bliged to retire to Nora
in Cappadocia, and a new army that was marching to his relief was routed
by Antigonus. Polyperchon succeeding Antipater (d. 319) in the regency,
to the exclusion of Cassander, his son, Antigonus resolved to set
himself up as lord of all Asia, and in conjunction with Cassander and
Ptolemy of Egypt, refused to recognize Polyperchon. He entered into
negotiations with Eumenes; but Eumenes remained faithful to the royal
house. Effecting his escape from Nora, he raised an army, and formed a
coalition with the satraps of the eastern provinces. He was at last
delivered up to Antigonus through treachery in Persia and put to death
(316). Antigonus again claimed authority over the whole of Asia, seized
the treasures at Susa, and entered Babylonia, of which Seleucus was
governor. Seleucus fled to Ptolemy, and entered into a league with him
(315), together with Lysimachus and Cassander. After the war had been
carried on with varying success from 315 to 311, peace was concluded, by
which the government of Asia Minor and Syria was provisionally secured
to Antigonus. This agreement was soon violated on the pretext that
garrisons had been placed in some of the free Greek cities by Antigonus,
and Ptolemy and Cassander renewed hostilities against him. Demetrius
Poliorcetes, the son of Antigonus, wrested part of Greece from
Cassander. At first Ptolemy had made a successful descent upon Asia
Minor and on several of the islands of the Archipelago; but he was at
length totally defeated by Demetrius in a naval engagement off Salamis,
in Cyprus (306). On this victory Antigonus assumed the title of king,
and bestowed the same upon his son, a declaration that he claimed to be
the heir of Alexander. Antigonus now prepared a large army, and a
formidable fleet, the command of which he gave to Demetrius, and
hastened to attack Ptolemy in his own dominions. His invasion of Egypt,
however, proved a failure; he was unable to penetrate the defences of
Ptolemy, and was obliged to retire. Demetrius now attempted the
reduction of Rhodes, which had refused to assist Antigonus against
Egypt; but, meeting with obstinate resistance, he was obliged to make a
treaty upon the best terms that he could (304). In 302, although
Demetrius was again winning success after success in Greece, Antigonus
was obliged to recall him to meet the confederacy that had been formed
between Cassander, Seleucus and Lysimachus. A decisive battle was fought
at Ip