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What happened at the Battle of Ipsus in 301 BCE?

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Mythological figure — Hellenistic age The figure, who is possibly Dionysus, riding a panther, a Hellenistic opus tessellatum emblema from the House of Masks in Delos, Greece, 2nd century bce.

The Battle of Ipsus, fought in 301 BCE in Phrygia, was a decisive conflict during the wars of the diadochi (the successors of Alexander the Great). It marked the final defeat of the Macedonian general Antigonus I Monophthalmus, who sought to reunite Alexander’s empire under his own rule.12

The battle pitted the combined forces of Lysimachus, Seleucus, and Cassander against Antigonus and his son, Demetrius I Poliorcetes. Both sides fielded approximately 80,000 soldiers.1

The outcome was largely determined by the strategic use of war elephants. While Demetrius initially led a successful cavalry charge, his forces were unable to complete an encirclement because Seleucus deployed a massive force of roughly 400 elephants—acquired through a treaty with the Mauryan Empire—as a living wall.1

As the allied forces pressed their advantage, the 80-year-old Antigonus was killed by a javelin. Demetrius retreated to Greece, and the victors subsequently divided the Antigonid territories among themselves.12