Demetrius Phalereus

Demetrius Phalereus, born at Phalerum in 345 B.C., and gifted with high eloquence, joined the Macedonian party and was elected Archon in 317. During ten years he ruled wisely and prosperously; but the return of Demetrius Poliorcetes in 307 roused the dormant patriotism of the citizens, and he fled to the court of Ptolemaeus Soter in Egypt. There he lived for a time in literary ease, and is said to have assisted in forming the Alexandrine library. His attempt to exclude Ptolemaeus Philadelphus from the succession led to his banishment as soon as that monarch came to power. He retired to Busiris, where he died from the bite of an asp in 345. Of his many works only a treatise on rhetoric has been preserved, and that is of doubtful authenticity.