Cassander,

Cassander, king of Macedonia, was born about 354 B.C. His father, Antipater, passed him over and bequeathed the regency to Polysperchon, but Cassander allied himself with Ptolemy and Antigonus, and entered on a struggle with his rival. In 318 he gained Athens and most of the Greek cities, next invaded Macedonia, captured Pydna, and put to death Olympias, mother of Alexander, but spared his widow Roxana and her son Egeus for several years. Meanwhile he married Thessalonica, half-sister to Alexander, in whose honour he founded, about 316 B.C., the town which bears her name. In the following year he caused Thebes, which Alexander had destroyed, to be rebuilt. He next joined Seleucus, Ptolemy, and Lysimachus in their long struggle with Antigonus, which ended with the death of the latter on the battlefield at Ipsus (301). In 306 Cassander had assumed the title of king. He died about 297, leaving his son Philip as his successor.