or murdered, and divorces were
readily obtained for the slightest reasons of State. The marriage tie
seems to have been regarded with but little sanctity; and no bonds were
forbidden because of relationship or of family feuds, Cratesipolis, for
instance, was the wife of Alexander, son of the titular regent
Polysperchon; and at Alexander's death, the father married his son's
widow. She had a thrilling career, and was famous not only for her
warlike qualities, but also for her goodness of heart and kindness to
the poor. Her first husband was Tyrant of Sicyon, and at his death she
seized the reins of power. The citizens, despising her because she was a
woman, revolted; but she met them in battle, herself commanding her
troops, and defeated them and crucified the thirty ringleaders of the
revolt. Thus she established her power.

Of all the princesses of this stormy period, the one who ranks as the
noblest and most virtuous woman of her age was Phila, daughter of
Antipater and wife of Demetrius the Besieger, son of Antigonus--the
Alcibiades among the princes of the Succession. She shared with her
brilliant husband his various vicissitudes of fortune; and she bore
uncomplainingly his many infidelities, his disgraces, and his
misfortunes. When, after an erratic career of successes and failures, he
was made King of Macedon, she no doubt attained the height of her
desires. But his ambition soared higher, and he endeavored to organize a
movement to reconquer and embrace under his exclusive rule the whole
extent of the empire of Alexander. He was unsuccessful; and after seven
years of power as King of Macedon, he was expelled from his kingdom and
was compelled to flee for his life to the Peloponnesus. The blow was too
severe for his noble-hearted wife, and Phila poisoned herself when she
thought his ruin inevitable. She left two children by Demetrius who
became prominent in the politics of the times--Antigonus Gonatas, who
stood nobly by his father in his misfortunes, and who finally became
King of Macedon and was the first of that famous line of kings which
became extinct only at the hands of the Romans; and Stratonice, who at
the tender age of seventeen was married to the aged Seleucus, King of
Syria.

Plutarch tells an interesting story of this princess. Antiochus, son of
Seleucus, fell violently ill, and it was difficult for the royal
physicians to discover the nature of the malady. Finally, the cleverest
of them observed t