Demetrius Poliorcetes

Demetrius Poliorcetes, who derived his surname, "the Stormer of Cities," from his military exploits, was the son of Antigonus and Stratonice. In 312 B.C., being then 22, he led an army against Ptolemaeus Soter and Seleucus, and met with defeat at Gaza, but soon retrieved his losses. He then undertook the conquest of Athens with a fleet of 250 ships. He soon succeeded in expelling Demetrius Phalereus, Cassander's nominee, and in the following year wrested Cyprus from the Egyptians. Then followed his "famous siege of Rhodes, and after bringing the island to terms he returned to Greece, crushed Cassander at Thermopylae, captured Sicyon, Corinth, and Argos, and married Deidamia, the daughter of King Pyrrhus. In 301 he and his father were overwhelmed by a new combination of enemies at Ipsus, and, escaping with a considerable force, he went to Ephesus whence he renewed hostilities against Macedonia in the Chersonesus. Strengthened by an alliance with Seleucus, who married his daughter, he laid siege to Athens in 299 and was successful. Alexander, one of Cassander's sons, next invoked his aid against his brother Antipater. Taking advantage of this opportunity, he seized the Macedonian throne, and held it for seven years, but was driven out by Pyrrhus in 287. He was then kept in honourable confinement by Seleucus until his death, which was brought about by drinking and dissipation two or three years later. He was noted for his physical beauty.