Ancient Warfare, Vol III.

Artwork by Johnny Shumate

In the late summer of 318 BCE, in the sputtering embers of the first bloody war of the "Successors"(Diadochoi) of Alexander The Great, Eumenes of Cardia sheltered somewhere on the Anatolian plateau in the heart of Cappadocia with some 2,500 "friends" and allies. Eumenes had, within the last year, been defeated in the field by Antigonus Monaphthalmus, a former general and satrap of Alexander with the glint of empire in his one eye. Eumenes’ position, unprepossessing at best, was improved markedly by the arrival of a letter, from Polyperchon in Macedonia, the guardian of and regent for "the kings": Alexander IV (Alexander’s infant son) and the mentally deficient Philip III. Apart from appointing him "General of the Argead House" in Asia, the letter carried an authorisation for Eumenes to draw five hundred talents from the treasury in Cyinda, Cilicia, and "whatever additional money he requested for the raising of mercenaries" (Diod. 18.58.2-3).
Displaying great faith in his royal letter, Eumenes – "friends" in tow – forced marched to Cyinda. That faith was rewarded when he was joined by three thousand intimidating old sweats of the campaigns of Alexander and Philip. Having come "from a considerable distance in obedience to the letters of the kings" (Diod. 18. 59.1), the three thousand Macedonian Silver Shields (so named for the silver arms provided them by Alexander at the beginning of the Indian campaign), led by Antigenes and Teutamos, billeted themselves within the royal general’s camp. This was, as events would show, the signally important outcome of the letters to Eumenes. It was also a deadly double edged sword....


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