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 Partition at Triparadeisus, after the death of Perdiccas in 321 BCE, he gained the position of governor of Cappadocia. 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. 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.
• Partition at Triparadeisus (nonfiction) - a power-sharing agreement passed at Triparadisus in 321 BC between the generals (Diadochi) of Alexander the Great, in which they named a new regent and arranged the repartition of the satrapies of Alexander's empire among themselves. It followed and modified the Partition of Babylon made in 323 BC upon Alexander's death.
• Nicanor (son of Parmenion) (nonfiction) - (died 330 BC) a distinguished officer in the service of Alexander the Great. He is first mentioned at the passage of the Danube river, in the expedition of Alexander against the Getae, 335, when he led the phalanx. But during the expedition into Asia he appears to have uniformly held the chief command of the body of troops called the Hypaspists (υπασπισται) or foot-guards, numbering three units of 1,000 men. As his brother Philotas did that of the εταιρoι, or horse-guards. We find him mentioned, as holding this post, in the three great battles of the Granicus, of Issus, and of Gaugamela. He afterwards accompanied Alexander with a part of the troops under his command, during the rapid march of the king in pursuit of the king Darius III Codomannus in 330; which was probably his last service, as he died of disease shortly afterwards, during the advance of Alexander into Bactria. His death at this juncture was considered a fortunate event, as it prevented him from participating either in the designs or the fate of his brother Philotas.
• Nicanor of Stageira (nonfiction) - was despatched by Alexander the Great to proclaim at the Olympic games of 324 BCE the decree for the recall of the exiles throughout the Greek cities. It is perhaps the same person whom we find at an earlier period entrusted with the command of the fleet during the siege of Miletus. At least it seems probably that the Nicanor there mentioned is not the son of Parmenion; he may, however, be identical with the Nicanor who was satrap of Media under Antigonus.
• Philotas (nonfiction) - (died October 330 BC) the eldest son of Parmenion, one of Alexander the Great's most experienced and talented generals. He rose to command the Companion Cavalry, but was accused of conspiring against Alexander and executed.

External links:

• [ Nicanor (satrap)] @ Wikipedia