Hi there. You're listening to the Hellenistic Age podcast. Episode 18, to the strongest,

the end of the wars of the Deodorhor.

To Demetrius the first Polyarquites, things seemed like they could have been going better.

Stuck on a ship in the middle of the Aegean Sea, Demetrius had fallen from his height of power just a few months prior. The Battle of Ipsis in 301 BC had resulted in an alliance of anti-Antiginid kings,

attacking and successfully defeating Demetrius and his father Antigonus Monophthalmos, who died on the battlefield.

The territory formerly held by the Antigonids, comprising much of

Asia Minor and Levant, was subsequently carved up by the victorious kings and added to their realms.

Demetrius himself managed to escape the battlefield with a few thousand men, and though he held

substantial power in the sea thanks to his possession of places like

Tyre and Cyprus, he did not feel comfortable until he had reached the supposed political

center of his kingdom's power, Athens.

The Antigonids had cultivated good relations with the famed city for years, minus the

controversies Demetrius had embroiled himself shortly before Ipsis.

But once he would get there, things would get better.

Right?

Well, not initially.

See, Athens was aware of the Antigna defeat,

and decided to intercept Demetrius' fleet before it even made port.

They knew Demetrius' power was severely weakened, while the other kings,

including King Cassander, just a few hundred miles north in Macedon, were made stronger.

Perhaps they thought that neutrality was probably their safest bet, throwing any loyalties they

had away for the Antigonocas, without explicitly opposing it either.

...