DEMETRIUS II

born c. 276 BC died 229 king of Macedonia from 239 to 229 BC. Demetrius gained distinction as a boy by defeating and dethroning Alexander of Epirus, thus saving Macedonia (c. 263). On his accession he was faced by an Aetolian and Achaean coalition, later joined by an Epirote League. Thus threatened, he was drawn northward by a Dardanian invasion, and after a defeat there he died. His failure seriously weakened both kingdom and monarchy.