Antigonos II GonatasIOANNA KRALLI

Antigonos II, nicknamed Gonatas (the

meaning is obscure), was born ca. 320 BCE

and effectively ruled from 277 to 239; he

assumed the Macedonian royal title upon

the death of his father DEMETRIOS I POLIORKETES

in 283. Antigonos had witnessed his father’s

grand failure. Demetrios had weakened Mace-

don by costly preparations for an invasion of

Asia, had been expelled from his kingdom, and

had died in Asia the defeated prisoner of

Seleukos I. As king, Antigonos set himself

more modest goals, protecting Macedon by

asserting himself in Greece and throughout

the Aegean.

All that Antigonos inherited from his

father was a number of Greek strongholds

and a fleet. He fought a long campaign for

the Macedonian throne against numerous

claimants. A victory over invading Gauls, near

Lysimacheia in Thrace, in 277 made him

appear as a veritable savior and helped him

to the throne (Justin Epit. 24.1). Thus, after

the Ptolemies and the SELEUCIDS, the third

major Hellenistic dynasty – that of the

ANTIGONIDS – was established.

An early challenge to Antigonos’ rule was

presented in 274 by PYRRHOS, KING of Epirus,

who advanced into Macedon as far as AIGAI

(VERGINA; Justin Epit. 25.3). Later on Pyrrhos

invaded the Peloponnese. Antigonos led an

army to oppose him in ARGOS, and there

Pyrrhos was killed in street fighting in 272

(Plut. Pyrrh. 26.13–34; Paus. 1.13.4.6–8;

Polyaenus Strat. 8.49.68; Justin Epit. 25.4–5).

Antigonos had quickly abandoned any

designs on Asia, concluding a treaty with

ANTIOCHOS I of Syria ca. 277 and later marrying

the king’s half-sister Phila (Justin Epit. 25.1.1).

He would maintain friendly relations with the

Seleucids throughout his reign. He also seems

to have been little interested in Thrace, though

he annexed Paionia and founded Antigoneia

in the Axios Valley. However, Antigonos did

resemble his father and grandfather in

challenging Ptolemaic supremacy in the

Aegean. He maintained a fleet and naval sta-

tions (Buraselis 1982). Some of his policies

echoed those of his maternal grandfather

ANTIPATER and of his uncle CASSANDER, and

indeed his own father’s final policy: tight con-

trol of THESSALY and southern Greece by means

of garrisons and establishment or support of

oligarchic or autocratic regimes favorable to

his rule, especially in the Peloponnese and

during the later years of his reign.

By 276 Antigonos had reincorporated

Thessaly (SIG 3 405); the city of DEMETRIAS in

Magnesia controlled the Thessalian hinterland,

and a garrison at CHALCIS checked the sea lanes

around EUBOEA. A garrison at the PIRAEUS kept

ATHENS passive. ACROCORINTH secured control of

the Peloponnese by blocking the way to invad-

ing forces. Access to CORINTH – which was the

seat of Macedonian government in southern

Greece – was secured by the fleet. This chain of

strongholds served as the “fetters” of Greece

(a phrase later used by PHILIPVOFMACEDON), and

they effectively defended Macedon itself. They

created a unified north–south structure

designed to counter the west–east expansion

of the AITOLIAN LEAGUE in central Greece, which

stretched from the Ionian Sea to the Maliac

Gulf.

Antigonos’ defensive system was a profound

threat to others. PTOLEMY II PHILADELPHOS,

Athens, SPARTA, and some Peloponnesian cities

allied against him in what is known as the

CHREMONIDEAN WAR (268–262). Athens aimed

to secure the Piraeus; Sparta yearned

for its ancient hegemony; Ptolemy must

have feared the increasing Antigonid power in

the Aegean. But, with Antigonos controlling

Corinth, the Spartans could not reach the

Isthmus: their king AREUS was killed in the

attempt ca. 265, while Ptolemy’s contribution

was disappointing – perhaps because he

wished only to weaken Antigonos. Athens

capitulated after a long siege and had to suffer

the presence of a Macedonian garrison in

the urban center (astu) itself and royal

The Encyclopedia of Ancient History, First Edition. Edited by Roger S. Bagnall, Kai Brodersen, Craige B. Champion, Andrew Erskine,

and Sabine R. Huebner, print pages 461–463.

© 2013 Blackwell Publishing Ltd. Published 2013 by Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

DOI: 10.1002/9781444338386.wbeah09025

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interference in its foreign policy and military

organization (SIG 3 434–5; Petrakos, Rhamnous

II, no. 3; Paus. 1.1.1, 7.3; 3.6.4–6; Justin Epit.

26.2; Polyaenus Strat. 4.6.20; Apollodoros in

FGrH 244 F44; Hegesander ap. Ath. 4.167e–f).

In the mid-250s Antigonos felt secure enough

to withdraw the garrison from the astu (Euseb.

Chron. 2.120), and possibly from other sites.

Probably then the Athenians conferred upon

him godlike honors (Petrakos, Rhamnous II,

no. 7; cf. no. 17).

Antigonos’ victory over Athens and Sparta

was followed by a naval success against Ptolemy

II near KOS, possibly ca. 255 (Phylarchos in

FGrH 81 F1). He commemorated it at DELOS,

dedicating his flagship (Ath. 5.209e) and

erecting a portico with at least ten statues of

his ancestors. He founded the festivals called

Antigoneia and Stratonikeia in 253 BCE (IG

XI.2.87 B, lines 124ff), perhaps to celebrate

the same success.

Antigonos’ power in the Peloponnese was

to be assailed in the late 250s BCE. The

Macedon-friendly tyrant of MEGALOPOLIS was

assassinated. Antigonos’ nephew Alexander,

governor of both Corinth and Chalcis (see

ALEXANDER, NEPHEW OF GONATAS), revolted ca.

251 (Trogus Prologus 26, as recorded by Justin),

andmuch of Euboea followed him; the ACHAIAN

LEAGUE also allied with Alexander (Plut. Arat.

18.1–2). Alexander conveniently died ca. 245

and Antigonos recovered Acrocorinth by

treachery (Plut. Arat. 16–17; Polyaenus Strat.

4.6.1); Chalcis followed suit. Antigonos’ suc-

cess on land was coupled with a naval victory

over a Ptolemaic force in 245, this time off

ANDROS, in alliance with Seleukos II (P.Haun

6; Ath. 13.593a). The festivals Paneia and

Soteria were established, in commemoration

either of this victory or of the one over the

Gauls. However, in 243 the leader of

the Achaian League, ARATOS OF SIKYON – who a

few years earlier had brought Sikyon into the

league – captured Acrocorinth (Plut. Arat.

18–23). In the same period the Aitolians

had expanded their influence to the western

Peloponnese. Antigonos remained essentially

inactive until his death in 240/39. Influence

over the Peloponnese would be reestablished

by ANTIGONOS III DOSON (229–221).

Antigonos gained a mixed reputation.

POLYBIUS (2.41.10), perhaps exaggerating,

reports that he installed more tyrants than

any other king. Numerous anecdotes present

him in a more favorable light. In royal fashion,

Antigonos received intellectuals at his court.

As a young man he had attended the lectures

of the Stoic ZENOOFKITION – a fact hardly reflec-

ted in his policies. He consolidated Macedon’s

hereditary monarchy, which, according to

anecdote, he called “honorable servitude”

(Ael. VH 2.20). Wishing to present himself

as a true heir of the Argead kings, Antigonos

used PELLA as his capital and built a symbolic

tumulus over the royal tombs at Aigai, once

plundered by the Gallic mercenaries of

Pyrrhos.

SEE ALSO: Aegean Sea (Classical and later);

Alexander, nephew of Gonatas; Antigonids;

Antiochos I Soter; Aratos of Sikyon; Areus of

Sparta; Argeads; Kingship, Hellenistic;

Seleukos I Nikator; Seleukos II Kallinikos;

Stoicism.

REFERENCES AND SUGGESTED READINGS

Buraselis, K. (1982) Das hellenistische Makedonien

und die Agais. Forschungen zur Politik des

Kassandros und der drei ersten Antigoniden

(Antigonos Monophthalmos, Demetrios

Poliorketes und Antigonos Gonatas) im Agaischen

Meer und in Westkleinasien: 107–76. Munich.

Champion, C. B. (2004/5 [2007]) “In defense of

Hellas: the Antigonid Soteria and Paneia and the

Aetolian Soteria at Delphi.” American Journal of

Ancient History n.s. 3/4: 72–88.

Dreyer, B. (1999) Untersuchungen zur Geschichte des

spatklassischen Athen (322–ca. 203 v. Chr.).

Stuttgart.

Errington, R. M. (1990) A history of Macedonia,

trans. C. Errington: 162–75. Berkeley.

Gabbert, J. J. (1997) Antigonus II Gonatas:

a political biography. London.

Habicht, C. (1996) “Divine honours for king

Antigonus Gonatas in Athens.” Scripta Classica

Israelica 15: 131–4.

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Habicht, C. (1997) Athens from Alexander to

Antony, trans. Deborah Lucas Schneider: 142–70.

Cambridge, MA.

Hammond, N. G. L. and Walbank, F. W. (1988)

A history of Macedonia, 336–167 BC : 239–316,

587–600. Oxford.

Papyri Graecae Haunienses, vol. 1: Literarische

Texte und ptolemaische Urkunden (1942), edited

by T. Larsen: nos. 1–12. Copenhagen (¼ P.Haun).

Petrakos, V. (1999) Rhamnous [Ho demos tou

Rhamnountos], vol. 2: Hoi epigraphes

[The inscriptions]. Athens (¼Petrakos,

Rhamnous II).

Tarn, W. W. (1913) Antigonos Gonatas.

Oxford.

Will, E. (1979–82) Histoire politique du monde

hellenistique (323–30 av. J.-C.), 2nd ed., vol. 1:

208–33, 316–43. Nancy.

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