RECONQUEST BY OCHUS. 43> by power and position. As JEschines, when employed iu embas- sy from Athens to Philip, thought that his principal duty consist- ed in tryjng to persuade him by eloquence to restore Amphipolia to Athens, and put down Thebes so Isokrates relies upon his skilful pen to dispose the new chief to a good use of imperial pow- er to make him protector of Greece, and conquerer of Asia, If copious and elegant flattery could work such a miracle, Isok- rates might hope for success. But it is painful to note the in creasing subservience, on the part of estimable Athenian freemen like Isokrates, to a foreign potentate ; and the declining sentiment of Hellenic independence and dignity, conspicuous after the peace of 346 B. c. in reference to Philip. From Isokrates as well as from Demosthenes, we thus obtain evidence of the imposing and intimidating effect of Philip's name in Greece after the peace of 346 B. c. Ochus, the Persian king, was at this time embarrassed by unsubdued revolt among his sub- jects ; which Isokrates urges as one motive for Philip to attack him. Not only Egypt, but also Phenicia and Cyprus, were in re- volt against the Persian king. One expedition (if not two) on a large scale, undertaken by him for the purpose of reconquering Egypt, had been disgracefully repulsed, in consequence of the ability of the generals (Diophantus an Athenian and Lamius a Spartan) who commanded the Grecian mercenaries in the service of the Egyptian prince Nektanebus. 1 About the time of the peace of 346 B. c. in Greece, however, Ochus appears to have renewed with better success his attack on Cyprus, Phenica, and Egypt. To reconquer Cyprus, he put in requisition the force of the Karian prince Idrieus (brother and successor of Mausolus and Artemisia), at this time not only the most powerful prince in Asia Minor, but also master of the Grecian islands Chios, Kos, and Rhodes, probably by means of an internal oligarchy in each, who ruled in his interest and through his soldiers. 2 Idrieus sent 1 Isokrates, Or. v. Philipp. s. 118; Diodor. xv. 40, 44, 48. Diodonw alludes three several times to this repulse of Ochus from Egypt. Compare Demosth. De Rhod. Libert, p. 193. Trogus mentioned three different expeditions of Ochus against Egypt (Argument, ad Justin, lib. x).
- Isokrates, Or. v. Philipp. s, 102. J 16pila ys rbv eiiropurarov TUV v Ol
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