ontinued until the
generals became weary of warfare, and concluded to make peace.

A treaty was then signed, settling the claims of all parties, and
providing that all the Greek cities should have their freedom. This
done, each went back to his own province; but it soon became evident
that the peace would not last, for Cassander did not keep his promise to
make the Greek states free.

When Cassander's wrongdoing became known, the generals called upon
Demetrius to bring him to terms. The Athenians were so pleased when
they heard of this, that they received Demetrius with great joy.

Demetrius was such a good general that he soon managed to defeat
Cassander at Thermopylae; and when he came back to Athens in triumph, the
happy people gave him the title of "The Preserver," called a month by
his name, lodged him in the Parthenon, and worshiped him as a god. Some
time after this, Demetrius conquered Ptolemy, who had shown that he
would not abide by the treaty either. This victory was so great, that
Demetrius' soldiers said he deserved a reward, and named him King of
Syria.

When the other generals heard that Demetrius and his father had accepted
the title of kings, they too put on royal crowns. Then, as each was
still jealous of the rest, and wished to obtain more land for himself,
war soon broke out among them once more.

Demetrius, who had been very lucky in all his wars, now planned to take
the Island of Rhodes from Ptolemy, King of Egypt. It proved, however, a
far more difficult thing than he had expected, and, after besieging the
principal city for a whole year, he gave up the attempt.

But he had invented so many machines to try to subdue the city of
Rhodes, that every one thought he deserved much credit, and they
therefore gave him the title of Po-li-or-ce'tes ("the city taker").

Peace was agreed upon, and Demetrius retreated, giving up to the
Rho'di-ans all the mighty war engines he had brought with him. These
were sold for three hundred talents (something over three hundred
thousand dollars), and the money thus obtained was used in erecting a
colossal statue in honor of Apollo (or He'li-os), the patron god of the
island.

[Illustration: Demetrius Poliorcetes. (Coin.)]

This marvelous brazen statue, which was so fine that it was one of the
seven wonders of the ancient world, represented the sun god, with his
head surrounded by rays, and with his feet resting one on each side of
the entrance of the port.