Bibliotheca Historica

​Seleucus, then, having escaped safely to Egypt, met with every kind of kindness from Ptolemy and made a bitter accusation against Antigonus, saying that he had decided to expel all those who were of high standing, and especially those who had campaigned with Alexander, from their satrapies; and of these things he brought as proofs the murder of Peithon, the removal of Peucestas from Persis, and what had happened to himself.

​For all of these men, having done no wrong, but on the contrary having rendered many great services in friendship, had suffered punishment for their virtue. He also detailed the sizes of his forces and the abundance of his money, and furthermore his recent successes, from which he showed that he had become arrogant and in his hopes had encompassed the entire kingdom of the Macedonians.

​Having by such arguments urged Ptolemy to prepare for war, he sent some of his friends to Europe, commanding them to try by similar arguments to make Cassander and Lysimachus enemies of Antigonus.

​When they had quickly accomplished what had been commanded, the beginning of a disagreement and of great wars began to grow. But Antigonus, reasoning from the probabilities about the purpose of Seleucus, sent ambassadors to Ptolemy, Lysimachus, and Cassander, requesting them to preserve their pre-existing friendship; and having appointed Peithon, who had come down from India, as satrap of Babylonia, he set out with his army, ​making his march toward Cilicia. When he arrived in Mallus, he distributed his army into winter quarters after the setting of Orion. He also took over the money in Quinda, ten thousand talents. Apart from this, eleven thousand talents accrued to him from the annual revenues. Therefore, it happened that he was formidable both because of the size of his forces and because of the abundance of his money.