ANTIPATER, regent of Macedonia during Alexander's eastern expedition. He gained this distinguished position by his faithful attachment and his prudence. In B.C. 330, he had to subdue the rebellious tribes of Thrace; but even before this insurrection was quelled, another broke out in Peloponnesus, where the Spartan king Agis rose against Macedonia. Having settled the affairs in Thrace as well as he could, Antipater hastened with an army to the south,
and in a battle near Megalopolis, gained a complete victory over the insurgents. He was much molested in his administration of Macedonia by the arrogance and ambition of Olympias, the mother of Alexander. The repeated complaints which both parties sent to Alexander, induced the latter to invite Antipater to Asia, and to appoint Craterus regent in his stead. But before this could be effected, Alexander died at Babylon. In the first division of the empire among the Macedonian generals, it was resolved that Antipater and Craterus should undertake the administration of the European parts of the empire, with the exception of Thrace, which was to be given to Lysimachus. The death of Alexander tempted the Greeks to assert their independence, but the prudence and valour of Antipater crushed all attempts in the Lamian war, and established the Macedonian rule in Greece on a firm footing. At the same time Craterus was engaged in a war against the Ætolians, when news arrived from Asia which induced Antipater to conclude peace with them; for Antigonus reported that Perdiccas was contemplating to make himself sole master of the whole empire. Antipater and Craterus accordingly prepared for war against Perdiccas, and allied themselves with Ptolemy, the governor of Egypt. Antipater crossed over into Asia, B.C. 321; and while still in Syria, he received information that Perdiccas had been murdered by his own soldiers. Antipater now, as administrator of the empire, made several new regulations, and having commissioned Antigonus to continue the war against Eumenes and the other partizans of Perdiccas, returned to Macedonia, where he arrived in B.C. 320. Soon after this he was seized by an illness which terminated his long and active life in B.C. 319. Passing over his son Cassander, he appointed Polysperchon regent, a measure which gave rise to much confusion and ill feeling. (L. 8.)