Eumenes of Cardia

Eumenes of Cardia was a royal secretary who, in the years following the death of Alexander the Great became a major contender for power. Despite his having been chiefly an administrator rather than a military or political power, Eumenes came close to securing control of the Asian remnants of Alexander's empire. Eumenes was born in the Greek city of Cardia and lived during a period dominated by native-born Macedonians, and his defeat and death have traditionally been attributed to his having Greek rather than Macedonian origins. This book argues, however, that as a result of the actions of Macdonian monarchs, Macedonia was a land in which large numbers of a variety of people were successfully amalgamated into a single state.