Demetrius was the younger son of Philip V of Macedon, but his only son by his legitimate wife, the elder brother Perseus being the son of a concubine.[1]
After the Battle of Cynoscephalae, Philip was obliged to surrender Demetrius, then very young, to Titus Quinctius Flamininus as a hostage, and he was subsequently sent to Rome in that capacity. Five years afterwards he was honourably restored to his father, Philip having at this time obtained the favour of Rome by his services in the war against Antiochus the Great.
But this did not last long, and Philip, finding himself assailed on all sides by the machinations of Rome and her intrigues among his neighbours, determined to try to avert, or at least delay, the impending storm by sending Demetrius, who during his residence at Rome had obtained the highest favour, as his ambassador to the senate.
The young prince was most favourably received, and returned with the answer that the Romans were willing to excuse all the past, out of good-will to Demetrius and from their confidence in his friendly dispositions towards them. But the favour thus shown to Demetrius had the effect (as was doubtless the design of the senate) of exciting against him the jealousy of Philip, and in a still higher degree that of Perseus, who suspected his brother, perhaps not without cause, of intending to supplant him on the throne after his father's death, with the assistance of the Romans.
Поэтому Персей попытался своими интригами разрушить его, и, не сумев добиться этого, ложно обвинив его в покушении на его жизнь, он подговорил Дидаса, одного из полководцев Филиппа, обвинить Деметрия в предательской переписке с римлянами и о намерении сбежать к ним. Поддельное письмо, якобы от Фламинина, казалось, подтвердило обвинение, и Филиппа убедили передать его под стражу Дидасу, которым он был тайно казнен, как предполагалось, по приказу отца.
Деметрию было 26 лет на момент его смерти; Ливи представляет его как очень любезного и образованного молодого человека, но можно сомневаться в том, был ли он столь же невиновен, как кажется в красноречивом повествовании этого автора.
Ссылки [ править ]
- ^ Livius. xxxix. 53
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Smith, William, ed. (1870). Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. Missing or empty |title=(help)
