XXXIII. Demetrius on this occasion showed no want of spirit. He declared that not if he had lost ten thousand fields like Ipsus would he consent to buy Seleukus for his son-in-law. He strengthened the garrisons of the cities,[311] and hearing that Lachares, taking advantage of the factions into which the Athenians were divided, had made himself despot of that city, he thought that if he only were to show himself before Athens he might easily obtain possession of it. He crossed the sea in safety with a large fleet, but when off the coast of Attica he encountered a violent storm, in which he lost most of his ships and a great number of his men. He himself escaped unhurt, and at once began to make war against the Athenians. As, however, he could not effect anything, he sent his lieutenants to collect another fleet, and meanwhile proceeded to Peloponnesus. Here he laid siege to Messene, and during an assault nearly lost his life, for he was struck full in the face by a dart from a catapult, which pierced through his jaw into his mouth. He recovered from his wound, received the submission of several insurgent cities, and returned to Attica, where he made himself master of Eleusis and Rhamnus, and ravaged the country. He captured a ship loaded with wheat bound for Athens, and hanged the captain and pilot, which measure terrified the other merchants so much that they avoided Athens, and a terrible famine took place there, and the want of food brought about a scarcity of everything else. A medimnus[312] of salt was sold for forty drachmas, and a modius[313] of corn sold for three hundred drachmas. The Athenians gained a short respite from their sufferings by the appearance near Ægina of a fleet of a hundred and fifty sail, which was sent by Ptolemy to aid them. Soon, however, Demetrius collected from Peloponnesus and Cyprus a fleet of three hundred ships, before which those of Ptolemy were forced to retire. Upon this the despot Lachares made his escape and abandoned the city to its fate.