Page:History of Greece Vol XI.djvu/523

SUCCESS 01' PHILIP. 497 propositions of peace; 1 but they would admonish him to bring up fresh forces, and to renew his invasion, during the ensuing spring and summer with means adequate to the known resistance. It seems probable that the full strength of the Macedonian army, now brought to a high excellence of organization after the con- tinued improvements of his twenty years' reign would be marched into Phokis during the summer of 338 B. c., to put down the most formidable combination of enemies that Philip had ever encountered. His youthful son Alexander, now eighteen years of age, came along with them. It is among the accusations urged by JEschines against Demos- thenes, that in levying mercenary troops, he wrongfully took the public money to pay men who never appeared ; and farther, that he placed at the disposal of the Amphissians a large body of ten thousand mercenary troops, thus withdrawing them from the main Athenian and Boeotian army ; whereby Philip was enabled to cut to pieces the mercenaries separately, while the entire force, if kept together, could never have been defeated. -<Eschines af- firms that he himself strenuously opposed this separation of forces, the consequences of which were disastrous and discouraging to the whole cause. 2 It would appear that Philip attacked and took Amphissa. We read of his having deceived the Athenians and Thebans by a false despatch intended to be intercepted; so as to induce them to abandon their guard of the road which led to that place. 3 The sacred domain was restored, and the Amphissians, or at least such of them as had taken a leading part against Del- phi, were banished. 4 It was on the seventh day of the month Metageitnion (the sec ond month of the Attic year, corresponding nearly to August) 1 Plutarch, Dcmosth. c. 18. ware ev&iif tiriK'i)pvKeva-&ai deopevov etc, It is possible that Philip may have tried to disunite the enemies assem jled against him, by separate propositions addressed to some of them. 2 JEschines adv. Ktesiph. p. 74. Deinarchus mentions a Theban named Proxenus, whom he calls a traitor, as having commanded these mercenarj troops at Amphissa (Deinarchus adv Denosth. p. 99). 3 Polyajnus, iv. 2, 8. 4 We gather this from the edict issued by Polysperchon some years af terwards (D odor, xviii 56). 42