Kassander, maligned pragmatist or major schmuck?

Hello everyone!

This is one of the latest coins in my collection. I debated about this coin for some time due to the flan crack, but I really liked the condition and I was dead set on this helmet type being my representative for Kassander, so I went ahead with it. I'll probably redo these photographs, since my setup was created with silver in mind and hasn't worked well for bronze.



However, the topic I'd prefer to bring up is: was Kassander really a bad guy? I present the evidence for and against.

The Schmuck Things
1) There were ancient accusations, especially by Olympias, that Kassander was directly involved in Alexander the Great's death.
2) He executed Olympias, Alexander the Great's mother, despite agreeing to spare her life as terms for her surrender. Execution was by stoning, and Kassander then denied her burial rites.
3) He ordered the deaths of both the 14-year-old Alexander IV, and his mother Roxana.
4) His own father didn't seem to find him fit to be regent, and appointed Polyperchon instead. Kassander then took things into his own hands and seized the throne.
5) He died of gout. Sure, he was one of the few rulers of this period to not be killed (others were Ptolemy and Antipater), but he had probably the most painful death of all. One could argue that's a sign of major karma.

The Explanations
1) We don't truly know what killed Alexander. There's a lot of speculation that no poison of the day would have taken 11 days to finish him. Also, Olympias was Kassander's primary enemy, and she had a lot to gain by spreading such a rumor.
2) Olympias herself had been cruel to Philip III and his wife Eurydice. Kassander had also ordered a more stately death for Olympias, but no soldier would carry out a sentence on Alexander the Great's mother.
3) The other diadochi - Lysimachos, Antigonos I Monophthalmos, Ptolemy I Soter, and Seleukos I Nikator, didn't shed many tears over the act and soon declared themselves kings. There's much speculation that Kassander ordered the executions with agreement from the others. In reality, at that time there was no unified empire for Alexander IV to inherit.
4) It's possible Antipater was worried that the other diadochi would not respond well to dynastic succession, and appointing Kassander may have resulted in a war they would not have won.

Potential good points
1) Macedonia under Kassander was peaceful and flourished.
2) He named the city of Thessalonika, one of several he either founded or rebuilt, in honor of his wife Thessalonike. She was raised by Olympias, so probably didn't have happy-feely thoughts about marrying Kassander. She bore him three sons.
3) Several of his siblings weren't so bad. His sister Phila was married to Balakros, Krateros, and Demetrios of Macedon, and was highly respected. She in particular had a major impact on the reckless Demetrios.
4) Kassander allowed his brother Alexarchus, who was a bit on the loony side, to found the utopian city Uranopolis.
5) Unlike Ptolemy, Lysimachos, and Seleukos, Kassander never minted silver in his own name. He did mint bronze. Only Antigonos never minted either bronze or silver in his own name.

So, given the evidence, what do you think? Was Kassander just a pragmatist who knew how to play the game of thrones, or was he a major schmuck?

For what it's worth, even if he does justify the schmuck label, he's only the #2 schmuck in the diadochi annals. First place has to go to Ptolemy Keraunos.

Ptolemy Keraunos: Chief Macedonian Schmuck
1) Led to the downfall of the Lysimachos regime (of whom he was a guest), but conspiring with his sister to trick Lysimachos into killing his son.
2) Volunteered to go pray with Seleukos I Nikator, then stabbed him in the back.
3) Was considered unfit for rule by his father Ptolemy I Soter, hence his presence in Lysimachia.
4) Arranged to marry Arsinoe II, in exchange for sparing her two young sons. On their wedding day he murdered both.

However, there are no coins fully attributed to Ptolemy Keraunos today. There are some rare bronzes with the portrait of Arsinoe II, but strong arguments now have moved the attribution to Ptolemy II Philadelphos.

 

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Nice writeup, @kirispupis ! Thank you.

I just finished “Ghost on the Throne” about the Diadochi. Kassander was a real jerk.

Lion

Kassander
(316-297 BC).
Æ (15mm, 3.08g, 3h). Pella
Pella or Amphipolis, before 306 BC.
Obv: Head of Herakles r., wearing lion skin. R
Rev: Lion reclining r.
Ref: SNG Alpha Bank 881; SNG Copenhagen 1140.
Green patina, VF – Good VF

Horse Prancing

Makedon
AE 20
Kassander 319-297 BCE
Herakles
Horse prancing, monogram
Sear 6754 var SNG Cop 1142

another Horse…


Makedonon
Kassander 319-297 BCE
AE 20
Herakles in lion skin
Youth on Horse prancing, monogram below horse
Ref: Sear 6754 var SNG Cop 1142

 

There are 2 stories about Alexander's death , Antipater was under suspicion and Alexander invited him to come to Babylon to explain the financial status of Macedonia. Antipater refused to come and instead send his son Kassander.
Maybe Kassander was ordered by Antipater to poisin Alexander.

Alexander might picked up malaria after visiting a marsh.

Here's my Kassander coin , same as the OP

 

Those are nice horse varieties! I also read the same book. I wish he'd write a sequel that follows the rise of Seleukos and the war against Antigonos.

 

Nice coin! There are a number of theories on what killed Alexander, including typhoid and some congenital disorders. Here's a summary.

 

Interesting write up. They may have just found Olympias’ tomb:

“Following archeological excavations carried out at the Tomb of Korinos in northern Greece, Emeritus Professor Athanasios Bidas confirmed that the tomb of the wife of King Philip and mother of Alexander the Great, Olympias, has been found.“



https://greekcitytimes.com/2021/07/10/bidas-alexander-the-great-korinos/amp/

 

Agreed! My exact thoughts when I finished.

 

It's an interesting article and I'm sure the find is of great importance, but I don't see enough from the article to justify assigning it to Olympias. This same researcher, Liana Soulvatzi, also claims to have located Alexander the Great's tomb, despite pretty much everyone else disagreeing with her.

Macedonian history is littered with powerful women, especially at the time of Olympias (Eurydice, Cynane, Phila, Kleopatra).

 

Congratulations on a great coin @kirispupis you picked up a really nice example. I don't think the flan crack detracts from it at all. While Kassander may be viewed in a harsh light today, I'm not sure his actions would have been beyond any of the Diadochi. When death was one wrong decision away and standing on nobility and honor, such as Eumenes the Greek, was a sure way to be killed, you had to be ruthless to survive.

I loved 'Ghost on theThrone' too, and would highly recommend it. There is another book on the subject that I would recommend: 'Dividing the Spoils' by Robin Waterfield. It goes into the first rounds of wars after the different Diadochi declare themselves kings, and ends with the death of Seleukos I, the last of the companions of Alexander.


While I don't have any coins of Kassander, I'll add a couple of Seleukos to remain somewhat germane to the topic.

 

I have never been a fan of the concept of judging people of history using modern norms of proper behavior. For that matter, I see no reason to judge people today on all forms of behavior in order to appreciate what they do well. That allows me to appreciate the music of drug addicted hotel trashers and study the personalities who killed more immediate family relatives than is considered appropriate today. I am, therefore, able to forgive Septimius Severus for not killing baby Caracalla in keeping with his rights as a Roman father. Kassander may not be the kind of guy you want your daughter to bring home but he and his circle of friends sure do make interesting reading. He was what he was and it is not necessary for us to render judgment. I would, however, had preferred that he issued a better array of properly labeled coins. We honor Brutus for issuing a coin commemorating what we call 'murder' and he called 'saving Rome'. I also wish Caracalla had issued a coin with legend, "Yes, I killed him, what are you going to do about it?" Kassander was not bad by the standards of his peer group. Some people study history and wish they were there. I am thankful that I am not.

A question for our visitors from the Modern pages of Coin Talk: Do you ever look at your coins as they fit with history? For example, can you tell me what of note happened in the US Senate the same year they authorized the first small cents or do such questions mean nothing to collectors? I could be a collector of modern coins if they were better linked to current events. Do we judge our modern politicians by the standards we expect of the ancients? Bully Brooks was reelected. Was he long enough ago that we can accept his actions?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preston_Brooks

 

Well said. Recently, I caused a bit of uproar in the family when I purchased a Judea Capta from Vespasian. I didn't have any Vespasian coins and had planned to buy a Judea Capta someday. No one was paying attention to it at the auction, and I'd already picked up my primary target, so I bought it.

However, we're Jewish, so some members of my family asked why I'd purchased a coin that depicts a travesty in our national history, and was further used to taunt and belittle us.

My opinion, though, is the coin is a piece of history - even though this particular event didn't go well for us. Among my Roman coins (which aren't my focus), it's one of the first I talk about along with my Titus Colosseum (denarius) and Julius Caesar elephant. These things really happened, and the coin was a witness to them.

 

Conversely, we now judge many less harshly now through the lens of our modern sensibilities.

Many now respect and revere the early Christian martyrs who, at the time, were considered to be disloyal and a threat to the Empire.

Interestingly, Elagabalus is now considered more sympathetically by some as the misunderstood transgender emperor.

 

Another good fictional work on that period is Funeral Games by Mary Renault.

This is the third book in her trilogy on Alexander III and the upheaval experienced by his successor, Philip III, following his death.

Olympias had Philip III murdered in his cell and his wife, Eurydice, also imprisoned in the same cell, forced to commit suicide.

I recommend all three.

 

Here's a fun Kassander.

 

I very much enjoyed Ghost on the Throne too. Below is a contorniate that depicts Olympias cosying up with her snake on the reverse. I doubt the circa late 4th century Romans viewed her sympathetically, but that didn't stop them from thinking she was a fascinating enough character for placing on this piece.


NERO
AE Contorniate. 18.18g, 36mm. Rome, circa late 4th century AD. Alföldi, Kontorniat 200; Cohen VIII pg. 290, 129. O: IMP NERO CAESAR AVG P MAX, laureate head to right; engraved palm leaf before. R: Olympias, mother of Alexander the Great, reclining left on couch, extending hand to serpent coiled at her knee.

 

It is difficult to assess the career of Kassander. It is said that he was quite hostile to the memory of Alexander III however, we really do not have much evidence as to the why. However it is interesting that while many of the Diadochi introduced portraits either of Alexander or themselves, he did not preferring to mint the coin types introduced by Alexander in 332 BC. Interestingly like his father, he continued to mint coins in the name and types of Philip II of Macedon.
Kassander Ar Tetradrachm Amphipolis 315-294 BC Minted in the name and types of Alexander the Great. Obv Head of beardless Herakles wearing lion skin headdress. Rv. Zeus Aetophoros seated left. In left field Lambda over torch Price 447 17.05 grms 27 mm The lambda over torch series appears to be a long one and uses multiple dies and can be found with a wide range of engravers. Some like this coin are rather good (Well at least I think so) . Others not so much. If Kassander was hoping that his three sons would be the foundation of a stable dynasty, he no doubt would have been disappointed, They fought among themselves leaving the door open for Demetrios to take over.

 

Hmmm. Who can think of other examples where history might have favored a ruler having only one son? Of course we can also point out more than one example of a ruler killing his own son and sons killing their fathers. Do nice guys finish last? It is hard to find a nice guy to test the theory. Many will suggest Tiberius II as an example of a nice guy but others who measure success in economic terms fault him for giving away all the money in the Empire and setting up a system his successors could not have maintained had they desired to follow his lead. Some will say Antoninus Pius. Are there other candidates?

 

In terms of the age of Kassander, Ptolemy I Soter didn't seem so bad of a guy. He had a completely awful son in Ptolemy Keraunos, but Ptolemy II Philadelphos wasn't so bad, so maybe it was the mother.

Of all the diadochi, he seemed to have been the smartest in eschewing empire and instead choosing an easily defendable position. He had cordial relations with next door Seleukos I Nikator (though their sons would later squabble), he founded the Library of Alexandria, and he began construction of the Pharos.

I've posted this Ptolemy coin several times already, but I'm going to do it again because it's one of my favorites.

 

I agree, that is a fine coin. I will continue to believe that we can not measure ancient people using modern standards. Ptolemy I may have been the best of his peer group. That may not have been a great honor by current standards. I tend to agree that Ptolemy I seems like a 'not bad' ruler.

It reminds me of a song lyric I appreciate:
I didn't even make the papers
'Cause I only killed one man

It was really hard to make the bad ruler list back then.

Ptolemy is reported to have written a personal account of the conquests of Alexander but it is now lost. I can not help wondering how he would be remembered by history if it were found. Similarly, would we have a different perspective on Caesar if his writings did not exist. I do not know whose version of the history of the period has most colored our modern perception of the people. Even more, I do not know what is the truth.

 

Although his personal account has been lost, it was widely consulted during antiquity, and many of the accounts that have survived were influenced by it. My suspicion is a lot of what we believe true from this era is due to retellings of Ptolemy's own account.

Still, I keep hoping with new technology that can uncover ancient papyri, that one day a copy will be found.