Page:History of Greece Vol XI.djvu/274

248 HISTORY OF GREECE. and religious agency of the place. 1 It is probable, that when I an suddenly assailed, they had sent to solicit aid from their neighbors, the Lokrians of Amphissa ; for Philomelas was scarcely in pos- session of Delphi, when these latter marched up to the rescue, He defeated them however with serious loss, and compelled them to return home. Thus completely successful in his first attempt, Philomelus lost no time in announcing solemnly and formally his real purpose. He proclaimed that he had come only to resume for the Phokians their ancient rights as administrators ; that the treasures of the temple should be safe and respected as before ; that no impiety or illegality of any kind should be tolerated ; and that the temple and its oracle would be opened, as heretofore, for visitors, sacrifi- cers, and inquirers. At the same time, well aware that his Lokrian enemies at Amphissa were very near, he erected a wall to protect the town and temple, which appears to have been hitherto unde- fended, especially its western side. He further increased his levies of troops. While the Phokians, inspirited with this first advantage, obeyed his call in considerable numbers, he also at- tracted new mercenaries from abroad by the offer of higher pay. He was presently at the head of five thousand men, strong enough to hold a difficult post like Delphi against all immediate attack. But being still anxious to appease Grecian sentiment and avert hostility, he despatched envoys to all the principal states, nol merely to Sparta and Athens, but also to his enemy Thebes. Hie envoys were instructed to offer solemn assurances, that the Pho- kians had taken Delphi simply to reclaim their paternal right of 1 Diodor. xvi. 24. Hesychius (v. a<t>piaftat) mentions another phratry or gens at Delphi, called Laphriadae. See Wilhelm Gotte, Das Delphis- che Orakel, p. 83. Leipsic, 1839. It is stated by Pausanias, that the Ph <kians were bent upon dealing with Delphi and its inhabitants in the harshest manner ; intending to kill all tho men of military age, to sell the remaining population as slaves, and to raze the whole town to the ground. Archidamus, king of Sparta, (according to Pausanias) induced the Phokians to abandon this resolution (Pausan. iii. 10, 4). At what moment the Phokians ever determined on this step or, indeed, whether they ever really determined on it we cannot feel any certainty Nor can we decide confidently, whether Pausanias borrowed he statement from Theopompus, whom he quotes & little before.