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Oh son of the most mighty god Poseidon and Aphrodite, Hail! For other gods are either far away or have not ears, or exist not, or heed us not at all, but you we can see in very presence, not in wood and not in stone, but for real. So we pray to you, first bring peace, you most dear: For you have the power. Athenians to Demetrius Poliorcetes 291/90 BC

Demetrius I of Macedon, drawing based on sculpture from the Villa of the Pisons, Herculaneum. Roman copy of a 306 to 290 BC original. Naples, a work of Teisicrates. Museo Archeologico Nazionale , Source

Horns of Demetrius Poliorcetes (coloured red) (Source, Reference 1)

Demetrius I (337-283 BC), surnamed Poliorcetes ("Besieger") (modern Greek Δημήτριος ο Πολιορκητής ), son of Antigonus I of Macedon and Stratonice, was a king of Macedon (294 - 288 BC). He belonged to the Antigonid dynasty.

At the age of twenty-two he was left by his father to defend Syria against Ptolemy the son of Lagus; he was totally defeated in Battle of Gaza, but soon partially repaired his loss by a victory in the neighbourhood of Myus.

After an unsuccessful expedition against Babylon, and several campaigns against Ptolemy on the coasts of Cilicia and Cyprus, Demetrius sailed with a fleet of 250 ships to Athens. He freed the city from the power of Cassander and Ptolemy, expelled the garrison which had been stationed there under Demetrius of Phalerum, and besieged and took Munychia (307 BC). After these victories he was worshipped by the Athenians as a tutelary deity under the title of Soter ("Preserver").

In the campaign of 306 BC against Ptolemy he defeated Menelaus, Ptolemy's brother, in the naval Battle of Salamis, completely destroying the naval power of Egypt. In 305 BC, now bearing the title of king bestowed upon him by his father, he endeavoured to punish the Rhodians for having deserted his cause; his ingenuity in devising new instruments of siege in his unsuccessful attempt to reduce the capital gained him the appellation of Poliorcetes.

He returned a second time to Greece as liberator. But his licentiousness and extravagance made the Athenians long for the government of Cassander. He also roused the jealousy of Alexander's Diadochi; Seleucus, Cassander and Lysimachus united to destroy him and his father. The hostile armies met at the Ipsus in Phrygia (301 BC). Antigonus was killed, and Demetrius, after sustaining a severe losses, retired to Ephesus. This reversal of fortune stirred up many enemies against him—the Athenians refused even to admit him into their city. But he soon afterwards ravaged the territory of Lysimachus and effected a reconciliation with Seleucus, to whom he gave his daughter Stratonice in marriage. Athens was at this time oppressed by the tyranny of Lachares, but Demetrius, after a protracted blockade, gained possession of the city (294 BC) and pardoned the inhabitants for their former misconduct.

Demetrius siege tower (Helepolis) used in siege of Rhodes(305 BC/304 BC)

In the same year he established himself on the throne of Macedonia by murdering Antipater II, the son of Cassander. But his new position was continually threatened by Pyrrhus, who took advantage of his occasional absence to ravage the defenceless part of his kingdom (Plutarch, Pyrrhus, 7 if.); at length, the combined forces of Pyrrhus, Ptolemy and Lysimachus, assisted by the disaffected among his own subjects, obliged him to leave Macedonia in 288 BC.

He passed into Asia and attacked some of the provinces of Lysimachus with varying success. Famine and pestilence destroyed the greater part of his army, and he solicited Seleucus' support and assistance. But before he reached Syria hostilities broke out, and after he had gained some advantages over his son-in-law, Demetrius was totally forsaken by his troops on the field of battle and surrendered to Seleucus. His son Antigonus offered all his possessions, and even his person, in order to procure his father's liberty. But all proved unavailing, and Demetrius died after a confinement of three years (283 BC). His remains were given to Antigonus and honoured with a splendid funeral at Corinth. His descendants remained in possession of the Macedonian throne till the time of Perseus, when Macedon was conquered by the Romans.

This article incorporates text from the public domain 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica.

Demetrius Poliorcetes Coins, Nike on a ship, Poseidon

Demetrius Poliorcetes, Demetrius Poliorcetes,

Head of Demetrius I Poliorcetes (337-283 BC), right side Poseidon

Coin of Demetrius I of Macedon. Greek inscription reads ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΔΗΜΗΤΡΙΟΥ ([coin] of King Demetrius)

Demetrius Poliorcetes Coins, Nike on a ship, Poseidon

Decree of Athenian ethelontai epilektoi for Demetrios Poliorketes Soter, honouring him with an equestrian statue and sacrifices.

Plutarch's Lives of the Noble Greeks and Romans

Alcibiades and Coriolanus - Alexander the Great and Julius Caesar - Aratus & Artaxerxes and Galba & Otho
Aristides and Cato the Elder - Crassus and Nicias - Demetrius and Antony - Demosthenes and Cicero
Dion and Brutus - Fabius and Pericles - Lucullus and Cimon - Lysander and Sulla - Numa and Lycurgus
Pelopidas and Marcellus - Philopoemen and Flamininus - Phocion and Cato the Younger - Pompey and Agesilaus
Poplicola and Solon - Pyrrhus and Gaius Marius - Romulus and Theseus - Sertorius and Eumenes
Tiberius Gracchus & Gaius Gracchus and Agis & Cleomenes - Timoleon and Aemilius Paulus - Themistocles and Camillus

References

1. Stierdionysos oder Sohn des Poseidon: Zu den Hörnern des Demetrios Poliorketes (German)

King of Macedon
Preceded by: Antipater II of Macedon
Succeeded by: Lysimachus and Pyrrhus of Epirus

Duncan B. Campbell, Brian Delf (Illustrator), Greek and Roman Artillery 399 BC - AD 363 , Osprey Publishing, Limited 2003, ISBN: 1841766348