angry than ever; and when at length Antipater was appointed to the
regency, she went out and made a formal harangue to the army, in which
she denounced Antipater in the severest terms, and loaded him with
criminations and reproaches, and endeavored to incite the soldiers to
a revolt. Antipater endeavored to defend himself against these
accusations by a calm reply; but the influence which Eurydice's
tempestuous eloquence exerted on the minds of the soldiery was too
much for him. A very serious riot ensued, which threatened to lead to
the most disastrous results. For a time Antipater's life was in most
imminent danger, and he was saved only by the interposition of some of
the other generals, who hazarded their own lives to rescue him from
the enraged soldiery.
[Footnote F: See map.]
The excitement of this scene gradually subsided, and, as the generals
persisted in the arrangement which they had made, Eurydice found
herself forced to submit to it. She had, in fact, no real power in her
hands except that of making temporary mischief and disturbance; and,
as is usually the case with characters like hers, when she found that
those around her could not be driven from their ground by her
fractiousness and obstinacy, she submitted herself to the necessity of
the case, though in a moody and sullen manner. Such were the relations
which Antipater and Eurydice bore to each other on the return of
Antipater to Macedon.
The troubles, however, in his government, which Antipater might have
reasonably expected to arise from his connection with Olympias and
Eurydice, were destined to a very short continuance, so far as he
personally was concerned; for, not long after his return to Macedon,
he fell sick of a dangerous disease, under which it was soon evident
that the vital principle, at the advanced age to which he had
attained, must soon succumb. In fact, Antipater himself soon gave up
all hopes of recovery, and began at once to make arrangements for the
final surrender of his power.
It will be recollected that when Craterus came from Asia to Macedon,
about the time of Alexander's death, he brought with him a general
named Polysperchon, who, though nominally second in command, really
had charge of the army on the march, Craterus himself being at the
time an invalid. When, some time afterward, Antipater and Craterus set
out on their expedition to Asia, in the war against Perdiccas,
Polysperchon was left in charge of the kingdom of
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