How did Cassander gain control of Macedonia and much of Greece?
Cassander gained control of Macedonia and much of Greece by challenging the authority of the regent Polyperchon following the death of his father, Antipater, in 319 BCE. He successfully seized these territories between 319 and 317 BCE with the military assistance of Antigonus I Monophthalmus, a powerful ruler of Phrygia.1
As one of the diadochoi—the successors who vied for power after the death of Alexander the Great—Cassander later solidified his position by forming a coalition with other regional rulers, including Ptolemy I, Seleucus, and Lysimachus, to oppose Antigonus's attempts to reunite the empire. Although he lost control of Athens and other southern territories during subsequent conflicts, the decisive defeat of Antigonus at the Battle of Ipsus in 301 BCE ultimately secured Cassander's hold over Macedonia.1