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 DEMETRIUS SOTER DEMIDOFF 791 Syria. Demetrius, with his father, next under- took an invasion of Egypt by sea and land, which failed, their forces being repulsed with great loss. He next (305) besieged Rhodes for more than a year ; but the Rhodians, aided by the allied enemies of his father, withstood bravely, and the siege was terminated by a treaty. Demetrius then sailed to Greece, compelled the Boeotians to relinquish their alliance with Mace- don, expelled Cassander from Attica, and made himself master of Corinth, Argos, Sicyon, and most of the towns of Arcadia. In Athens the deified deliverer was received with the wonted honors, and resided as the guest of Minerva in the Parthenon, which he polluted by shameless debauchery. Again summoned to aid his fa- ther, he hastened to Asia, and fought in the great battle of Ipsus, in Phrygia (301), which ended in his defeat and the death of Antig- onus, whose dominions were broken up, the greater part falling into the hands of Seleucus. Demetrius, embarking with the remnant of his army for Athens, met envoys from that city who announced that he would not be admitted. This defection was followed by the loss of his other possessions in Greece. He however gave Seleucus his daughter Stratonice in marriage, and made with him a treaty of alliance which stipulated that Demetrius should retain posses- sion of Cilicia, Cyprus, and a part of the coast of Syria. He now armed for the reconquest of Greece, took Athens after a long resistance (295), and made a successful expedition into the Peloponnesus, when his attention was turned to Macedon. Antipater and Alexan- der, the surviving sons of Cassander, were en- gaged in a bloody struggle for the throne, and the latter invoked the aid of both Demetrius and Pyrrhus of Epirus. Pyrrhus appeared first and vanquished Antipater; Demetrius came after him, and deprived Alexander of both his throne and his life (294). Mean- while his possessions in Asia were taken by Ptolemy and Seleucus. The following four years were occupied by two sieges of Thebes, an invasion of Thrace, and a war with Pyrrhus and the JEtolians, after the termination of which he was preparing for a new campaign in Asia when he was attacked (287) by a triple invasion from Thrace, Epirus, and Egypt. While marching against the Epirotes he was deserted by his Macedonian troops, who pro- claimed Pyrrhus king. Demetrius escaped to his son Antigonus Gonatas, who had main- tained possession of Greece, and saved a part of his dominion by a treaty with Pyrrhus. Leaving his son in Greece, he crossed over to Miletus, and fought his way as far as the north- ern mountain range of Syria, but was finally compelled to surrender to Seleucus, who con- fined him at Apamea in Syria till his death. DEMETRIUS (I.) SOTER (Gr. Swrfa, saviour), king of Syria, born about 187 B. O., died in 150. He was the son of Seleucus Philopator, and grandson of Antiochus the Great. Sent as hostage to Rome by his father, he remained there during the whole reign of Antiochus Epiphanes, after whose death in 164 he be- sought the senate to release him and acknowl- edge him as king of Syria. This being refused, he escaped secretly from Rome, landed at Tri- polis in Phoenicia, and was hailed as king by the Syrians. The young Antiochus V. and his tutor Lysias were put to death (162) ; and rich presents and ready subservience procured the acknowledgment of the new reign by the Ro- mans. Delivering Babylon from a despotic governor, he received his surname of Soter from the gratitude of that city. In his war against the revolted Jews his lieutenant Nica- nor was routed by Judas Maccabaeus, who also concluded a treaty of alliance with the Romans against Demetrius. His interference in the af- fairs of Cappadocia still more alienated the senate of the republic, and his oppressive rule and debauchery disgusted his own people. In- stigated by the deposed governor of Babylon, one Balas rose against him, claiming to be Al- exander, son of Antiochus Epiphanes, and, as- sisted by the Romans, Jews, and Cappadocians, finally vanquished him in battle. Demetrius was slain in his flight. Demetrius Nicator and Antiochus Sidetes, his sons, reigned successive- ly after him. DEMIDOFF, a noble and wealthy Russian fam- ily, the most distinguished members of which are the following : I. Nikita, the son of a serf in the government of Tula, born about 1665. He became a blacksmith and a manufacturer of arms, and .in 1699 established for the gov- ernment the first iron foundery in Siberia at Neviansk, near Yekaterinburg. This served as a model of many other establishments in the Ural mountains, and was presented to him with its dependencies by Peter the Great, who also ennobled him. II. Akinfi, son of the preceding, died about 1740. He discovered important mines of gold, silver, and copper in different regions of Siberia, which he and his son Nikita were allowed by the government to work for their own profit by German miners. He estab- lished the extensive iron founderies of Lower Tagielsk, and was made councillor of state. III. Pavel, nephew of the preceding, born at Revel in 1738, died in 1826. He travelled through several countries, studied metallurgy at Freiberg in Saxony, and natural science un- der LinnaBus at Upsal, founded at Moscow a public cabinet of natural history, a botanical garden, and a professorship of natural science, and a flourishing lyceum at Yaroslav. He also founded a prize of 5,000 rubles to be given yearly to the author who in the judgment of the academy of sciences had enriched Russian literature with the most important and useful work. IV. Mcolai, nephew of the preceding, born in 1774, died at Florence, April 22, 1828. He entered the imperial guard at an early age, became aide-de-camp to Prince Poternkin in 1789, served in two campaigns against the Turks, and travelled through Germany, Italy, France, and England. He commanded a regi-