He greatly complained of the inconstancy of this peo ple, and their disaffection to his person; but, as Plu tarch again observes, kings have no reason to blame other persons, for sometimes changing their party according to their interest, as in acting so, they only imitate their own example, and practise the lessons of infidelity and treason, which they have learned from their whole conduct, which upon all occasions demonstrates an utter disregard for justice, veracity, and faith in the observance of engagements.

"With respect to the affairs of Demetrius: that prince, when he found himself deserted by his troops, retired to the city of Cassandria, where his consort Phila resided. This lady was so afflicted at the calamitous state in which she beheld her husband, and was so terrified at the misfortunes to which she herself was exposed by the declension of his affairs, that she had recourse to a draught of poison, by which she ended a life that was become more insupportable to her than death itself.

Demetrius, thinking to gather up some remains of his shattered fortune, returned to Greece, where several cities still continued devoted to him; and when he had disposed his affairs in the best order he was able, he left the government of those places to his son Antigonus; and assembling all the troops he could raise in that country, which amounted to about eleven thousand men, he embarked for Asia, with a resolution to try whether despair would not bring forth good fortune. Eurydice, the sister of his late wife Phila, received

a

2 Plut. in Demetr. p. 910, 911.

A city on the frontiers of Thrace, and in Upper Macedonia.

him at Miletus, where she lived with the princess Ptolemaida, her daughter by Ptolemy, whose marriage with Demetrius had been agreed upon by the mediation of Seleucus. Eurydice accordingly presented the princess to him, and this alliance gave birth to Demetrius, who afterwards reigned in Cyrene.

> Demetrius, soon after the celebration of his nuptials, entered Caria and Lydia, where he took several places from Lysimachus, and considerably augmented his forces; by which means he at last made himself master of Sardis : but as soon as Agathocles, the son' of Lysimachus, appeared at the head of an army, he abandoned all his conquests, and marched into the east. His design in taking this route, was to surprise Armenia, and Media; but Agathocles, who followed him close, cut off his provisions and forage so effectually, that a sickness spread through his army, and weakened it extremely; and when he at last made an attempt to march over mount Taurus, with the small remains of his troops, he found all the passes guarded by the enemies, which obliged him to march for Tarsus in Cilicia.

From thence he represented to Seleucus, to whom that city belonged, the melancholy situation of his affairs, and entreated him, in a very moving manner, to afford him the necessary subsistance for himself and the remainder of his troops. Seleucus was touched with compassion at first, and dispatched orders to his lieutenants, to furnish him with all he should want. But when remonstrances were afterwards made to him

VOL. 6.

b Plut. in Demetr. p. 912–915.

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upon the valor and abilities of Demetrius, his genius for resource and stratagem, and intrepidity in the execution of his designs, whenever the least opportunity for acting presented itself; he thought it impossible to reinstate a prince of that character, without incurring many disadvantages himself. For which reason, instead of continuing to support him, he resolved upon his destruction, and immediately placed himself at the head of a numerous army, with an intention to attack him. Demetrius, who had received intelligence of these measures, posted his troops in those parts of mount Taurus, where he imagined it would be very difficult to force them, and sent to Seleucus a second time, to implore his permission to pass into the east, in order to establish himself in some country belonging to the barbarians, where he might end his days in tranquillity; but if he should not be inclined to grant him that favour, he entreated his consent to take up his winter quarters in his dominions, and begged that prince not to expose to famine, and the rigors of the season, as that would be delivering him up defenceless to the discretion of his enemies.

him

Seleucus was so prejudiced against the design he had formed against the east, that this proposal only tended to increase his diffidence, and he consented to nothing more, than his taking winter quarters in Cataonia, a province adjacent to Cappadocia, during the two severest months of that season; after which he was immediately to evacuate that country. Seleucus, during this negotiation, had placed strong guards, at all the passes from Cilicia into Syria, which obliged Demetrius to have recourse to arms, in order to disengage himself.

He accordingly made such a vigorous attack on the troops who guarded the passes in the mountains, that he dislodged them from thence, and opened himself a passage into Syria, which he immediately entered.

His own courage, and the hopes of his soldiers, reviving from this success, he took all possible measures for making a last effort for the reestablishment of his affairs, but he had the misfortune to be suddenly seized with a severe distemper, which disconcerted all his measures. During the forty days that he continued sick, most of his soldiers deserted; and when he at last recovered his health, so as to be capable of action, he found himself reduced to the desperate necessity of attempting to surprise Seleucus in his camp by night, with the handful of men who still continued in his service. A deserter gave Seleucus intelligence of this design, time enough to prevent its effect; and the desertion of Demetrius's troops increased upon this disappointment. He then endeavoured, as his last resource, to regain the mountains, and join his fleet; but he found the passes so well guarded, that he was obliged to conceal himself in the woods; from whence he was soon dislodged by hunger, and compelled to surrender himself to Seleucus, who caused him to be conducted under a strong guard to the Chersonesus of Syria near Laodicea, where he was detained prisoner. He, however, was allowed the liberty of a park for hunting, and all the conveniences of life in abundance.

When Antigonus received intelligence of his father's captivity, he was affected with the utmost sorrow, and wrote to all the kings, and even to Seleucus himself, to obtain his release, offering, at the same time, his own

person as an hostage for him, and consenting to part with all his remaining dominions, as the price of his liberty. Several cities, and a great number of princes, joined their solicitations in favour of the captive prince; but Lysimachus offered a large sum of money to Seleucus, provided he would cause his prisoner to be put to death. The king of Syria was struck with horror at so barbarous and inhuman a proposal; and, in order to grant a favour solicited from so many different quarters, he seemed only to wait the arrival of his son Antigonus, and Stratonice, that Demetrius might owe the obligation of his liberty to them.

In the mean time, that unhappy prince supported his misfortunes with patience and magnanimity, and became at last so habituated to them, that they no longer seemed to affect him. He exercised himself in racing, walking, and hunting; and might have been infinitely more happy, had he made a true estimate of his condition, than whilst hurried over lands and seas by the phrenzy of ambition. For what other fruit do these pretended heroes, who are called conquerors, derive from all their labours and wars, and from all the dangers to which they expose themselves, but the fatality of tormenting themselves, by rendering others miserable ; and constantly turning their backs on tranquillity and happiness, which, if they may be believed, are the sole ends of all their motions? Demetrius was gradually seized with melancholy, and no longer amused himself with his former exercises: he grew corpulent, and entirely abandoned himself to drinking and gaming at dice, to which he devoted whole days, undoubtedly with design to banish the melancholy thoughts of his