Eumenes of Cardia, Part 1 | Alexander's Most Unexpected Successor | Hellenistic History

The turbulent life of Eumenes of Cardia was one rollercoaster from start to finish: starting out as a mere secretary, he would one day prove himself to be a brilliant general - cast in the mould of the great Alexander himself. Yet his path to glory was fraught with danger; will Eumenes triumph against the most overwhelming of odds, or will Nemesis bring him crashing down?

00:00 Intro
01:02 Early Life
03:11 The Death of Alexander
04:29 The Satrap of Cappadocia
06:21 The War Erupts
07:52 The Defence of Asia Minor
10:12 The Loneliest Man in the World
12:30 The Comeback Kid
13:48 Outro

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Music used: (In Chronological Order)
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Echoes of Time by Kevin MacLeod

Teller of the Tales by Kevin MacLeod

Impact Intermezzo by Kevin MacLeod

Grave Blow by Kevin MacLeod

Drums of the Deep by Kevin MacLeod

Curse of the Scarab by Kevin MacLeod

Majestic Hills by Kevin MacLeod

What Does Anybody Know About Anything? by Chris Zabriskie
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ancient antiquity hellenistic diadochi eumenes antigonus lysimachus ptolemy cassander antipater polyperchon history greek macedonian alexander the great eastern mediterranean persian persia achaemenid satrap phalanx successors egypt anatolia

[SinStar]

Oh man, Eumenes is my guy, I long have had an idea for a comic book on him if I ever got decent at art. Very nice start, can't wait for the next part.

[vangelisskia]

The vast majority of expert scholarship considers the ancient Macedonians as essentially Greeks. They did have their own polity, same as the Spartans or the Athenians, but that didn't make them any less Greek. The snobery, especially from the part of the Athenians, was mostly due to political issues. They obviously weren't all that happy that Macedon took their place as the most influential polity in the Greek world. On the other hand the Diadokhoi wanted to keep the highest offices and positions of power for themselves, so they promoted the idea that only Macedonians should acquire them. Their problem wasn't that Eumenes was Greek. They simply prupugindized against him, since each of them aimed to diminish the number of possible rival successors, by pointing out that he wasn't one of them but from another Greek polity and thus he didn't deserve his high office or to be seen as a successor of Alexander. Him not being Macedonian was just an excuse in order to weaken his claims and power in the eyes of the Macedonians under his command. The war against Persia was officially declared and implemented by the HELLENIC LEAGUE including Macedonia with Alexander at it's Hegemon (leader), in order to take revenge for the Persian invasion of Greece a century and a half earlier.

"Ancient allegations that the Macedonians were non-Greek all had their origin in Athens at the time of the struggle with Philip II. Then as now, political struggle created the prejudice. The orator Aeschines once even found it necessary, to counteract the prejudice vigorously fomented by his opponents, to defend Philip on this issue and describe him at a meeting of the Athenian Popular Assembly as being 'ENTIRELY GREEK'. Demosthenes' allegations were lent an appearance of credibility by the fact, apparent to every observer, that the life-style of the Macedonians, being determined by specific geographical and historical conditions, was different to that of a Greek city-state. This alien way of life was, however, common to western Greeks of Epirus, Akarnania and Aitolia, as well as to the Macedonians, and THEIR FUNDAMENTAL GREEK NATIONALITY WAS NEVER DOUBTED. Only as a consequence of the political disagreement with Macedonia was the issue raised at all."
Errington 1994, p. 4:Errington, Malcolm (1994). A History of Macedonia. Barnes Noble.

[swoo]

The wars of the diodachi and the people who waged them is one under reviewed and very intriguing point in human history

[TheChronoG]

Great work. I would love a movie or a mini-series centered on Eumenes.

[MegaTang]

Ah yes, the plucky Eumenese, after seleucus he is my favorite successor

[vangelisskia]

"Your ancestors came to Macedonia and THE REST OF HELLAS (Greece) and did us great harm, though we had done them no prior injury. I have been appointed LEADER OF THE GREEKS, and wanting to punish the Persians I have come to Asia, which I took from you..."
Alexander the Great
Alexander's letter to Persian king Darius in response to a truce plea, as quoted in Anabasis Alexandri by Arrian; translated as Anabasis of Alexander by P. A. Brunt, for the "Loeb Edition" Book II 14, 4

[barakdan]

So glad you did one on Eumenes, thank you

[DesertAres]

Thanks for this great opportunity to learn more detail about Eumenes. I have read so many different sources about the Greek vs Macedonian language. One says Alexander had to address his troops twice, once in each language. Another says Macedonian was a dialect of
Greek. And here it seems they are virtually the same. Also i would have thought that Byzantion was the proper name, the 'ium' added in the Latin spelling. Thanks again for this video on Eumenes. Look forward to part 2!

[oatesi]

I learned about this guy when i was a kid from a semi-historical manga about him called Historia

[ShahjahanMasood]

Historie is a manga based on the kife of Eumenes. Its really good.

[StoicHistorian]

Interesting title I really like that concept, appreciate the content

[giod]

Oh, so cool to find this channel! Good stories from Diadochi wars never bores me.. Thanks!
P.S. I wish you could do battles too, to add a flavor to video..

[Nikos_H]

This is a reply to several comments claiming that Macedonians were Greeks. While true to a degree, it's far more complex than that.

To my understanding, during historical times, the Macedonian Greeks were at first centered around the Haliacmon river. What's called Macedonia was a far larger region, with the majority of it settled by other peoples (Thracians, Paionians, Illyrians, even Phrygians).

There's also the legend of the Argeads arriving and becoming the royal line of (Lower) Macedon, and it's unclear if this represents a sizable migration of Greeks, or a small warrior elite. If they came to rule over Greeks or other locals that were absorbed. Could be both to a degree. Or, whatever... it's a legend.

Anyway, the kingdom of Macedon gradually (with occasional setbacks) grew to conquer an area outside it's core, even before Philip II. Most of those newly claimed lands were inhabited by tribal peoples like those mentioned earlier. The pace and the degree to which they where pushed away, assimilated or exterminated seems rather unclear. But it's clear that some of those tribes remained active for centuries, especially in the eastern parts of Macedon. Some of them served in Macedonian armies.

What makes the most sense is a kingdom with it's own culture/ideology, including Greeks and others, gradually influenced by the more "civilized" Greek colonies across the shoreline and eventually the greater world. It certainly had far less in common with Athens than Thebes or even Epiros. So, besides the political propaganda of Greeks vs Macedonians, there's a rather unknown (to us) level of cultural difference that helped the former be effective, as in the case of Eumenes.

Modern Greeks, especially nationalists, seem rather confused on those things. Northern Macedonian ones even more so. Historians usually aren't that helpful either. The Ancient Macedonians as (Ancient) Greeks is only partly true, unless we count only the ruling classes and a part of the population. History isn't black and white. The culture, borders and population make-up of regions and states change over time.

Nice video btw:)

[huseyinakyol]

I feel bad for him he lived in a world where almost everyone was against him because of his lineage. He really did well and he was also smart.

[vangelisskia]

"The latest archaeological findings HAVE CONFIRMED that Macedonia took its name from a tribe of tall, GREEK-speaking people, the MAKEDNOI."
Nigel Guy Wilson, Encyclopedia of Ancient Greece, Routledge, 2009, p.439:

"The ANCIENT MACEDONIANS WERE GREEKS, THEIR LANGUAGE WAS GREEK to judge by their personal names, and by the names of the months of their calendar."
George Cawkwell, Emeritus Fellow, University College Oxford

"As members of the Greek race and speakers of the Greek language, the Macedonians shared the ability to initiate ideas and create political forms."
N G L Hammond (1992) ;The Miracle that was Macedonia', p 206

[thegreekguy]

The Macedonians were Greek too. You kind of make it sound as if they aren't

[stk]

Was eumenes I who was the first king of pergamon related to eumenes of kardia?

[GoogleUserOne]

Great subject. I doubt many of these stories are remotely true but who knows.

[ntonisa]

This video had been popping up in my recommendations for months yet somehow I always ended up clicking on something else and postoning this one until now lol😄from now on I'll have to start giving priority to the top quality content of this highly to it's quality) channel! Keep them coming Serapeum Historia👏👏👏👍

[yaqubleis]

Eumenes was not Greek but Scythian Iranian origin