Antigonus, Ptolemy, and Seleucus, the first Hellenistic rulers in the east, were faced with an unprecedented politico-military dilemma when they turned their attention to the administration of their realms. The territories at their disposal were together more or less equal in size to the enormous dimensions of the Persian realm, but the Macedonian generals, unlike the deposed oriental kings, were an alien element in the area. They therefore had no local power base which would permit them to mobilize the indigenous population in defence of their territorial achievements, nor any outside the area, since Macedon itself was occupied by their rivals.

It has long been established that a solution to this problem was found in the settling of soldiers, mostly European by descent, on allotments of land in the newly occupied territories in return for certain military obligations. The ingenious concept of military settlements achieved two advantages: on the one hand it established islands of Greco-Macedonian population among the oriental natives, thus spreading the influence of Greek culture among the upper classes of the subjugated nations, and, on the other, it provided a reservoir of trained and loyal manpower that served mainly in the phalanx and was always ready for any call to duty.