Hegemon: Philip of Macedonia

The Third Sacred War

by Thomas K. Sundell

As Athenai's Social War with her former allies ended in her defeat, a new war began in central Hellas. The traditional rival of Boiotia in the central Hellas was the state of Phokis. In an effort to overawe the Phokians, Thebai secured their condemnation by the Amphikryonic Council and a declaration of Sacred War against them (355 BC).

The Amphiktyony was responsible to Apollo for the oracle at Delphoi (Delphi). It was a religious council made up of delegates from many of the peoples of central and northern Hellas (Thessaliotes, Dorians, lonians, Perrhaibians and Dolopes, Boiotians, Lokrians, Phokians, Akhaians, Magnetes, Aenianes, Malians).

The Phokians were accused of defiling the sacred lands of Delphoi. Rather than submit, they seized Delphoi and defied the council.

During the first year and a half of the war, Philippos was aloof from its events. Instead he was campaigning in Thrakios (Thrace). In 353, the triumphant Phokian army, largely made up of mercenaries hired with the treasures of Delphoi, sent a column north into Thessalos at the request of the city of Pherai. Leaders of Pherai's rival in Thessalos, the city of Larissa, sought help from Philippos. Philippos led an army south and defeated the Pheraians and Phokians.

The main Phokian army, under Onomarchos, then advanced into Thessalos and defeated the Makedones. Philippos retreated north. The result of this defeat was to embolden the Makedones king's northern enemies - the city of Olynthos, on behalf of the Khalkidike confederacy and Kersebleptes, king of eastern Thrakios - to seek alliance with Athenai, principal ally of Phokis.

The following year (352 BC), Philippos returned to Thessalos where he was elected archon of their koinon - lifetime military leader of the Thessaliotes. With full use of Thessaliote resources as well as his own, the king again met the advancing Phokian army under Onomarchos and destroyed them. Pherai soon surrendered to him, as well.

Philippos led his army into central Hellas but stopped before Thermopylai. Phokian allies - men of Athenai, Sparte, and Akhaia, occupied the critical pass. Philippos returned north to concerns more vital to his interests.

The Third Sacred War dragged on without the Makedones. The Phokians re-organized, first under Phayllos, then under Phalaikos, and took more of Delphoi's wealth to hire additional mercenaries. Neither the Boiotians nor the Phokians were strong enough to the end the stalemate, especially as their allies lost interest in continuing the struggle. The war sputtered and flared down to 347 BC, while Philippos campaigned in the north.

The Northern Wars

When Philippos went north (352 BC), he pursued goals more critical to himself and his people then aiding the Boiotians. Late in the year, he campaigned in Thrakios as an ally of King Amadokos, who ruled from the River Nestos to the Hebros, against King Kersebleptes, an ally of Athenai, who ruled the interior of Thrakios and the coastal region from the River Hebros to the Khersonesos on the Hellespont (Dardanelles).

During that winter (352/351 BC), Philippos was seriously ill, causing rumors throughout that Hellenic world that he would not survive. He recovered, and continued his Thrake campaign, succeeding in curtailing Kersebleptes.

Next he fought in the northwest, overawing the Paiaones again and campaigning against the Illuroi (Illyrians). These peoples had become restless on the news of his illness. These efforts occupied the king for most of a year (351/0 BC). Over the course of his reign, Philippos or his generals campaigned against the Illuroi and Paiaone tribes at least six times (358, 356, 351/0, 345, 339, 337 BC).

Then he turned his attention to his southwest borders. The region of Epeiros was occupied by three Hellenic tribal confederacies, various Hellenic city-states primarily on the Adriatic coast, and in the northern reaches more Illuroi tribes. The principal tribal confederacy was that of the Molossi. Shortly after Philippos' rule began, he made his first effort to secure the Epeiriote border through alliance, which led to his marriage to the Princess Myrtale of the Molossi, renamed as Queen Olympias (357 BC). His crown prince, Alexandros, was born from that union (356 BC).

By 350, relations with the Molossi had become unstable. Their king, Arybbas, uncle of Olympias, supported Athenai for fear of Makedones ambitions. Philippos invaded and quickly reached a settlement with Arybbas. Arybbas was deposed as king but continued as regent for his nephew, Alexandros of Epeiros, brother of Philippos' queen. Philippos returned to his capital, Pella, with the 12-year old Alexandros of Epeiros in hand. Additionally, he annexed the chiefdoms of Tymphaia and Parauaia, previously controlled by the Molossi.

Trouble next arose with the kingdom's neighbor to the southeast. The Khalkidike confederacy was dominated by its principal city, Olynthos. The Khalkidike is a peninsula adjoining the Makedones kingdom in the east. Some thirty Hellenic cities studded the base and three fingers of the peninsula and formed a strong confederation.

Early in his reign, Philippos had allied with the Khalkidike. But Olynthos took the league out of the alliance when the Phokians under Ononarchos defeated the king (353 BC). Subsequently, proMakedones leaders were elected to senior civic offices in Olynthos, and the anti- Makedones leader of Olynthos was banished (351/0 BC). This augured well for improved relations. A sudden turn-about by the anti-Makedones party, fostered in part by Philippos' two surviving half-brothers who were his rivals, ended hope of a favorable alignment. Olynthos sent envoys to Athenai, seeking alliance and aid (349 BC).

In the autumn of the year, Philippos entered the Khalkidike with his army near Lake Bolbe. Rather than confront Olynthos first, Philippos attacked the city of Stagiros (birthplace of Aristoteles - the philosopher, Aristotle). On the citys fall, the king razed it. Other major cities of the confederation quickly surrendered: Apollonia, Stratonikeia, Akanthos, Arethousa. No reinforcements would reach Olynthos from the eastern Khalkidike.

The following spring (348 BC), Philippos advanced on the western Khalkidike. Again, cities submitted to the king to avoid destruction. Olynthos sent a second appeal to Athenai. The Athenians dispatched 18 triremes with 4,000 peltai mercenaries and some 500 light horsemen under the general Charidemos from the Hellespont. Together with the Olynthians, they raided the areas that had fallen to Philippos.

Philippos then took Mekyberna, the port of Olynthos, and another major city, Torone. Olynthos was cut from the sea and was besieged. Still they managed a third appeal to Athenai and the city responded by sending the general Chares with 2,000 hoplites and 300 horsemen on 17 triremes. Before they arrived, Olynthos fell to Philippos. The city was plundered and the anti-Makedones were sold as slaves. The Khalkidike territory was re-ordered, with some lands being incorporated directly into the Makedones kingdom and all cities forced into alliance with the king.

The Possibility of Peace

In arranging the return of Athenians captured in the Olynthian war, envoys of Philippos sought peace with Athenai. At this juncture (late 348 BC), Athenai was isolated, Phokis on the defensive, Sparte exhausted. If Philippos desired the destruction of Athenail why offer peace? One possibility was concern that Thebai and the Boiotians would become too strong without the Athenian counterweight. Another possibility was that Philippos was already considering war with Persia and an advance into Anatolia.

In Athenai, Eubolos and Aischines opposed peace while Philokrates and Demosthenes supported the peace process. The political factions in Athenai debated and a full 16 months passed before an embassy was sent to Pella.

In the meantime, Philippos campaigned in Thrakios during the spring after his Olynthian victory (347 BC). Fighting continued into the following year, with the Makedones under Antipatros' command. In time, Philippos reduced the kings of Thrakios (Ketriporis, Amadokos, Kersebleptes) to subjects, and achieved alliance with all the Hellenic coastal cities of the Aegean west of the Khersonesos, except Neapolis and Ainos.

Conflict in southern Thessalos drew Philippos from Thrakios. Another of the king's principal generals, Parmenion, besieged the city of Halos (spring, 346 BC). That city was the port city of Pharsalos, and had fallen into violent dispute with its rulers. Philippos needed to support Pharsalos, for that major city was one of the keys to the success of his politics in Thessalos. Halos must also be cleared because it was on the path to central Hellas (Greece). And the need to intervene again in the Third Sacred War was imminent.

Culmination of the Third Sacred War

Phalaikos, son of Onomarchos, was replaced as leader of the Phokians by a triumvirate: Deinokrates, Kallias, and Sophanes. The three were successful in revitalizing Phokis and carrying the war into Boiotia. The Boiotians appealed to Philippos, who sent Parmenion with a force to aid Thebai and the Boiotians (347 BC). Parmenion succeeded in forcing back the Phokians but was not strong enough to press further. It is from that campaign that Parmenion was recalled to besiege Halos.

The lesson for Athenai was that Thebai would not hesitate to call in Philippos. And the Makedones king could then cross the Thermopylai pass. The wolf would be at the door.

Failure of a mission by Eubolos to other Hellenic states for aid and alliance against Philippos led to strengthening the peace party in Athenai. If the security of the Khersonesos could be assured, peace was possible. More than a third of the grain that fed Athenai's population passed through the Propontis and the Hellespont, down along the coastline of the Khersonesos peninsula.

The success of Parmenion caused the Phokians to restore Phalaikos. He repudiated negotiations initiated by the triumvirate for assistance from Sparte and Athenai. When news of this reached Athenai, the assembly voted yes on a motion of Philokrates to send ten envoys to Philippos.

What followed was a complex series of negotiations, starting with differences among the Athenian envoys themselves. The ten envoys were led by Philokrates, and included both Aischines and Demosthenes, so all factions were represented. While this was underway, Philippos returned to Thrakios to complete his war there. He took King Kersebleptes prisoner and returned to Pella victorious.

In the Athenian assembly, Philokrates presented Philippos' terms. He was the only one of the ten envoys to support the peace. Eubolos was blunt: "either mobilize for all out war or accept the peace." The peace passed, though with critical modifications that were not acceptable to Philippos.

Demosthenes became a bitter enemy of Philippos while an envoy, in part due to his treatment by the king and his fellow envoys and in part due to his rivalry with Aischines. Aischines, in turn, gained a better understanding of the king. Demosthenes now viewed anyone who would accommodate the king as a traitor to Athenai.

At peace at last with Athenai, Philippos led his army south to confront the Phokians. He was joined by his Thessaliote and Boiotian allies, as well as by Spartans and others. Phokis was isolated.

While Philippos prepared assaults or sieges of three Phokian garrisoned cities (Alponos, Nikaia, and Thronion), Phalaikos sent envoys seeking terms from him. The king agreed to the surrender of the cities and the departure of Phalaikos and 8,000 metcenaies, without their horses or weapons. In doing so, the king did not confer with his allies. In the end, Philippos held Thermopylai.

With the war closed, the Ampiktyonic Council ordered all Phokian cities razed, except Abai, and the population dispersed into villages. As an example of the bitterness felt against the Phokians, the Oitaians moved that all Phokian males be executed. While this motion was defeated, the Phokians were required to pay an annual fine to Apollo to his treasury at Delphoi. Nor could they possess arms or horses until the full fine was paid. The two Phokian votes in the Amphiktyony were transferred to Philippos. Sparte was expelled from the Amphiktyony, though not Athenai despite her alliance with Phokis. Delphoi was freed from Phokis and given two votes, provided from Perrhaibis and the Dolopes. The city of Nikaia was granted to Thessalos, not Lokris.

Between his own votes and the votes he controlled as archon of Thessalos, which also included the Thessaliote allies, Philippos could control the Amphikiyony. The Boiotians, especially Thebai, and the Lokrians were left disgruntled by the dominance achieved by Philippos, especially given the years they carried on the war without the king (352-347 BC).

Hegemon: Philip of Macedonia

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