ABSTRACT
The years from 286 to 283 had not been happy ones for Antigonus Gonatas. His father had been deposed as king of Macedonia, his mother had committed suicide, Athens had joined in the hostility against Demetrius, and then the final campaign of Demetrius had proved unsuccessful and fatal. Antigonus had a fleet of some consequence at his disposal; he used it in impressive ceremony to escort the ashes of his father back to Greece for burial in his namesake city of Demetrias (Plut. Dem. 53). The Ptolemaic fleet had gained in power and prominence in recent years, at the expense of Demetrius, and no doubt Ptolemy’s cooperation was required for the grand display of the Antigonid fleet. This should not be surprising. Over several generations, the relationship between Ptolemies, Seleucids, and Antigonids-and Pyrrhus, also-was one of very aggressive but honorable competition. There was little personal animosity (Lysimachus and Cassander were genuinely hostile to the Antigonids on a personal basis). No doubt there was a sense of the mutability of fortune. Ptolemy I Soter himself would die within a few months; he had already brought his son Philadelphus into full partnership with him, and was aware of the impermanence of worldly power.
