The neutrality of Elis is evident in the votive offerings of the period. Side by side with the statues of Antigonus Monophthalmus and his son Demetrius we find the statues of Spartan kings, of Areus who tried to free Greece from the yoke of Macedon, and Cleomenes who attempted to revive the military hegemony of Sparta, of Aratus of Sicyon, the founder of the Achaean league and enemy of Sparta and Macedon alike, of Ptolemaeus Philadelphus of Egypt at whose hospitable court the opponents of Macedon found shelter in defeat; lastly of that brilliant but semi-barbarian conqueror Pyrrhus of Epirus, who in his meteoric career twice occupied the throne of Macedon. Some of these statues were the gifts of the kings themselves, some of the Eleans or other states that wished to show honour to the individual or win favour at Olympia. The statue of Pyrrhus was the gift of the Elean seer Thrasybulus, who took part in the campaigns of Aratus against Sparta, and was himself honoured by a statue in the Altis. Perhaps the honour shown to Pyrrhus was due to his friendship with the Aetolians, whose connexion with Elis dates back to the earliest days of the festival. The Eleans early joined the Aetolian league, and showed their loyalty to their friends by refusing to desert them in spite of the most tempting offers of Philip V. Numerous statues in the Altis bore witness to this friendship. Especial interest attaches to that of the Aetolian Pleistaenus, whose father Eurydamus, as leader of the Aetolian forces, helped in the memorable fight near Delphi, which saved Greece from Brennus and his barbarous horde of Gauls.[227] Lastly, we may notice the significant monument of Antigonus Doson set up after the defeat of Cleomenes at Sellasia in 222 B.C. Greece was represented crowning with one hand Antigonus, with the other Philip Arridaeus the nominal successor of Alexander, while opposite stood a similar group, in which Elis crowned Demetrius Poliorketes and Ptolemaeus the son of Lagus. Both groups it seems probable, as Curtius suggests, were the gift of Antigonus Doson, recalling as they did the earlier group of the personified Ekecheiria crowning Iphitus, and setting forth in emblematic fashion the renewal of Olympic peace and restoration of unity under the beneficent rule of the princes of Macedon.