A warrior, a prince, and an empire: The incredible rise and fall of a Macedonian successor

Alexander the Great was a great warrior and a brilliant commander, but a very bad and short-sighted politician. He died without leaving a clear will and a worthy successor to inherit his empire. His own son was still a baby, and his stepbrother could not cope with the tasks set. Power struggles, dramas, incest, poisoning, and conspiracies brought one of the most outrageous figures in the entire Hellenistic era to the throne. The story of the dizzying rise and deafening fall of Demetrius the Besieger is further reviewed.

Cooler than Game of thrones

An incredibly dramatic struggle marked the Hellenistic era for power. Probably, history has never known such bloody machinations, strange marriages, which were often outright incest, and such a powerful redrawing of the world map. It was during this period, in such conditions, that one of the most controversial rulers of that time appeared on the political scene. If it were not for his majesty’s chance, the world might not have known the name of the simple warrior Demetrius, who by his will became king.

Demetrius was a warrior, and the son of an incredibly dramatic struggle marked the Hellenistic era of a warrior named Antigonus the One-Eyed. They went through all the wars side by side with Alexander the Great. They didn’t have a drop of noble blood and no chance of taking the throne. Nevertheless, their low birth did not prevent them from entering into a bloody struggle for power and the throne of the Empire of Macedon. For many years they fought, conquering lands and destroying all rivals without a shadow of pity. In the end, this struggle with other claimants led to the collapse of the great empire into small principalities. Demetrios nevertheless stood out from the general background of all these kings. He had an outstanding military reputation.

A warrior, a prince, and an empire: The incredible rise and fall of a Macedonian successor

Alexander the Great was a great warrior and a brilliant commander, but a very bad and short-sighted politician. He died without leaving a clear will and a worthy successor to inherit his empire. His own son was still a baby, and his stepbrother could not cope with the tasks set. Power struggles, dramas, incest, poisoning, and conspiracies brought one of the most outrageous figures in the entire Hellenistic era to the throne. Visit. A F R I N I K . C O M . For the full article. The story of the dizzying rise and deafening fall of Demetrius the Besieger is further reviewed.

Patience and hard work will wear everything out

Demetrios’ biographer, the ancient Greek author Plutarch, wrote that Demetrios’ politics was like hard work and hard play. He was known for his incredible ingenuity and even extravagance when it came to siege weapons. His talents in this field earned him the nickname “The Besieger.” He came up with the idea of using a real monster called Helepolis (city conqueror). It was a terrifyingly huge mobile tower-type device the size of a nine-story building. The tower was loaded with soldiers. When she was rushing towards the target city, it looked terrifying. The sight and sound alone made an indelible impression on the defenders of the citadel. Many simply threw down their weapons and stampeded.

In history, it can sometimes be incredibly difficult to separate fact from fiction. Some chroniclers told amazing and strange stories about Demetrius. According to their information, he manipulated time by changing the calendar so that he could complete his initiation into the mysteries (religious cult) sooner than he was supposed to. In addition, he became one of the first rulers of the Western world to place his image on coins. Before that, the faces of gods or deceased great rulers were usually minted there. Also, by order of Demetrius, hymns were sung in his honor, where they called him the revived god, calling him the son of Poseidon and Aphrodite.

Unbridled feasts and polygamy

Demetrius’s feasts brought him an even more notorious reputation. He had several wives, which was against the law. There were five of them in total. The ruler also entertained many courtesans. The most beloved of them was a woman named Lamia. The name of the latter, referring to a terrible mystical monster that devours human flesh, was quite justified. Together with the tsar, they had fun in such a way that they plunged the public into real horror.

For example, once the Athenians wanted to honor Demetrius by allowing him to symbolically marry the goddess Athena. Instead of thanking Demetrios for the incredible honor, he committed blasphemy. He and Lamia entered the temple and performed various actions there that shocked the virgin goddess. In addition, the king imposed exorbitant taxes on the people just to give money to his numerous women.

Retured where he came from

All these eccentricities, completely disrespectful behavior, and blasphemous insolence greatly disturbed the subjects. Government activities require a lot of administrative work. Demetrios wasn’t interested in it at all. He always accepted petitions, promising to read them, but usually he just threw them away. This behavior led to the fact that the king was ignominiously expelled from Macedonia. Doing what he was used to, he eventually came to be captured by one of his enemies.
Being a prisoner, he just lay around all day and indulged in drunkenness. As a result, he died. It was a sad end for such a bright personality. Demetrius did not retain his throne, but he certainly earned his place in history by becoming such an outrageous, but still not without charm, king, who fully deserved his nickname the Besieger. A warrior for whom there were no invincible citadels.