Antigonos was probably born around 382 BC to a Macedonian nobleman named Philip. He held a military command during the campaigns of Alexander the Great and in 333 BC he was appointed satrap of Phrygia. It was his job to maintain the lines of communication and supply while Alexander's army moved east.
In 322 BC Antigonos was given special authority by Antipatros, the regent for Alexander's incompetent heirs, to hunt down and destroy Eumenes of Kardia. Antigonos succeeded in this task with ruthless efficiency.
His success and the death of Antipatros in 319 BC led Antigonos to make an attempt at reuniting the disintegrating empire of Alexander under his own power. This goal caused an anti-Antigonid coalition to form which included Kassandros, Ptolemy, Seleukos and Lysimachos. The end result was almost ceaseless war from 315-311 BC.
A brief peace treaty was made in 311, but Antigonos soon made attempts to destroy the allies individually. He proclaimed both himself and his son, Demetrios Poliorketes, kings in 306, thereby setting the precedent for the other generals.
Antigonos' endless drive to overcome all opposition to
his universal rule strengthened the resolve of the coalition to stop him
for good. The decisive battle came in 301 BC on the field of Ipsos when
the Antigonid army was defeated primarily by the forces of Lysimachos and
Seleukos. Antigonos was killed in the thick of the battle at the age of
81.