Eumenes of Cardia

Son of a poor wagon-driver of Cardia in the Thracian Chersonese (Plut. *Eum.* 1; Nepos *Eum.* 1.1 has the family of higher rank, the divergence already in the ancient sources); not a Macedonian. Entered Philip II's chancery as a boy of seventeen and served Alexander as *archigrammateus* — chief of the royal correspondence — through the entire Asian campaign, inheriting the secretarial archive that contained every diplomatic and administrative document of the conquest. Received Cappadocia (still unconquered) at the Babylon settlement of 323; Perdiccas's only senior Greek adherent during the first Diadochic war. Defeated and killed Crateros at the Hellespont engagement of spring 321 (Plut. *Eum.* 7) — the structural fact behind the regicide of Perdiccas in Egypt a few weeks later. Outlawed at Triparadisus 321, fought Antigonus's Asian armies through five years of brilliant manoeuvre across Asia Minor, the Cilician Gates, Mesopotamia, and the upper satrapies of Iran with no Macedonian troops of his own beyond the Silver Shields he had inherited from the royal-army succession. Surrendered to Antigonus at Gabiene in winter 316/315 by his own Silver Shields after Demetrius's cavalry seized the veterans' baggage-train (Plut. *Eum.* 17–18). Starved to death in the prison-tent on Antigonus's order over three days (Plut. *Eum.* 19); body cremated and ashes returned to Cardia for his wife. The single Greek of any rank to hold a major Diadochic command.

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