Nicanor (satrap) (nonfiction)

Nicanor (/naɪˈkeɪnər/; Greek: Nικάνωρ Nīkā́nōr) was a Macedonian officer of distinction who served as satrap of Media under Antigonus I Monophthalmus. (Possibly to be identified with Nicanor of Stageira, who served under Alexander the Great.)

In the division of the provinces at Triparadeisus, after the death of Perdiccas in 321 BCE, he gained the position of governor of Cappadocia.[1] He attached himself to the party of Antigonus, whom he accompanied in the war against Eumenes. After the second battle, that at Gabiene, the mutinous Argyraspids agreed to surrender their general into Antigonus' hands; it was Nicanor who was selected to receive the prisoner from them.

After the defeat of Peithon and his associates around 314 BCE, Nicanor was appointed by Antigonus as satrap (governor) of Media and the adjoining provinces, commonly termed the "upper satrapies", which he continued to hold until 311 BCE when Seleucus made himself master of Babylon, and provoked the Babylonian War.

Nicanor now assembled a large force and marched against the invader, but was surprised and defeated by Seleucus at the passage of the river Tigris, and his troops were either cut to pieces or defected to the enemy.

What happened to Nicanor in this battle is uncertain. Diodorus writes that Nicanor escaped the slaughter and escaped to the desert, from where he wrote to Antigonus for assistance. Appian, however, says he was killed in the battle.

Sources

• Arrian, as reported by Photius 72a; Diodorus 18.39; Appian Mithr. 8.
• Plutarch Eumenes 17.
• Diodorus 19.92, 100; Appian Syriaca. 55.

Fiction cross-reference

• Gnomon algorithm
• Gnomon Chronicles

Nonfiction cross-reference

• Alexander the Great (nonfiction) - Alexander III of Macedon (Greek: Αλέξανδρος Γʹ ὁ Μακεδών; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great (Ancient Greek: Ἀλέξανδρος ὁ Μέγας, romanized: Aléxandros ho Mégas), was a king (basileus) of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedo and a member of the Argead dynasty. He was born in Pella in 356 BC and succeeded his father Philip II to the throne at the age of 20. He spent most of his ruling years on an unprecedented military campaign through Asia and northeast Africa, and by the age of thirty, he had created one of the largest empires of the ancient world, stretching from Greece to northwestern India.[1][2] He was undefeated in battle and is widely considered one of history's most successful military commanders.
• Antigonus I Monophthalmus (nonfiction) - (382–301 BC), son of Philip from Elimeia, was a Macedonian nobleman, general, satrap and king. During the first half of his life he served under Philip II; after Philip's death in 336 BC, he served his son Alexander. He was a major figure in the Wars of the Diadochi after Alexander's death, declaring himself king in 306 BC and establishing the Antigonid dynasty.
• Nicanor of Stageira (nonfiction) -

External links:

• [ Nicanor (satrap)] @ Wikipedia