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There was a mighty power coming up against Cassander. One of Alexander's
old generals, named Antigonus, the "One-eyed," had received some Asiatic
provinces for his share in the break-up of the empire, and when Perdiccas
set out on his return was appointed commander in his stead in the East;
and again, when Antipater died, Polysperchon renewed his appointment;
while Eumenes, an honest and good man, was the regent upheld by
Cassander's party. In 316 a battle was fought at Gabiene, in which
Eumenes was defeated. He was given up to Antigonus by his own troops,
and as the victor could not bear to kill his old comrade, he left him in
prison to be starved to death.
Then Antigonus took possession of all the treasures in Ecbatana and
Babylon, and began to call Seleucus in Syria to account for his dealings
with the revenues of the empire. Seleucus fled into Egypt; and all the
four chiefs, Ptolemy, Seleucus, Lysimachus, and Cassander joined together
to put down Antigonus and his brave and able son, Demetrius. There was
war everywhere, until in 311 peace was made, on condition that the Greek
cities should be set free, and that Antigonus should have the whole
government of Asia Minor, Seleucus of Syria, Ptolemy of Egypt, Cassander
of Macedon, and Lysimachus of Thrace, till the young Alexander was old
enough to govern; but, as we have seen, Cassander murdered him when he
was only sixteen, and the old family of Macedon was at an end. Nor did
Cassander give up the Greek cities; so Demetrius was sent to force him to
do so. There was little attempt to resist him; and the Athenians were in
such delight that they called him the Saviour, named a month after him,
lodged him in the Parthenon itself, and caused his image to be carried in
processions among those of the gods themselves. He took so many towns
that his name in history is Poliorketes, or the City-taker, and then he
was sent to gain the isle of Cyprus from Ptolemy. The fleet of
Alexandria was thought the best in the world, but Demetrius defeated it
entirely in the year 306, and in their joy the soldiers called him and
his father both kings, and they put on the diadem of the Shahs of Persia,
making their capital the city they had founded on the Orontes, and
calling it Antigoneia.
Cassander, Ptolemy, Lysimachus, and Seleucus all likewise called
themselves kings. And still the war went on. Demetrius was sent against
the island of Rhodes, which belonged to Ptolemy, and besieged the city a
whole year, but could not take it, and was obliged to make peace with the
islanders at last, and to give them all the machines he had used in the
siege. These they sold for 300 talents, and used the money to make an
enormous brazen statue of Apollo, to stand with one foot on each side of
the entrance of the harbour. Ships in full sail could pass under it, and
few men could grasp its thumb with their arms. It was called the
Colossus of Rhodes, and was counted as the seventh wonder of the world,
the others being the Temple of Diana at Ephesus, the Tomb of Mausolus,
the Lighthouse of Messina, the Walls of Babylon, the Labyrinth of Crete,
and the Pyramids of Egypt. They also consecrated a grove to Ptolemy for
the assistance he had given to them.
Demetrius then went to Greece, and tried to overthrow Cassander, but the
other kings joined against him, and he was obliged to go home, for
Seleucus was threatening Antigoneia. Antigonus and Demetrius collected
their forces, and fought a great battle at Ipsus, where Seleucus brought
trained elephants from India, which had lately begun to be used in
battle, and were found to frighten horses so as to render them quite
unmanageable. Demetrius, however, thought he had gained the victory, but
he rushed on too fast, and left his father unsupported, so that poor old
Antigonus, who was eighty years of age, was shut in by the troops of
Seleucus and killed. Demetrius had to retreat to Ephesus with his broken
army.
The Athenians, who had made so much of him before, now turned against
him, and made a law to punish with death anyone who should speak of
making peace with him. However, Cassander died, and his sons quarrelled
about the kingdom, so that Demetrius found it a good opportunity to
return to Greece, and very soon made the Athenians open their gates to
him, which they did in fear and trembling; but he treated them so
mercifully that they soon admired him as much as ever.
[Picture: Macedonian soldier] Then he attacked Sparta, and defeated her
king, taking the city which had so long held out against the Macedonians;
but he had only just done so when he heard that Ptolemy had recovered all
Cyprus except Salamina, and that Lysimachus had seized all Asia Minor, so
that nothing was left to him but his army.
But there was a wonderful change still to befall him. Cassander's
sons,--as has been said, were disputing for the kingdom. Their mother,
Thessalonica, a daughter of Philip of Macedon, favoured the youngest, and
this so enraged the eldest that he killed her with his own hand. His
brother called on Demetrius to help him, and he came with his army; but
on some fancy that the youth was plotting against him, he had him put to
death, and convinced the Macedonians that the act was just. They would
not have the murderer of his own mother as their king, but chose
Demetrius himself to be king of Macedon, so that almost at the same time
he lost one kingdom and gained another, and this last remained in his
family for several generations. He tried to regain Asia, but did not
succeed; indeed he was once again obliged to fly from Macedonia in
disguise. He had learned to admire the splendours of the East, wore a
double diadem on his head, and wonderful sandals; and he had also ordered
skilful weavers and embroiderers to make him a mantle, on which the
system of the universe as then understood--the earth in the centre, with
the moon, sun, and planets, and every fixed star then discovered--was to
be embroidered in gold.
The Macedonians had not been used to see their kings crowned at all, or
differently dressed from themselves, and they had hardly borne such
assumption of state from Alexander himself, in the height of his pomp and
glory, and when he had newly taken the throne of the kings of Persia; and
they were much offended at Demetrius' splendour, and still more at his
pride and haughtiness of manner, and inattention to those who had to make
any request from him.
One day, when he was passing through the streets, some persons brought
him some petitions, which he received more graciously than usual, and
placed them in one of the folds of his robe; but as soon as he came to a
bridge over a river he threw them into the water, to the great offence
and disappointment of the poor people who had brought them.
This was very unlike Ptolemy, who was a wise, clear-headed man, with much
of Alexander's spirit of teaching and improving people under him, and who
ruled so as to make himself much beloved in Egypt, Cyprus, Rhodes, and
Palestine. The new city of Alexandria was his capital, and under him and
his son Ptolemy Philadelphus it grew to be a great merchant city, and
also a school of art, science, and philosophy almost as famous as Athens,
and with a library containing all the chief books in the world, including
the Old Testament. This was translated into Greek by 70 learned Jews,
and therefore called the Septuagint.
Seleucus, king of Syria, held all the lands from Persia to Asia Minor.
His capital was Antioch, in Syria, which he had built and named after his
son Antiochus, and which became a very splendid and beautiful city, full
of a light-minded, merry people, fond of games and shows. He built many
other places, calling them after himself or his son, and placing Greeks
to live in them. Thus, though Alexander only reigned twelve years, he
had made a great difference to the world, for the Greek language,
learning, and habits were spread all over the East, and every well-taught
person was brought up in them. So that, while the grand old Greek states
were in bondage, and produced no more great men, their teachings had
spread farther than they ever thought.
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