Page:History of Greece Vol XII.djvu/405

 PTOLEMY IN GREECE. 373 nominally at liberty, yet under watch by the governor, who re- ceived his orders from Antigonus ; she was now preparing to quit that place, for the purpose of joining Ptolemy in Egypt, and of becoming his wife. She had been invoked as auxiliary, or courted in marriage, by several of the great Macedonian chiefs, without any result. Now, however, Antigonus, afraid of the in- fluence which her name might tlu-ow into the scale of his rival Ptolemy, caused her to be secretly murdered as she was prepar- ing for her departure ; throwing the blame of the deed on some of her women, whom he punished with death.i All the rela- tives of Alexander the Great (except Thessalonike wife of Kas- sander, daughter of Philip by a Thessalian mistress) thus suc- cessively perished, and all by the orders of one or other among his principal officers. The imperial family, with the prestige of its name, thus came to an end. Ptolemy of Egypt now set sail for Greece with a powerful armament. He acquired possession of the important cities — Sikyon and Corinth — which were handed over to him by Kra- tesipolis, widow of Alexander son of Polysperchon. He then made known by proclamation his purpose as a liberator, inviting aid from the Peloponnesian cities themselves against the garri- sons of Kassander. From some he received encouraging an- swers and promises ; but none of them made any movement, or seconded him by armed demonstrations. He thought it prudent therefore to conclude a truce with Kassander and retu-e from Greece, leaving however secure garrisons in Sikyon and Cor- inth.2 The Grecian cities had now become tame and passive. Feeling their own incapacity of self-defence, and averse to aux- iliary efforts, which brought upon them enmity without any pros- pect of advantage — they awaited only the turns of foreign inter- ference and the behests of the potentates around them. The Grecian ascendency of Kassander, however, was in the following year exposed to a graver shock than it had ever yet encountered' — by the sudden invasion of Demetrius called Poli- orketes, son of Antigonus. This young prince, sailing from Ephesus witl a formidable armament, contrived to conceal his ' Diodor. xx. 37 compare Justin, xii". 6 ; xiv. 1. ^ Diodor. xx. 37 VOL. XII. 82