2. Son of Crateuas or Crateas, a Macedonian of Eordaea, in the service of Alexander, whom we find holding the important post
of one of the seven select officers called Somatophylaces, the immediate guards of the king's
person. (Phot. p. 69a.) His services on this were
not forgotten by Perdiccas, who in the division of the provinces assigned to Pithon the
important satrapy of Media. (Phot. p. 69a; Dexippus,
ibid. p. 64a.) Shortly afterwards he was entrusted by the regent with
the charge of the Macedonian troops destined to reduce the revolted Greek mercenaries in the
upper satrapies : a service, which he accomplished with complete success, and having defeated
the insurgents in a decisive battle, granted a free pardon and promise of safety to the
survivors. This act of clemency we are told was secretly designed to attach these troops to
himself; but Perdiccas, who suspected his ambitious projects, had given private orders to the
contrary, and the unhappy Greeks had no sooner laid down their arms than they were all
massacred by the Macedonians. (
It is probable that from this time Pithon had little attachment to the regent, but he made
no show of discontent, and rejoined Perdiccas, whom he accompanied on his last expedition to
Egypt, PERDICCAS] offered a tempting opening to his ambition,
and he was the first to put himself at the head of the mutineers, and break out into open
insurrection. After the death of Perdiccas the regency was entrusted for a time by the advice
of Ptolemy to Pithon and Arrhidaeus conjointly, but they soon showed themselves selves
unworthy of so important a trust, and the intrigues of Eurydice compelled them to resign their
office even before the arrival of Antipater. (Phot. p. 71a.) In the
distribution of the provinces that followed, Pitllon retained his former government of Media,
with which, however, he seems to have received, either at this time or shortly after, a more
general command over the adjoining provinces of Upper Asia. (Arr. l.c. p.
71b; Hellenism. vol. i. p. 152.) Here his ambitious and restless spirit soon
led him to engage in fresh projects : and he took an opportunity, on what pretext we know not,
to dispossess Philip of his satrapy of Parthia, and establish his brother Eudeimus in his
stead. But this act of aggression at once aroused against him a general confederacy of all the
neighbouring satraps, who united their forces, defeated Pithon in a pitched battle, and drove
him out of Parthia. Pithon hereupon took refuge with Seleucus at Babylon, who promised to
support him, and the two parties were preparing for war, when the approach of Eumenes an>d
Antigonus with their respective armies drew off their attention. The confederate satraps
immediately espoused the cause of the former, while Pithon and Seleucus not only rejected all
the overtures of Eumenes, but endeavoured to excite an insurrection among the troops of that
leader. Failing in this, as well as in their attempts to prevent him from crossing the Tigris
and effecting a junction with the satraps, they summoned Antigonus in all haste to their
assistance, who advanced to Babylon, and there united his forces with those of Seleucus and
Pithon in the spring of
Durilng the following campaigns of Antigonus against Eumenes, Pithon rendered the most
important portant services to the former general, who appears to have reposed the utmost
confidence in his military abilities, and assigned him on all important occasions the second
place in the command. Thus we find him commanding the whole left wing of the army of Antigonus
in both the decisive actions ;