9 - Eumenes 3: Loyalty
10/12/21 • 61 min
In this final part of his Life, Eumenes’ loyalty to the legacy of Alexander is put to the ultimate test. He faces off against Antigonus, on behalf of Queen Olympias, over rulership of the kingdom and the regency of the kings.
A notable historian, A.B. Bosworth, remarks that the struggle between Eumenes and Antigonus “Did more than anything to determine the shape the Hellenistic world.”
Our guest narrator is Dawn LaValle Norman, a classicist and scholar of Plutarch and his era.
Eumenes has the choice at multiple points to retire in peace. But he fights on. Why? And what can we learn from his example?
Eumenes knew the secrets of how to secure the loyalty and admiration of followers, and the compliance of reluctant subordinates.
He took his men on grand campaigns from the steppes of central Turkey to the marshes of Babylonia, the death valley of Susa, and the Iranian highlands.
As Plutarch remarks: “Success... makes even men of smaller character look impressive to us, as they stare down upon us from the heights, but it is when misfortune strikes, that the truly great and steadfast man becomes unmistakeable.”
On today’s podcast:
- How to secure loyalty from reluctant followers
- How to wait out a siege
- The brittle peace after Antipater’s death, and the wrench that smashed it
- How Eumenes made it into the Babylonian Chronicle
- Why the debtor rules the creditor
- The way Eumenes fought when the odds were against him
Links:
In this final part of his Life, Eumenes’ loyalty to the legacy of Alexander is put to the ultimate test. He faces off against Antigonus, on behalf of Queen Olympias, over rulership of the kingdom and the regency of the kings.
A notable historian, A.B. Bosworth, remarks that the struggle between Eumenes and Antigonus “Did more than anything to determine the shape the Hellenistic world.”
Our guest narrator is Dawn LaValle Norman, a classicist and scholar of Plutarch and his era.
Eumenes has the choice at multiple points to retire in peace. But he fights on. Why? And what can we learn from his example?
Eumenes knew the secrets of how to secure the loyalty and admiration of followers, and the compliance of reluctant subordinates.
He took his men on grand campaigns from the steppes of central Turkey to the marshes of Babylonia, the death valley of Susa, and the Iranian highlands.
As Plutarch remarks: “Success... makes even men of smaller character look impressive to us, as they stare down upon us from the heights, but it is when misfortune strikes, that the truly great and steadfast man becomes unmistakeable.”
On today’s podcast:
- How to secure loyalty from reluctant followers
- How to wait out a siege
- The brittle peace after Antipater’s death, and the wrench that smashed it
- How Eumenes made it into the Babylonian Chronicle
- Why the debtor rules the creditor
- The way Eumenes fought when the odds were against him
Links:
Previous Episode
8 - Eumenes 2: Man of War
What would you do if your closest friend died unexpectedly, leaving an incredible legacy, and an infant son. How far would you go to defend his rights? Would you give your life?
In this episode Eumenes emerges onto the world stage as one of antiquity’s brilliant generals.
What is it like to believe in a divine kingship? Or, at least, to act as though you do believe?
Eumenes fought rebel Persian satraps, upstaged Macedonian warrior nobles, arranged dynastic marriages, fought in hand to hand combat with great commanders. He was visited in his dreams by the gods. He strove mightily against fate.
Like the figures he worked for and fought with, he seems larger than life sometimes. What can we take away from his biography?
Eumenes stayed true to his principles, kept his word in an increasingly faithless age, and though all adversity, by gradually taking on larger and larger challenges and responsibilities, he transformed himself, and became an equal of the great lords who were deciding the fate of the throne of Alexander.
On today’s podcast:
- Why you should be careful who you marry
- How to remain loyal to yourself and the cause you believe in
- How the The first great War of the Successors began
- How to get the gods to fight on your side
- Eumenes’ transformation from a man of letters to a man of war
Links:
Next Episode
10 - Eumenes Aftermath and Takeaways
What happened to Alexander's kingdom after the death of Eumenes?
In this episode:
-The end of the Eumenes Story
-The age of warring successors begins.
-What is special about Eumenes?
If you like this episode you’ll love
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