Antipater [key], d. 319 b.c., Macedonian general. He was one of the ablest and most trusted lieutenants of Philip II and was a friend and supporter of Alexander the Great. When Alexander went on his Asian campaign, Antipater was left as regent (334–323 b.c.) in Macedon. He resisted the attempt of Olympias to gain the regency and governed ably except that his policy of supporting tyrants and oligarchs made him unpopular in Greece. After the death of Alexander he put down a rebellion of many of the Greek cities in the Lamian War and punished Athens. By imposing a more oligarchic form of government on Athens, he drove Demosthenes to commit suicide. Antipater was a leading opponent of the regent, Perdiccas, and after Perdiccas was defeated in 321 by Ptolemy I, Antigonus I, and Craterus, it was Antipater who held the kingdom together. After his death it fell violently apart in the wars of the Diadochi.
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