r/todayilearned • u/Citrus2015 • 14h ago
TIL: Eumenes of Cardia who went from being Alexander the Great's secretary to defeating one of Alexander's greatest generals in his first major battle
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eumenes#Asia_Minor_and_the_Hellespont222
u/Green----Slime 14h ago
Reinforces the theory that Alex's talent transfer via osmosis
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u/Citrus2015 14h ago
yes, Eumenes would have almost certainly be involved with administering the army and watching the masters at work for over a decade
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u/CocktailChemist 14h ago
Ghost on the Throne by James Romm is a good book that uses Eumenes as the center of the narrative if anyone wants more about him.
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u/ZePepsico 12h ago
There is manga also about Eumenes, and I think they turned it to an anime.
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u/Masango72 11h ago
Yep, Historie. Though the anime doesn't come out until next year
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u/computo2000 47m ago
Oh, this one is made by the writer of the manga parasyte. Can’t wait for it to come out.
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u/LrdHabsburg 14h ago
Fantastic book
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u/CocktailChemist 13h ago
My one caveat would be that since it doesn’t try to cover everything going on in the period it helps to have a general familiarity with the Diadochi to orient yourself. Otherwise it’s going to feel like there are some unexplained gaps.
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u/gidneyandcloyd 8h ago
A good science fiction book features Alexander and Eumenes as important characters: Time's Eye by Arthur C. Clarke and Stephen Baxter (first book of the Time Odyssey trilogy).
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u/hypochondriacfilmguy 14h ago edited 7h ago
There's a absurdly good manga about him called Historie by Hitoshi Iwaaki (the same guy who made Parasite) please check it out.
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u/PinkTCat 12h ago
I was just thinking what's the name of that manga. Thanks for sharing, going to finally finish reading it.
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u/Citrus2015 14h ago edited 13h ago
His story however is a tragic one, he was alway looked down upon for being Greek rather than Macedonian, and was ultimately betrayed by his own men at the battle of Gabiene. He was captured and executed via strangulation.
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u/rbk12spb 14h ago
Of i remember correctly it was the silver shields, and they were disbanded by Antigonus (I believe, not 100% certain) because he couldn't trust them.
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u/Citrus2015 14h ago
yeah the silver shields were notorious for mutinying over and over again.
Antigonus was sick of them and burned their commander alive in a pit, then dispersed the rest of them throughout the empire. The most troublesome ones he sent to what is now Afghanistan and told the local commander to just send them on dangerous mission to get them killed.
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u/Banjo_Evadie 8h ago edited 8h ago
They were also just simply way too large of a threat to keep around. They had fought in the entirety of Alexander's conquest as an honored part of the center phalanx, and many had even fought under Philip II. Imagine a unit consisting of nothing but seasoned veterans in their 50s and 60s who had fought and survived through some of the toughest scraps the world had seen through their entire military career. You might know some people with "old man strength", who despite being older, are still much more in-shape and as strong as a younger body with different experiences - these guys were like the pinnacle of 'old man strength'.
According to Plutarch's account, at the Battle of Gabiene (Eumenes vs. Antigonus), they crushed the Antigonian front line while taking (supposedly) zero casualties. Unfortunately for them, the battle was lost when Antigonian cavalry decisively outflanked the Eumenian force. He states that the dust clouds kicked up by the battle obscured the Antigonian cavalry pushing towards the Eumenian baggage train. Eventually their baggage train (including their families) was captured, and despite holding the field and making an orderly retreat, the Argyraspides were forced to capitulate in exchange for the safe return of their baggage train by selling Eumenes out to Antigonus.
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u/Conscious-Move9662 14h ago
Bernadotte is better
Chad Napoleon General
Sweden elects a Frenchmen as king to protect them
He leaves Napoleon changes name to Charles John Bernadotte
Napoleon makes him promise to never fight him
Refuses to put anything but Sweden 1st
Eventually Napoleon overstepped
Charles helped 6th Coalition beat Napoleon by developing strategies to counter him
Bernadottes are still Rulers of Sweden
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u/Citrus2015 13h ago
Both Alexander and Napoleon had some of the most talented subordinates in military history
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u/AmazingParka 12h ago edited 12h ago
Genghis Khan had that too. Famously, his four "Dogs of War” were Jebe, Qubilai, Jelme, and Subutai. Then there was another group he called his “four warhorses.”- Bo’orchu, Muqali, Boroqul, and Chila’un.
He built a formidable command cadre and rewarded ability and service. He was also willing to take former opponents into his service. Jebe is a standout example.
And Subutai, on his own merits, was ridiculously good. I've seen historians rank him among the greatest generals in history.
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u/geosub20 10h ago
Genghis Khan is underrated in terms of selecting his subordinates, all were brilliant and capable of independent command. I doubt they could match with anyone but Napoleon's Marshalls.
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u/Autism_Sundae 11h ago
Bernadotte is better
I like terrible arguments as much as the next but lolno.
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u/Aschrod1 5h ago
I hate to agree with Autism Sundae here, but Bernie’s hey guys just don’t actually fight Napoleon until we can ROFL stomp him didn’t take a genius. Just a real soldier who worked his way from the ground up. I love mister fantastic legs and he was definitely competent but when folks like Davout exist at the same time… sit down for your betters Bernadotte.
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u/Autism_Sundae 1h ago
Agreed, and to be more than fair, both were pragmatists of the highest order, and to agree with the OP, Alexander could at times be highly egotistical and vain (who wouldn't be?), had killed his friends in bouts of drunkenness etc.
Which helps underscore OP's point about Bernadotte's loyalty to his adopted domain as a beyond admirable quality. But at what point did Alexander stop having somebody bigger, better than him, to say 'No' to? Both were transformed in their gaining of power, for better and worse and I think it's fascinating to detail. In effect, Bernadotte became '""swedish""', Alexander became more 'eastern'.
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u/Arminius_Fiddywinks 11h ago
It’s what happens when all of your inner circle are very competent operators in their own right.
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u/hariseldon2 14h ago
Title is misleading. All of Alexander's generals ended up fighting each other.
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u/kwijibokwijibo 13h ago
How's it misleading? It doesn't say only they fought. But it's interesting how a secretary defeats a hero general
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u/icwiener25 13h ago
The source itself says he was also a bodyguard to Alexander and a cavalry captain. So he wasn't just a pencil-pusher beating a general, he was a skilled soldier with command experience.
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u/Citrus2015 12h ago edited 12h ago
It should be noted that he was made a cavalry captain very shortly before Alexander died as reward for his service, and he commanded one cavalry squadron which was far smaller than entire army. He was promoted again after siding with Perdicas and made governor of cappdicia where he fought against rebels and Persian holdouts.
So he did have prior command experience, but it was very limited and far less than the other Macedonian officers. Beating Craterus was huge upset and made him a legend to his contemporaries.
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u/UsedBaseball4597 13h ago
By secretary you probably mean gay lover that travelled along with Alexander.
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u/Alarming-Ad1100 10h ago
This nonsense has to stop
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u/UsedBaseball4597 7h ago
It's historical fact. Only desputed by people who would rather not have Alexander to be a greek person of his own time, but a whitewashed figure of worship.
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u/Allmann_ 2h ago
I think you're confuseing him with Hephaistion, who pretty certainly was Alexanders lover.
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u/Alarming-Ad1100 7h ago
You reduce this man from his accomplished position earned through wit and might to a homosexual bed warmer
And now you pretend to be a scholar, you’re just a Reddit stereotype
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u/AbroadTiny7226 14h ago
Wars of the Diadochi is one of the coolest periods of history. Pretty much a battle royale of like 20+ of the foremost military minds of their generation just slugging it out for 40 years