Black face and money: oldest trick in the book!

>In another episode, Polyaenus wrote of the tyrant Lachares, who sought to escape from Athens after [Demetrius Poliorcetes](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9e/Demetrius_I_of_Macedon.jpg) captured it in 295 BC. He blackened his face to resemble a slave and slipped out of the city with a basket of coins. When a group of soldiers saw through his disguise and gave chase, Lachares was ready. He reached into his basket and tossed the coins behind him. As his greedy pursuers stopped to collect the treasure, Lachares galloped away. ___________________________ **Source:** Farquhar, Michael. “Escapes Hatched.” *A Treasury of Deception: Liars, Misleaders, Hoodwinkers, and the Extraordinary True Stories of History's Greatest Hoaxes, Fakes and Frauds*. Penguin, 2005. 225-26. Print. ____________________________ **Further Reading:** [Lachares](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lachares) [Demetrius I of Macedon / Demetrius Poliorcetes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demetrius_I_of_Macedon)