Page:History of Greece Vol XII.djvu/499

 DIONYSIUS OF HERAKLEIA. 467 By the faTor of Antipater and the regency at Pella, the He- rakleotic despot was enabled both to maintain and extend his dominions, until the return of Alexander to Susa and Babylon in 324 B. c. All other authority was now superseded by the per- sonal will of the omnipotent conqueror ; who, mistrusting all his delegates — Antipater, the pi-incesses, and the satraps — listened readily to complainants from all quarters, and took particular pride in espousing the pretensions of Grecian exiles. I have already recounted how in June 324 b. c., Alexander promul- gated at the Olympic festival a sweeping edict, directing that in every Grecian city the exiles should be restored — by force, if force was required. Among the various Grecian exiles, those from Herakleia were not backward in soliciting his support, to obtain their own restoration, as well as the expulsion of the des- pot. As they were entitled, along with others, to the benefit of the recent edict, the position of Dionysius became one of extreme danger. He now reaped the full benefit of his antecedent pru- dence, in having maintained both his popularity with the Herak- leots at home, and his influence with Antipater, to whom the en- forcement of the edict was entrusted. He was thus enabled to ward off the danger for a time ; and his good fortune rescued him from it altogether, by the death of Alexander in June 323 B. C. That event, coming as it did unexpectedly upon every one, filled Dionysius with such extravagant joy, that he fell into a swoon : and he commemorated it by erecting a statue in honor of Euthymia, or the tranquillizing goddess. His position how- ever seemed again precarious, when the Herakleotic exiles re- newed their solicitations to Perdikkas : who favored their cause, and might probably have restored them, if he had chosen to direct his march towards the Hellespont against Antipater and Krate- rus, instead of undertaking the ill-advised expedition against Egypt, wherein he perished.^ The tide of fortune now turned more than ever in favor of Dionysius. With Antipater and Kraterus, the pi-eponderant po- tentates in his neighborhood, he was on the best terms ; and it happened at this junctui-e to suit the ijolitical views of Kraterus lo dismiss his Persian Avife Amastris (niece of the late Persian ' Memnon, c. 4.