Demetrius
Demetrius names 5 different subjects across the 6 encyclopedias on this shelf. Each is set out below.
Demetrius surnamed Poliorcetes
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
surnamed Poliorcetes, King of Macedonia, was the son of Antigonus. At the age of 22 his father intrusted him with an army against Ptolemy, by whom he was defeated near Gaza. But he soon repaired the loss, and with a fleet of 150 ships sailed to Athens, which he delivered from Demetrius Phalereus. He next took part in the war against Ptolemy, whose fleet he destroyed. In 305 b. c. Demetrius undertook the siege of Rhodes, but after persevering for a year was compelled to relinquish the attempt. He afterward defeated Cassander at Thermopyle; but was called to aid Antigonus against Seleucus and Lysimachus, in Asia. The two armies met at Ipsus, 299 B. c.; and after an obstinate battle, the army of Demetrius was defeated, and his father slain, but he himself fled to Ephesus. He, however, mustered a new army, and in 295 B. c. relieved Athens from tyranny. He then slew Alexander, the son of Cassander, and seated himself on the throne of Macedonia. At the end of seven years of constant war he was forced to retire into Asia, where he was reduced to distress. He went to the court of Seleucus, his son-in-law; but a difference breaking out between them, war ensued, and Demetrius was defeated. Deserted by his to son-in-law, who exiled him Pella, in Syria, where he died 283 b. C.
Demetrius Czar of Russia
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
Czar of Russia, commonly called the false Demetrius, was a native of Jaroslav, and a novice in a monastery, where he was tutored by a monk to personate Demetrius, son of the Czar John Vasilowitz, who had been murdered by Boris Gudenow. Having learned his tale, he went into Lithuania, embraced the Roman Catholic religion, and married the daughter of the palatine Sandomir. In 1604 Demetrius entered Russia at the head of a small army, was joined by a number of Russians and Cossacks, and defeated an army sent against him. On the death of Boris, the people strangled his son, and placed Demetrius on the throne, but his partiality to the Poles, and contempt of the Greek religion, occasioned an insurrection, and he was assassinated in 1606, after reigning about 11 months.
Demetrius A son of Antigonus and Stratonice
1000 Classical Characters (1900)
A son of Antigonus and Stratonice, surnamed Poliorcetes, destroyer of towns. At the age of twenty-two he was sent by his father against Ptolemy, who had invaded Syria. He was defeated at Gaza, but soon afterward obtained a victory. The greater part of his life was passed in warfare, his fortunes undergoing many changes. He was distinguished for his fondness of dissipation when in dissolute society, and for military skill and valor in the battlefield. He died B. C. 286.
Demetrius Surnamed Soter
1000 Classical Characters (1900)
Surnamed Soter, king of Syria. His father gave him as a hostage to the Romans. After the death of his father, Seleucus Philopator, Antiochus Epiphanes usurped the throne of Syria, and was succeeded by his son Antiochus Eupator. Demetrius procured his liberty, and established himself on the throne, causing Eupator to be put to death.
Demetrius Son of Soter
1000 Classical Characters (1900)
Son of Soter, whom he succeeded after he had driven from the throne a usurper, Alexander Bala. Demetrius gave himself up to luxury, and suffered his kingdom to be governed by his favorites, thus becoming odious to his subjects. He was at last killed by the governor of Tyre, where he had fled for protection.
What Has Changed in the Last Century
The narratives here still stand in outline, but two details have moved. Collier's dates the battle of Ipsus to 299 B.C.; the standard date is 301 B.C., and where the 1921 account has Demetrius Poliorcetes exiled to "Pella, in Syria" (Pella was in Macedonia), historians place his last years as a comfortable captive of Seleucus in Syria, drinking himself to death about 283 B.C. — so Collier's 283 is preferred over the 286 given by 1000 Classical Characters in 1900. On the Russian pretender, Collier's states flatly that the real Demetrius (Dmitry, son of Ivan IV) "had been murdered by Boris Gudenow" at Uglich in 1591; most historians now doubt Boris ordered the killing and lean toward the contemporary commission's finding of an accident, a self-inflicted wound during a seizure. Neither entry mentions that the False Dmitry of 1606 was followed by two further pretenders in the Time of Troubles, or that the year-long siege of Rhodes that earned Poliorcetes his nickname left behind the sold-off war machinery said to have funded the Colossus.
Written for this edition, 2026.