The Fourth Diadoch War, between Antigonus Monophtalmus and his son Demetrius Poliorcetes on one side, and Cassander of Macedonia and Ptolemy of Egypt on the other, began in 307 BC. Having disposed of Cassander by making him enough trouble in Greece, Demetrius was ordered by his father to attack the island of Cyprus, then in Ptolemy’s possession. The importance Cyprus was simple – apart from its wealth, it occupied a very strategic location in the Eastern Mediterranean, from where one could easily attack Cilicia, Syria and Phoenicia. Therefore the Egyptian ruler was eager to protect it from foreign incursions.
Demetrius showed up in the spring of 306 BC. Commanding general in Cyprus was Menelaus, a brother of Ptolemy. He was defeated and blocked in the harbour of Salamis. Notwithstanding this blockade, however, he managed to send a message to Alexandria, pleading for urgent assistance. In the meantime, Demetrius started besieging the city. He was not called Poliorcetes (‘besieger, taker of cities’) for nothing and once again impressed with the amount, quality and size of his siege weapons. The siege proving long, however, Ptolemy arrived with a great navy, upon which Demetrius found himself heavily outnumbered by the foes. He had only 15,000 soldiers at his disposal, while the enemy’s combined forces accounted for 27,000 troops. Sketching his plan for the battle, Ptolemy decided to lead 150 ships against Demetrius’ army, ordering Menelaus to advance upon his rear with 60 ships, thereby completing the encirclement. This was a grave tactical error - by dividing his army into two, he voluntarily ceded his advantage in numbers. For the entrance into the harbour of Salamis was so narrow, that Demetrius could easily bar it with only 10 of his triremes. Thereafter, he proceeded to attack Ptolemy with his entire might of 180 ships. Unable to come to his brother’s succour, Menelaus had to watch helpless. Demetrius’ charge proved irresistible to the point where Ptolemy was utterly crushed. His defeat was so complete, that he fled to Egypt with only 8 ships, abandoning everything else. The rest were either sunk or captured by the enemy; 70 triremes fell into the hands of Demetrius. Perceiving that now he did not stand a chance of keeping Salamis, Menelaus surrendered unconditionally, handing over his whole army of 1200 cavalry and 12,000 infantry, thereby securing a free leave for himself. The total number of captives was thus raised to 17,800 men. Demetrius was a benevolent victor as well as a brilliant general. He not only freed all captives, but also organised splendid burials of the dead enemy soldiers. Further still, he sent a lavish gift to the Athenians in the form of full armour for 1200 hoplites.
This victory elevated Antigonus and Demetrius to the position of most prominent Hellenistic rulers. Upon receiving intelligence of the outcome of the battle, Antigonus was greeted by the populace of his recently founded capital of Antigonia in Syria as king (basileus) in a carefully staged ceremony. He immediately accepted the royal title and sent a diadem to his son in a letter. Following Antigonus’ and Demetrius’ example, Ptolemy of Egypt, Lysimachus of Thrace and Seleucus of Babylonia officially pronounced themselves kings as well; only Cassander of Macedonia refused to do so. Thus, the most important consequence of the battle of Salamis was that the royal title, which had hitherto been a source of competition among the Diadochi, was now shared among them. |
