executed. After Peithon's execution, Antigonos appointed two officers to replace him: Orontobates as satrap of Media, and Hippostratos as strategos. According to Hermann Bengtson, Hippostratos occupied an intermediate position between a full strategos of the Upper Satrapies, and a provincial satrap; Hippostratos thus likely commanded the troops of the royal army (the βασιλική δύναμις) stationed in the eastern provinces, while the satraps commanded only their local levies. Hippostratos' appointment was a temporary expediency, and in 315, Antigonos named his general Nikanor as strategos over Media and the Upper Satrapies. The fact that the institution of the post coincided with Antigonos' departure from Babylonia for the Mediterranean to fight against his rivals, and the absence of similar arrangements in the western provinces of his realm, where he was present in person, show that the post was meant to provide for the security of the eastern provinces while Antigonos himself was absent and preoccupied in the west. Nikanor remained in control of the Antigonos' eastern provinces until the invasion of Babylonia by Seleukos I in 312, when he marched to confront him but fell in battle. As a result, the eastern satrapies came under Seleukos' control, and the special command over the Upper Satrapies was abolished for the time being. References Sources Ancient Greek geography Macedonian Empire Seleucid Empire