Asander

For the General and King of the Bosporan Kingdom, see Asander (Bosporan king).

Asander (in Greek Άσανδρoς; lived 4th century BC) was the son of Philotas and brother of Agathon. He was a Macedonian general under Alexander the Great and satrap of Caria after Alexander's death.

In 334 BC Alexander appointed him governor of Lydia and the other parts of the satrapy of Spithridates, and also placed under his command an army strong enough to maintain the Macedonian authority.^[1] At the beginning of 328 BC, Asander and Nearchus led a number of Greek mercenaries to join Alexander, who was then located at Zariaspa.^[2]

In the division of the empire after the death of Alexander in 323 BC, Asander obtained Caria for his satrapy, in which he was afterwards confirmed by Antipater.^[3] At the command of Antipater he fought against Attalus and Alcetas, both supporters of Perdiccas^[3], but was defeated by them.

In 317 BC, while Antigonus was engaged in Persia and Media, Asander increased his power in Asia Minor, and was undoubtedly a member of the alliance which was formed by Ptolemy, ruler of Egypt, and Cassander, ruler of Macedonia, against Antigonus. In 315 BC, when Antigonus began his operations against the forces allied against him, he sent a general named Ptolemy, a nephew of his, with an army to relieve Amisus, and to expel from Cappadocia the army loyal to Asander which had invaded that country. However, as Asander was supported by Ptolemy and Cassander^[4], Asander was able to maintain his control of his territories.

In 313 BC Antigonus decided to march against Asander and forced him to conclude a treaty with him under which he was required to surrender his whole army, to restore the areas he had expanded into back to the satraps who had previously controlled those areas, to regard his satrapy of Caria as subject to the gift of Antigonus, and to surrender his brother Agathon as a hostage. After a few days Asander breached this humiliating treaty. He managed to get his brother out of the hands of Antigonus and sent ambassadors to Ptolemy and Seleucus seeking their assistance. Antigonus was, not surprisingly, indignant at these acts and immediately sent out an army to restore the territories covered by the treaty by force of arms. Caria also appears to have been conquered and from this time Asander disappears from the historical record.^[5]

References

• Smith, William (editor); Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, "Asander (1)", Boston, (1867)

Notes

1. Arrian, Anabasis Alexandri, i. 18
2. Arrian, Anabasis Alexandri, iv. 7
3. Photius, Bibliotheca, cod. 82, cod. 92; Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca, xviii. 3, 39; Justin, Epitome of Pompeius Trogus, xiii. 4; Curtius Rufus, Historiae Alexandri Magni, x. 10
4. Diodorus, xix. 62, 68
5. Diodorus, xix. 75

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Smith, William, ed. (1870). "Asander (1)". Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology.