DEMETRIUS

demetrius, a cynic philosopher, born at sunium, who lived partly at corinth and later in rome during the reigns of caligula, nero and vespasian. he was an intimate friend of thrasea paetus and seneca, and was held in the highest estimation for his consistent disregard of creature comfort in the pursuit of virtue. his contempt for worldly prosperity is shown by his reply to caligula who, wishing to gain his friendship, sent him a large present. he replied, "if caligula had intended to bribe me, he should have offered me his crown." vespasian banished him, but demetrius laughed at the punishment and mocked the emperor's anger. he reached the logical conclusion of cynicism in attaching no real importance to scientific data. demetrius donskoi[1] (1350-1389), grand duke of vladimir and moscow, son of the grand duke ivan ivanovich by his second consort aleksandra, was placed on the grand-ducal throne of vladimir by the tatar khan in 1362, and married the princess eudoxia of nizhniy novgorod in 1364. it was now that moscow was first fortified by a strong wall, or _kreml_ (citadel), and the grand duke began "to bring all the other princes under his will." michael, prince of tver, appealed however for help to olgierd, grand duke of lithuania, who appeared before moscow with his army and compelled demetrius to make restitution to the prince of tver (1369). the war between tver and vladimir continued intermittently for some years, and both the tatars and the lithuanians took an active part in it. demetrius was generally successful in what was really a contention for the supremacy. in 1371 he won over the khan by a personal visit to the horde, and in 1372 he defeated the lithuanians at lyubutsk. demetrius then formed a league of all the russian princes against the tatars and in 1380 encountered them on the plain of kulikovo, between the rivers nepryadvaya and don, where he completely routed them, the grand khan mamai perishing in his flight from the field. but now toktamish, the deputy of tamerlane, suddenly appeared in the horde and organized a punitive expedition against demetrius. moscow was taken by treachery, and the russian lands were again subdued by the tatars (1381). nevertheless, while compelled to submit to the horde, demetrius maintained his hegemony over tver, novgorod and the other recalcitrant russian principalities, and even held his own against the lithuanian grand dukes, so that by his last testament he was able to leave not only his ancestral possessions but his grand-dukedom also to his son basil. demetrius was one of the greatest of the north russian grand dukes. he was not merely a cautious and tactful statesman, but also a valiant and capable captain, in striking contrast to most of the princes of his house. see sergyei solovev, _history of russia_ (rus.), vols, i.-ii. (st petersburg, 1857), &c.; nikolai savelev, _demetrius ivanovich donskoi_ (rus.), (moscow, 1837). (r. n. b.) footnote: [1] of the don. demetrius phalereus (c. 345-283 b.c.), attic orator, statesman and philosopher, born at phalerum, was a pupil of theophrastus and an adherent of the peripatetic school. he governed the city of athens as representative of cassander (q.v.) for ten years from 317. it is said that he so won the hearts of the people that 360 statues were erected in his honour; but opinions are divided as to the character of his rule. on the restoration of the old democracy by demetrius poliorcetes, he was condemned to death by the fickle athenians and obliged to leave the city. he escaped to egypt, where he was protected by ptolemy lagus, to whom he is said to have suggested the foundation of the alexandrian library. having incurred the displeasure of lagus's successor philadelphus, demetrius was banished to upper egypt, where he died (according to some, voluntarily) from the bite of an asp. demetrius composed a large number of works on poetry, history, politics, rhetoric and accounts of embassies, all of which are lost. the treatise [greek: peri hermeneias] (on rhetorical expression), which is often ascribed to him, is probably the work of a later alexandrian (1st century a.d.) of the same name; it has been edited by l. radermacher (1901) and w. rhys roberts (1902), the last-named providing english translation, introduction, notes, glossary and complete bibliography. fragments in c. muller, _frag. hist. graec._ ii. p. 362. see a. holm, _history of greece_ (eng. trans.), iv. 60.