| Demetrius I Poliorcetes | |
|---|---|
 Marble bust of Demetrius I Poliorcetes. Roman copy from 1st century AD of a Greek original from 3rd century BC. | |
| King of Macedonia | |
| Reign | 294–288 BC |
| Predecessor | Antipater I of Macedon |
| Successor | Lysimachus andPyrrhus of Epirus |
| Hegemon of theHellenic League | |
| Reign | 304 BC |
| Predecessor | Alexander the Great |
| Successor | Antigonus III Doson |
| Born | 337 BC |
| Died | 283 BC (aged 53–54) |
| Spouse | |
| Issue | |
| House | Antigonid dynasty |
| Father | Antigonus I Monophthalmus |
| Mother | Stratonice |
| Military career | |
| Battles / wars | |
Demetrius I Poliorcetes (/dɪˈmiːtriəspɒliɔːrˈsiːtiːz/;Greek:Δημήτριος Πολιορκητής,Dēmḗtrios Poliorkētḗs,lit. 'the Besieger of Cities';337 – 283 BC) was aMacedonian Greek nobleman and military leader who became king ofAsia between 306 and 301 BC, and king ofMacedon between 294 and 288 BC. A member of theAntigonid dynasty, he was the son of its founder,Antigonus I Monophthalmus, and his wifeStratonice, as well as the first member of the family to rule Macedon inHellenistic Greece.
In 307 BC, Demetrius successfully oustedCassander'sgovernor ofAthens and after defeatingPtolemy I at theBattle of Salamis (306 BC) he gave his father the title ofbasileus ("king") over a land spanning from theAegean Sea to the Middle East. He acquired the titlePoliorcetes ("the besieger") after the unsuccessfulsiege of Rhodes in 305. While Antigonus I and Demetrius planned a revival of theHellenic League with themselves as dual hegemons, a coalition of thediadochi; Cassander,Seleucus I, Ptolemy I, andLysimachus defeated the two at theBattle of Ipsus in 301 BC, in which Antigonus I was killed and the Asian territory of his empire was lost. In 294, Demetrius managed to successfully seize control of Athens and establish himself as king of Macedon. He ruled until 288 when he was eventually driven out byPyrrhus and Lysimachus and later surrendered to Seleucus I inCilicia, dying there in 283.[1] After a long period of instability, Demetrius's son,Antigonus II Gonatas, managed to solidify the dynasty in the kingdom and establish its hegemony over much of Hellenistic Greece.[2]
Demetrius was particularly involved in innovations inpoliorcetics, and although notall of his sieges were successful—such as thesiege of Rhodes—he left his mark on the history of globalsiege warfare.[3] This was notably through the extensive use ofsiege engines, the establishment of effectivelogistical procedures to support sieges on a much larger scale than previously, the widespread use ofamphibious warfare and finally the very quick pace of execution of his sieges.[3] Demetrius also used his skills as a military architect to fortify cities withdefensive architectural innovations, such as, notably,Athens,Sicyon orCorinth.[3] He can be considered one of the main Epigoni, the heirs of theDiadochi.
Demetrius served with his father,Antigonus I Monophthalmus, during theSecond War of the Diadochi. He participated in theBattle of Paraitakene where he commanded the cavalry on the right flank. Despite the Antigonid left flank, commanded byPeithon, being routed, and the center, commanded by Antigonus, being dealt heavy losses at the hands of the famousSilver Shields, Demetrius was victorious on the right, and his success there ultimately prevented the battle from being a complete loss.
Demetrius was again present at the conclusiveBattle of Gabiene. Directly after the battle, while Antigonus held the betrayedEumenes, Demetrius was one of the few who implored his father to spare the Greek successor's life.
At the age of twenty-one he was left by his father to defendSyria againstPtolemy the son ofLagus. He was defeated at theBattle of Gaza, but soon partially repaired his loss by a victory in theBattle of Myus, against a general of Ptolemy,Cilles.[4][5] In the spring of 310, he was soundly defeated when he tried to expelSeleucus I Nicator fromBabylon; his father was defeated in the autumn. As a result of thisBabylonian War, Antigonus lost almost two thirds of his empire: all eastern satrapies fell to Seleucus.
After several campaigns against Ptolemy on the coasts ofCilicia andCyprus, Demetrius sailed with a fleet of 250 ships toAthens. He freed the city from the power ofCassander and Ptolemy, expelled the garrison which had been stationed there underDemetrius of Phalerum, and besieged and tookMunychia (307 BC). After these victories he was worshipped by the Athenians as atutelary deity under the title ofSoter (Greek:Σωτήρ, "Saviour").[6] At this time Demetrius married Eurydike, an Athenian noblewoman who was reputed to be descendant fromMiltiades; she was the widow ofOphellas, Ptolemy's governor ofCyrene.[7] Antigonus sent Demetrius instructions to sail to Cyprus and attack Ptolemy's positions there.
Demetrius sailed from Athens in the spring of 306 BC and in accordance with his father's orders he first went to Caria where he summoned theRhodians in an unsuccessful attempt to support his naval campaign. In the campaign of 306 BC, he defeated Ptolemy andMenelaus, Ptolemy's brother, in the navalBattle of Salamis, completely destroying the naval power ofPtolemaic Egypt.[6] Demetrius conquered Cyprus in 306 BC, capturing one of Ptolemy's sons.[8] Following the victory, Antigonus assumed the title "king" and bestowed the same upon his son Demetrius. In 305 BC, he endeavoured to punish theRhodians for having deserted his cause; his ingenuity in devising newsiege engines in his (ultimately unsuccessful) attempt to reduce the capital gained him the title of Poliorcetes.[6] Among his creations were abattering ram 180 feet (55 m) long, requiring 1000 men to operate it; and a wheeledsiege tower named "Helepolis" (or "Taker of Cities") which stood 125 feet (38 m) tall and 60 feet (18 m) wide, weighing 360,000 pounds (160,000 kg). After failing to conquer Rhodes the weapons were abandoned. With the bronze from these weapons used by the Rhodians to construct the Colossus of Rhodes.
In 304 BC, he returned a second time to Greece as liberator, and reinstated theCorinthian League, but his licentiousness and extravagance made the Athenians long for the government of Cassander.[6] Among his outrages was his courtship of a young boy named Democles the Handsome. The youth kept on refusing his attention but one day found himself cornered at the baths. Having no way out and being unable to physically resist his suitor, he took the lid off the hot water cauldron and jumped in. His death was seen as a mark of honor for himself and his country. In another instance, Demetrius waived a fine of 50 talents imposed on a citizen in exchange for the favors of Cleaenetus, that man's son.[9] He also sought the attention of Lamia, a Greek courtesan. He demanded 250 talents from the Athenians, which he then gave to Lamia and other courtesans to buy soap and cosmetics.[9]
He also roused the jealousy ofAlexander'sDiadochi;Seleucus, Cassander andLysimachus united to destroy him and his father. The hostile armies met at theBattle of Ipsus inPhrygia (301 BC). Antigonus was killed, and Demetrius, after sustaining severe losses, retired toEphesus. This reversal of fortune stirred up many enemies against him—the Athenians refused even to admit him into their city. But he soon afterwardsravaged the territory of Lysimachus and effected a reconciliation with Seleucus, to whom he gave his daughterStratonice in marriage. Athens was at this time oppressed by the tyranny ofLachares—a popular leader who made himself supreme in Athens in 296 BC—but Demetrius, after a protracted blockade, gained possession of the city (294 BC) and pardoned the inhabitants for their misconduct in 301 BC in a great display of mercy, a trait Demetrius highly valued in a ruler.[6]
After Athens' capitulation, Demetrius formed a new government which espoused a major dislocation of traditional democratic forms, which anti Macedonian democrats would have called oligarchy. The cyclical rotation of the secretaries of the Council and the election of archons by allotment, were both abolished. In 294/3 - 293/2 BC, two of the most prominent men in Athens were designated by the Macedonian king, Olympiordoros andPhillipides of Paiania. Their appointment by the King is implied by Plutarch who says that "he established the archons which were most acceptable to the Demos."[11]
In 294 BC, he established himself on the throne of Macedonia by murderingAlexander V, the son of Cassander.[6] He faced rebellion from theBoeotians but secured the region aftercapturing Thebes in 291 BC. That year he marriedLanassa, the former wife ofPyrrhus, but his new position as ruler of Macedonia was continually threatened by Pyrrhus, who took advantage of his occasional absence to ravage the defenceless part of his kingdom (Plutarch,Pyrrhus, 7 ff.); at length, the combined forces of Pyrrhus, Ptolemy and Lysimachus, assisted by the disaffected among his own subjects, obliged him to leave Macedonia in 288 BC.[6]
Afterbesieging Athens without success he passed into Asia and attacked some of the provinces of Lysimachus with varying success. Famine and pestilence destroyed the greater part of his army, and he solicited Seleucus' support and assistance. However, before he reached Syria hostilities broke out, and after he had gained some advantages over his son-in-law, Demetrius was totally forsaken by his troops on the field of battle and surrendered to Seleucus.
His sonAntigonus offered all his possessions, and even his own person, in order to procure his father's liberty, but all proved unavailing, and Demetrius died after a confinement of three years (283 BC). His remains were given to Antigonus and honoured with a splendid funeral atCorinth. His descendants remained in possession of the Macedonian throne until the time ofPerseus, when Macedon was conquered by theRomans in 168 BC.[6]
During his 30-year military career, from theBattle of Paraitakene in 317 BC to his final defeat, Demetrius proved to be a hugely effective commander duringsieges.[3] Notably, he managed to use the innovations introduced byAlexander, scaling them up to greater extents.[3] Thus, besides the massive and widespread use ofsiege engines, which he standardized inHellenistic warfare, Demetrius was an excellentlogistician, able to maintain sieges on unprecedented scales.[3][12] The Antigonid also engaged inamphibious siege warfare, frequently conducting sieges both by sea and land.[3][12] Finally, despite some failed sieges, especially thesiege of Rhodes where Demetrius did not appear to make significant tactical or strategic errors, he employed a siege warfare strategy sometimes described as 'blitzkrieg'.[3][12] During his campaigns in 304-303 BC and 294-291 BC inGreece, after rapid 'bursts', he captured cities one after another in a matter of months; for example, in 304-303 BC, he successively seizedPanactum,Phyle,Kechries,Epidaurus,Sicyon,Corinth,Bura,Scirus (Arcadia),Argos, andOrchomenus.[3][12] According to Plutarch, Demetrius would have commanded 110,000 soldiers under his leadership in 288 BCE before facing complete defeat.[13] This figure is almost certainly exaggerated by the ancient author and would represent the largest concentration of manpower in the entireHellenistic period, more than two times larger than the force Alexander led in his initial conquests.[13] Even if the figure is overstated, it demonstrates that Demetrius was capable of assembling significant armies, some of which were remembered as the largest of the era.[13]
Demetrius also emerged as an importantmilitary engineer andfortifier of cities.[3] Firstly, he established effective strategies and developed new siege engines to address specific challenges during certain sieges or to experiment with new methods of siege warfare.[3] In addition to his interest in military engineering, Demetrius distinguished himself by constructing and erecting numerousfortifications, significantly influencing this discipline and leaving his mark on the history of the Greek world.[3]
For instance, in 307-306 BC, after his first capture ofAthens, he undertook one of the most significant fortification projects in the city's history.[3] In 303 BC, after capturingSicyon and noticing the weaknesses in its defenses, he decided to completely relocate the city to a more defensible position and, according toPlutarch, personally worked on the construction of the new city.[3]
Corinth also appears to have undergone substantial fortification work initiated by Demetrius after he conquered the city, as suggested by archaeological discoveries related to the urbanization of the city at that time.[3] These elements also highlight his impact on the history of defensive siege warfare and paint the picture of a builder king.[3]
Plutarch wrotea biography of Demetrius, in which he is paired withMark Antony.
Hegel, in theLectures on the History of Philosophy, says of another Demetrius,Demetrius Phalereus, that "Demetrius Phalereus and others were thus soon after [Alexander] honoured and worshipped in Athens as God."[14] What the exact source was for Hegel's claim is unclear. Diogenes Laërtius in his short biography of Demetrius Phalereus does not mention this.[15] Apparently Hegel's error comes from a misreading ofPlutarch'sLife of Demetrius which is about Demetrius Poliorcetes and not Demetrius of Phalereus. Plutarch describes in the work how Demetrius Poliorcetes conquered Demetrius Phalereus at Athens. Then, in chapter 12 of the work, Plutarch describes how Demetrius Poliorcetes was given honors due to the godDionysus. This account by Plutarch was confusing not only for Hegel, but for others as well.[16]
Plutarch's account of Demetrius's departure from Macedonia in 288 BC inspiredConstantine Cavafy to write "King Demetrius" (ὁ βασιλεὺς Δημήτριος) in 1906, his earliest surviving poem on an historical theme.
Demetrius is the main character of the operaDemetrio a Rodi (Turin, 1789) with libretto[17] by Giandomenico Boggio and Giuseppe Banti. The music is set byGaetano Pugnani (1731-1798).
Demetrius appears (under the Greek form of his name, Demetrios) inL. Sprague de Camp's historical novel,The Bronze God of Rhodes, which largely concerns itself with his siege of Rhodes.
Alfred Duggan's novelElephants and Castles provides a lively fictionalised account of his life.
Demetrius was married five times:
He also had a relationship with a celebrated courtesan calledLamia of Athens, by whom he had a daughter calledPhila.
One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Demetrius s.v. Demetrius I".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 7 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 982.| Regnal titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Antigonid dynasty | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | King of Macedon 294–288 BC | Succeeded by |
| Legendary |  | |
|---|---|---|
| Argead dynasty | ||
| Antipatrid dynasty | ||
| Dynastic conflict | ||
| Antigonid dynasty | ||
| Post-Conquest Rebel Kings |
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Debatable or disputed rulers are initalics. | ||
