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Krateros

Craterus (370-321 BC) was a Macedonian nobleman and general under Alexander the Great. He participated in the conquests of Alexander and the Wars of the Diadochi, during which he was killed.

Biography[]

Craterus

Craterus before the Battle of Gaugamela

Craterus was born in Orestis, Macedon, Ancient Greece in 370 BC, the brother of the admiral Amphoterus. He became a general under Alexander the Great, participating in the conquests of Alexander and commanding the infantry on his left wing at the Battle of Issus in 333 BC. When Alexander prepared to invade India, much of the army threatened mutiny and refused to cross the river, and Craterus spoke on his behalf, saying that, of the 40,000 men he had commanded in Asia, many of them died fighting the Scythians on the Oxus, some died of drowning in the Indus River, others died of illness, and yet more young men died without ever having been with a woman; he hoped to convince Alexander to let his battle-hardened men return home after fighting in over 50 battles across 10,000 miles of land. However, Alexander pointed out that he had been wounded several times as well, and he promised rich rewards to all of his men, giving full pensions to all seven-year veterans and making the first among them "Silver Shields". In 326 BC, he commanded the rearguard at the Battle of the Hydaspes, and he later married Darius III's niece on the army's return to Susa. He and Polyperchon were ordered to take 11,500 veteran soldiers back to Macedonia, but Craterus was building the fleet in Cilicia in 323 BC when news arrived of Alexander's death. Craterus aided Antipater in the Lamian War against Athens in 322 BC and fought at the Battle of Crannon, and he later joined Antigonus I Monophthalmus in his rebellion against Perdiccas and Eumenes. He married Antipater's daughter, but he was killed in battle against Eumenes in Asia Minor in 321 BC, with his horse falling on him and crushing him.

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