Everything about Demetrius Poliorcetes totally explained
Demetrius I (
337-
283 BC,
Greek:
Δημήτριος), called
Poliorcetes (Greek:
Πολιορκητής) ("The Besieger"), son of
Antigonus I Monophthalmus and
Stratonice, was a king of
Macedon (
294 -
288 BC). He belonged to the
Antigonid dynasty.
Biography
At the age of twenty-two he was left by his father to defend
Syria against
Ptolemy the son of
Lagus; he was totally defeated in
Battle of Gaza, but soon partially repaired his loss by a victory in the neighbourhood of
Myus.
After an unsuccessful expedition against
Babylon, and several campaigns against Ptolemy on the coasts of
Cilicia and
Cyprus, Demetrius sailed with a fleet of 250 ships to
Athens. He freed the city from the power of
Cassander and Ptolemy, expelled the garrison which had been stationed there under
Demetrius of Phalerum, and besieged and took
Munychia (
307 BC). After these victories he was worshipped by the Athenians as a
tutelary deity under the title of
Soter ("Preserver").
In the campaign of
306 BC against Ptolemy he defeated
Menelaus, Ptolemy's brother, in the naval
Battle of Salamis, completely destroying the naval power of
Egypt. In
305 BC, now bearing the title of king bestowed upon him by his father, he endeavoured to punish the
Rhodians for having deserted his cause; his ingenuity in devising new
siege engines in his unsuccessful attempt to reduce the capital gained him the title of Poliorcetes. Among his creations were a
battering ram 180 feet long, requiring 1000 men to operate it; and a wheeled
siege tower named "
Helepolis" (or "Taker of Cities") which stood 125 feet tall and 60 feet wide, weighing 360,000 pounds.
He returned a second time to Greece as liberator. But his licentiousness and extravagance made the Athenians long for the government of Cassander. Among his outrages was his courtship of a young boy named Democles the Handsome. The youth kept on refusing his attention but one day found himself cornered at the baths. Having no way out and being unable to physically resist his suitor, he took the lid off the hot water cauldron and jumped in. His death is seen as a mark of honor for himself and his country. In another instances, he waived a fine of 50 talents imposed on a citizen in exchange for the favors of Cleaenetus, that man's son.
He also roused the jealousy of
Alexander's
Diadochi;
Seleucus, Cassander and
Lysimachus united to destroy him and his father. The hostile armies met at the
Ipsus in
Phrygia (
301 BC). Antigonus was killed, and Demetrius, after sustaining severe losses, retired to
Ephesus. This reversal of fortune stirred up many enemies against him—the Athenians refused even to admit him into their city. But he soon afterwards ravaged the territory of
Lysimachus and effected a reconciliation with Seleucus, to whom he gave his daughter
Stratonice in marriage. Athens was at this time oppressed by the tyranny of
Lachares, but Demetrius, after a protracted blockade, gained possession of the city (
294 BC) and pardoned the inhabitants for their former misconduct.
In the same year he established himself on the throne of Macedonia by murdering
Alexander V, the son of Cassander. But his new position was continually threatened by
Pyrrhus, who took advantage of his occasional absence to ravage the defenceless part of his kingdom (
Plutarch,
Pyrrhus, 7 if.); at length, the combined forces of Pyrrhus, Ptolemy and Lysimachus, assisted by the disaffected among his own subjects, obliged him to leave Macedonia in
288 BC.
He passed into Asia and attacked some of the provinces of Lysimachus with varying success. Famine and pestilence destroyed the greater part of his army, and he solicited Seleucus' support and assistance. But before he reached Syria hostilities broke out, and after he'd gained some advantages over his son-in-law, Demetrius was totally forsaken by his troops on the field of battle and surrendered to Seleucus.
His son Antigonus offered all his possessions, and even his own person, in order to procure his father's liberty.
But all proved unavailing, and Demetrius died after a confinement of three years (
283 BC). His remains were given to Antigonus and honoured with a splendid funeral at
Corinth.
His descendants remained in possession of the Macedonian throne till the time of
Perseus, when Macedon was conquered by the
Romans in
168 BC.
Literary References
Demetrius appears (under the Greek form of his name, Demetrios) in
L. Sprague de Camp's historical novel,
The Bronze God of Rhodes, which largely concerns itself with his siege of Rhodes.
Further Information
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