During his 30-year military career, from the Battle of Paraitakene in 317 BC to his final defeat, Demetrius proved to be a hugely effective commander during sieges. Notably, he managed to use the innovations introduced by Alexander, scaling them up to greater extents. Thus, besides the massive and widespread use of siege engines, which he standardized in Hellenistic warfare, Demetrius was an excellent logistician, able to maintain sieges on unprecedented scales. The Antigonid also engaged in amphibious siege warfare, frequently conducting sieges both by sea and land. Finally, despite some failed sieges, especially the siege of Rhodes where Demetrius did not appear to make significant tactical or strategic errors, he employed a siege warfare strategy sometimes described as 'blitzkrieg'. During his campaigns in 304-303 BC and 294-291 BC in Greece, after rapid 'bursts', he captured cities one after another in a matter of months; for example, in 304-303 BC, he successively seized Panactum, Phyle, Kechries, Epidaurus, Sicyon, Corinth, Bura, Scirus (Arcadia), Argos, and Orchomenus. According to Plutarch, Demetrius would have commanded 110,000 soldiers under his leadership in 288 BCE before facing complete defeat. This figure is almost certainly exaggerated by the ancient author and would represent the largest concentration of manpower in the entire Hellenistic period, more than two times larger than the force Alexander led in his initial conquests. Even if the figure is overstated, it demonstrates that Demetrius was capable of assembling significant armies, some of which were remembered as the largest of the era.
During his 30-year military career, from the Battle of Paraitakene in 317 BC to his final defeat, Demetrius proved to be a hugely effective commander during sieges. Notably, he managed to use the innovations introduced by Alexander, scaling them up to greater extents. Thus, besides the massive and widespread use of siege engines, which he standardized in Hellenistic warfare, Demetrius was an excellent logistician, able to maintain sieges on unprecedented scales. The Antigonid also engaged in amphibious siege warfare, frequently conducting sieges both by sea and land. Finally, despite some failed sieges, especially the siege of Rhodes where Demetrius did not appear to make significant tactical or strategic errors, he employed a siege warfare strategy sometimes described as 'blitzkrieg' During his campaigns in 304-303 BC and 294-291 BC in Greece, after rapid 'bursts', he captured cities one after another in a matter of months; for example, in 304-303 BC, he successively seized Panactum, Phyle, Kechries, Epidaurus, Sicyon, Corinth, Bura, Scirus (Arcadia), Argos, and Orchomenus. According to Plutarch, Demetrius would have commanded 110,000 soldiers under his leadership in 288 BCE before facing complete defeat. This figure is almost certainly exaggerated by the ancient author and would represent the largest concentration of manpower in the entire Hellenistic period, more than two times larger than the force Alexander led in his initial conquests. Even if the figure is overstated, it demonstrates that Demetrius was capable of assembling significant armies, some of which were remembered as the largest of the era.