I. He who first compared the arts to our senses seems to me to have especially alluded to the power which they both exhibit of dealing with objects of completely contrary qualities. In this respect they coincide; but they differ in respect of the use and purpose of the object of which they take cognisance. Our senses are influenced indifferently by things white or black, sweet or bitter, soft or hard, for the proper function of each sense is merely to receive all these impressions and to convey them to the mind. But the arts, which have been invented in order to cultivate the qualities proper to their own nature and to eschew those which are foreign to it, view some with especial favour, as partaking of their own essence, and avoid others as mere untoward accidents. Thus the art of medicine deals with diseases and the art of music deals with discord merely with a view to produce their respective opposites; while self-control, justice and wisdom, which are the most perfect of all arts, because they decide not only what is honourable, righteous and useful but likewise what is hurtful, shameful, and unjust, do not praise innocency which prides itself upon inexperience of evil, but think it to be folly and ignorance of what all who intend to live as becomes them ought to know. The ancient Spartans at their feasts used to compel their helots to drink a large quantity of wine, and then brought them into the banqueting-hall, in order to show the young Spartans what drunkenness was like. I think that to instruct one class of men by the ruin of another is neither humane nor politic, yet I conceive that it may be useful to insert among my Parallel Lives some examples of men who have been careless of their own reputation, and who have used their great place and power only to make themselves notorious for evil. The description of such men’s lives is not indeed an agreeable task, or a pleasant mode of employing my leisure, still, as Ismenias the Theban, when instructing his scholars how to play the flute, used to say, “Thus you should play;” and again, “Thus you should not play,” while Antigenides even thought that the young would take more pleasure in listening to good flute-players, if they had first heard bad ones, so I think that we shall be more inclined both to admire and to imitate the lives of good men, if we are well acquainted with those of bad ones. This book, then, will contain the lives of Demetrius, surnamed the City-taker, and of Antonius the Triumvir, men who bear signal witness to the truth of Plato’s remark, that great men have great vices as well as great virtues. Both alike loved passionately, drank deep, and fought bravely; both were freehanded, extravagant and arrogant. Fortune served them both alike, not only in their lives, for each of them had great successes and great disasters, each won great empire and lost it again, each unexpectedly fell and rose again; but also in their deaths, as the one was captured by his enemies, and the same fate all but befell the other.

II. Antigonus295 had two sons by Stratonike the daughter of Korragus, one of whom he named Demetrius after his brother, and the other Philip after his father. This is the account given by most historians, though some say that Demetrius was not the son, but the nephew, of Antigonus; but that, as his father died while he was still an infant and his mother at once married Antigonus, he was commonly regarded as his son. His brother Philip, who was a few years younger than himself, died soon, but Demetrius grew up to be a tall man, though not so tall as his father. His face and figure were of extraordinary beauty, which baffled all the attempts of painters and sculptors to do it justice. His expression was at once sweet, commanding and terrible; and his countenance showed all the eagerness and fire of youth combined with the calm dignity of a hero and a king. In like manner his disposition was one which was equally capable of inspiring terror or love. He was the pleasantest of companions, more given to wine-drinking and the enjoyment of luxurious idleness than any other king of his age, and yet he displayed remarkable energy and persistence in action; so that he emulated the fame of the god Dionysus,296 being like him a famous warrior, and when the war was over most capable of thoroughly enjoying the arts of peace.

III. He was remarkably fond of his father; and the love and respect which he paid to his father and mother seem to have been prompted by true affection, not by a wish to stand well with those in power. Once when Antigonus was receiving an embassy from some foreign state, Demetrius, who had been out hunting, came up to his father, kissed him, and sat down beside him just as he was, with his javelins still in his hand. When the ambassadors had transacted their business and were about to leave his presence, Antigonus said to them in a loud voice, “And, gentlemen, you may carry home this news about me and my son, that these are the terms on which we live,” thinking that so great a proof of his trust in his son’s loyalty would add considerable strength to his throne. So much mistrust and suspicion is bred by absolute power, and so hard a thing is it for a king to have a companion, that the eldest and greatest of the successors of Alexander publicly boasted that he was not afraid to have his own son sitting by his side with a spear in his hand. Indeed, this was the only royal family which through many generations remained unpolluted by this species of crime, for of all the successors of Antigonus only one, Philip, assassinated his son. All the records of other dynasties are full of murders of sons, mothers and wives; for the murder of brothers had grown to be considered, like an axiom in mathematics, as a necessary precaution to be taken by all kings on ascending to the throne.

IV. The following anecdote seems to prove that Demetrius when young was of a kind and loving nature. Mithridates, the son of Ariobarzanes, was his friend and companion, and was a good subject of Antigonus, of thorough and unsuspected loyalty, but at length incurred the suspicion of Antigonus in consequence of a dream. Antigonus dreamed that he walked over a large and fair plain, sowing it with gold dust; and that shortly afterwards, returning that way again, he found nothing but stubble left. While grieving over this he heard some men say that Mithridates had gone away to Pontus on the Euxine, after having gathered the golden harvest. Antigonus was much disturbed at this vision, and after having compelled his son to swear that he would keep silence about it, told him of the vision, and added that he had made up his mind to make away with the man. Demetrius was greatly grieved at hearing this, and when the young man, as he was wont to do, again joined him, and spent the day with him, Demetrius dared not tell him by word of mouth what danger he was in, because of the oath; but he drew him aside into a quiet place, and there, as soon as they were alone together, he wrote on the ground with the but-end of his spear, in sight of the other, the words “Fly, Mithridates!” Mithridates understood his meaning, and ran away that very night to Cappadocia. Not long afterwards, he showed Antigonus what was the real meaning of his dream; for he made himself master of an extensive territory, and became the founder of the dynasty of the kings of Pontus, which was overthrown by the Romans in about the eighth generation after him. By this example we may perceive the noble and loyal nature of Demetrius.

V. As the elements, because of their mutual attraction and repulsion, are, according to Empedokles, always at variance with one another, and especially with those with which they happen to be in contact, so, while all the successors of Alexander were always at war, circumstances from time to time caused hostilities between two or more of them to take an especially active form. At this time Antigonus was at war with Ptolemy, and, hearing that Ptolemy had left the island of Cyprus, had landed in Syria and was ravaging that country, he himself remained in Phrygia, but sent his son Demetrius to oppose him. Demetrius was now two and twenty years of age, and was now for the first time entrusted with the sole management of an important campaign. As might be expected of so young and untried a commander, when pitted against a man trained to war under Alexander, and who had since his death waged many wars with success, Demetrius was defeated near the city of Gaza with a loss of fifteen thousand killed and eight thousand prisoners. He also lost his own tent, his property, and all his personal attendants. These, however, were restored to him, with all his captured friends, by Ptolemy, who sent him a kindly-worded message to the effect that they ought not to fight as mortal foes, but only for honour and empire.

Demetrius, after receiving this message and his property, prayed to the gods that he might not long remain in Ptolemy’s debt, but that he might soon recompense him in like manner. He did not behave himself like a youth who has received a check at the outset of his first campaign, but repaired his failure like an old and wary commander, enrolling fresh soldiers, providing new supplies of arms, keeping a firm hold over the cities near him and carefully drilling his new levies.

VI. Antigonus when he heard of the defeat remarked that Ptolemy had conquered beardless boys, but that he would have to fight his next battle with grown men. He yielded however to his son’s entreaty to be allowed to repair his fault by himself, and, as he did not wish to damp his spirits, left him in sole command. Soon after this Killes, Ptolemy’s lieutenant, arrived in Syria with a large force, meaning to chase Demetrius, whom he supposed to be disheartened by his defeat, quite out of Syria. But Demetrius by a sudden attack surprised his army and struck it with panic. He captured the enemy’s camp and their general, and took eight thousand prisoners and a great quantity of booty. He was overjoyed at this, not because he meant to keep what he had won, but to give it back, and did not so much value the glory and wealth which he had gained as the opportunity now offered him for repaying the courtesy of Ptolemy. He did not presume to do this on his own responsibility, but wrote first to his father. On receiving permission from him to deal as he pleased with the fruits of his victory, he gave costly presents to Killes and his friends, and sent them back to Ptolemy. This battle forced Ptolemy to retire from Syria, and brought Antigonus from KelÆnÆ rejoicing at the victory and eager to see his son.

VII. After this Demetrius was sent to subdue the Nabathean Arabs, in performing which service he incurred great danger by journeying through waterless deserts; but his intrepid courage overawed the barbarians, and he returned loaded with plunder, having captured seven hundred camels.

Seleukus had once lost his capital city, Babylon, which Antigonus took from him; but he had since recovered it by his own arms, and at this time was marching with an army to attempt the conquest of the nations bordering upon India, and the provinces near mount Caucasus. Demetrius, hoping that he might find Mesopotamia in a defenceless condition, suddenly crossed the Euphrates, took Babylon by surprise, and made himself master of one of its two citadels, driving out the garrison placed there by Seleukus. Demetrius placed seven thousand of his own troops in the citadel, ordered his troops to enrich themselves by the plunder of the surrounding country, and then returned to the sea-coast, leaving Seleukus more firmly established on his throne than before; for by plundering the country he seemed to admit that he had no claim to it. As Ptolemy was now besieging Halikarnassus, he quickly marched thither and succeeded in saving the city.

VIII. As the glory which he won by this action was very great, he and his father Antigonus conceived a strong desire to liberate the whole of Greece from the tyranny of Ptolemy and Kassander. None of the successors of Alexander ever waged a more just or honourable war than this; for Demetrius and Antigonus, to gain themselves honour by freeing the Greeks, spent upon them the treasure which they had won in their victories over the barbarians. They determined first of all to attack Athens, and when one of the friends of Antigonus advised him, if he captured that city, to keep it in his own hands because it was the key of Greece, Antigonus replied that the best key to a country was the goodwill of its people, and that Athens was the watch-tower of the world, from whence the glory of his deeds should shine like a beacon-light to all mankind.

Demetrius now set sail for Athens with five thousand talents of silver, and a fleet of two hundred and fifty vessels. At this time Demetrius of Phalerum governed the city as Kassander’s lieutenant, and a garrison was placed in Munychia. By good fortune and good management the fleet arrived on the twenty-fifth day of the month Thargelion, without anyone being aware of its coming. When the ships were seen, they were thought to form part of Ptolemy’s fleet, and preparations were made to give them a friendly reception. At last the officers in command discovered their mistake, and a scene of great confusion ensued, as they hastily made preparations to resist the enemy, who were already in the act of disembarking; for Demetrius, finding the mouths of the harbours open, sailed straight in, and could be seen distinctly by all standing on the deck of the ship, and making signs to the Athenians to be quiet and keep silence. When this was done, he bade a herald proclaim that his father Antigonus had sent him thither in an auspicious hour to liberate the Athenians, drive out their Macedonian garrison, and restore to them their own laws and ancient constitution.

IX. Upon hearing this proclamation the greater part of the people laid down their shields at their feet, clapped their hands, and shouted to Demetrius to come ashore, calling him their saviour and benefactor; while Demetrius of Phalerum thought it necessary to admit so powerful a man to the city, even though he might have no intention of performing any of his promises. He therefore sent ambassadors to make their submission. Demetrius received them graciously and sent back with them Aristodemus of Miletus, one of his father’s friends. As the Phalerean, in consequence of this sudden turn of fortune, was more afraid of his own countrymen than of the enemy, Demetrius, who admired his courage and public spirit, took care to have him conveyed in safety to Thebes, to which town he himself wished to go. Demetrius himself now declared that, although he was very eager to view the city, he would not do so until he had completely set it free and expelled its garrison. He therefore surrounded Munychia with a ditch and rampart, cutting it off from the rest of the city, and then sailed to attack Megara, which town was held by a garrison of Kassander’s troops.

As he heard that Kratesipolis, the wife of Alexander the son of Polysperchon, a celebrated beauty, was at PatrÆ, and was not unwilling to grant him an interview, he left his army encamped in the territory of Megara and proceeded thither with only a few lightly equipped followers. When he was near the place, he pitched his own tent apart from his men, that the lady might not be seen when she came to visit him. Some of the enemy discovered this, and made a sudden attack upon him. He only escaped by putting on a mean cloak and running away alone; so that his licentiousness very nearly exposed him to ignominious capture. When Megara was taken the soldiers were about to plunder the city, but the Athenians with great difficulty prevailed upon Demetrius to spare it. He drove out the Macedonian garrison and made the city independent. While he was doing this he remembered Stilpon the philosopher, who was reputed to have chosen for himself a life of retirement and study. Demetrius sent for him, and inquired whether anything had been stolen from him. “Nothing,” replied Stilpon. “I saw no one taking away any knowledge.” As, however, nearly all the slaves were stolen, after Demetrius had talked graciously to Stilpon and at length dismissed him with the words, “My Stilpon, I leave you a free city;” “Quite true,” replied Stilpon, “for you have not left us a single slave.”

X. Demetrius now returned to Munychia, encamped before it, dislodged the garrison, and demolished the fort. And now at the invitation of the Athenians he proceeded into the city, where he assembled the people and re-established the ancient constitution. He also promised that his father Antigonus would send them one hundred and fifty thousand bushels of wheat and timber enough to build a fleet of one hundred ships of war. Thus did the Athenians recover their democratic constitution fifteen years after it had been dissolved; for during the period between the Lamian war and the battle of Krannon their government had nominally been an oligarchy, but practically had been a despotism, on account of the great power of Demetrius of Phalerum.

The benefits which Demetrius conferred upon the Athenians rendered him indeed great and glorious; but they rendered his fame invidious by the extravagant honours which they conferred upon him. They were the first of all men who bestowed upon Antigonus and Demetrius the title of Kings, a name which they greatly disliked because of its association, and which moreover belonged at that time in an especial manner to the descendants of Philip and Alexander, being the only one of their ensigns of royalty which had not been adopted by other princes. The Athenians too were the only people who styled Antigonus and Demetrius their saviour gods, and they even abolished the ancient office of the archon from whom the year received its name, and elected in his place every year a priest to minister at the altar of the saviour gods. They also decreed that their images should be woven into the sacred peplus of Athena,297 with those of the gods. They consecrated the spot where Demetrius first set his foot on the ground when he alighted from his chariot, and built an altar upon it which was called the altar of “The Descending Demetrius.” They added two to the number of their tribes, and called them Demetrias and Antigonis; and consequently they raised the number of the senators from five to six hundred, because each tribe supplied it with fifty members.

XI. But the most outrageous of these devices of Stratokles, for it was he who invented all these new extravagancies of adulation, was a decree that ambassadors sent to Antigonus or to Demetrius should wear the same holy title which had hitherto been given to the envoys who conducted the public sacrifices to the great festivals at Olympia and at Delphi. Indeed, in all other respects Stratokles was a man of shameless effrontery and debauched life, who appeared to imitate the scurrility of Kleon in ancient times by the reckless contempt with which he treated the people. He publicly kept a courtesan named Phylakion; and one day when she had bought some necks and brains in the market, he said to her, “Why, you have bought us the same things for dinner which we politicians play at ball with.”

When the Athenians were defeated in the great sea-fight at Amorgos, he reached Athens before the news of the disaster, and drove though the Kerameikus with a garland on his head, telling all the people that a victory had been won. He decreed a sacrifice of thanksgiving, and had meat publicly distributed among the tribes for entertainments. Shortly afterwards the scattered ships began to arrive, coming home as well as they could after the defeat. When the people angrily turned upon him, resenting the trick which he had played them, he met their clamour with the utmost impudence, and said, “What harm have I done you, in giving you two days of happiness?” Such was the audacity of Stratokles.

XII. There were, however, other marks of servility, “hotter than fire,” as Aristophanes calls it. One Athenian surpassed Stratokles himself by passing a decree that Demetrius, whenever he visited Athens, should be received with the same divine honours which were paid to Demeter and Dionysius, and that money should be granted from the public treasury to the person who should celebrate the festival of the reception with the greatest magnificence, in order that with it he might erect some memorial of his success. At last the name of the month Munychion was changed to Demetrion, and the first day of it named Demetrias, while the name of the festival of the Dionysia was changed to Demetria.

Most of these acts produced manifest signs of the displeasure of the gods. The peplus, upon which, according to the decree, the images of Zeus and Athena were woven together with those of Antigonus and Demetrius, was rent in two by a violent gust of wind as it was being conveyed in procession through the Kerameikus, while a great quantity of hemlock grew up round the altars which were erected in their honour, although it was not a common plant in the neighbourhood. On the day of the festival of Dionysius the procession was put a stop to by excessive cold, which came entirely out of season, and a severe frost not only destroyed all the fig-trees and vines, but even cut off a great part of the corn in the blade. In consequence of this, Philippides, who was an enemy of Stratokles, made the following allusion to him in one of his comedies:

This Philippides was a friend of Lysimachus, who for his sake conferred many benefits on the Athenians. Lysimachus imagined that the sight of Philippides before any campaign or expedition was a certain omen of good luck; while Philippides was beloved by him on other grounds, because he gave no trouble and never veiled his thoughts in courtly periphrases. Once Lysimachus, meaning to be very civil to him said, “Philippides, which of my possessions shall I bestow upon you?” “Whichever you please,” answered he, “except your secrets.” I have mentioned these incidents in the life of Philippides, in order to mark the distinction between the comic poet and the mob-orator.

XIII. The most extraordinary of all the honours conferred upon Demetrius was the proposal made by Demokleides of Sphettus to go and ask for an oracular response from him about the consecration of the shields at Delphi. I will write down the exact words of the law as it was proposed. “In a happy hour the people decree that one man shall be chosen from the citizens of Athens, who shall go to our saviour, and after he has done sacrifice unto him, shall ask Demetrius, our saviour, in what manner the people may, with greatest holiness and without delay, make consecration of their offerings; and whatever oracle it shall please him to give them, the people shall perform it.” By this absurd flattery the intellect of Demetrius, at no time very powerful, was thrown completely off its balance.

XIV. While he was living at Athens he married Eurydike, a descendant of the ancient hero Miltiades, who was the widow of Opheltas, King of Cyrene, and had returned to Athens after her husband’s death. The Athenians were greatly delighted at this marriage, which they regarded as an honour to their city; though Demetrius made no sort of difficulty about marriage, and had many wives at the same time. The chief of his wives, and the one whom he most respected, was Phila, the daughter of Antipater, and the widow of Kraterus, who was the most popular with the Macedonians of all the successors of Alexander during his life, and the most lamented by them after his death. Demetrius when very young was forced by his father to marry this woman, who was too old to be a suitable match for him. It is said that when Demetrius expressed his unwillingness to marry her, his father whispered in his ear the line of Euripides:

substituting the word “marriage” for “bondage,” which occurs in the original. However, the respect which Demetrius paid to her and to his other wives did not prevent his intriguing with various courtesans and mistresses, but he had a worse reputation in this respect than any other king of his age.

XV. His father now ordered him to proceed to Cyprus, and to attack Ptolemy, who was in possession of that island. He was forced to obey this summons, but as he was very unwilling to desist from the war in defence of the liberties of Greece, a much more noble and glorious struggle, he first endeavoured to bribe Ptolemy’s lieutenant in command of the garrison of Sikyon and Corinth to evacuate those cities and render them independent. As this attempt failed he quickly set sail, collected a large force, and proceeded to Cyprus. Here he fought a battle with Menelaus, Ptolemy’s brother, and at once defeated him. Shortly afterwards Ptolemy himself came to Cyprus with an immense fleet and army. The two commanders now interchanged messages of scornful defiance. Ptolemy bade Demetrius put to sea before his own host assembled and overwhelmed him, while Demetrius offered to permit Ptolemy to withdraw from Cyprus on condition that he would give up Corinth and Sikyon. The battle which ensued was one of the deepest interest, not merely to the combatants themselves, but to all the other princes, since its issue would determine not only the fate of Cyprus and Syria, but would at once render the victor the most powerful man in all the world.

XVI. Ptolemy advanced with a fleet of one hundred and fifty sail, and ordered Menelaus, when the battle was at its hottest, to sally out from Salamis with his sixty ships and throw the fleet of Demetrius into disorder by attacking it in the rear. Demetrius sent ten ships to oppose these sixty, for the mouth of the harbour (of Salamis) was so narrow that this number sufficed to close it. He himself now got his land force under arms, disposed it upon several neighbouring promontories, and put to sea with one hundred and eighty ships. He bore straight down upon the enemy’s fleet, and completely defeated it. Ptolemy himself, when all was lost, escaped with only eight ships, the sole survivors of his fleet. All the rest were sunk, except seventy which were captured with their crews on board. All his numerous train of servants, friends and wives, all his arms, money and military engines, which were stationed near the fleet in transports, were captured by Demetrius, who at once conveyed them to his own camp.

Among the spoil was the celebrated Lamia, who had at first been brought into notice by her musical skill, for she was an admirable flute-player, and who had afterwards become notorious by her amours. Her beauty was at this time somewhat faded, yet, although Demetrius was much younger than herself, she so fascinated and enslaved him by her charms, that, though many other women wished for his love, he cared only for her.

After the sea-fight, Menelaus held out no longer, but surrendered Salamis to Demetrius, with all his ships, and a land army of twelve hundred cavalry and twelve thousand heavy-armed infantry.

XVII. Demetrius added to the glory of this brilliant victory by his generous and humane conduct in burying the enemy’s dead with great honour, and in setting free all his prisoners. He sent a present to the Athenians of twelve hundred complete suits of armour from the spoils which he had taken. He also sent Aristodemus of Miletus to bear the news of the victory to his father. Of all his courtiers, this man was the boldest flatterer, and on this occasion he surpassed himself. After his passage from Cyprus, he would not allow his ship to approach the land, but cast anchor, bade all the crew remain on board, and himself rowed ashore in a small boat. He now walked up to the palace of Antigonus, who was in a state of great excitement and impatience to learn the issue of the battle, as may easily be imagined, considering the importance of the stake. When he heard that Aristodemus was come, his anxiety reached its highest pitch. He could scarcely keep himself indoors, and sent messenger after messenger, both servants and his own friends, to learn from Aristodemus what had taken place. Aristodemus returned no answer to any of them, but walked leisurely on with immovable countenance. Antigonus could bear the suspense no longer, but came to the door of his palace to meet Aristodemus, who was now accompanied by a large crowd. When he came near, he stretched forth his right hand, and in a loud voice exclaimed, “Hail, King Antigonus. We have defeated Ptolemy in a sea-fight. We are masters of Cyprus, and have taken sixteen thousand eight hundred prisoners.” To this Antigonus answered, “Hail to you, also; but you shall pay the penalty of having tortured us so long: you shall wait long before you receive the reward for your good news.”

XVIII. After this success, the people for the first time saluted Antigonus and Demetrius with the title of kings. The friends of Antigonus at once placed a diadem upon his head, and he sent one to Demetrius, with a letter in which he addressed him as king. The Egyptians, when they heard of this, also proclaimed Ptolemy king, that they might not appear to be dispirited by their defeat. Their example was soon followed by the other successors of Alexander, out of rivalry, for Lysimachus and Seleukus now began to wear the diadem in the presence of Greeks, though Seleukus had long before adopted the royal style in his dealings with Asiatics. Kassander, however, although every one both in interviews and letters addressed him as king, never used the title in his own letters, but signed them simply with his own name as he had been wont to do.

The assumption of this title produced more important results than a mere empty change of name and style. It caused its bearers to be more exalted in their ideas, more extensive in their ambition, and more pompous and stately in their demeanour, just as actors when they put on royal robes adopt also the lofty port and the haughty voice and carriage of a king. They also became more severe in their administration of justice, because they now laid aside that dissimulation by which they had hitherto concealed their power, and which had rendered them so much more lenient and gentle in their treatment of their subjects. So great was the power of the voice of one flatterer, and such great changes did it effect in the entire world.

XIX. Antigonus, elated by the successes of Demetrius at Cyprus, at once marched to attack Ptolemy. He himself led the land force, while Demetrius accompanied him along the coast with an enormous fleet. But Medius, a friend of Antigonus, was warned in a dream of what was destined to be the issue of the campaign. He dreamed that Antigonus with all his army was running a race in the circus. At first he appeared to be running strongly and fast, but soon his strength seemed to be ebbing away, and at last when he turned round the extreme point of the course and began to return, he was so weak and out of breath that he could hardly recover himself.

Indeed Antigonus by land met with many disasters, while Demetrius at sea met with a terrible storm, and narrowly escaped being driven ashore upon an iron-bound coast. He lost many ships, and returned without having accomplished anything. Antigonus was now very near eighty years of age, and was incapacitated for active service by his size and unwieldiness rather than by his age. He consequently entrusted the management of the war to Demetrius, who had already by his good fortune and skill conducted several most important campaigns with success.

Antigonus was not alarmed at his amours, his extravagancies, or his carousals, for he knew that, although in time of peace Demetrius used to indulge unrestrainedly in these pleasures, yet that in war he was as sober as though it were natural to him to be so. It is said that, in allusion to the empire which Lamia had now gained over Demetrius, once when he affectionately embraced his father on his return from a journey, Antigonus said, “My boy, you seem to think that you are caressing Lamia.” Another time, when Demetrius spent several days in drinking, and excused himself by saying that he had been laid up with a severe cold, Antigonus answered, “So I understood, but was the cold Chian or Thasian?” Once Antigonus heard that Demetrius had a fever, and went to see him. At the door he met one of his favourites coming out. He went in, sat down by his bedside, and took him by the hand. When Demetrius said that the fever had just left him, Antigonus answered, “Yes, I met it just now at the door.” So gently did he deal with the vices of Demetrius, because of his many other good qualities. The Scythians have a custom of twanging their bows while they are drinking and carousing, as though to recall their courage while it is melting away in pleasure; but Demetrius used to give up his whole thoughts at one time to pleasure, and at another to serious work, concentrating his entire attention upon the matter in hand, so that his amusements never interfered with his preparations for war.

XX. He appears indeed to have been better able to make preparations for war than to use them, for he always liked to be more than sufficiently provided with stores of every kind, and always wished to construct larger ships, and more powerful battering engines, in the working of which he took an especial delight. He was intelligent and clever, and did not waste his mechanical ingenuity in mere pastime, like other princes, who have amused themselves by playing on the flute, painting, or working in metal. Æropus, king of Macedonia, used to employ his leisure time in making little tables and lamps; while Attalus, surnamed Philometor, amused himself by cultivating poisonous herbs, not merely hyoscyamus and hellebore, but even hemlock, aconite and dorycnium.298 These he used to plant and tend with his own hands in the royal gardens, and made it his business to know their various juices and fruit, and to gather it in due season. The kings of Parthia, too, used to pride themselves upon sharpening the points of their own javelins. But the mechanics of Demetrius were always upon a royal scale, and his engines were of enormous size, showing by their admirable and ingenious construction the grand ideas of their inventor; for they appeared worthy not only of the genius and wealth, but of the hand of a king. Their size astonished his friends, while their beauty charmed even his enemies, and this praise is far from being as exaggerated as it sounds; for his enemies actually stood in crowds along the sea-shore to admire his ships of fifteen and sixteen banks of oars, while his “city-takers”299 were regarded as wonders even by the towns against which they were employed, as we may see in a notable example. Lysimachus, who of all the kings of his time was the bitterest enemy of Demetrius, when he was endeavouring to force Demetrius to raise the siege of Soli in Cilicia, sent a message to him asking to be allowed to see his siege engines and his ships of war. Demetrius indulged his curiosity, and after viewing them he retired home. The Rhodians also, after they had stood a long siege, when they came to terms with Demetrius, begged for some of his machines, which they wished to keep both as a memorial of his power and of their own courage.

XXI. Demetrius went to war with the Rhodians because they were the allies of Ptolemy, and brought up to their walls his largest “city-taker,” a machine with a square base, each side of which measured eight-and-forty cubits at the bottom. It was sixty-six cubits in height, and its upper part was much narrower than the base. Within, it was divided into many separate storeys and chambers, with windows on each storey opening towards the enemy, through which missiles of every kind could be shot, as it was full of soldiers armed with every kind of weapon. It never shook nor trembled, but rolled steadily onwards, upright and firm, with a regular, equable motion, which filled all spectators with terror and delight. Two steel corslets were brought from Cyprus for Demetrius to use in this war, each of which weighed forty minÆ.300 The maker, Zoilus, in order to show their strength and power of resisting a blow, bade Demetrius shoot a dart out of a catapult at one of them at a distance of twenty paces. Where it struck, the iron remained unbroken, and only showed a trifling scratch, such as might be made by a stilus, or iron pen for writing on wax. This corslet Demetrius wore himself. He gave the other to Alkimus of Epirus, the bravest and most warlike man in all his army, who wore a suit of armour weighing two talents,301 while that of all the rest weighed only one talent. This man fell during the siege of Rhodes, in a battle near the theatre.

XXII. The Rhodians defended themselves with great spirit, and Demetrius was unable to accomplish anything against them; but he still continued the siege out of anger, because they had captured a ship in which his wife Phila had sent him letters, clothes and bedding, and had sent it at once to Ptolemy, just as it was. In this they were far from imitating the courtesy of the Athenians, who, when Philip was at war with them, captured a messenger and read all the letters which he carried except one written by Olympias, which they did not open, but sent it on to him with the seal unbroken. However, although Demetrius was much nettled by the conduct of the Rhodians, he did not stoop to retaliation upon them, although he soon had an opportunity of doing so. Protogenes of Kaunus happened at that time to be painting a picture of Ialysus302 for the Rhodians, and Demetrius found the picture very nearly completed in one of the suburbs of the city. The Rhodians sent a herald and begged him to spare the work, and not destroy it, to which he answered, that he would rather burn his father’s statues than such a precious work of art. Apelles tells us that when he saw this picture, the sight at first took Òaway his breath; and that at last he said, “Indeed this is a wonderful piece of work, and must have cost great labour.” Yet it has not that grace which gives so divine a charm to the works of Apelles himself. This picture shared the common lot of all Greek works of art, being taken to Rome, where it was destroyed by fire. As the Rhodians gallantly held their own in the war, Demetrius became weary of the siege, and gladly accepted the offer of the Athenians to act as mediators. They made peace between them on condition that the Rhodians should act as the allies of Antigonus and Demetrius, except against Ptolemy.

XXIII. The Athenians now invited Demetrius to come to their aid, as Kassander was besieging Athens. Demetrius arrived with three hundred and thirty ships, and a large land force. He not only drove Kassander out of Attica, but pursued him as far as ThermopylÆ, where he defeated him in a battle, and gained possession of the city of Heraklea, which voluntarily surrendered to him. A body of six thousand Macedonians also deserted from Kassander and joined him. On his return he freed the Greeks south of ThermopylÆ from Macedonian domination, formed an alliance with the Boeotians and took KenchreÆ. He destroyed the forts at Phyle and Panaktum in Attica, which had been garrisoned by Kassander’s troops, and restored them to the Athenians. They, although they appeared to have exhausted every possible form of adulation during his former visit, yet contrived to flatter him by the invention of fresh honours. They assigned the interior of the Parthenon to him for his lodging; and there he dwelt with the title of “the guest of Athena,” though he was a very ill-behaved guest to be quartered in the house of a virgin goddess. Yet once, when his father heard that his brother Philip was staying in a house where there were three young women, he said nothing to Philip, but in his presence sent for the quartermaster and said to him, “Will you be so good as to find some less crowded quarters for my son.”

XXIV. Demetrius, however, without paying the least respect to Athena, although he was wont to call her his elder sister, filled the Acropolis with such a series of outrages on well-born youths and women of the upper classes that the place became comparatively decent when he contented himself with holding an orgie in the society of the celebrated courtesans, Chrysis, Lamia, Demo and Antikyra. For the sake of the city I will say no more about his other debaucheries, but I cannot refrain from mentioning the virtue and chastity shown by Demokles. He was very young, and his beauty did not escape the notice of Demetrius; indeed his nickname betrayed him, for he was always spoken of as Demokles the Handsome. He turned a deaf ear to all advances, presents, or threats, and at last ceased to frequent the gymnasium and the palÆstra, and used only a private bath. Demetrius watched his opportunity, and surprised him there alone. The boy, when he saw that he was caught where no one could help him, rather than suffer violence, took off the lid of the copper, leaped into the boiling water, and destroyed himself. He deserved a better fate, but the spirit which prompted the act was worthy of his country and of his beauty, and was very different to that of Kleaenetus the son of Kleomedon, who, when his father was condemned to pay a fine of fifty talents, obtained a remission of it from Demetrius, and showed a letter from Demetrius to the Athenian people signifying his pleasure in the matter; by which conduct Kleaenetus not only disgraced himself, but threw the whole city into a ferment. Kleomedon’s fine was remitted, but the people decreed that no citizen should ever again bring them a letter from Demetrius. However, as Demetrius was greatly incensed at this, and did not conceal his displeasure, the Athenians in terror not only reversed the decree, but put to death some of those who had advocated it, and banished others. Moreover, they actually decreed that “the entire people of Athens should regard anything which King Demetrius might be pleased to command as both righteous in respect of the gods, and legal as regards men.” When one of the better class of citizens observed that Stratokles must be mad to propose such a decree, Demochares303 of Leukonoe answered “He would be mad not to be mad,”304 for Stratokles made a great fortune by his flattery of Demetrius. This speech was reported to Stratokles, and Demochares was forced to go into exile. Such was the conduct of the Athenians when they were relieved of their Macedonian garrison and were thought to have become a free people.

XXV. Demetrius now proceeded to Peloponnesus, where he met with no resistance, as the enemy fled before him, and surrendered their cities to him. He made himself master of the district known as Akte, and of the whole of Arcadia, except Mantinea, while he set free Argos, Sikyon and Corinth, by bribing their garrisons to evacuate them with a hundred talents. At Argos he acted as president of the games at the festival of Hera, which took place whilst he was there. On this occasion he held a solemn assembly of all the Greeks, and publicly married Deidameia, a daughter of Æakides, king of the Molossi, and sister of Pyrrhus. He remarked to the people of Sikyon that they lived out of their proper city, and prevailed upon them to remove to the spot which they now inhabit. He changed the name as well as the situation of the city, and instead of Sikyon named it Demetrias.

At a largely attended meeting held at the Isthmus, Demetrius was proclaimed chief of Greece, as Philip and Alexander had been in former days; though Demetrius considered himself to be not a little superior to either of them, being elated by his good fortune and the immense force at his disposal. Alexander never deprived a king of his title, nor did he ever call himself king of kings, though he raised many to the dignity and style of kings; but Demetrius scoffed at those who called any one king, except himself and his father, and was much pleased at his carousals to hear toasts drunk to the health of Demetrius the King, Seleukus the Commander of the Elephants,

Ptolemy the Admiral, Lysimachus the Treasurer, and Agathokles of Sicily the Lord of the Isles. The other princes laughed at these sallies of Demetrius, and only Lysimachus was angry that Demetrius should think him a eunuch; for it was a pretty general custom to appoint eunuchs to the post of treasurer. Indeed Lysimachus hated him more bitterly than all of the rest, and, sneering at his passion for Lamia, used to declare that he had never before seen a whore act in a tragedy: to which Demetrius retorted that his whore was a more respectable woman than Lysimachus’s Penelope.

XXVI. Demetrius now set out for Athens, and sent a letter to the Athenians informing them that he desired to be initiated, and that he wished to go through the whole course, including both the lesser and the greater mysteries. This is not lawful, and never took place before, as the minor initiation used to take place in the month Anthesterion, and the greater in Boedromion. When the letter was read, no one ventured to offer any opposition except Pythodorus the torchbearer,305 and he effected nothing; for, at the instance of Stratokles, the Athenians decreed that the month Munychion should be called Anthesterion, and in it celebrated the mysteries of Demeter which are held at AgrÆ.306 After this the name of the month Munychion was changed again from Anthesterion to Boedromion, and Demetrius was admitted to the second degree, and allowed the privileges of an “epoptes.” In allusion to this Philippides rails at Stratokles in his verses as the man

And, in allusion to the lodging of Demetrius in the Parthenon, he wrote

XXVII. But of all the outrages and illegal acts of which Demetrius was guilty at this period, nothing seems to have enraged the Athenians so much as his ordering them speedily to levy a sum of two hundred and fifty talents, which, when it had been raised by a most harsh and pitiless series of exactions, was publicly presented by Demetrius to Lamia and her sisterhood to furnish their toilet-tables. It was the disgrace of the whole business and the scorn which it brought upon them, which stung them to the quick, more than the loss of the money. Some writers say that it was the people of Thessaly, not the Athenians, whom he treated in this manner. However, besides this, Lamia extorted money from many citizens on pretence of providing a supper for the king. This supper was so famous on account of the enormous sum which it cost, that a history of it was written by Lynkeus of Samos. For this reason one of the comic poets very cleverly called Lamia a “city-taker.” Demochares of Soli called Demetrius himself “Mythus,” or “Fable,” because he too had his Lamia.307

Indeed the passion of Demetrius for Lamia caused not only his wives but his friends to dislike her and be jealous of her. Some of them went on an embassy to Lysimachus, and he when at leisure showed them on his thighs and arms the scars of deep wounds caused by a lion’s claws, telling them of how King Alexander had fastened him in the same cage with the beast, and the battle he had fought with it. On hearing this they laughingly said that their master also frequently showed upon his neck the marks of a savage beast called Lamia, which he kept. The wonder was that Demetrius, who had objected to Phila as being past her first youth, should yet be so captivated by Lamia, who was now far advanced in years. Once when Lamia was playing on the flute at a banquet, Demetrius asked the courtesan Demo, who was surnamed Mania, what she thought of her. “I think her an old woman, my king,” replied she. Again when the sweetmeats were placed on the table, Demetrius said to Demo, “Do you see what fine things Lamia sends me?” “My mother,” answered Demo, “will send you many more if only you will sleep with her.” A saying of Lamia’s about the well-known judgment of Bocchoris has been recorded.

A certain Egyptian became enamoured of the courtesan Thonis, but she set too high a price upon her favours for him. Afterwards he dreamed that he had enjoyed her, and his passion for her cooled. Upon this Thonis sued him in court for the money, and Bocchoris, having heard the case argued, ordered the man to place the exact sum which she demanded in a glass vessel, and to wave it backwards and forwards while she clutched at the shadow, because the young man’s dream had been a shadow of the reality.308 Lamia said that she did not think this decision a just one, because the woman’s desire for the gold was not satisfied by the shadow, as the young man’s passion had been by his dream.

XXVIII. But now the fortunes and deeds of the subject of our narrative force us to pass from a comic to a tragic scene, for all the other kings conspired against Antigonus, and united their forces together. Demetrius hereupon sailed away from Greece and joined his father, who was making wonderful exertions for a man of his age, and who was greatly encouraged by his son’s arrival. Yet it appears as though Antigonus, if only he would have made some small concessions and restrained his excessive love of power, might have enjoyed his supreme dignity to the end of his life, and might have bequeathed to his son his position of chief of all the successors of Alexander. Being, however, by nature haughty and disdainful, and even harsher in word than in deed, he alienated from himself and exasperated many young and powerful men; and even now he boasted that he would scatter the confederacy by which he was menaced as easily as a man scares a flock of birds away from a field. He took the field with more than seventy thousand infantry, ten thousand cavalry, and seventy-five elephants, while his enemies’ army numbered sixty-four thousand infantry, five hundred more cavalry than his own, four hundred elephants, and one hundred and twenty war-chariots. When they drew near he became less hopeful rather than less determined. He was always wont to show a lofty and boastful spirit in the hour of danger, speaking in a loud tone, using confident language, and after making some jest when in the presence of the enemy, to show his own assurance of success and contempt for his opponents. Now, however, he was thoughtful and silent, and presented his son to the army as his successor. But what astonished every one most of all was that he held council with Demetrius alone in the tent, although he never before had shared his secret thoughts even with his son, but had always privately formed his own plans, and publicly carried them out on his own responsibility. It is said that Demetrius, when still very young, once asked him at what hour he proposed to march, to which Antigonus angrily answered, “Do you fear, that you alone will not hear the sound of the trumpet?”

XXIX. On this occasion it appears that they were also disheartened by sinister omens. Demetrius dreamed that Alexander appeared before him in shining armour, and inquired what would be their watchword for the battle. When Demetrius answered “Zeus and victory,” Alexander replied, “I will go away now, and tell this to the enemy; for I am going over to them.” Antigonus, too, as he stepped out of his tent to see his line formed stumbled and fell heavily upon his face. When he rose, he lifted his hands to heaven and prayed to the gods that they would either grant him victory or a painless death before his army was routed.

When the battle began, Demetrius with the flower of the cavalry charged Antiochus the son of Seleukus, and brilliantly routed the enemy, but he lost the day by his headstrong eagerness to pursue too far. He was unable to rejoin the infantry, for the enemy’s elephants interposed between him and the phalanx, which was thus left without any cavalry to cover its flanks. Seeing this, Seleukus kept the rest of his cavalry ever threatening to charge, but never actually doing so, hovering near the phalanx and both terrifying it and giving the men an opportunity of changing sides, which indeed took place; for a great mass of Antigonus’s infantry came over to Seleukus, and the rest fled. Many enemies now beset Antigonus, and one of his attendants said to him, “My king, it is you whom they are making for.” “Why,” replied he, “what other mark could they have but me? But Demetrius will soon be here to the rescue.” While he looked round hoping in vain to see his son, a shower of darts fell, and laid him low. All his friends and attendants now fled, except one named Thorax, a native of Larissa, who remained by the corpse.

XXX. After this battle the victorious kings proceeded to divide the empire of Antigonus and Demetrius amongst them, each annexing the portion which lay nearest to his own dominions, as though they were cutting slices out of some huge slaughtered beast. Demetrius fled with five thousand infantry and four thousand cavalry, and directed his march with the utmost speed towards Ephesus. All imagined that in his distress for money he would not spare the rich temple there, and he himself, fearing lest his soldiers should do so, set sail as quickly as possible for Greece, as his chief hopes now lay in Athens. Indeed he had left there a part of his fleet, some treasure and his wife Deidameia, and imagined that he could find no surer refuge in his adversity than Athens, where he felt assured of the loyalty of the people. But while he was passing the Cyclades he met an embassy from Athens begging him not to approach that city, since the people had decreed that none of the kings should be admitted within its walls. The ambassadors added that his wife Deidameia had been escorted with due honour and respect to Megara. On hearing this, Demetrius, who had borne the rest of his misfortunes with the utmost serenity, and had never hitherto allowed an unworthy expression to escape him, became transported with anger. He was, in truth, bitterly grieved at being thus unexpectedly betrayed by the Athenians, and at finding that their apparent enthusiasm in his cause had all the while been unreal and fictitious. Apparently the bestowal of excessive honours upon kings and potentates by the people is but a poor test of their real loyalty, for the essence of these honours lies in their being freely offered, and they are worthless if prompted by fear; and men fawn upon those they fear just as they do upon those whom they really love. For this reason sensible men know how to value the erection of their statues, flattering decrees, and other public honours, by reflecting upon what they themselves have done for their admirers; for by this means they can discern whether these are really genuine expressions of respect, or are extorted by terror; for peoples frequently confer these very distinctions upon men whom they hate and abhor, but whom they are forced to honour against their will.

XXXI. Demetrius, although he considered that he had been very badly treated by the Athenians, was powerless to resent their conduct. He sent an embassy to Athens, gently complaining of their conduct, and requesting that they would restore his ships, one of which was a vessel of thirteen banks of oars. Having received them he coasted along as far as the Isthmus, where he found that all his garrisons had been driven out of the cities, and that the whole country had gone over to his enemies. He now left Pyrrhus to act as his lieutenant in Greece, and himself sailed to the Chersonese.309 Here he enriched his troops at the expense of Lysimachus by plundering the country, and soon found means again to collect a very considerable army. The other kings paid no regard to Lysimachus, thinking that he was no better a man than Demetrius, and more to be feared because he was more powerful.

Not long after this Seleukus sent an embassy to Demetrius to make proposals for the hand of Stratonike, the daughter of Demetrius by his wife Phila. Seleukus already had one son named Antiochus by his wife Apama, a Persian lady, but he thought that his empire would suffice for more than one heir, and he desired to form an alliance with Demetrius, because Lysimachus had recently married one of Ptolemy’s daughters himself, and taken the other for his son Agathokles. To Demetrius this offer of marriage from Seleukus was a most unexpected piece of good fortune. He placed his daughter on board ship, and sailed with his entire fleet to Syria. On his way he was forced to land several times to obtain supplies, especially on the coast of Cilicia, which province, after the battle in which Antigonus fell, had been bestowed upon Pleistarchus, the brother of Kassander. Pleistarchus took umbrage at the intrusion of Demetrius into his territory, and retired to Macedonia to complain to his brother that Seleukus was betraying the other kings by making terms with the common enemy of them all.

XXXII. Demetrius, when he discovered the intentions of Pleistarchus, proceeded at once to Quinda, where he found the sum of twelve hundred talents still remaining. Having made himself master of this, he quickly reembarked and put to sea. He was now joined by his wife Phila, and met Seleukus at Rhossas. Here the two princes conversed together in a truly royal style, without the least suspicion or fear of treachery. First Seleukus feasted Demetrius in his tent in the midst of his camp, and afterwards Demetrius entertained him at a banquet on board his great thirteen-banked ship. They also talked freely together for a long time, spending several days in friendly intercourse without any body-guard or arms, till at length Seleukus took Stratonike, and escorted her with great pomp to Antiocheia.310 Demetrius now made himself master of Cilicia, and sent his wife Phila to her brother, Kassander, to answer the accusations brought against him by Pleistarchus. During this time Deidameia sailed from Greece and joined Demetrius, but not long after her arrival she sickened and died. By the good offices of Seleukus, Demetrius was now reconciled with Ptolemy, and arranged to take PtolemÄis, Ptolemy’s daughter, for his wife. So far Seleukus behaved very well; but he could not prevail upon Demetrius to give up Cilicia to him for a sum of money, and when he angrily demanded the surrender of Tyre and Sidon, his conduct appears very overbearing and ungenerous, as though he, who had made himself master of all the country between the Red Sea and the Mediterranean, were so poor and needy as to be obliged to squabble with his father-in-law about two cities, at a time, too, when the latter was suffering from a great reverse of fortune. How strongly does this bear out the truth of Plato’s maxim, that he who wishes to be really rich ought to lessen his desires rather than increase his property, because if a man places no bounds to his covetousness, he never will be free from want and misery.

XXXIII. Demetrius on this occasion showed no want of spirit. He declared that not if he had lost ten thousand fields like Ipsus would he consent to buy Seleukus for his son-in-law. He strengthened the garrisons of the cities,311 and hearing that Lachares, taking advantage of the factions into which the Athenians were divided, had made himself despot of that city, he thought that if he only were to show himself before Athens he might easily obtain possession of it. He crossed the sea in safety with a large fleet, but when off the coast of Attica he encountered a violent storm, in which he lost most of his ships and a great number of his men. He himself escaped unhurt, and at once began to make war against the Athenians. As, however, he could not effect anything, he sent his lieutenants to collect another fleet, and meanwhile proceeded to Peloponnesus. Here he laid siege to Messene, and during an assault nearly lost his life, for he was struck full in the face by a dart from a catapult, which pierced through his jaw into his mouth. He recovered from his wound, received the submission of several insurgent cities, and returned to Attica, where he made himself master of Eleusis and Rhamnus, and ravaged the country. He captured a ship loaded with wheat bound for Athens, and hanged the captain and pilot, which measure terrified the other merchants so much that they avoided Athens, and a terrible famine took place there, and the want of food brought about a scarcity of everything else. A medimnus312 of salt was sold for forty drachmas, and a modius313 of corn sold for three hundred drachmas.

The Athenians gained a short respite from their sufferings by the appearance near Ægina of a fleet of a hundred and fifty sail, which was sent by Ptolemy to aid them. Soon, however, Demetrius collected from Peloponnesus and Cyprus a fleet of three hundred ships, before which those of Ptolemy were forced to retire. Upon this the despot Lachares made his escape and abandoned the city to its fate.

XXXIV. The Athenians, although they had decreed that anyone who proposed to make peace and come to terms with Demetrius should be put to death, now at once opened their nearest gates and sent an embassy to him; not that they expected to be well treated by him, but acting under the pressure of starvation. It was said that, among other painful incidents, it happened that a father and a son were sitting in the same room, without any hopes of surviving, when a dead mouse fell from the roof, upon which they both started up and began to fight for it. We are told that during this time the philosopher Epikurus kept his disciples alive by counting out to them a fixed allowance of beans every day. This was the condition of the city when Demetrius made his entry into it. He ordered all the Athenians to assemble in the theatre, occupied the stage with armed men, placing his own body-guard round the part usually reserved for the actors, and made his appearance, like a tragic actor, through the entrance at the back.314 The Athenians were greatly terrified at these proceedings, but the first words of his address put an end to their fears. He spoke in a mild and conciliatory tone, briefly and gently, complained of their conduct towards him, and announced his forgiveness of them. He distributed among them one hundred thousand medimni of wheat, and appointed the most popular men in the city to the vacant magistracies. Dromokleides the orator, seeing that the people could scarcely find enough means to express their delight, and that they were eager to outdo the panegyrics which were being lavished upon Demetrius from the bema, proposed that the ports of PeirÆus and Munychia should be handed over to King Demetrius. When this was agreed to, Demetrius himself placed a garrison in the Museum, by which he intended to curb the people in case they should grow restive and take off his attention from his other enterprises.

XXXV. Being now master of Athens, Demetrius at once began to attack LacedÆmon. He met the King of Sparta, Archidamus, near Mantinea, defeated him, and invaded Laconia, driving the beaten army before him. He fought a second battle before the walls of Sparta itself, in which he killed two hundred Spartans, and took five hundred prisoners; and he very nearly took the city itself, which up to that time had never been taken. Fortune, however, seems to have introduced greater and more sudden vicissitudes into the life of Demetrius than into that of any other prince, for he was constantly rising from the most abject poverty to the highest pinnacles of wealth and power, and then being as suddenly cast down again. He himself is said, when his fortunes were at their lowest, to have quoted the verse of Æschylus,

So at this time, when everything seemed to be succeeding, and his empire and power constantly increasing, Demetrius received the news that Lysimachus had taken all the cities in Asia which had belonged to him, and that Ptolemy had made himself master of Cyprus with the exception of Salamis, which he was besieging, in which city was the mother and the children of Demetrius. Yet, like the woman spoken of by the poet Archilochus, who deceitfully offers water in one hand, while she holds a firebrand in the other, the fortune of Demetrius, after soaring him away from the conquest of Sparta by these terrifying pieces of intelligence, at once offered him hopes of accomplishing a new and mighty enterprise, in the following manner.

XXXVI. After the death of Kassander, his eldest son Philip ascended the throne, but not long afterwards died. Upon this Kassander’s two younger sons each aspired to the crown. One of them, Antipater, murdered his mother Thessalonike, upon which the other315 invited Pyrrhus to come from Epirus, and Demetrius from Peloponnesus, to support his claims. Pyrrhus was the first to arrive, and demanded so large a portion of the kingdom of Macedonia as the price of his assistance, that he soon became an object of terror to Alexander. When Demetrius, in answer to the appeal of Alexander, arrived with his army, Alexander was even more terrified, because of his great renown. He met Demetrius near Dium, and welcomed him as an honoured guest, but gave him to understand that he no longer stood in need of his services. Upon this each began to suspect the other, and Demetrius, when he was proceeding to a banquet to which he had been invited by the young prince, was warned that his host intended to assassinate him while they were drinking after dinner. Demetrius was not in the least disturbed at this intelligence, but merely delayed going to the banquet for a short time, while he ordered his officers to keep their men under arms, and bade his personal followers and pages, who far out-numbered the retinue of Alexander, to enter the banqueting hall with him, and to remain there until he left the table. Alarmed by these precautions, Alexander did not venture to offer him any violence; and Demetrius soon left the room, excusing himself on the ground that his health would not permit him to drink wine. On the following day Demetrius made preparations for departure, announcing that he had received news which made this necessary. He begged Alexander to pardon him for so sudden a retreat, and promised that when he was more at leisure he would pay him another visit. Alexander was delighted at this, thinking that Demetrius was leaving the country of his own free-will, and not as an enemy; and he escorted him as far as the borders of Thessaly. When they reached Larissa, each again invited the other to a banquet, each intending to murder the other. This decided the fall of Alexander, who fell into his own trap, being loth to show any distrust of Demetrius, lest Demetrius should distrust him. He accepted Demetrius’s invitation to a banquet, during which Demetrius suddenly rose. Alexander in alarm also started to his feet, and followed Demetrius towards the door. Demetrius as he passed the door said to his body-guard, “Kill the man who follows me,” and walked on. Alexander, who followed him, was cut down by the guard, as were his friends, who rushed to his assistance. One of these men when dying is said to have remarked that Demetrius had got the start of them by one day.

XXXVII. The night was spent in tumult and alarm. At daybreak the Macedonians, who had feared an attack from the army of Demetrius, became reassured, as nothing of the kind took place; and when Demetrius intimated to them his wish to address them and to explain his conduct, they received him in a friendly manner. When he appeared, he had no need to make a long speech, for the Macedonians, who hated Antipater for having murdered his mother, and who knew not where to look for a better sovereign, saluted Demetrius as King of the Macedonians, and at once conducted him into Macedonia. The new reign was not displeasing to the remainder of the Macedonians, who had never forgotten the disgraceful conduct of Kassander after the death of Alexander. If any remembrance of the moderation of their old governor Antipater still remained amongst them, Demetrius reaped the benefit of it, as his wife Phila was the daughter of Antipater, and his son,316 by her, who was nearly grown up, and accompanied his father on this campaign, was now the heir to the throne.

XXXVIII. After this brilliant piece of good fortune, Demetrius received the news that his mother and children had been set at liberty by Ptolemy, who had given them presents and treated them with respect; while he also heard that his daughter, who had been given in marriage to Seleukus, was living with his son Antiochus, with the title of “queen of the native tribes of the interior.” It appears that Antiochus fell violently in love with Stratonike, who was quite a young girl, though she had already borne a child to Seleukus. After making many fruitless efforts to resist his passion, he reflected upon the wickedness of indulging a love which he was unable to restrain, and decided that he would put an end to his life. Under pretence of illness he refused to take nourishment, neglected his person, and was quietly sinking. Erasistratus, his physician, had without much difficulty perceived that he was in love, but could not guess with whom. He consequently spent the entire day in the same room with Antiochus, and whenever any young persons came to visit him, narrowly watched his countenance and those parts by which emotion is especially betrayed. He found that his condition was unaltered except when Stratonike came to see him, either alone or with her husband, Seleukus, and that then all the symptoms mentioned by

Sappho were visible in him, such as stammering, fiery blushes, failure of eyesight, violent perspiration, disturbed and quickened pulse, and at length, as his passions gained the mastery over him, pallor and bewilderment. Erasistratus, after making these observations, reflected that it was not probable that the king’s son would starve himself to death in silence for love of any other woman than his mother-in-law. He judged it to be a perilous enterprise to explain the real state of the case, but, nevertheless, trusting to the love of Seleukus for his son, he one day ventured to tell him that love was really the disorder from which young Antiochus was suffering, and that it was a hopeless and incurable passion. “How incurable?” inquired Seleukus. “Because,” answered Erasistratus, “he is in love with my wife.” “Well, then,” said Seleukus, “will you not give her up, Erasistratus, and marry her to my son, who is your friend, especially as that is the only way out of this trouble for us?” “No,” said Erasistratus, “I will not. Why, you yourself, although you are his father, would not do this, if Antiochus were enamoured of Stratonike.” To this Seleukus replied, “My friend, I would that by any means, human or divine, his passion could be directed to her; for I would willingly even give up my crown if I could thereby save Antiochus.”

When Seleukus, in a tone of deep feeling and with tears in his eyes, made this avowal, Erasistratus took him by the hand, in token of good faith, and declared that his own services were quite useless, for that Seleukus himself was best able to heal the disorders which had arisen in his household. After this Seleukus convoked a general assembly of his people, and declared to them that he had determined to nominate Antiochus king, and Stratonike queen of all the nations of the interior, and that they were to be married. He believed, he said, that his son, who had always been accustomed to obey him, would raise no objection to the marriage; and that if his wife was discontented with it on the ground of its illegality, he begged his friends to argue with her and persuade her to regard everything as legal and honourable which the king decided upon as expedient. In this manner it is said to have come to pass that Antiochus was married to Stratonike.

XXXIX. After obtaining Macedonia, Demetrius made himself master of Thessaly also. As he possessed the greater part of Peloponnesus, besides Megara and Athens, he now marched against Boeotia. At first the Boeotians came to terms, and formed an alliance with him, but afterwards, when Kleonymus of Sparta came to Thebes with an army, and Pisis, the most influential citizen of ThespiÆ, encouraged them to recover their liberty, they revolted from Demetrius. Upon this, Demetrius brought up his famous siege train to attack their cities.317 Kleonymus was so terrified that he secretly withdrew, and the Boeotians were scared into submission. Demetrius, though he garrisoned all their cities with his own troops, levied a large sum of money, and left Hieronymus318 the historian as governor of the province, was thought to have dealt very mildly with the Boeotians, especially because of his treatment of Pisis; for he not only dismissed him unharmed when brought before him as a prisoner, but conversed with him in a friendly manner, and nominated him polemarch of ThespiÆ.

Not long after these events, Lysimachus was taken prisoner by DromichÆtus. Upon this, Demetrius at once hurriedly marched towards Thrace, hoping to find it unguarded. The Boeotians seized the opportunity of his absence to revolt, while news was brought to Demetrius that Lysimachus had been dismissed by his captors. Enraged at this, he speedily returned, and finding that the Boeotians had been defeated in a pitched battle by his son Antigonus, he a second time laid siege to Thebes.

XL. However, as Pyrrhus was now overrunning Thessaly, and had pushed even as far as ThermopylÆ, Demetrius left Antigonus to prosecute the siege, and himself marched to attack Pyrrhus. Pyrrhus beat a hasty retreat, and Demetrius, leaving ten thousand infantry and a thousand cavalry in Thessaly, returned to press the siege of Thebes. He now brought up his great machine, called the “City-taker,” which was moved by levers with great difficulty on account of its enormous weight; so that it is said that in two months it hardly moved two furlongs, The Boeotians made a vigorous defence, and Demetrius frequently forced his soldiers to engage in battle with them, more out of arrogance than through any real necessity for fighting. After one of these battles, Antigonus, grieved at the number of men who had fallen, said, “My father, why do we allow all these men to perish, when there is no occasion for it?” Demetrius sharply answered, “Why do you take offence at this? Do you have to pay the dead?” Yet Demetrius, not wishing it to be thought that he was lavish of other men’s blood and not of his own, but being anxious to fight among the foremost, was wounded by a dart thrown from a catapult, which pierced through his neck. He suffered much from this wound, but still continued the siege, and at length took Thebes for the second time. When he entered the city, he inspired the citizens with the most intense terror, as they expected to be treated with the greatest severity. He was satisfied, however, with putting to death thirteen of the citizens, and banishing a few others. Thus was Thebes taken twice within less than ten years since it was first rebuilt.

As the time for the Pythian games had now come round, Demetrius took upon himself to make a most startling innovation. As the passes leading to Delphi were held by the Ætolians, he celebrated the games in Athens, declaring that it was right that especial honour should be paid there to Apollo, who is the tutelary god of the Athenians, and is said to have been the founder of their race.

XLI. Demetrius now returned to Macedonia. As he could not bear a life of repose, and found that his subjects were more easily governed on a campaign, since they were troublesome and turbulent when at home, he marched against the Ætolians. After laying waste their country he left Pantauchus there with a large portion of his army, and with the rest marched to attack Pyrrhus. Pyrrhus was equally eager to meet him, but they missed each other, so that Demetrius invaded and ravaged Epirus, while Pyrrhus319 fell in with Pantauchus and fought with him. He himself exchanged blows with Pantauchus and put him to flight, killing many of his followers, and taking five thousand prisoners. This did more damage to the cause of Demetrius than anything else; for Pyrrhus was not so much disliked for the harm which he had done them, as he was admired for his personal prowess. His fame became great in Macedonia after this battle, and many Macedonians were heard to say that he alone, of all the princes of the time, revived the image of Alexander’s daring courage, while the rest, and especially Demetrius, only imitated his demeanour by their theatrical pomp and trappings of royalty. Indeed, Demetrius gave himself the most extravagant airs, wearing magnificent purple robes and hats with a double crown, and even wore shoes of purple felt embroidered with gold. There was a cloak which was for a long time being embroidered for his use, a most extravagantly showy piece of work, upon which was depicted a figure of the world and of the heavenly bodies. This cloak was left unfinished when Demetrius lost his crown, and none of his successors on the throne of Macedonia ever presumed to wear it, although some of them were very ostentatious princes.

XLII. The spectacle of this unusual pomp irritated the Macedonians, who were not accustomed to see their kings thus attired, while the luxury and extravagance of Demetrius’s mode of life also gave offence to them. They were especially enraged at his haughty reserve, and the difficulty of obtaining access to him; for he either refused to grant an interview, or else treated those who were admitted to his presence with harshness and insolence. He kept an embassy of the Athenians, whom he respected beyond all other Greeks, waiting for two years for an audience; and when one ambassador arrived from LacedÆmon, he construed it as a mark of disrespect, and was angry. But when Demetrius said to the ambassador:—“What is this that you tell me? the LacedÆmonians have sent one ambassador!” “Yes,” answered he cleverly and laconically, “one ambassador to one king.”

One day when Demetrius came out of his palace he appeared to be in a more affable humour than usual, and willing to converse with his subjects. Upon this, many persons ran to present him with written statements of their grievances. As he received them all and placed them in the folds of his cloak, the petitioners were greatly delighted, and accompanied him; but when he came to the bridge over the Axius, he emptied them all out of his cloak into the river. This conduct greatly exasperated the Macedonians, who declared that they were insulted instead of being governed by him, and who remembered or were told by older men how gentle and easy of access Philip was always wont to be.

Once an old woman met him when he was walking, and begged repeatedly for a hearing. When he replied that he had no leisure to attend to her, she loudly cried out, “Then be king no more.” Stung by this taunt he returned to his palace, and gave audiences to all who wished it, beginning with the old woman, and so continued for many days. Indeed nothing becomes a king so much as to do justice to his subjects. As Timotheus the poet has it, Ares is a despot, but Pindar tells us that law is lord of all. Homer also says that kings have been entrusted by Zeus, not with City-takers or brazen-bound ships, but with justice, which they must keep and respect; and that Zeus does not love the most warlike or the most unjust of kings, but the most righteous, and calls him his friend and disciple. Demetrius however rejoiced in being called by a name most unlike that of the Lord of Heaven, for his title is “The Preserver of Cities,” while Demetrius was known as “The Besieger.” Thus through the worship of mere brute force, the bad gradually overcame the good side of his character, and his fame became sullied by the unworthy acts with which it was associated.

XLIII. While Demetrius lay dangerously ill at Pella, he very nearly lost his kingdom, as Pyrrhus invaded the country and briskly overran it as far as Edessa. However, on his recovery, Demetrius easily drove Pyrrhus out of Macedonia, and then made terms with him, because he did not wish to be entangled in a border warfare, which would interfere with the realisation of his more important projects. He meditated a colossal enterprise indeed, nothing less than the recovery of the whole of his father’s empire. His preparations were on a commensurate scale, for he had collected a force of ninety-eight thousand foot soldiers and nearly twelve thousand horse, while at PeirÆus, Corinth, Chalkis, and the ports near Pella he was engaged in the construction of a fleet of five hundred ships. He himself personally superintended the works, visiting each dockyard and giving directions to the artificers; and all men were astounded not only at the number, but at the size of the vessels which were being built. Before his time no one had ever seen a ship of fifteen or sixteen banks of oars, although in later times Ptolemy Philopator built a ship of forty banks of oars, which measured two hundred and eighty cubits in length, and forty-eight cubits in height. This ship was navigated by four hundred sailors, four thousand rowers, and, besides all these, had room upon its decks for nearly three thousand soldiers. But this ship was merely for show, and differed little from a fixed building, being totally useless, and only moved with great risk and labour; whereas the beauty of the ships of Demetrius did not render them less serviceable, nor was their equipment so elaborate as to interfere with their use, but they were no less admirable for speed and strength as for greatness of size.

XLIV. When this great armament, the largest ever collected since the death of Alexander, began to menace Asia, the three princes, Ptolemy, Seleukus, and Lysimachus, formed a confederation to oppose it. They next sent a joint letter to Pyrrhus, in which they urged him to attack Macedonia, and not to pay any regard to a peace by which Demetrius had not made any engagement not to go to war with him, but had merely obtained time to attack the others first. Pyrrhus agreed to this proposal, and Demetrius, before his preparations were completed, found himself involved in a war of considerable magnitude: for Ptolemy sailed to Greece with a large fleet and caused it to revolt from Demetrius, while Lysimachus from Thrace and Pyrrhus from Epirus invaded Macedonia and ravaged the country. Demetrius left his son to command in Greece, and himself marched to attack Lysimachus, in order to free Macedonia from the enemy. He shortly, however, received the news that Pyrrhus had taken the city of Beroea, and when the Macedonians heard this, there was an end to all discipline, for the camp was full of tears and lamentations, and abuse of Demetrius. The men no longer cared to remain with him, but became eager to go away, nominally to their homes, but really to desert to Lysimachus. Demetrius upon this determined to place the greatest possible distance between Lysimachus and himself, and accordingly marched to attack Pyrrhus; reasoning that Lysimachus was a native of Macedonia, and was popular with many of the Macedonians because he had been a companion of Alexander, while he thought that the Macedonians would not prefer a foreigner like Pyrrhus to himself. However, in this expectation he was greatly deceived: for as soon as he encamped near Pyrrhus, his soldiers had a constant opportunity of admiring his personal prowess in battle, and they had from the most ancient times been accustomed to think that the best warrior is the best king. When besides this they learned how leniently Pyrrhus had dealt with the captives, as they had long been determined to transfer their allegiance from Demetrius to some one else, they now gladly agreed that it should be to Pyrrhus. At first they deserted to him secretly and few at a time; but soon the whole camp became excited and disturbed, and at last some had the audacity to present themselves before Demetrius, and bid him seek safety in flight, for the Macedonians were tired of fighting to maintain his extravagance. Compared with the harsh language held by many other Macedonians, this appeared to Demetrius to be very reasonable advice, and so proceeding to his tent, as though he were really a play-actor and not a king, he changed his theatrical cloak for one of a dark colour, and made his way out of the camp unobserved. Most of his soldiery at once betook themselves to plundering, and while they were quarrelling with one another over the spoils of the royal tent, Pyrrhus appeared, encountered no resistance, and made himself master of the camp. Pyrrhus and Lysimachus now divided between them the kingdom of Macedonia, which had for seven consecutive years been ruled by Demetrius.

XLV. After this great disaster, Demetrius retired to Kassandreia. His wife Phila was greatly grieved at his fall, and could not bear to see Demetrius a miserable fugitive and exile after having been a king. Despairing of ever seeing better days, and bitterly reflecting how far her husband’s good luck was outweighed by his misfortunes, she ended her life by poison. Now Demetrius, anxious to save what he could from the wreck of his fortunes, proceeded to Greece, and there collected his generals and forces. The verses spoken by Menelaus in Sophokles’s play—

seems to express very well the strange waxing and waning of the fortunes of Demetrius, who, as in the present instance, sometimes appeared to be quite extinguished, and then burst forth again as brilliant as ever, as little by little his power increased until he was able to carry out his plans. At first he visited the various cities of Greece dressed as a private man, without any of the insignia of royalty. One of the Thebans seeing him in this guise, cleverly applied to him the verses of Euripides:

XLVI. When he again hoped to regain the style of royalty, and began to gather around him the form and substance of an empire, he permitted the Thebans to remain independent. The Athenians, however, revolted from him. They erased the name of Diphilus, who was inscribed upon the rolls as “priest of the Saviours,”320 and decreed that archons should be elected after their ancestral custom; and they also sent to Macedonia to invite Pyrrhus to come and help them, as they perceived that Demetrius was becoming more powerful than they had expected. Demetrius indeed angrily marched upon Athens, and began to besiege the city, but the philosopher Krates, an able

Õand eloquent man, who was sent to make terms with him by the Athenian people, partly by entreaties, and partly by pointing out in what quarter his true interests lay, prevailed upon him to raise the siege. Demetrius now collected what ships he could, and with eleven thousand infantry and a few cavalry soldiers sailed to Asia, intending to detach the provinces of Lydia and Karia from Lysimachus’s dominions. At Miletus he was met by Eurydike,321 the sister of Phila, who brought him her daughter PtolemÄis, who had been long before promised to him in the treaty concluded by the mediation of Seleukus. Demetrius married her, and immediately after the wedding betook himself to gaining over the cities of Ionia, some of which joined him of their own accord, while others were forced to yield to his arms. He also captured Sardis, and several of the officers of Lysimachus deserted to him, bringing him both soldiers and money. When, however, Lysimachus’s son Agathokles came to attack him with a large force, he withdrew into Phrygia, meaning if possible to gain possession of Armenia, stir up Media to revolt, and make himself master of the provinces in the interior, among which a fugitive could easily find an abundance of places of refuge. Agathokles pressed him hard, and Demetrius, although victorious in all the skirmishes which took place, was reduced to great straits, as he was cut off from his supplies of provisions and forage, while his soldiers began to suspect him of meaning to lead them to Armenia and Media. Famine now began to distress his army, and he also lost a large body of men, who were swept away in crossing the river Lykus through mistaking the ford. Yet the men did not cease to joke; and one of them wrote before the tent of Demetrius the first verses of the play of [Oe]dipus at Kolonus, slightly altered:

XLVII. At last famine, as usually happens, produced a pestilence, because the men ate whatever they could find; and Demetrius, after losing no less than eight thousand, gave up his project, and led back the remainder. He proceeded to Tarsus, and would, if possible, have abstained from living on the neighbouring country which belonged to Seleukus, and so giving him an excuse for attacking him. However, this was impossible, as his soldiers were reduced to the last extremities of want, and Agathokles had fortified the passes of the Taurus range of mountains. Demetrius now wrote a letter to Seleukus, containing a long and piteous account of his misfortunes, and begging Seleukus as a relative to take pity on one who had suffered enough to make even his enemies feel compassion for him. Seleukus seems to have been touched by this appeal. He wrote to his generals, ordering them to show Demetrius the respect due to royalty, and to supply his troops with provisions; but now Patrokles, who was thought to be a man of great wisdom, and who was a friend of Seleukus, pointed out to him that the expense of feeding the troops of Demetrius was not a matter of great importance, but that it was a grievous error to allow Demetrius himself to remain in his territory. He reminded him that Demetrius had always been the most turbulent and enterprising of princes, and that he was now in a position which would urge the most moderate and peaceable of men to deeds of reckless daring and treachery. Struck by this reasoning, Seleukus started for Cilicia in person, at the head of a large army. Demetrius, astonished and alarmed at this rapid change in Seleukus’s attitude, retreated to a strong position at the foot of the Taurus mountains, and in a second letter requested Seleukus to allow him to conquer some native territory occupied by independent tribes, in which he might repose after his wanderings, or at least to let him maintain his forces in Cilicia during the winter, and not to drive him out of the country and expose him to his enemies in a destitute condition.

XLVIII. Seleukus viewed all these proposals with suspicion, and offered to let him pass two months of the winter in Cataonia, but demanded his chief officers as hostages, and at the same time began to secure the passes leading into Syria. Demetrius, who was now shut up like a wild beast in a trap, was driven to use force, overran the country, and fought several slight actions successfully with Seleukus. On one occasion he withstood a charge of scythed chariots, and routed the enemy, and he also drove away the garrison of one of the passes, and gained the command of the road to Syria. He now became elated by success, and perceiving that his soldiers had recovered their confidence, he determined to fight Seleukus for his kingdom. Seleukus himself was now in difficulties. He had refused Lysimachus’s offer of assistance, through suspicion, and he feared to engage with Demetrius in battle, dreading the effects of his despair and the sudden turns of his fortune. However, at this crisis Demetrius was seized by a disorder which nearly carried him off, and utterly ruined his prospects; for some of his soldiers deserted to the enemy, and some dispersed to their own homes. After forty days he was able to place himself at the head of the remaining troops, and with them marched so as to lead the enemy to suppose that he meant to return to Cilicia; but as soon as it was dark he started without any sound of trumpet in the opposite direction, crossed the pass of Amanus, and began to plunder the plain of Kyrrhestis.

XLIX. Shortly afterwards Seleukus made his appearance, and pitched his camp hard by. Demetrius now got his men under arms in the night and started to surprise Seleukus, whose army expected no attack, and was for the most part asleep. When he was informed of his danger by some deserters he leaped up in terror, and began putting on his boots and shouting to his friends that a savage beast was coming to attack them. Demetrius, observing from the noise which filled the enemy’s camp that they had notice of his attempt, quickly marched back again. He was attacked at daybreak by Seleukus, and gained some advantage by a flank attack. But now Seleukus himself dismounted, took off his helmet, and with only a small shield in his hand went up to the mercenary troops of Demetrius, showing himself to them and inviting them to join him. They knew that he had for a long time refrained from attacking them out of a wish to spare their lives, and not for the sake of Demetrius; and they all greeted him, saluted him as King, and joined his army. Demetrius, who had seen so many turns of good and ill fortune, felt that this blow was final. He fled towards the pass of Amanus, and with a few friends and attendants took refuge in a thick wood for the night, hoping to be able to gain the road to Kaunus and so to reach the sea, where he hoped to find his fleet assembled. But when he found that his party had not enough money to procure them provisions even for one day, he was forced to adopt other plans. Soon, however, he was joined by Sosigenes, one of his friends, who had four hundred gold pieces in his belt, and with this treasure they hoped to be able to reach the sea, and started as soon as it grew dark to make their way over the mountains. But when they saw the enemy’s watch-fires blazing all along the heights, they despaired of effecting their passage by that route, and returned to the place whence they had set out, diminished in numbers, for some had deserted, and greatly disheartened. When one of them ventured to hint that Demetrius ought to surrender himself to Seleukus, Demetrius seized his sword and would have made away with himself, but his friends stood round him, and at length talked him over into giving himself up. He sent a messenger to Seleukus, putting himself unreservedly in his hands.

L. Seleukus, when he heard what had happened, said that it was his own good fortune, not that of Demetrius, which had saved Demetrius’s life, and had given himself an opportunity of displaying his clemency and goodness as well as his other virtues. He at once sent for his servants and bade them construct a royal tent, and make every preparation for the reception of Demetrius in a magnificent fashion. There was one Apollonides at the court of Seleukus, who had been an intimate friend of Demetrius, and Seleukus at once sent him to Demetrius, to bid him be of good cheer, and not fear to meet his friend and relative Seleukus. When the King’s pleasure became known, a few at first, but afterwards the greater part of his followers, eagerly flocked to pay their court to Demetrius, who they imagined would become the second man in the kingdom. This ill-judged zeal of theirs turned the compassion of Seleukus into jealousy, and enabled mischief-makers to defeat his kindly intentions by warning him that as soon as Demetrius was seen in his camp all his troops would rise in mutiny against him. Apollonides had just reached Demetrius in high spirits, and others were arriving with wonderful stories about the goodness of Seleukus. Demetrius himself was just recovering his spirits after his disaster, was beginning to think that he had been wrong in his reluctance to surrender himself, and was full of hope for the future, when Pausanias appeared with about a thousand horse and foot-soldiers. He suddenly surrounded Demetrius with these troops, separated him from his friends, and, instead of bringing him into the presence of Seleukus, conducted him to the Syrian Chersonese, where, though strongly guarded, he was supplied by Seleukus with suitable lodging and entertainment, and allowed to take the air and hunt in the royal park which adjoined his dwelling. He was permitted to associate with any of the companions of his exile whom he wished to see, and many polite messages were sent to him from Seleukus to the effect that as soon as Antiochus and Stratonike arrived, they would come to some amicable arrangement.

LI. Demetrius now despatched letters to his son, and to the commanders of his garrisons at Athens and Corinth, warning them not to pay any attention to any despatches which they might receive in his name, or even to his royal signet, but to regard him as practically dead, and to hold the cities in trust for his heir Antigonus. His son was much grieved at hearing of his father’s capture, put on mourning, and sent letters to all the other kings, and to Seleukus himself, begging for his father’s liberation. He offered to give up all the places which he still held, and even proposed to surrender himself as a hostage in place of his father. Many cities and princes supported his request, except Lysimachus, who offered to give Seleukus a large sum of money if he would put Demetrius to death. But Seleukus, who had always disliked Lysimachus, now regarded him with abhorrence as a savage villain, and still continued to keep Demetrius in captivity, under the pretext that he was waiting for the arrival of his son Antiochus and Stratonike, that they might have the pleasure of restoring him to liberty.

LII. Demetrius at first bore up manfully against his misfortunes, and learned to endure captivity, taking exercise as well as he could, by hunting in the park, and by running; but, little by little, he neglected these amusements, addicted himself to drinking and dicing, and thus spent most of his time; either in order to escape from the thoughts of his present condition by intoxication, or else because he felt that this was the life which he had always wished to lead, and that he had caused great suffering both to himself and to others by fighting by sea and land in order to obtain that comfort which he had now unexpectedly discovered in repose and quiet. What, indeed, is the object of the wars and dangers which bad kings endure, in their folly, unless it be this? although they not only strive after luxury and pleasure, instead of virtue and honour, but do not even understand in what real luxury and enjoyment consist. Be that as it may, Demetrius, after living in confinement in the Chersonese for three years, died of laziness, surfeit and over-indulgence in wine, in the fifty-fourth year of his age.322 Seleukus was greatly blamed for the suspicions which he had entertained about Demetrius, and greatly repented that he had not imitated the wild Thracian DromichÆtes, who dealt so kindly and royally with Lysimachus when he had taken him prisoner.

LIII. Even the funeral of Demetrius had an air of tragedy and theatrical display. His son Antigonus, as soon as he heard that the ashes of his father were being brought to him, collected all his fleet and met the vessels of Seleukus near the Cyclades. Here he received the relics in a golden urn on board of his own flagship, the largest of his fleet. At every port at which they touched the citizens laid garlands upon the urn, and sent deputies in mourning to attend the funeral. When the fleet arrived at Corinth, the urn was beheld in a conspicuous place upon the stern of the ship, adorned with a royal robe and diadem, and surrounded by-armed soldiers of the king’s body-guard. Near it was seated the celebrated flute-player Xenophantus, playing a sacred hymn; and the measured dip of the oars, keeping time to the music, sounded like the refrain of a dirge. The crowds who thronged the sea-shore were especially touched by the sight of Antigonus himself, towed down with grief and with his eyes full of tears. After due honours had been paid to the relics at Corinth, he finally deposited them, in the city of Demetrias, which was named after his father, and which had been formed by amalgamating the small villages in the neighbourhood of Iolkos. Demetrius, by his wife Phila, left one son, Antigonus, and one daughter, Stratonike. He also had two sons named Demetrius, one, known as Leptus, by an Illyrian woman, and the other, who became ruler of Cyrene, by Ptolemais. By Deidameia he had a son named Alexander, who spent his life in Egypt. It is said, too, that he had a son named Korrhagus by Eurydike. His family retained the throne of Macedonia for many generations, until it ended in Perseus, during whose reign the Romans conquered that country. So now that we have brought the career of the Macedonian hero to a close, it is time for us to bring the Roman upon the stage.