A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology. By various writers. Ed. by William Smith. Illustrated by numerous engravings on wood.

964 DEMETRIUS.
been lately reinstated in his kingdom of Epeirus.
Pyrrhus was the nearest at hand, and had already
defeated Antipater and established Alexander on
the throne of Macedonia, when Demetrius, unwilling to lose such an opportunity of aggrandizement, arrived with his army. He was received
with apparent friendliness, but mutual jealousies
quickly arose. Demetrius was informed that the
young king had formed designs against his life,
which he anticipated by causing him to be assassinated at a banquet. He was immediately afterwards acknowledged as king by the Macedonian
army, and proceeded at their head to take possession of his new sovereignty, B. c. 294. (Plut.
Demetr. 35-37, Pyrrh. 6, 7; Justin. xvi. 1; Paus.
i. 10. ~ 1, ix. 7. ~ 3; Euseb. Arm. p. 155.)
While Demetrius had by this singular revolution
become possessed of a kingdom in Europe, he had
lost all his former possessions in Asia: Lysimachus,
Seleucus, and Ptolemy having taken advantage of
his absence in Greece to reduce Cilicia, Cyprus,
and the cities which he had held on the coasts of
Phoenicia and Asia Minor. He, however, concluded a peace with Lysimachus, by which the
latter yielded to him the remaining portion of
Macedonia, and turned his whole attention to the
affairs of Greece. Here the Boeotians had taken
up arms, supported by the Spartans under Cleonymus, but were soon defeated, and Thebes taken
after a short siege, but treated with mildness by
Demetrius. After his return to Macedonia he took
advantage of the absence of Lysimachus and his
captivity among the Getae to invade Thrace; but
though he met with little opposition there, he was
recalled by the news of a fresh insurrection in
Boeotia. To this he speedily put an end, repulsed
Pyrrhus, who had attempted by invading Thessaly
to effect a diversion in favour of the Boeotians, and
again took Thebes after a siege protracted for
nearly a year. (B. c. 290.) He had again the
humanity to spare the city, and put to death only
thirteen (others say only ten) of the leaders of the
revolt. (Plut. Demetr. 39, 40; Diod. xxi. Exc.
10, Exc. Vales. p. 560.) Pyrrhus was now one of
the most formidable enemies of Demetrius, and it
was against that prince and his allies the Aetolians
that he next directed his arms. But while he
himself invaded and ravaged Epeirus almost without opposition, Pyrrhus gained a great victory over
his lieutenant Pantauchus in Aetolia; and the
next year, Demetrius being confined by a severe
illness at Pella, Pyrrhus took advantage of the opportunity to overrun a great part of Macedonia,
which he, however, lost again as quickly, the moment Demetrius was recovered. (Plut. Demetr.
41, 43, Pyrrh. 7, 10.)
It was about this time that Demetrius concluded
an alliance with Agathocles, king of Syracuse,
whose daughter Lanassa, the wife of Pyrrhus, had
previously surrendered to him the important island
of Corcyra. (Plut. Pyrrh. 11; Diod. xxi. Exc. 11.)
But it was towards the East that the views of
Demetrius were mainly directed: he aimed at
nothing less than recovering the whole of his
father's dominions in Asia, and now hastened to
conclude a peace with Pyrrhus, that he might continue his preparations uninterrupted. These were
on a most gigantic scale: if we may believe Plutarch, he had assembled not less than 98,000
foot and near 12,000 horse, as well as a fleet of
500 ships, among which were some of 15 and 16

DEMETRIUS.
banks of oars. (Plut. Demetr. 43.) But before
he was ready to take the field, his adversaries,
alarmed at his preparations, determined to forestall
him. In the spring of B. c. 287, Ptolemy sent a
powerful fleet against Greece, while Pyrrhus (notwithstanding his recent treaty) on the one side
and Lysimachus on the other simultaneously invaded Macedonia. But Demetrius's greatest danger
was from the disaffection of his own subjects,
whom he had completely alienated by his proud
and haughty bearing, and his lavish expenditure
on his own luxuries. He first marched against
Lysimachus, but alarmed at the growing discontent
among his troops, he suddenly returned to face
Pyrrhus, who had advanced as far as Beraea.
This was a most unfortunate step: Pyrrhus was
at this time the hero of the Macedonians, who no
sooner met him than they all declared in his favour,
and Demetrius was obliged to fly from his camp in
disguise, and with difficulty made his escape to
Cassandreia. (Plut. Demetr. 44, Pyrrh. 11; Justin, xvi. 2.) His affairs now appeared to be hopeless, and even his wife Phila, who had frequently
supported and assisted him in his adversities, now
poisoned herself in despair. But Demetrius himself was far from desponding; he was still master
of Thessaly and some other parts of Greece,
though Athens had again shaken off his yoke: he
was able to raise a small fleet and army, with
which, leaving his son Antigonus to command in
Greece, he crossed over to Miletus. Here he was
received by Eurydice, wife of Ptolemy, whose
daughter Ptolemais had been promised him in
marriage as early as B. c. 301, and their'long delayed nuptials were now solemnized. Demetrius
at first obtained many successes; but the advance
of Agathocles with a powerful army compelled him
to retire. He now threw himself boldly into the
interior of Asia, having conceived the daring project of establishing himself in the eastern provinces
of Seleucus. But his troops refused to follow him.
He then passed over into Cilicia, and after various
negotiations with Seleucus, and having suffered
the greatest losses and privations from famine and
disease, he found himself abandoned by his troops
and even by his most faithful friends, and had no
choice but to surrender himself a prisoner to
Seleucus. (e. c. 286.) That king appears to have
been at first disposed to treat him with honour,
but took alarm at his popularity with the army,
and sent him as a prisoner to the Syrian Chersonesus. Here he was confined at one of the royal
residences, where he had the liberty of hunting in
the adjoining park, and does not seem to have
been harshly treated. Seleucus even professed an
intention of restoring him to liberty, and indignantly rejected the proposal of Lysimachus to put
him to death; but the restless spirit of Demetrius
could ill brook confinement, and he gave himself
up without restraint to the pleasures of the table,
which brought on an illness that proved fatal. Iis
death took place in the third year of his imprisonment and the fifty-fifth of his age, B.c. 283. (Plut.
Demetr. 45-52; Polyaen. iv. 9; Diod. xxi. Exc.
Vales. p.562.) His remains were sent by Seleucus
with all due honours to his son Antigonus, who
interred them at Demetrias in Thessaly, a city
which he had himself founded. (Plut. Demetr. 53.)
There can be no doubt that Demetrius was one
of the most remarkable characters of his age: in
restless activity of mind, fertility of resource, and