Part 18

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 Ialysus[302] 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 away 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, Demochares[303] 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

"Who crowds into one month the entire year."

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

"Who treats Acropolis as t'were an inn And makes the Virgin's shrine a house of sin."

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 bodyguard 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.