed illegitimate son Heracles were all executed on Cassander's orders, and a guarantee to Olympias to spare her life was not respected. Cassander's decision to restore Thebes, which had been destroyed under Alexander, was perceived at the time to be a snub to the deceased King. It was later even said that he could not pass a statue of Alexander without feeling faint. Cassander has been perceived to be ambitious and unscrupulous, and even members of his own family were estranged from him.

Cassander (brother of Antipater)

Cassander (Greek: Κάσσανδρος) was a Greek Macedonian nobleman who lived in the 4th century BC.

Cassander was the son of Iolaus by an unnamed mother and brother of the powerful Regent and general Antipater. Cassander’s family were distant collateral relatives to the Argead dynasty. Cassander, like Antipater, was originally from the Macedonian city of Paliura and was a contemporary to Aristotle.

Little is known on his life. He married an unnamed Greek Macedonian noblewoman by whom he had a child: a daughter called Antigone who married a Greek Macedonian nobleman called Magas by whom she had a daughter called Berenice I of Egypt. His namesake was his nephew Cassander.

References

Sources