The conquest of this Greek province was a gain equally for himself and
for the Greeks. He put an end to the horrible anarchy that prevailed
there, and proved himself their saviour as well as their conqueror. His
name was now an honoured one among all the Greeks. When it was rumoured
that war was likely to break out between Ptolemy and the royal party,
the Macedonians flocked to Alexandria, "every man ready to give all and
to sacrifice himself in order to help his friend." A popular belief of
the day was that, although Ptolemy was known as the son of Lagos, he was
in reality the son of Philip, and indeed much in his manner resembled
the great founder of the Macedonian power. Amongst the successors of
Alexander, not one understood as well as he how to retain and increase
the power which he had won. He recognised, also, from the first, the
tendency of the age: the tendency to split up the kingdom into different
states; and he had made this the basis of his policy. It was under him
that the first state (in the new sense of the word) was founded. He was
the leader of the new movement that soon generated disunity, and to
this end he made a secret contract with Antipatros against the regent
Perdiccas. About this time also misunderstandings between the regent and
the rulers in the West began to take a serious aspect.

At a great meeting in Babylon in the summer of the year 323, it was
decided that the body of Alexander was to be taken with great solemnity
to the Temple of Amon, and that the equipping and guidance of the
funeral procession should be entrusted to Arridæus. At the end of the
year 323, the necessary preparations were finished. The gigantic
funeral car that was to carry the kingly bier had been decorated with
unparalleled magnificence. Without waiting for orders from the regent,
Arridæus started with the funeral procession from Babylon. Crowds from
far and near filled the streets, some curious to see the magnificent