The Rise of Monarchy
Ancient Sources:
Shipley, The Greek World after Alexander, ch. 3, "Kings and Cities"
Bugh, ed., The Cambridge Companion to the Hellenistic World, ch. 2, "The Hellenistic Kingdoms"
Erskine, ed., A Companion to the Hellenistic World, ch. 11, "Kings"
M.M. Austin, "Hellenistic Kings, War and the Economy"
R.A. Billows, Antigonos the One-Eyed and the Creation of the Hellenistic State
S.M. Burstein, "Arsinoe II Philadelphos: a revisionist view"
E. Carney, Women and Monarchy in Macedonia, and various.
G. Cohen, "The Diadochoi and the New Monarchies"
R.M.Errington, "Macedonian Royal Style",
J.J. Gabbert, "Pragmatic Democracy in Hellenistic Athens",The Ancient World, vol. 13, 1986.
J.D. Grainger, Seleukos Nikator
H. Hauben, "A Royal Toast in 302 B.C.", Ancient Society vol. 5, 1974, pp. 108-114.
G.H. Macurdy, Hellenistic Queens
P. McKechnie, Outsiders in the Greek Cities in the Fourth Century BC
L. Mooren, "The Nature of the Hellenistic Monarchy",
A. Stuart, Faces of Power: Alexander's Image and Hellenistic Politics
Ben Zion Wacholder, "The Beginning of the Seleucid Era and the Chronology of the Diadochoi"
Plutarch, Life of Demetrius 17.2-18.1 and the assumption of the title ‘King’ by Antigonus Monophthalmus and Demetrius.
Translation adapted from the Penguin Classics edition of I. Scott-Kilvert, 1973.
Demetrius added more lustre to his brilliant victory by the generosity and humanity which he showed to his opponents:
he not only buried the enemy's dead with full honours but he also set his prisoners free. He then chose twelve hundred
complete suits of armour from the spoils and presented them to the Athenians.
He sent Aristodemus of Miletus as his personal messenger to carry the news of the victory to his father.
Of all those in Demetrius’ entourage this man was the arch-flatterer and on this occasion he set out, it seems,
to crown his achievement and surpass any of his previous efforts. After he had made the crossing from Cyprus,
he would not allow the ship to approach the land. Instead he ordered the crew to cast anchor and to remain quietly on board,
while he had himself rowed ashore in a small boat and landed alone. Then he continued his journey to Antigonus, who was
awaiting the news of the battle in a state of suspense and with all the anxiety which is natural to a man who is contending
for such high stakes. When he heard that Aristodemos was on his way his agitation reached such a pitch that he could
scarcely keep himself indoors, but sent servants and friends one after the other to discover from Aristodemus what had happened.
Aristodemus refused to utter a word to anybody, but walked on in complete silence, keeping a measured pace and wearing a grave expression
on his face. By this time Antigonus was thoroughly alarmed and could bear the suspense no longer; he came to the door to meet Aristodemus,
and found him accompanied by a large crowd which was hastening to the palace.
At last when Aristodemus was near enough, he stretched out his hand and cried in a loud voice, ‘Hail, King Antigonus,
we have defeated Ptolemy in a sea battle. We are the masters of Cyprus and we have taken sixteen thousand, eight hundred prisoners.’
Antigonus replied, ‘Hail to you likewise, by Zeus. But I shall punish you for torturing us for so long.
You can wait a while for the reward for your good news.’