<h2><SPAN name="CVIII_THE_BATTLE_OF_IPSUS" id="CVIII_THE_BATTLE_OF_IPSUS"></SPAN>CVIII. THE BATTLE OF IPSUS.</h2>
<p>Demetrius, having failed to take Rhodes, now passed over into Greece,
hoping to overthrow Cassander; but the other kings, growing afraid of
him, agreed to help the ruler of Macedon. They therefore collected a
large army, and forced Demetrius to stop and fight them all at Ip´sus,
in Asia Minor.</p>
<p>Here, just twenty years after Alexander's death, his generals met in a
great battle. Seleucus, it is said, brought a number of fighting
elephants, such as Porus had used, which added much to the confusion and
fierceness of the struggle.</p>
<p>Antigonus, the father of Demetrius, was slain, and Demetrius himself was
defeated, and driven to Ephesus. The Athenians, who had been his friends
and allies as long as he was prosperous, now basely deserted him. They
declared themselves his enemies, and made a law whereby any one who
spoke well of him, or tried to make peace with him, should be put to
death.</p>
<p>The battle of Ipsus decided the fate of Alexander's kingdom. It was now
divided into four principal parts. Ptolemy remained master of Egypt, and
his family reigned there many years, until under Cle-o-pa´tra, the last
of his race, the country fell into the hands of the Romans.</p>
<p>Seleucus and his descendants, the Se-leu´ci-dæ, had the Persian Empire,
or Syria and the land between the Indus and the Euphrates. The capital
of this empire was first Se-leu´cia, near Babylon, and later An´ti-och,
which became a rich and well-known city.<!-- Page 266 --><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[Pg 266]</SPAN></span></p>
<p>Lysimachus was given the kingdom of Thrace, which, however, soon passed
into other hands; and Cassander remained master of Macedon. As for
Demetrius, although he had lost a kingdom at the battle of Ipsus, he
soon managed to conquer another.</p>
<p>In his anger at the Athenians, he first marched against them, and
besieged them in their own city. The Athenians were frightened, for they
knew how well they deserved punishment; but they resisted as well as
they could, and the siege dragged on for several months.</p>
<p>At the end of this time there was no food left in the city, and the
people suffered greatly from hunger. Finally they were obliged to yield;
and Demetrius rode into Athens in triumph.</p>
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