The Comparison of Demetrius and Antony   

the foreign and unlawful woman. And so Demetrius incurred no harm
at all; Antony procured his ruin by his marriage. On the other hand,
no licentious act of Antony's can be charged with that impiety which
marks those of Demetrius. Historical writers tell us that the very
dogs are excluded from the whole Acropolis because of their gross,
uncleanly habits. The very Parthenon itself saw Demetrius consorting
with harlots and debauching free women of Athens. The vice of cruelty,
also, remote as it seems from the indulgence of voluptuous desires,
must be attributed to him, who, in the pursuit of his pleasures, allowed
or, to say more truly, compelled the death of the most beautiful and
most chaste of the Athenians, who found no way but this to escape
his violence. In one word, Antony himself suffered by his excesses,
and other people by those of Demetrius.
In his conduct to his parents, Demetrius was irreproachable. Antony
gave up his mother's brother, in order that he might have leave to
kill Cicero, this itself being so cruel and shocking an act that Antony
would hardly be forgiven if Cicero's death had been the price of this
uncle's safety. In respect of breaches of oaths and treaties, the
seizure of Artabazes, and the assassination of Alexander, Antony may
urge the plea which no one denies to be true, that Artabazes first
abandoned and betrayed him in Media; Demetrius is alleged by many
to have invented false pretexts for his act, and not to have retaliated
for injuries, but to have accused one whom he injured himself.
The achievements of Demetrius are all his own work. Antony's noblest
and greatest victories were won in his absence by his lieutenants.
For their final disasters they have both only to thank themselves;
not, however, in an equal degree. Demetrius was deserted, the Macedonians
revolted from him; Antony deserted others, and ran away while men
were fighting for him at the risk of their lives. The fault to be
found with the one is that he had thus entirely alienated the affections
of his soldiers; the other's condemnation is that he abandoned so
much love and faith as he still possessed. We cannot admire the death
of either, but that of Demetrius excites our greater contempt. He
let himself become a prisoner, and was thankful to gain a three years'
accession of life in captivity. He was tamed like a wild beast by
his belly, and by wine; Antony took himself out of the world in a
cowardly, pitiful, and ignoble manner, but still in time to prevent
the enemy having his person in their power.
THE END