became intolerable. The favour of the people was courted by expensive theatric shows, and to purchase these gratifications the public treasures were exhausted. To provide money for these idle entertainments, the allied states were taxed with the utmost severity, and their complaints of the extortion to which they were subjected, treated with the most mortifying neglect, or even rejected with the grossest insults. Cha'res, a profligate demagogue, whose character much resembled that of Cle'on, stimulated the people to these outrages, until at length he provoked the subsidiary states to rebellion, and the principal maritime cities, together B.C. with several of the Ægean islands, simultaneously 358. threw off the yoke of Athens. 17. This war, commenced in wanton injustice, was conducted with weakness, and ended in disgrace. At the siege of Chi'os, Cha'res ordered the fleet to attempt to force an entrance into the harbour; the ship of Cha'brias alone succeeded, and was soon overwhelmed by the enemy. Its gallant commander refused to quit the vessel which had been intrusted to him by the state, and perished. 18. Soon after Cha'res besieged Byzantium with equal ill success; but throwing the blame on Iphi'crates and Timo'theus, he procured the banishment of these illustrious generals, whose services were thus lost to Athens for ever. But the next proceeding of Cha'res was still more outrageous; he deserted the conduct of the war altogether, and led his forces to assist the satrap Artaba'zus, who was in rebellion against the Persian king, then in alliance with Athens. 19. Artaxerxes III., the sovereign of Persia, was naturally indignant at this breach of a treaty; he immediately espoused the cause of the confederates, and the Athenians, terrified at the power of the enemy whom they had so rashly provoked, sued for that peace, which was granted on the condition, that all the confederate states should be left in abso356. lute possession of their independence. Thus Athens lost her lately recovered supremacy, which she was unable to exercise with justice or discretion. B.C. 20. In the mean time, a power was growing up in Greece hitherto unobserved, but now too conspicuous and formidable to be overlooked in the general picture: this was that of the Macedo'nians, a people hitherto obscure, and in a manner barbarous; and who, though warlike and hardy, had never yet presumed to intermeddle with the affairs of Greece: but now several circumstances concurred to raise them from that obscurity, and to involve them in measures which, by degrees, wrought a thorough change in the state of Greece. It will be necessary, therefore, to begin with a short account of their origin, and progress to power, before we enter into a detail of that conspicuous part which they afterwards performed on the theatre of the world. Questions for Examination. 1. How did the Theban cavalry behave ? 2. Was the contest better sustained by the infantry? 3. To what expedient had Epaminondas recourse? 4. What was the result of this movement? 5. Did Epaminondas receive a wound? 6. Was this a very decisive victory? 7. How did Epaminondas die? 8. What were the consequences of his death? 9. Why did the Persian king endeavour to mediate a peace 10. How did the Spartans act? 11. In what manner did Agesilaus behave in Egypt? 12. Where did Agesilaus die.?€, 13. What was his character? 14. In what condition was Sparta at this time? 15. What had been the conduct of Athens in the late war? 16. How was Athens then circumstanced? ? 17. What loss did the Athenians sustain at the siege of Chios? 18. In what manner did Chares behave? 19. What was the consequence of the misconduct of Chares? 20. What new power now started up in Greece? CHAPTER XII. THE LIFE OF PHILIP. 1. THE name of Macedonia is usually given to the tract of country which lies between the chain of Mount Ho'mus on the north, the Cam'bunian mountains on the south, the Ægei'an sea on the east, and the Adriatic on the west. But it was not until a very late period of Grecian history that this extensive tract was united under one head; the sea-coast was possessed by independent maritime states, the mountainous tracts in the north and west were inhabited by barbarous tribes, who had scarcely any fixed government, and the interior was parcelled out among several petty princes. 2. The first foundation of a monarchy which was destined B.C. to rise to such a height of power was laid by Cara'813. nus, a descendant of Her'cules, who led a colony from Ar'gos to the province of 'mathia, which borders on the Therma'ic gulf. 3. His descendants continually enlarged their dominions by subjecting or expelling several of the neighbouring tribes; but when the Persians were about to invade Greece, the then ruler of Macedon was obliged to purchase safety by becoming tributary to Darius. The battle of Platææ restored independence to the kingdom, but B.C. this was never acknowledged by the Persians, who 479. S appear to have more than once revived their claim to its sovereignty. 4. The retreat of the Persians exposed Macedon to the attacks of the Thra'cian tribes, while the Athenians were establishing their authority over the maritime cities. This induced Perdic'cas, then monarch of Macedon, to embrace the Spartan cause in the first Peloponnesian war, but having some reason to dread the ambition, and suspect the integrity of his new allies, he concluded a treaty with the 423. S Athenians, on terms favourable to both. B.C. 5. Archela'us, the successor of Perdiccas, was a wise and beneficent sovereign. He encouraged agriculture, constructed roads, and used every exertion to extend the influence of civilization among his subjects. During his reign, the limits of Macedon were extended, and the inhabitants raised to the level of the Helle'nes, by whom, however, B.C. they were not recognised as brethren. But the mur400. S der of Achela'us by his secretary, proved for a long time fatal to the improvement of Macedon; several competitors claimed the crown, and the country was distracted by civil wars, until Amyn'tas, the brother of Perdiccas, finally triumphed over all his rivals. 6. Amyntas left behind him three legitimate sons, Alex'ander, Perdic'cas, and Philip; with one illegitimate, Ptol'emy. The first had scarcely been placed on the throne, when he was deposed by Ptol'emy; the Thebans sent an army under Pelop'idas to support the cause of the rightful heirs, but after some indecisive engagements, it was agreed that Ptol'emy should hold the sceptre as regent, and Philip, B.C. then a boy, was sent as a hostage to Thebes. 365. 7. Pausa'nias soon after dethroned and slew Ptol'emy, but found himself, at the same time, scarcely able to defend himself against some new pretenders, until the arrival of the Athenian Iphi'crates with a body of choice troops enabled him to triumph over all opposition. 8. He SB.C. was slain, however, in a war with the Illyrians, be- 360. fore he had long enjoyed the throne, and was succeeded by Amyntas, his infant son. But the distracted state of public affairs convinced the Macedonians that the time did not admit of their submitting to the rule of a child, accordingly Amyn'tas was set aside, and his uncle Philip proclaimed monarch in his stead. 9. Philip began his reign in the twenty-fourth year of his age. He had received a considerable part of his education at Thebes, whither he had been carried in his youth as a hostage; and he there acquired, under Epaminon'das, that intimate acquaintance with the art of war, as it was then conducted, which he afterwards displayed so signally during the whole course of his reign. 10. He had now, indeed, occasion for all his activity and address, for he was surrounded with almost as many enemies as he had neighbours. The Illyr'ians, who had seized a part of his dominions, were preparing to attack him with a great army; the Pæo'nians were making daily incursions into his territories; and he had, at the same time, the misfortune to have two pretenders to his crown, Pausa'nias, the Lacedæmo'nian, who was supported by the Thra'cians, and Argæ'us, whom the Athenians had undertaken to assist. 11. Under these circumstances, with so many enemies to oppose at once, even before he was well settled on the throne, his first care was to make sure of his own people, to gain their affections, and to raise their spirits; for they were very much disheartened, having lost above four thousand men in a battle they had lately fought with the Illyr'ians. He succeeded in these points by his dexterity and address, and still more by the force of his eloquence, of which he was a great master. 12. His next step was to train and exercise them, and reform their discipline. He likewise instituted the famous Macedonian phalanx, which did so much execution. It was an improvement upon the ancient method of fighting among the Grecians, who generally drew up their foot so close, as to stand the shock of the enemy without being broken. 13. The complete phalanx was thought to contain above sixteen thousand men: though it was also taken in general for any company or party of soldiers, and frequently for the whole body f fuot. But this of Philip's invention is described by Polyb'ius to be an oblong square, consisting of eight thousand pike-men, sixteen deep, and five hundred in front; the men standing so close together, that the pikes of the fifth rank were extended three feet beyond the line of the front. The rest, whose distance from the front made their pikes useless, rested upon the shoulders of those who stood before them, and so locking them together in file, pressed forward to support and push on the former ranks, by which means the assault was rendered more violent and almost irresistible. 14. Philip having settled his affairs at home, and compromised all differences with such of his enemies as lay nearest to him, turned his arms against the Athenians, who had marched to Metho'ne,* to assist Argæ'us. He gave them battle, and defeated them: and the death of Argæ'us, who was killed in the action, put an end to the dispute; for he permitted the Athenians, when they were in his power, to return home. This instance of his moderation gained so far upon them, that they soon after concluded a peace with him; which yet he observed no longer than was necessary for securing the other parts of his dominion. 16. This 15. Accordingly, he marched northward, and subdued first the Pæo'nians, and afterwards the Illyr'ians, the latter of whom he likewise compelled to restore all the conquests they had made in Macedo'nia. He next made himself master of Amphip'olis, which lay upon the river Stry'mon, and was the key of his dominions in that quarter. place he had seized in the beginning of his reign, and afterwards abandoned in compliment to the Athenians, to whom it originally belonged; but now, being less apprehensive of the displeasure of that people, he made an entire conquest of it, and added it to his dominions. The Athenians themselves, however, he always treated with great respect, whenever they fell into his hands, as he particularly did upon his taking possession of Pyd'nat and Potida'a; for this last place being garrisoned by the Athenians, he sent them home safe, with many marks of civility. 17. Proceeding still in his encroachments upon his neighbours, he seized the city of Cren'ides, which had beer *A town in Macedonia on the Thermaic gulf. A town in Macedonia between the rivers Aliac'mon and Lyd'ius. It was likewise called Datum or Datos, and afterwards celebrated for the defeat of Brutus and Cassius. |