SECTION VI.

Philip, by his intrigues, succeeds in getting himself appointed generalissimo of the Greeks, in the council of the Amphictyons. He possesses himself of Elatea. The Athenians and Thebans, alarmed by the conquest of this city, unite against Philip. He makes overtures of peace, which, upon the remonstrances of Demosthenes, are rejected. A battle is fought at Charonæa, where Philip gains a signal victory. Demosthenes is accused and brought to a trial by Eschines. The latter is banished, and goes to Rhodes.

The Athenians had considered the siege of Byzantium as an absolute rupture, and an open declaration of war. The king of MaceA. M. 3666. don,* who was apprehensive of the consequences of it, Ant. J. C. 333. and dreaded very much the power of the Athenians, whose hatred he had drawn upon himself, made overtures of peace, in order to soften their resentments. Phocion, little suspicious, and apprehensive of the uncertainty of the events of war, was of opinion that the Athenians should accept his offers. But Demosthenes, who had studied the genius and character of Philip more than Phocion and was persuaded that, according to his usual custom, his only view was to amuse and impose upon the Athenians, prevented their listening to his pacific proposals.

It was very much the interest of this prince to terminate immediately a war, which gave him great cause of disquiet, and particularly distressed him by the frequent depredations of the Athenian privateers, who infested the sea bordering upon his dominions. They entirely interrupted all commerce, and prevented his subjects from exporting any of the products of Macedonia into other countries or foreigners from importing into his kingdom the merchandise it wanted. Philip was sensible that it would be impossible for him to put an end to this war, and free himself from the inconveniences attending it, otherwise than by exciting the Thessalians and Thebans against Athens. He could not yet attack that city with any advantage, either by sea or land. His naval forces were at this time inferior to those of that republic; and the passage by land to Attica would be shut against him, as long as the Thessalians should refuse to join him, and the Thebans should oppose his passage. If, with the view of prompting them to declare war against Athens, he were to ascribe no other motive for it than his private enmity, he was very sensible that it would have no effect with either of the states; but that in case he could once prevail with them to appoint him their chief (upon the specious pretence of espousing their common cause,) he then hoped it would be easier for him to make them acquiesce in his desires, either by persuasion or deceit.

This was his aim; the smallest traces of which it highly concerned him to conceal, in order not to give the least opportunity for any one to suspect the design he meditated. In every city he retained pensioners who sent him notice of whatever passed, and by

*Plutarch. in Phoc. p. 748.

† Demost. pro Ctes. p. 497, 408.

that means were of great use to him, and were accordingly well paid. By their machinations he raised divisions among the Locri Ozolæ, otherwise called the Locrians of Amphissa, from the name of their capital city: their country was situated between Ætolia and Phocis; and they were accused of having profaned a spot of sacred ground, by ploughing up the Cyrrhean field, which lay very near the temple of Delphi. The reader has seen that a similar cause of complaint occasioned the first sacred war. The affair was to be heard before the Amphictyons. Had Philip employed in his own favour any known or suspicious agent, he plainly saw that the Thebans and the Thessalians would infalliby suspect his design; in which case, all parties would not fail to stand upon their guard.

But Philip acted more artfully, by carrying on his designs by persons in the dark, which entirely prevented their being discovered. By the assiduity of his pensioners in Athens, he had caused Eschines, who was entirely devoted to him, to be appointed one of the Pylagori, by which name those were called who were sent by the several Greek cities to the assembly of the Amphictyons. The instant he came into it, he acted the more effectually in favour of Philip, as, from being a citizen of Athens, which had declared openly against this prince, he was less suspected. Upon his remonstrances, a visit to the place was appointed, in order to inspect the spot of ground, of which the Amphissians had hitherto been considered the lawful possessors, but which they now were accused of usurping by a most sacrilegious act.

Whilst the Amphictyons were visiting the spot of ground in question, the Locrians fall upon them unawares, pour in a shower of daris, and oblige them to fly. So open an outrage kindled the flames of resentment and war against these Locrians. Cottyphus one of the Amphictyons, took the field with the army intended to punish the rebels; but many not coming to the rendezvous, the army retired without acting. In the following assembly of the Amphictyons, the affair was debated very seriously. It was there that the orators previously bribed by Philip exerted all their eloquence, and, by a studied oration, proved to the deputies, that they must either assess themselves to support foreign soldiers and punish the rebels, or else elect Philip for their general. The deputies, to save their respective states the expense, and secure them from the dangers and fatigues of a war, resolved upon the latter. Upon which, by a public decree, ambassadors were sent to Philip of Macedon, who, in the name of Apollo and the Amphictyons, implore his assistance, beseech him not to neglect the cause of that god which the impious Amphissians make their sport; and notify to him, that for this purpose all the Greeks, associated in the council of the Amphictyons, elect him for their general, with full power to act as he shall think proper.

This was the honour to which Philip had long aspired; the aim of all his views, and end of all the engines he had set at work till

that time. He therefore did not lose a moment, but immediately assembles his forces; and feigning to direct his march towards the Cyrrhean field forgetting now both the Cyrrheans and Locrians who had only served as a specious pretext for his journey, and for ̋ whom he had not the least regard; he possessed himself of Elatæa, the greatest city in Phocis, standing on the river Cephissus, and the most happily situated for the design he meditated, of a wing the Thebans, who now began to open their eyes, and to perceive the danger they were in.

This news being brought to Athens in the evening,* spread terror through every part of the city. The next morning an assembly was summoned, when the herald, as was the usual custom, cries with a loud voice, Who among you will ascend the tribunal? However, no person appears for that purpose: upon which he repeated the invitation several times: but still no one rose up, though all the generals and orators were present; and although the common voice of the country, with repeated cries, conjured somebody to propose some salutary counsel: For, says Demosthenes (from whom these particulars are taken,) whenever the voice of the herald speaks in the name of the laws, it ought to be considered as the voice of the country. During this general silence, occasioned by the universal alarm with which the minds of the Athenians were seized, Demosthenes, animated at the sight of the great danger his fellow-citizens were in, ascends the tribunal, and endeavours to revive the spirits of the drooping Athenians, and inspire them with sentiments suitable to the present conjuncture and the necessities of the state. Excelling equally in politics and eloquence, by the extent of his superior genius, ne immediately suggests a plan which includes all that was necessary for the Athenians to perform both at home and abroad, by land as well as by sea.

The people of Athens were under a double error with regard to the Thebans, and he therefore endeavours to undeceive them. They imagined that people were inviolably attached, both from interest and inclination, to Philip; but he proves to them, that the majority of the Thebans waited only an opportunity to declare against that monarch, and that the conquest of Elatea has apprized them of what they are to expect from him. On the other side, they looked upon the Thebans as their most ancient and most dangerous enemies, and therefore could not prevail with themselves to afford them the least aid in the extreme danger with which they were threatened. It must be confessed, that there had always been a declared enmity between the Thebans and Athenians, which rose so high that Pin dar was sentenced by the Thebans to pay a considerable fine for having applauded the city of Athens in one of his poems.† Demosthenes, notwithstanding that prejudice had taken such deep root in * Demost. pro Ctes. p. 501-504. Diod. lib. xvi. p 477.

He had called Athens a flourishing and renowned city, the bulwark of Greece Δίπαραι καὶ ἀοιδιμαι, Ελλαδος ἔρεισμα, κλειναὶ ̓Αθῆναι. But the Athe

he minds of the people, yet declares in their favour, and proves to the Athenians that their own interest lies at stake; and that they could not please Philip more, than in leaving Thebes to his mercy, the ruin of which would open him a free passage to Athens.

Demosthenes afterwards unfolds to them the views of Philip in taking that city. What then is his design, and wherefore did he possess himself of Elatea? He is desirous, on one side, to encourage those of his faction in Thebes, and to inspire them with greater boldness, by appearing at the head of his army, and advancing his power and forces around that city. On the other side, he wishes to strike unexpectedly the opposite faction, and stun them in such a manner as may enable him to get the better of it either by terror or force. Philip, says he, prescribes the manner in which you ought to act, by the example he himself sets you. Assemble, at Eleusis, a body of Athenians, of an age fit for service, and support these by your cavalry. By this step you will show all Greece that you are ready armed to defend yourselves; and inspire your partisans in Thebes with such resolution, as may enable them both to support their reasons, and to make head against the opposite party, when they shall perceive, that as those who sell their country to Philip, have forces in Elataa ready to assist them upon occasion, in like manner those who are willing to fight for the preservation of their own liberties, have you at their gates ready to defend them in case of an invasion. Demosthenes added, that it would be proper for them to send ambassadors immediately to the different states of Greece, and to the T.ebans in particular, to engage them in a common league against Philip.

This prudent and salutary advice was followed in every particular: and in consequence thereof a decree was formed, in which, after enumerating the several enterprises by which Philip had infringed the peace, it continues thus: For this reason the senate and people of Athens, calling to mind the magnanimity of their ancestors, who preferred the liberty of Greece to the safety of their own country, have resolved, that, after offering up prayers and sacrifices to call down the assistance of the tutelar gods and demi-gods of Athens and Attica, 200 sail of ships shall be put to sea. That the admiral of their fleet shall go, as soon as possible, and cruise on the other side of the pass of Thermopyla; while at the same time the generals by land, at the head of a considerable body of horse and foot, shall march and encamp in the neighbourhood of Eleusis. That ambassadors shall likewise be sent to the other Greeks; but first to the Thebans, as these are most threatened by Philip. Let them be exhorted not to have any dread of Philip, but to maintain courageously their individual independence, and the common liberty of all Greece. And let it be declared to them, that though formerly some subjects of discontent may have cooled the reciprocal friendship between them the Athenians, however, obliterating the remembrance of past nians not only indemnified the poet, and sent him money to pay his fine, but even erect ed a statue in honour of him.

and

us,

transactions, will now assist them with men, money, darts, and all kind of military weapons; persuaded that such as are natives of Greece may, very honourably, dispute with one another for pre-eminence; but that they can never, without sullying the glory of the Greeks, and derogating from the virtue of their ancestors, suffer a foreigner to despoil them of that pre-eminence, nor consent to so ignominious a slar e y.

Demosthenes,* ,* who was at the head of this embassy, immediately set out for Thebes: and indeed he had no time to lose, since Philip might reach Attica in two days. This prince also sent ambassadors to Thebes. Among these Python was the chief, who distinguished himself greatly by his lively and persuasive eloquence, which it was scarce possible to withstand; so that the rest of the deputies were mere babblers in comparison to him: however, he here met with a superior. And, indeed, Demosthenes, in an oration where he relates the services he had done the commonwealth, expatiates very strongly on this, and places the happy success of so important a negotiation at the head of his political exploits.

It was of the utmost importance for the Athenians to draw the Thebans into the alliance, as they were neighbours to Attica, and covered it; had troops excellently well disciplined, and had been considered, ever since the famous victories of Leuctra and Mantinea, as holding the first rank among the several states of Greece for valour and military skill. To effect this was no easy matter; not only because of the great service Philip had lately done them during the war of Phocis, but likewise because of the ancient inveterate antipathy between Thebes and Athens.

Philip's deputies spoke first. They displayed, in the strongest light, the kindnesses with which Philip had loaded the Thebans, and the innumerable evils which the Athenians had made them suffer. They represented, in the most forcible manner, the great benefit they might reap from laying Attica waste, the flocks, goods, and power of which would be carried into their city; whereas, by joining in a league with the Athenians, Boeotia would thereby become the seat of war, and would alone suffer the losses, depredations, burnings, and all the other calamities which are the inevitable consequences of it. They concluded with requesting, either that the Thebans would join their forces with those of Philip against the Athenians; or, at least, permit him to pass through their territories to enter Attica.

The love of his country, and a just indignation at the breach of faith and usurpations of Philip, had already sufficiently animated Demosthenes: but the sight of an orator, who seemed to contest with him in the superiority of eloquence, inflamed his zeal, and in

*Plut. in Demosth. p. 853, 854.

†This Python was a native of Byzantium. The Athenians had presented him with the freedom of their city; after which he went over to Philip. Demosth. p. 193. 745, Demosth. in Orat. pro Coron. p. 509 Ibid.