ernment came into his hands.
Polysperchon thought that he should greatly strengthen his
administration by enlisting Olympias on his side. She was held in
great veneration by all the people of Macedon; not on account of any
personal qualities which she possessed to entitle her to such regard,
but because she was the mother of Alexander. Polysperchon, therefore,
considered it very important to secure her influence, and the prestige
of her name in his favor. At the same time, while he thus sought to
propitiate Olympias, he neglected Cassander and all the other members
of Antipater's family. He considered them, doubtless, as rivals and
antagonists, whom he was to keep down by every means in his power.

Cassander, who was a man of a very bold, determined, and ambitious
spirit, remained quietly in Polysperchon's court for a little time,
watching attentively all that was done, and revolving silently in his
mind the question what course he himself should pursue. At length he
formed a small party of his friends to go away on a hunting excursion.
When he reached a safe distance from the court of Polysperchon, he
called his friends around him, and informed them that he had resolved
not to submit to the usurpation of Polysperchon, who, in assuming the
throne of Macedon, had seized what rightfully belonged, he said, to
him, Cassander, as his father's son and heir. He invited his friends
to join him in the enterprise of deposing Polysperchon, and assuming
the crown.

He urged this undertaking upon them with very specious arguments. It
was the only course of safety for them, as well as for him, since
they--that is, the friends to whom Cassander was making these
proposals--had all been friends of Antipater; and Olympias, whom
Polysperchon was about to take into his counsels, hated the very name
of Antipater, and would evince, undoubtedly, the most unrelenting
hostility to all whom she should consider as having been his friends.
He was confident, he said, that the Asiatic princes and generals would
espouse his cause. They had been warmly attached to Antipater, and
would not willingly see his son and rightful successor deprived of his
legitimate rights. Besides, Philip and Eurydice would join him. They
had every thing to fear from Olympias, and would, of course, oppose
the power of Polysperchon, now that he had determined to ally himself
to her.

The friends of Cassander very readily agreed to his proposal, and the
result proved the