 Once Demetrius was in power, however, their interests began to diverge and the prospect of war between the two kingdoms returned.In 158 or 154 BC, Ptolemy VI's governor of Cyprus, Archias, attempted to sell the island to Demetrius for 500 talents, but he was caught and hanged himself before this plot came to fruition.In 154 BC, after surviving an assassination attempt which he blamed on his brother, Ptolemy VIII again appealed for assistance against his brother to the Roman Senate which agreed to send a second embassy, led by Gnaeus Cornelius Merula and Lucius Minucius Thermus, equipped with troops, in order to enforce the transfer of Cyprus to his control.