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On the death of Hephæstion, Perdikkas was appointed to succeed him, and Eumenes was given the post of commander of the cavalry, vacated by Perdikkas. Upon this Neoptolemus, the chief of the men-at-arms, sneered at Eumenes, saying that he himself bore a spear and shield in Alexander's service, but that Eumenes bore a pen and writing-tablets.
He fled at once to Perdikkas, and betrayed all Leonnatus's plans to him, by which treachery he gained great favour with Perdikkas, and soon afterwards was established in his government of Cappadocia by an army led by Perdikkas himself. Ariarathes was taken prisoner, the country subdued and Eumenes proclaimed satrap over it.
Her accomplice in this crime was Perdikkas, who on the death of Alexander at once became a very powerful man. He sheltered his authority under the name of Arrhidæus, who became the nominal, while Perdikkas was the virtual king of Macedonia.
He declared that as long as he had breath in his body he would resist all unjust schemes of spoliation, and would rather lose his life than betray the confidence bestowed upon him by Perdikkas.
He distributed the government of the various cities amongst his friends, established garrisons, courts of justice, and receivers of revenue, as an absolute ruler, without any interference from Perdikkas. But when Perdikkas left the country Eumenes followed him, as he did not wish to be away from the court of that prince.
When he had almost expended the whole of the revenues of the crown in this fashion, Perdikkas enquired of him, "My king, what have you reserved for yourself?" "My hopes," replied Alexander. "Then," said Perdikkas, "are we who go with you not to share them?" and he at once refused to accept the present which had been offered to him, as did several others.
To these overtures Eumenes answered that he had long hated Antipater, and was not likely to begin to love him now, when he saw him making war against his own friends, but that he was willing to act as mediator between Kraterus and Perdikkas, if they wished to arrange a fair and honourable peace.
Now if Perdikkas had lived to hear of the death of Kraterus, he would have been the chief Macedonian of the age; but the news of his death reached the camp of Perdikkas two days after that prince had fallen in a skirmish with the Egyptians, and the enraged Macedonian soldiery vowed vengeance against Eumenes.
Yet if it were true that Nikias preferred quiet and security to anything else, and that he stood in fear of Alkibiades in the assembly, of the Spartans at Pylus, and of Perdikkas in Thrace, he had every opportunity to repose himself in Athens and to "weave the garland of a peaceful life," as some philosopher calls it.
V. When Kraterus and Antipater, having made themselves masters of Greece, crossed over into Asia to destroy the kingdom of Perdikkas, and were about to invade Cappadocia, Eumenes was appointed by Perdikkas, who was absent on a campaign against Ptolemy, to be commander-in-chief of the forces in Cappadocia and Armenia.
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