Sykes' History of Persia - Heritage Institute

314 HISTORY OF PERSIA chap.
sequently made overtures to Demetrius, and asked for his
daughter Stratonice, the grand-daughter of Antipater, in
marriage. This pleased Demetrius, who came to Syria
with his daughter, and the two monarchs remained on
excellent terms until Seleucus tried to purchase Cilicia,
and demanded Tyre and Sidon, the possession of which
had become a matter of great importance to him since his
establishment at Antioch. Demetrius replied by augment-
afterwards returned to the
ing their garrisons, and shortly
West.
His Accession to the Throne of Macedonia.— In 297 b.c.
Cassander died, and in the following year his son Philip
also ; the kingdom of Macedonia was then held by
his two remaining sons, who reigned conjointly. But
again the barbarous Macedonian spirit
showed itself in
Antipater, who murdered his mother ; and Demetrius,
taking advantage of his opportunity, seized the throne
of Macedonia in 293 b.c. Soon afterwards, his vast
preparations for a campaign in Asia aroused Lysimachus
and Ptolemy, who incited Pyrrhus of Epirus to join the
former in a concerted invasion of Macedonia, while
Seleucus turned the situation to advantage by annexing
Cilicia. The Macedonians had come to despise the
luxuriousness of Demetrius, and, regarding Pyrrhus as
the bravest soldier of the day and the most like Alexander,^
desired him for their king. They consequently deserted
Demetrius, to whom Plutarch applies the words put by
Sophocles
into the mouth of Menelaus :
For me, my destiny, alas, is found
Whirling upon the gods' swift wheel around.
After a period of eclipse this truly great adventurer
collected a force, and, landing in Asia Minor, captured
Sardes. Agathocles, son of Lysimachus, now appeared on
the scene, and although he gained no success, the army of
Demetrius suffered from lack of supplies and forage and
lost a number of men in the passage of the Lycus. So,
^ Plutarch writes :
"
They thought his countenance, his swiftness and his
motions expressed those of the Great Alexander, and that they beheld here an
image and resemblance of his rapidity and strength in fight." What a splendid memory
Alexander bequeathed to the Macedonians !