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Demetrius I Poliorcetes was
one of the great generals of the Hellenistic era. He was the son of Antigonus I
Monophthalmus, serving his father as a general and deputy. He first appears in
his teens, when he was married to Phila, daughter of Antipater in 321. This
marriage would stand him in good stead in later life, when his wife’s
popularity would help him gain the throne of Macedonia. His first military
experience came during his father’s campaign against
Eumenes of 317-6. This left
Antigonus as the most powerful of the successors, and roused the hostility of
his former colleagues. He was faced with a war on two fronts, against Ptolemy
in Egypt and Cassander
and Lysimachus in Asia Minor. Accordingly he left
Demetrius in command in Coele Syria and Palestine, and concentrated on the war
in Asia Minor.
Third Diadoch War 315-311:
Demetrius’s first independent command did not end well. He was badly
defeated by Ptolemy at Gaza in 312, forcing
Antigonus to settle with Cassander and Lysumachus. Faced with the prospect of
facing Antigonus alone, Ptolemy also joined the peace, which was formally
agreed in 311. Antigonus regained possession of Coele Syria. An important part
of Antigonus’s policy was to stir up opposition to Cassander in Greece. Up
until 308 he had relied on Polyperchon, briefly
successor to Antipater as regent, to keep Cassander busy. In 308 Cassander
finally came to terms with Polyperchon. After a short-lived intervention by
Ptolemy in the same year, Cassander came close to having a free hand in Greece.
Fourth Diadoch War:
Antigonus responded by sending Demetrius to Greece, to win support amongst the
Greek cities. In 315 Antigonus had issued a declaration from Tyre in which he
promised to support the liberty of the Greek cities. In contrast Cassander had
imposed an oligarchy on Athens (317), which had endured for ten years but was
unpopular. Demetrius was hailed as a divine liberator in Athens, despite his
somewhat excessive lifestyle (he famously installed his harem at the back of
the Parthenon). Cyprus in 306 This first visit to the Greek mainland would be
short lived. In 306 he was called away by his father and given the job of
conquering Cyprus. He won a naval battle at Salamis (Cyprus), defeated an
Egyptian fleet, and took control of the island. In the aftermath of this
victory, Antigonus finally declared himself to be king, almost certainly with
the aim of claiming all of Alexander’s inheritance. Demetrius became his
co-monarch. From Cyprus, Demetrius was sent against Rhodes. He gained his
nickname, Poliorcetes (“besieger” or “taker of cities”,
after the siege of Rhodes. The siege lasted for a year (305-4), and despite his
best efforts, and the best siege equipment then available, ended in failure.
Ptolemy cleared possessed some sort of fleet, despite the defeat at Salamis,
for he was able to keep the city supplied. The siege ended with a compromise
peace, with Rhodes agreeing to ally herself with Antigonus against anyone other
than Ptolemy. The siege was ended after Cassander began to seriously threaten
the Antigonid position in Greece. Demetrius was dispatched back to the
mainland, where he soon restored the situation, gaining control of much of
central Greece.
In 302 he founded the League of Corinth, a federation of Greek cities, based at
Corinth, and designed to be used to attack Macedonia. The league was short
lived. Demetrius’s successes in Greece forced his father’s enemies to
act together. Cassander lent most of his army to Lysimachus, who crossed into
Asia Minor, where he hoped to meet with Seleucus, who was coming from the east
with another large army. Antigonus responded by summoning Demetrius back to
Asia to fight a decisive battle. The two armies met at the Battle of Ipsus in 301. Demetrius led a successful cavalry
charge, but like so many cavalry commanders got carried away by the pursuit.
Back on the main battlefield the allied army crushed Antigonus’s force,
with Seleucus’s elephants playing an important role on the battlefield.
Antigonus was killed during the battle. Demetrius was briefly a refugee as he
fled from the battlefield, but he retained a surprisingly strong position.
Cyprus, Tyre, Sidon, the League of Islands and a string of Ionian cities
remained loyal, as did Corinth. Athens expelled his garrison and returned his
fleet, and attempted a period of neutrality. For the next four years Demetrius
concentrating on consolidating his position in Greece, but his main strength
during this period was his fleet. Events in Macedonia soon played into
Demetrius’s hands. In 297 Cassander, king of Macedonia, died. The oldest
of his three sons, Philip IV, died a few months later. His two remaining sons
were too young to take the throne, and so a regency in the name of both
children followed. This soon became a civil war between the two sons, which
ended with the death of one and the exile of the other. Demetrius was
proclaimed king by the army (294). The Besieger made a poor king. Macedonia
needed a period of peace to recover from years of warfare. Instead, Demetrius
made it clear that he intended to invade Asia. He made his first attempt in
293, attacking Lysimachus, despite having been recognised by him as king of
Macedonia. This expedition had to be cancelled when Boeotia rebelled, with the
help of Aetolia and Pyrrhus of Epirus (292). The revolt was put down, but was
followed by three years of war against Pyrrhus. That war ended in 289, by which
time Demetrius was loosing ground in Asia and at sea. Ptolemy seized Sidon and
Tyre in 288/7, and at some time lost the alliance of the Island League.
Demetrius lost Macedonia during 288. Lysimachus attacked from the east, Pyrrhus
from the west. Demetrius managed to hold off Lysimachus, but when he turned to
face Pyrrhus his army deserted. Demetrius fled south, taking refuge at
Cassandreia, in the Chalcidic peninsula. There his wife Phila committed
suicide, possibly because of the loss of Macedonia. Amazingly, Demetrius was
still not defeated. He was able to raise some support in Greece, and still
maintained a strong fleet. Athens revolted against his rule, and Demetrius
began a siege in 287, but soon agreed to a peace that re-established Athenian
democracy (which lasted for about twenty years). Demetrius then embarked on his
last adventure. With a force of around 10,000 mercenaries he invaded Asia
Minor, landing at Miletus. From there he invaded Ionian, without much success.
In 286 Lysimachus sent his son Agathocles to deal with Demetrius, who retreated
east, hoping to create a new power base in the eastern satrapies. He was too
late to achieve this – Seleucus had secured his position in the east by
sending his son Antiochus to rule there as co-king - and was forced into
Cilicia. During 285 he managed to hold off Seleucus, and even came close to
breaking into Syria, but at a crucial moment he fell ill, and his army fell
apart. He made one final attempt to defeat Seleucus at the Amanus in 285.
Escaping from this final defeat, he was eventually trapped and forced to
surrender. Unusually, Seleucus kept Demetrius alive. He was installed in a
luxurious prison at Apamea on the Orontes, where he proceeded to drink himself
to death (283).
Demetrius was one of the great generals of the Hellenistic era. However, he
operated best as a second in command – for all his military skill he had
limited political judgement. When he had a chance to enjoy a period of
stability as king of Macedonia he wasted it. For all that, Demetrius did found
a dynasty that ruled Macedonia from 277, when his son Antigonus Gonatas seized
the throne, until 168, when Perseus of Macedon was defeated by the Romans.
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