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Indlæser... Demetrius: Sacker of Citiesaf James Romm
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"The life of Demetrius (337-283 BCE) serves as a through-line to the forty years following the death of Alexander the Great (323-282 BCE), a time of unparalleled turbulence and instability in the ancient world. With no monarch able to take Alexander's place, his empire fragmented into five pieces. Capitalizing on good looks, youth, and sexual prowess, Demetrius sought to weld those pieces together and recover the dream of a single world state, with a new Alexander-himself-at its head. He succeeded temporarily, but in crucial, colossal engagements-a massive invasion of Egypt, a siege of Rhodes that went on for a full year, and the Battle of Ipsus-he came up just short. He ended his career in a rash invasion of Asia and became the target of a desperate manhunt, only to be captured and destroyed by his own son-in-law. James Romm tells the story of Demetrius the Besieger's rise and spectacular fall but also explores his vibrant inner life and family relationships to depict a real, complex, and recognizable figure"--Publisher's description. Ingen biblioteksbeskrivelser fundet. |
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 Google Books — Indlæser...GenrerMelvil Decimal System (DDC)938.508092History and Geography Ancient World Greece to 323 Attica AthensLC-klassificeringVurderingGennemsnit: (4.1)
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1
Review of the Yale University Press hardcover (November 29, 2022).
Although the title of this biography of Demetrius Poliorcetes (aka Demetrius the Besieger aka Demetrius I of Macedon (337-283 BC) implies a great number of victories, the overall impression that I had was that of a long series of catastrophic losses.
Demetrius followed in the footsteps of his father Antigonus One-Eye in the wars of the successors to Alexander the Great as the various generals battled for supremacy after the death of their leader. Demetrius' reputation is based on his construction of huge siege engines and warships, even though his military campaigns were often failures.
See lithograph at https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yCKN-2Ep6E8/XTrZ0Pq-7MI/AAAAAAAAgwc/zf9XqThcBO8wkxVw8...
Lithograph of the Siege of Rhodes, English School, 19th Century. Source: See link under 'Helepolis' below.
The siege engine Helepolis (Greek: City Taker) was used in the siege of Rhodes and after the failure of that campaign, parts of it were used in the construction of the Colossus of Rhodes. Demetrius' flagship Hekkaidekērēs (Greek: The Sixteen) was considered the largest ever single-hulled warship build in the ancient world.
See statue bust at https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b5/Demetrios_Poliorketes_...
Bust of the divinised Demetrios Poliorketes wearing bull's horns. Roman copy from 1st century AD of a Greek original from 3rd century BC. Image sourced from Wikipedia.
Footnote
* Ittimenos (Greek: Loser)
Although it seemed like a long catalogue of failed campaigns, I still enjoyed reading this further book in the Yale University Press' Ancient Lives series. I had previously read Vergil: The Poet's Life and Cleopatra: Her History, Her Myth.
Other Reviews
Demetrius: Sacker of Cities by Marc DeSantis, The-Past.com, March 5, 2023.
Other Books
Demetrius the Besieger (2020) preceded Romm's book by a few years and was considered the first major English language biography of Demetrius. You can read a summary of Demetrius' life by one of its co-authors at Why Demetrius the Besieger Was One of History’s Most Outrageous Kings.
Trivia and Links
Read an excerpt from the book at How the Wars of the Successors Began at Yale University Press.
Author James Romm discusses "Demetrius: Sacker of Cities" at the Yale University Press Podcast which you can listen to here.
Demetrius: Sacker of Cities is part of Yale University Press's Ancient Lives series which currently includes: Marcus Aurelius: The Stoic Emperor (expected February 2024), Vergil: The Poet’s Life (2023), Ramesses the Great: Egypt's King of Kings (2023), Julian: Rome’s Last Pagan Emperor (2023), Crassus: The First Tycoon (2022), and Cleopatra: Her History, Her Myth (2022). (