- Lamian War
Infobox Military Conflict
conflict=Lamian War
partof=Revolts afterAlexander the Great died.
date=323 B.C.
place=Greece
result=Macedonian victory
combatant1= Athens and her allies
combatant2=Macedonia
commander2=Antipater
strength1=30,000 men
strength2=Greater than 30,000 men
casualties1=Unknown
casualties2=UnknownThe Lamian war (323–
322 BC ) also called the Greek War, was awar inGreece betweenAthens , along with her allied city-states in mainland Greece, against Macedonian supreme rule andAntipater , regent in Macedonia and Greece. It was the last war in which the Athenians played a central part, and after they were defeated, Athenians lost their independence.Origins
The revolt started after the news of
Alexander the Great ’s death inBabylon reached Greece. Athens was incited to begin this war by the speeches ofLeosthenes andHyperides . Joined by cities in central and northern Greece, the Athenians defeatedAntipater in battle. They forced him to take refuge in Lamia, where he was besieged for several months by the Greek allies.After being relieved by forces led by
Leonnatus , Antipater was eventually able to move from Lamia and return to Macedonia. There, reinforced by the arrival by sea ofCraterus ’ troops, he engaged the allies at theBattle of Crannon (5 September 322 BC ) inThessaly .Battles
That battle was a complete victory for Antipater. Soon after,
Demosthenes committed suicide by poison and Hyperides was killed on Antipater’s orders. The outcome of the war was the suppression, for the moment, of Greek resistance to Macedonian domination. The Lamian War was concurrent with revolts in Cappadocia and the eastern domains of the empire, put down byPerdiccas andEumenes , andPeithon , respectively.Outcome
In October 323, Athens and the Aetolian League fielded 30,000 men and seized Thermopylae, also managing to keep Antipater's army bottled up at Lamia; however, after the Aetolian League deserted the cause, the Athenians lost a major sea battle in 323 BCE, then suffered defeat on land, at the Battle of Crannon, Macedonia, in September 322. This left Athens no choice but to surrender unconditionally.
The cost to Athens was heavy: some of its most important leaders were executed, and the great orator-philosopher Demosthenes (ca. 385–322 BCE) committed suicide. Athens was saddled with a crippling indemnity and lost its democratic status, becoming an oligarchy. Piraeus, its principal port, was relinquished to Macedonian occupation.
ee also
*
List of wars
*Diadochi
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