Démétrios Ier Poliorcète - SpeedyLook encyclopedia

Biography

It helped his father in his campaigns for supremacy, this one wishing to reconstitute the empire of Alexandre. It is beaten, of share its ardor ill-considered, in 312 with Gaza while fighting against Ptolémée I {{er}} but manages to restore the situation the following year. Then, in 307, with the head of the fleet of his father, it set sail towards Athens, then under the domination of the Master of Macedonia, Cassandre. It restores the democracy there by driving out the occupants Macedonians.

In 307 - 306, Démétrios unloads with Cyprus and manages to overcome the fleet of Ptolémée in Salamine (of Cyprus). Démétrios, against any waiting, leaves victorious this naval battle. It is the first hard blow for Ptolémée. Démétrios struck many silver moneys to mark this battle ideologically. It is the first time that one sees appearing the winner himself, king Démétrios (old of approximately 25 years), in the divine place on the coins. With the reverse, there are several ideological types, one finds: a statue of Poséidon which shows that Démétrios is the elected official of Poséidon, a prow of vessel with, installed on a platform, the Victoire winged blowing in a kind of trumpet so that the victory is spread. On the legend, one reads Βασιλεωσ δημητριου (Basiléos Démétriou = of king Démétrios). It will have had to be waited 4 years so that the first of these diadoques ose to use the name of king. The other diadoques ones obligatorily will follow it because they cannot admit that one of their rival is king whereas they are not it. Even overcome Ptolémée uses the name of king. On a currency (Tétradrachme) one sees the portrait of Ptolémée with a stringcourse where he is written Βασιλεωσ πτολεμαιου (Basiléos Ptolémaiou = of king Ptolémée). Until there, Ptolémée had a silver money but it called it “of Alexandre” or then “of Ptolémée” but not of the king. Therefore, practically at the same time, all the diadoques ones become kings. But, Séleucos I {{er}}, Cassandre and Lysimaque, leagued against the father and the son, overcame them with Ipsos, in Phrygie in 301 Antigonos was killed, but Démétrios in escape could join its still powerful fleet. Then in 297, with died Cassandre, after a long tour at sea, it seized Macedonia. It extended then its capacity on the near total of the Greece.

But a reversal of situation awaited it. Indeed, the other empires hellenistic leagued against this strategist except par which, main of Greece, dazzled them its power. Ptolémée I {{er}}, Pharaon of Egypt, organized a revolt with its profit in Athens, in 289. Then its allies Lysimaque and Pyrrhus d' Épire invaded the territories of Démétrios. This one, driven out of Macedonia, tried, with some troops, a forwarding in minor Asia, controlled by Séleucos. But this last overcame it and did it captive in 286. Treated as a king, it offers the hand of his daughter Stratonice to Séleucos. Démétrios died two years later, assigned with residence but carrying out a pleasant life. Démétrios left a son, Antigone Gonatas, which founded the dynasty of Antigonides, kings de Macédoine until in 167. From this destiny out of the commun run, which it put in parallel with that of Marc-Antoine, Plutarque drew one from its parallel Vies .

Démétrios had five wives and left several children; of Phila, girl of Antipater with which the union lasted 33 years, it had: Antigone Gonatas and Stratonice; of Ptolémaïs it had: Démétrios Kallos ( the Beautiful ).

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