Battle of the Kopratas
| date | June / July 316 BC Chr. |
|---|---|
| place | near Susa / Iran |
| output | Victory of Eumenes |
| consequences | Battle of Paraitakene |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
|
Representative of royalty |
Opponents |
| Commander | |
| Troop strength | |
|
1,300 cavalrymen |
400 cavalrymen |
| losses | |
|
|
|
First Diadoch War (321–320 BC):
Intermediate period (320–319 BC):
Orkynia - Cretopolis - Nora
Second Diadoch War (319–316 BC):
Megalopolis - Byzantium - Kopratas - Paraitakene - Gabiene
Third Diadoch War (315-311 BC):
Babylonian War (311-309 BC)
Fourth Diadoch War (309-301 BC):
Fifth Diadoch War (288–286 BC)
Sixth Diadoch War (282–281 BC):
The Battle of Kopratas was a military clash in what is now Iran near Susa . It took place in the summer (June / July) of the year 316 BC. Chr. Instead.
As a confrontation in the second Diadoch war, the battle is one of the historical events in the age of the Diadochs , which occurred on the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC. Was followed. The military leader Eumenes was able to record a military victory against his worst rival Antigonos Monophthalmos , but not use it to his advantage.
background
Since the death of Alexander in 323 BC Its generals, called "successors" (Diadochi), found themselves in a relentless struggle for supremacy in its world empire. Since 319 BC They waged the second diadoch war, in which the coalition between Cassander and Antigonus Monophthalmos stood against that of the regent Polyperchon with the defender of the kingdom of Eumenes . While Kassander and Polyperchon fought in Europe, Antigonus and Eumenes fought for power on Asian soil. Antigonos pursued his opponent through the countries of Asia Minor , Syria , Palestine and the Mesopotamia as far as central Persia , today's Iran.
After Eumenes was forced to leave Phenicia (today's Lebanon) and march eastwards, he reached in the winter of 317 BC. Chr. Mesopotamia , where he by the local satraps Amphimachus was taken. He tried in vain to win the satraps of Babylonia and Media , Seleucus and Peithon , who, however, joined Antigonus. Crossing the Euphrates and Tigris , Eumenes moved in the spring of 316 BC. Continued to Susa , where he met the coalition of the satraps of the "upper provinces" (Persia and Central Asia). These were already allied against the satrap of Medien, Peithon, and because he had allied himself with Antigonus, they now joined Eumenes.
The battle
Shortly afterwards Antigonus also crossed the Tigris and marched towards Susa. Eumenes occupied the city's castle with a strong garrison, but moved on with his army and crossed the Pasitigris (today Karun), a tributary of the Tigris, on a pontoon bridge , a day's march from Susa, on whose eastern bank he positioned his army. Antigonus did not dwell on the siege of Susa, which he entrusted to Seleucus, but took up the pursuit of Eumenes with his army. At the time when the "star of the dog" ( Sirius ) rose in the firmament (late June to early July 316 BC), it reached the Kopratas River (giech: Κοπράτας, today Dec), a tributary of the Pasitigris , eighty stadia from the camp of Eumenes. He had an advance detachment of his army translated on boats, which was supposed to build a palisade wall on the other bank to secure the translation of the rest of the army. Eumenes was informed of this by his scouts, whereupon he set with 4000 infantrymen and 1300 cavalrymen again over the Pasitigris and pulled on the Kopratas. In the meantime, 3,000 armored and 6,000 unarmored infantrymen and 400 cavalrymen of Antigonus had reached the bank on this side.
No sooner had he reached the Kopratas than Eumenes let his troops run against the still disordered and surprised warriors of the enemy. In a brief battle, the men of Antigonus were driven back into the river, with many of the armed men drowning. Antigonus himself could do nothing but watch what was happening from his bank, but not intervene. In addition to a high number of dead, he lost over 4,000 men in the captivity of Eumenes.
consequences
The defeat at Kopratas forced Antigonus to break off his offensive against Eumenes. He started the march to Ekbatana , where he wanted to give his army a rest. However, the march over the high mountain passes turned out to be costly, as the weather and raids by local mountain tribes affected it.
But even Eumenes could not use his victory to his advantage. The withdrawal of Antigonus had paved a way for him back to Asia Minor, from where he could have reached his ally Polyperchon in Europe to support against Cassander. The satraps of the upper provinces allied with him did not want to follow him with their troops, otherwise they would have exposed their provinces to Antigonus. In order to maintain inner unity, Eumenes was forced to refrain from marching to the west and instead moved with his army to Persepolis to prepare there for the next confrontation with Antigonus.
It followed in autumn and winter 316 BC. The battles of Paraitakene and Gabiene , both of which ended in a draw, but ultimately cost Eumenes his life through betrayal.
literature
- Leonard C. Smith: The Chronology of Books XVIII-XX of Diodorus Siculus , in: The American Journal of Philology Vol. 82, No. 3: 283-290 (1961)
- Edward M. Anson: The Chronology of the Third Diadoch War , in: Phoenix Vol. 60, No. 3/4 (2006), pp. 226-235
Individual evidence
- ↑ In historical research, the battle of Kopratas is often given for the year 317 BC. Dated, see for example Smith p. 287, note 15. But more likely it was found in 316 BC. BC, especially since Diodorus placed it in the tenure of the Archon Demokleides of Athens (316/315 BC) and had the battle of Paraitakene follow it. See Anson, p. 227.
- ↑ Diodorus 19, 18, 2-4.
- ↑ Diodor 19, 18, 5-7; Plutarch, Eumenes , 14, 2.
- ↑ Diodorus 19, 21, 1-2.