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What was the impact of Eumenes on the Hellenistic World

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====Eumenes and the fate of the Empire====
Crucial to understanding the Cardian was his desire to maintain the unity of the Empire. Many believe that he was the only successor who believed in Alexander’s desire to unite east and west. Because he was not a Macedonian he did not believe in the exclusion of the conquered peoples from the army and government. This was not shared by the other successors and they firmly believed that the Macedonians should form a ruling military elite. The death of Eumenes ensured that the states that emerged after the fragmentation of the Empire were not pluralistic societies but rather they were to be dominated by a small Greek-Macedonian elite who largely excluded the natives and monopolized power in their own hands <ref> Waterfield, p 156</ref>. Eumenes had been raised in the court of Phillip II and did seem to be genuinely loyal to the Argead dynasty. His campaigns and even his break with Antignous, can be seen as an attempt to protect the rights and the interests of the Argeads and the sons of Alexander the Great. The various successors claimed to be only holding their territories until one of the sons of Alexander was crowned, but in reality they had no such intention <ref> Anson, p 67</ref>. Eumenes was the last hope of the Argead dynasty and his defeat meant that no Macedonian monarch would ever rule the lands won by the son of Phillip II. If Eumenes had won it is possible that one of the descendants of the conqueror of the Persians could have united the lands conquered by Alexander. Instead, soon after the defeat of Greek, the last Argead king Alexander IV was murdered, even though he was only a boy, and this effectively ended the almost 500-year-old dynasty.
[[File: Eumenes one.png|200px|thumb|left|A coin of Phillip IV the last Argead king]]
Crucial to understanding Eumenes was his desire to maintain the unity of the Empire. Many believe that he was the only successor who believed in Alexander’s desire to unite east and west. Because he was not a Macedonian and he did not believe in the exclusion of the conquered peoples from the army and government. This belief was not shared by the other successors and they firmly believed that the Macedonians should form a ruling military elite.
 
The death of Eumenes ensured that the states that emerged after the fragmentation of the Empire were not pluralistic societies but rather they were to be dominated by a small Greek-Macedonian elite who largely excluded the natives and monopolized power in their own hands. <ref> Waterfield, p 156</ref> Eumenes had been raised in the court of Phillip II and did seem to be genuinely loyal to the Argead dynasty. His campaigns and even his break with Antignous can be seen as an attempt to protect the rights and the interests of the Argeads and the sons of Alexander the Great. The various successors claimed to be only holding their territories until one of the sons of Alexander was crowned, but in reality, they had no such intention. <ref> Anson, p 67</ref>
 
Eumenes was the last hope of the Argead dynasty and his defeat meant that no Macedonian monarch would ever rule the lands won by the son of Phillip II. If Eumenes had won it is possible that one of the descendants of Alexander could have united the Empire. Instead, soon after the defeat of Eumenes, the last Argead king Alexander IV was murdered, even though he was only a boy which effectively ended the almost 500-year-old dynasty.
====Conclusion====
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