Kassander

(d. 297 BC)King of Macedonia, son of Antipater. To Kassander's great disappointment, Antipater did not proclaim him as heir to the throne, but the general Polyperchon. This made Kassander form an alliance with his father's sworn enemy Antigonos Monophtalmos and the other successors of Alexander, the Diadochs.

With these men behind him, Kassander declared war against Polyperchon and succeeded. Thus, he became ruler of Greece, something which Alexander's mother Olympias strongly opposed to since she despised Kassander.

The king then had her murdered, and married Alexander's half sister Thessalonike, daughter of Philip II. He founded the city of Thessaloniki, named after his wife.

In 311 BC Greece was declared free, and Alexander's son was to inherit the throne when he came of age. Kassander, who did not just want to be a temporary leader, had the young boy murdered, along with his mother Roxane in 309 BC. In 305 BC he declared himself king of Macedonia.