This king, like his son Alexander, loved the treason but abhorred the traitor. And indeed, how can a prince rely upon him who has betrayed his country? Every one,* even the cominon soldiers of the Macedonian army, reproached Futhycrates and Lasthenes for their perfidy; and when they complained to Philip upon that account, he only made this ironical answer, infinitely more severe than the reproach itself: Do not mind what a pack of vulgar fellows say, who call every thing by its real name. The king was overjoyed at his being possessed of this city, which was of the utmost importance to him, as its power might have very much checked his conquests. Some years before, the Olynthians had long resisted the united armies of Macedon and Lacedæmonia; whereas Philip had taken it with very little resistance, at least had not lost many men in the siege. 1 He now caused shows and public games to be exhibited with the utmost magnificence; to these he added feasts and entertainments, in which he made himself very popular, bestowing on all the guests considerable gifts, and treating them with the utmost marks of his friendship. SECTION IV. Philip declares in favour of Thebes against the Phocæans, and thereby engages in the sacred war. He lulls the Athenians, notwithstanding the remonstrances of Demosthenes, into security, by a pretended peace and false promises. He seizes on Thermopyla, subjects the Phocæans, and puts an end to the sacred war. He is admitted into the council of the Amphictyons. A. M 3657. The Thebans, being unable alone to terminate the Ant. J. C. 347. war which they had so long carried on against the Phocæans, had recourse to Philip. Hitherto, as we before mentioned, he had observed a kind of neutrality with respect to the sacred war; and he seemed to wait, in order to declare himself, till both parties should have weakened themselves by a long war, which equally exhausted them both. The Thebans had now very inuch abated of that haughtiness and those ambitious views, with which the victories of Epaminondas had inspired them. The instant therefore that they requested the alliance of Philip, he resolved to esponse the interest of that republic, in opposition to the Phocæans. He had not lost sight of the project he had formed, of obtaining an entrance into Greece, in order to make himself master of it. To give success to his design, it was proper for him to declare in favour of one of the two parties which at that time divided all Greece, that is, either for the Thebans. or the Athenians and Spartans. He was not so void of sense as to image, that the latter choice would assist his design of securing to humself a share in the affairs of Greece. He therefore had no more to do but to join the Thebans, who offered hen.selves voluntarily to him, and who stood in need of Philip's *Plut in Apophth. p. 178. + Diod. 1 xv. p. 341. power to support themselves in their declining condition. He therefore declared at once in their favour. But to give a specious colour to his arms, besides the gratitude which he affected to feel for Thebes, in which he had been educated, he also pretended to derive honour from the zeal with which he was fired, wita regard to the insulted god; and was very glad to gain the reputation of a religious prince, who warmly espoused the cause of the god, and of the temple of Delphi, in order to conciliate by that means the esteem and friendship of the Greeks. Politicians apply every pretext to their views, and endeavour to screen the most unjust attempts with the veil of probity, and sometimes even of religion; though they very frequently, in the main, have no manner of regard før either. There was nothing Philip had more at heart,* than to possess himself of Thermopyla, as it opened him a passage into Greece; to appropriate all the honour of the sacred war to himself, as if he had been principal in that affair; and to preside in the Pythian games. He was desirous ofling the Thebans, and by their means to possess himself of Phecs: but then, in order to put this double design in execution, it was necessary for him to keep it secret from the Athenians, who had actually declared war against Thebes, and who for many years had been in alliance with the Phocæans. His business therefore was to deceive them, by placing other objects in their view; and on this occasion the politics of Philip succeeded to a wonder. The Athenians, who began to grow tired of a war which was very burdensome, and of little benefit to them, had commissioned Ctesiphon and Phrynon to sound the intentions of Philip, and discover what were his sentiments with regard to peace. They related that Philip did not appear averse to it, and that he even expressed a great affection for the commonwealth. Upon this, the Athenians resolved to send a solemn embassy, to inquire more strictly into the truth, and to procure the fullest information which so important a negociation required. Eschines and Demosthenes were among the ten ambassadors, who brought back three from Philip, viz. Antipater, Parmenic, and Euryloehus. Ali the ten executed their commission very faithfully, and gave a very good account of it. Upon this, they were immediately sent back with full powers to conclude a peace, and to ratify it by oaths. It was then that Demosthenes, who in his first embassy had met some Athenian captives in Macedonia, and had promised to return and ransom them at his own expense, endeavours to keep his word; and, in the mean time, advises his colleagues te embark with the utmost expedition, as the republic had commanded; and to wait as so as possible upon Philip, in what place soever he might be. However, these, instead of making a speedy despatch, as they were desired, go an ambassador's pace, proceed to Macedonia by land, stay three months in that country, and give • Demosth Orat de faisa Legations. Philip time to possess himself of several other strong places belonging to the Athenians in Thrace. At last, having come to a con ference with the king of Macedonia, they agree with him upon articles of peace: but he, content with having lulled them asleep by the specious pretence of a treaty, deferred the ratification of it from day to day. Philip had found means to corrupt the ambassadors one after another by presents, Demosthenes excepted, who, being but one, opposed his colleagues to no manner of purpose. In the mean time Philip made his troops advance continually Being arrived at Phere in Thessaly, he at last ratifies the treaty of peace, but refuses to include the Phocæans in it. When news was brought to Athens, that Philip had signed the treaty, it occasioned very great joy in that city, especially among those who were averse to the war, and dreaded the consequence of it. Among these was Isocrates.* He was a citizen very zealous for the commonwealth, whose prosperity he had very much at heart. The weakness of his voice, together with a timidity natural to him, had prevented his appearing in public, and mounting like others the tribunal. He had opened a school in Athens, in which he read rhetorical lectures, and taught youth eloquence with great reputation and success. However he had not entirely renounced the care of public affairs; and as others served their country viva voce, in the public assemblies, Isocrates endeavoured to benefit it by his writings, in which he delivered his thoughts; and these being soon made public, were very eagerly sought after. On the present occasion, he wrote a piece of considerable length, which he addressed to Philip, with whom he held a correspondence, but in such terms as were worthy a good and faithful citizen. He was then very far advanced in years, being at least fourscore and eight. The scope of this discourse was to exhort Philip to take advantage of the peace he had just before concluded, in order to reconcile all the Greek nations, and afterwards to turn his arms against the king of Persia. The business was to engage in this plan four cities, on which all the rest depended, viz. Athens, Sparta, Thebes, and Argos. He confesses, that if Sparta or Athens were as powerful as formerly, he should be far from making such a proposal, which he was sensible they would never approve; and which the pride of those two republics, whilst cherished and augmented by success, would reject with disdain. But that now, as the most powerful cities of Greece, wearied out and exhausted by long wars, and humbled each in their turn by fatal reverses of fortune, have equally an interest in laying down their arins, and living in peace, pursuant to the example which the Aenians had begun to set them; the present is the most favourable opportunity Philip could have, to reconcile and unite the several cities of Greece. In case he should be so happy as to succeed in such a project, so Isocrat. Orat. ad Philip. glorious and beneficial a success would raise him above whatever had hitherto appeared most august in Greece. But the bare project in itself, though it should not have so happy an effect as he might expect from it, would yet infallibly gain him the esteem, the affection, and confidence of all the nations of Greece; advantages infinitely preferable to the taking of cities, and all the conquests he might hope to obtain. Some persons indeed, who were prejudiced against Philip, represent and exclaim against him as a crafty prince, who gives a specious pretext to his march, but, at the same time, has in reality no other object in view than the enslaving of Greece. Isocrates, either from a too great credulity, or from a desire of bringing Philip into his views, supposes, that rumours so injurious as these have no manner of foundation; it not being probable, that a prince who glories in being descended from Hercules, the deliverer of Greece, should think of invading and tyrannizing over it. But these very reports, which are so capable of blackening his name and of sullying all his glory, should prompt him to demonstrate the falsity of them in the presence of all Greece by proofs that cannot be suspected, by leaving and maintaining each city in the full possession of its laws and liberties; by removing with the utmost care all suspicions of partiality; by not espousing the interest of one people against another; by winning the confidence of all men by a noble disinterestedness and an invariable love of justice in fine, by aspiring to no other title than that of the reconciler of the divisions of Greece, a title far more glorious than that of conqueror. It is in the king of Persia's dominions that he ought to seek and merit those last titles. The conquest of it is open and sure to him, in case he could succeed in pacifying the troubles of Greece. He should call to mind, that Agesilaus, with no other forces than those of Sparta, shook the Persian throne, and would infallibly have subverted it, had he not been recalled into Greece by the intestine divisions which then broke out. The signal victory of the ten thousand under Clearchus, and their triumphant retreat in the sight of innumerable armies, prove what might be expected from the joint forces of the Macedonians and Greeks, when commanded by Philip against a prince inferior in every respect to him whom Cyrus had endeavoured to dethrone. Isocrates concluded with declaring, that it seemed as if the gods had hitherto granted Philip so long a train of successes, with no other view than to enable him to form and execute the glorious enterprise, the plan of which he had laid before him. He reduces the counsel he gave to three heads: That this prince should govern his own empire with wisdom and justice; should heal the divisions between the neighbouring nations and all Greece, without desiring to possess any part of it himself; and this being done, that he should turn his victorious arms against a country which in all ages had been the enemy of Greece, and had often vowed their destruction. It must be confessed that this is a most noble plan, and highly worthy of a great prince. But Isocrates had a very false idea of Philip, if he thought this monarch would ever put it into execution Philip did not possess the equity, moderation, or disinterestedness, which such a project required. He really intended to attack Persia, but was persuaded that it was his business first to make himse.f secure of Greece, which indeed he was determined to do, not by kind services, but by force. He did not endeavour either to win over or persuade nations, but to subject and reduce them. As on his side he had no manner of regard for alliances and treaties, he udged of others by himself, and wished to bind them to himself by much stronger ties than those of friendship, gratitude, and sincerity. As Demosthenes was better acquainted with the state of affairs than Isocrates, so he formed a truer judgment of Philip's designs. Upon his return from his embassy, he declares expressly, that he does not approve either of the discourse or the conduct of the Macedonian king, but that every thing is to be dreaded from him. On the contrary, Eschines, who had been bribed, assures the Athenians, that he had discovered nothing but the greatest candour and sincerity in the promises and proceedings of this king. He had engaged that Thespiæ and Plate should be repeopled, in spite of the opposition of the Thebans; that in case he should succeed in subjecting the Phocæans, he would preserve them, and not do them the least injury; that he would restore Thebes to the good order which had before been observed in it; that Oropus should be given up ab solutely to the Athenies; and that, as an equivalent for Amphipolis, they should be put in possession of Euboea. It was to no purpose that Demosthenes remonstrated to his fellow-citizens, that Philip, notwithstanding all these glorious promises, was endeavouring to make himself absolute master of Phocis; and that by abandoning it to him they would betray the commonwealth, and give up all Greece into his hands. He was not attended to; and the oration of Æschines, who engaged that Philip would make good his several pronises, prevailed over that of Demosthenes.* A. M. 3658. These deliberations gave that prince an opportunity Ant. J. C. 346. to possess himself of Thermopyle, and to enter Phocis. Hitherto there had been no possibility of reducing the Phocæans: but Philip had only to appear; the bare sound of his name filled them with terror. Upon the supposition that he was marching against a herd of sacrilegious wretches, not against common enemies, he ordered all his soldiers to wear crowns of laurel, and led them to battle as under the conduct of the god himself whose honour they avenged. The instant they appeared, the Phocæans believed themselves overcome. Accordingly, they sue for peace, and yield to Philip's mercy, who gives Phalecus their leader leave to retire into Peloponnesus, with the 8000 men in his service. In this Diod 1. xvi p 455. |