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110-631: The history of the Thessalian League can be traced back to the rule of king Aleuas, a member of the Aleuadae clan. One source states that it was under Aleuas that Thessaly was divided into four regions. Some time after the death of Aleuas, it is believed that the Aleuadae split into two families, the Aleuadae and the Scopadae . The former were based in the city of Larissa, which later became

220-574: A force to Thermopylae and occupied the pass; there is some debate as to whether other contingents may have joined the Athenians at Thermopylae. The Athenians were certainly there, since the Athenian orator Demosthenes celebrated the defense of the pass in one of his speeches. Cawkwell suggests that the Athenian force was the one that Diodorus says was dispatched under Nausicles consisting of 5,000 infantry and 400 cavalry, and that they were joined by

330-534: A group of pro-Phocian Delphians, who had been in exile in Athens. Philomelus ordered the sanctuary be fortified on the western side (natural features defended the other approaches), and a large limestone wall was constructed. He then demanded that the priestess of Apollo (the Pythia ) provide him with an oracle ; she replied that he "could do whatever he wanted". Philomelus called that an oracle, and had it inscribed in

440-404: A judicious condition of order for the first time in 150 or more years of chaos and turmoil. Flamininus started to act as a central political figure of Thessaly and took initiatives to restore the local governments, through establishing a new census and restricting high classes’ possibility to hold magistrates and council positions, that led to a stable federal league of Thessaly. Under Roman control,

550-551: A large force required extensive depredations of Apollo's wealth; bronze and iron dedications were melted down and recast as weapons, whilst gold and silver offerings were melted down and used to make coinage. Although raising such a large army would have taken a considerable time, Onomarchos had the whole winter after Neon in which to do so. The Sacred War appears to have laid way for renewed conflict within Thessaly. The Thessalian Confederation were in general staunch supporters of

660-703: A match for any army the Phocians could field. This was to prove a serious mistake for the Thebans, and the Amphictyonic cause in general. Rather than contemplate surrender after the retreat from Neon, Onomarchos had rallied the Phocians, and insisted that they should continue the war. A meeting of the Phocian Confederation was held to discuss the future course of action, to which their Athenian and Spartan allies were invited. If they surrendered,

770-466: A peace settlement with Philip. When the Athenians received this news, they rapidly changed policy. If Thermopylae could no longer be defended, then Athenian security could no longer be guaranteed. By the end of February, the Athenians had dispatched an embassy, including Philocrates, Demosthenes and Aeschines, to Philip to discuss peace between Athens and Macedon. The embassy had two audiences with Philip, in which each side presented their proposals for

880-570: A peacefully arranged concordat was at hand"; he also delayed taking the oaths to the Peace of Philocrates. Military preparations were ongoing in Pella during this period, but Philip told the ambassadors that they were for a campaign against Halus , a small Thessalian city which held out against him. He departed for Halus before making any pronouncements, compelling the Athenian embassy to travel with him; only when they reached Pherae did Philip finally take

990-640: A relief expedition being mounted by the Ozalian Locrians, probably mainly from Amphissa . Philomelus's army met the Locrians in open battle on a small plain between the city of Delphi and the sanctuary, and routed them with heavy losses. Some prisoners were taken, and Philomelus had them thrown from the cliffs that tower over the sanctuary (the Phaidriadai rocks). This was the traditional punishment for sacrilege against Apollo's temple, and through

1100-527: A second embassy to Macedon, to extract the peace oaths from Philip; this embassy travelled to Pella at a relaxed pace, knowing that Philip was away on campaign against the Thracian king Kersebleptes . When they arrived, the Athenians (again including Demosthenes and Aeschines) were rather surprised to find embassies from all the principal combatants in the Sacred War were also present, in order to discuss

1210-635: A settlement to the war. When Philip returned from Thrace he received both the Athenian and other embassies. The Thebans and Thessalians requested that he take the leadership of Greece, and punish Phocis; conversely, the Phocians, supported by the Spartans and the Athenian delegations, pleaded with Philip not to attack Phocis. Philip, however, delayed making any decisions; "[he] sought by every means not to reveal how he intended to settle things; both sides were privately encouraged to hope that he would do as they wanted, but both were bidden not to prepare for war;

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1320-416: A small force to their assistance. Philip sent force enough to honour his alliance with Thebes, but not enough to end the war—he desired the glory of ending the war personally, in the manner of his choosing, and on his terms. Athens and Macedon had been at war since 356 BC, after Philip's capture of the Athenian colonies of Pydna and Potidea . Philip had then been drawn into the Sacred War, on behalf of

1430-520: A truce with Phalaikos on 19 July; Phalaikos surrendered Phocis to him, in return for being allowed to leave with his mercenaries and go wherever he wished. Cawkwell suggests that Phalaikos probably collaborated with Philip in 346 BC, allowing Philip to take Thermopylae in return for lenience for him and his men. Otherwise, it is difficult to see how Philip could have advertised his campaign so far in advance (and been so confident of success), and yet not been stopped at Thermopylae. Philip restored to Boeotia

1540-459: A united state, Thessaly fell into political instability following these developments. With a lack of leadership among the Thessalians, noble families took control in the 5th century BCE in an attempt to put an end to central authority. However, the internal conflict divided Thessaly into two sides: the western inland area of Thessalian League and the eastern coastal towns of Pherae controlled by

1650-419: Is Diodorus Siculus's Bibliotheca historica , written in the 1st century BC, which is therefore very much a secondary source. Diodorus is often derided by modern historians for his style and inaccuracies, but he preserves many details of the ancient period found nowhere else. Diodorus worked primarily by epitomizing the works of other historians, omitting many details where they did not suit his purpose, which

1760-522: Is difficult to understand why Pammenes did not march on Delphi, or even sack the undefended Phocian cities in the Kephisos valley. In failing to follow up their victory, the Amphictyons wasted the best opportunity they had during the course of the war to end it. The Thebans seem to have been so sure that the war was ended that they agreed to send 5,000 hoplites under Pammenes to help the rebellion of

1870-504: Is estimated that the Phocians spent some 10,000 talents of Apollo's treasure during the war. In order to overcome the reluctance of mercenaries to fight for a sacrilegious cause, Philomelus increased the rate of pay by half, which allowed him to recruit a force of 10,000 troops over the winter, for the forthcoming war. The following spring, possibly upon hearing news that the Boeotians were ready to march against Phocis, Philomelus took

1980-471: Is not clear from the ancient sources why Phalaikos was returned to power, nor why he adopted this dramatic change of policy. Cawkwell suggests, based on remarks of Aeschines , that the Phocian army restored Phalaikos because they had not been properly paid, and further that Phalaikos, realizing that the army could not be paid and that the Phocians could no longer hope to win the war, decided to try to negotiate

2090-424: Is not definitively known. Buckler suggests, on the basis of topographical considerations, that the modern village of Mendenitsa must be ancient Argolas. Philomelus then laid siege to Argolas, but failed to capture it, and instead pillaged as much Locrian territory as possible. The Boeotian army, under the command of Pammenes , then arrived on the scene, and rather than oppose them, Philomelus backed off, allowing

2200-527: The Amphictyonic League to declare war on Phocis , a fellow member of the League. Thessaly voted with Thebes, but when the Phocian general Philomelus defeated 6,000 troops fielded by the Thessalians, Thessaly divided into opposing regions. The tyrants of Pherae allied with Athens to support Phocis while the Thessalian League remained opposed to Phocis and sought the aid of Philip of Macedon. Philip

2310-535: The Boeotian League (374 BCE). His leadership gave the League unity and power. In 370 BCE, while Thessaly was still preoccupied with the Macedonian intervention, Jason was assassinated and replaced by his nephew Alexander II , who displayed outrageous tyrannical behavior. As a result, the traditional aristocratic families from different cities formed a military alliance against Alexander II of Pherae. Once

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2420-519: The Dorians (including Sparta) and the Ionians (including Athens), with each tribe having two votes in the council of the league. Thebes had effectively become the 'protector' of the league in 360 BC, after the civil war had restarted in Thessaly; the Thessalians having previously been the dominant power in the league. Thus, at this time, Thebes controlled a majority of the votes in the council, and at

2530-568: The Persian satrap Artabazus , shortly after the Battle of Neon. The Thebans needed the money Artabazos offered them, and although they had generally been on good terms with the Persian king, they obviously felt the offer was too good to refuse. It is likely the troops were dispatched before the Phocian decision to fight on became clear, unless the Thebans thought that their remaining troops were

2640-587: The tetrarchs whom he entrusted with the administration of Thessaly, there is one Thrasydaeus, who undoubtedly belonged to the Aleuadae, just as the Thessalian Medius, who is mentioned as one of the companions of Alexander the Great . The family now sank into insignificance, and the last certain trace of an Aleuad is Thorax, a friend of Antigonus. Whether the sculptors Aleuas, mentioned by Pliny , and Scopas of Paros , were in any way connected with

2750-418: The Aleuadae again solicited the assistance of Macedonia against them. Philip willingly complied with the request, broke the power of the tyrants of Pherae, restored the towns to an appearance of freedom, and made the Aleuadae his faithful friends and allies. In what manner Philip used them for his purposes, and how little he spared them when it was his interest to do so, is sufficiently attested. Among

2860-521: The Aleuadae enjoyed the privilege of furnishing the Tagus , or chief commander, of the combined forces of Thessaly. The earliest historical person who probably belongs to the Aleuadae is the general Eurylochus , who terminated the First Sacred War about 590 BC. In the time of the poet Simonides we find a second Aleuas, who was a friend of the poet. He is called a son of Simus; but besides

2970-447: The Aleuadae, although he might have subdued all Thessaly. This fact shows that the power of the Aleuadae was then still as great as before. Around 460 BC we find an Aleuad named "Orestes", son of Echecratides, who came to Athens as a fugitive, and persuaded the Athenians to exert themselves for his restoration. He had been expelled either by the Thessalians or more probably by a faction of his own family, who wished to exclude him from

3080-550: The Aleuadae, cannot be ascertained. Third Sacred War The Third Sacred War ( 356 – 346 BC ) was fought between the forces of the Delphic Amphictyonic League , principally represented by Thebes , and latterly by Philip II of Macedon , and the Phocians . The war was caused by a large fine imposed in 357 BC on the Phocians by the Amphictyonic League (dominated at that moment by Thebes), for

3190-515: The Amphictyonic League, and had an ancient hatred of the Phocians. Conversely, the city-state of Pherae had allied itself with the Phocians. In either 354 or 353 BC the ruling clan of the city of Larissa appealed to Philip II of Macedon to help them defeat Pherae. Thus, Philip brought an army into Thessaly, probably with the intention of attacking Pherae. Under the terms of their alliance, Lycophron of Pherae requested aid from

3300-514: The Amphictyonic League. In this way, the Phocians could annul the judgment against themselves. The Phocians voted in favour of his proposal, and Philomelus was appointed strategos autokrator (general with independent powers) by the confederacy, with his chief supporter Onomarchos also elected as strategos . Philomelus travelled to Sparta to discuss his proposals with the Spartan king Archidamos III . Archidamos expressed his support, hoping that

3410-485: The Amphictyonic council members (minus Sparta and Athens), and those well-disposed to Thebes; furthermore, otherwise uninvolved states declared support for the Amphictyonic for reasons of piety. The Amphictyons seem to have decided that the year was too advanced to begin campaigning, and so agreed to launch military action the following year. They may have hoped that in the meantime, the Phocians' sacrilegious behaviour would cause them to reconsider their position. Following

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3520-502: The Amphictyonic force to cross into Phocis as well, probably by the Fontana pass, in order to prevent Philomelus marching on Boeotia. The two armies converged on Tithorea (whose acropolis, Neon, gives the battle its name), where the Amphictyons brought the Phocians to battle. Details of the battle are scant, but the Amphictyons defeated the Phocians, and then pursued the survivors up the slopes of Mount Parnassos, slaying many. Philomelus

3630-479: The Boeotians to link up with the Locrians and Thessalians. Philomelus had thus failed in his strategy of dealing with the Amphictyons separately, and he now faced an army at least equal in size to his own. He therefore decided to retreat before the Amphictyons could bring him to battle, and probably using the Kleisoura pass, he returned with his army to Phocis. In response to Philomelus's retreat, Pammenes ordered

3740-594: The Chalkidian League, razing Olynthos in the process. The prominent Athenian politician Philocrates had suggested offering Philip peace in 348 BC, during the Olynthian war. The war between Athens and Philip thus continued through 347 BC, as did the Sacred War. In early 346 BC, Philip let it be known that he intended to march south with the Thessalians, though not where or why. The Phocians thus made plans to defend Thermopylae, and requested assistance from

3850-477: The Fontana pass from Triteis to Naryx , or possibly the Kleisoura pass from Tithronion to the same general area of Locris. The Locrians sent a force of cavalry to oppose him, which the Phocians easily defeated. However, this battle gave the Thessalians time to pass through Thermopylae and arrive in Locris. Philomelus immediately attacked the Thessalians, and defeated them near the town of Argolas , whose location

3960-838: The Mantinea campaign of 362 BC, despite Theban requests, and this appears to have caused lasting enmity in Thebes. By 357 BC, with the Athenians embroiled in the Social War, and Alexander of Pherae (an erstwhile ally of the Phocians) dead, the Thebans deemed that the chance to punish Phocis had come. The Amphictyonic League was composed of 12 Greek tribes, primarily of central Greece (the Oetaeans , Boeotians , Dolopes , Phthian Achaeans , Locrians , Magnesians , Malians , Perrhaebians , Phocians , Pythians of Delphi and Thessalians ), plus

4070-464: The Oeteans had demanded that the traditional punishment for temple robbers of being pushed over a cliff be carried out. Aside from being expelled from the Amphictyonic council, all the Phocian cities were to be destroyed, and the Phocians settled in 'villages' of no more than fifty houses; the money stolen from the temple was to be paid back at a rate of 60 talents per year; He did not, however, destroy

4180-474: The Phocians regrouped under Onomarchos's brother, Phayllos. After the huge Phocian defeats at Neon and Crocus Field, Phayllos had to resort to doubling the pay for mercenaries, in order to attract enough to replenish his army. Despite their defeats however, the majority of the Phocians were still in favour of continuing the war. Over the winter of that year, Phayllos engaged in diplomatic efforts to gather more support from Phocis's allies, and succeeding in widening

4290-442: The Phocians to put their faith in the hands of a man who could act regardless of their wishes but the responsibility for whose acts would be theirs." His position now secure, Onomarchos had his chief opponents arrested and executed, and confiscated their property to add to his war-chest. He then set about raising a new army, doubling the size of Philomelus's force, until he had 20,000 men and 500 cavalry at his disposal. Raising such

4400-409: The Phocians would face additional fines for their sacrilege, and for plundering the treasury; however, to fight on meant perpetrating still further sacrilege, and effectively committed the Phocians to winning a total victory against the Amphictyons. Whilst some were inclined towards peace, the majority were swayed by Onomarchos's orations and policies, quite possibly backed up by the threat of force from

4510-471: The Phocians' ability to pay. Under normal circumstances, refusal to pay the fine would have made the Phocians religious (and therefore political) outcasts in Greece, and liable to have a sacred war declared against them. Behind the religious element, there probably lay a display of realpolitik in bringing charges against the Phocians, instigated by the Thebans. The Phocians had declined to send troops on

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4620-414: The Phocians), and give the Phocians a majority in the Amphictyonic council, thus enabling them to have the war declared over. Onomarchos probably brought with him 20 000 infantry, 500 cavalry and a large number of catapults, and outnumbered Philip's army. The exact details of the campaign that followed are unclear, but Onomarchos seems to have inflicted two defeats on Philip, with many Macedonians killed in

4730-505: The Phocians, and Onomarchos dispatched his brother, Phayllos with 7,000 men; however, Philip repulsed this force before it could join up with the Pheraeans. Onomarchos then abandoned the siege he was currently prosecuting, and brought his whole force into Thessaly to attack Philip. It is possible that Onomarchos hoped to conquer Thessaly in the process, which would both leave the Thebans isolated (Locris and Doris having already fallen to

4840-481: The Phocians, and they retained their land. The Athenians, having made peace with Philip, were not penalised by the Amphictyonic council, and the Spartans also seem to have escaped lightly. Philip presided over the Amphictyonic festival in the autumn, and then much to the surprise of the Greeks, he went back to Macedon and did not return to Greece for seven years. He did however retain his access, by garrisoning Nicaea ,

4950-467: The Phocians, since other states could see that "the Thebans...had used the Amphictyony to pursue petty and destructive vendettas". The Phocians held a special conference to decide what action to take. Philomelus , a citizen of Ledon , advocated a pre-emptive policy of seizing Delphi (which was situated within the boundaries of Phocis), and asserting the ancient claim of Phocis to the presidency of

5060-452: The Sacred War could only be ended by outside intervention. The Phocians had occupied several Boeotian cities, but were running out of treasure to pay their mercenaries; conversely, the Thebans were unable to act effectively against the Phocians. The Phocian general Phalaikos was removed from his command in 347 BC, and three new generals appointed, who successfully attacked Boeotia again. The Thebans appealed to Philip for aid, and he sent

5170-457: The Spartan fine would also be annulled, and gave Philomelus 15 talents to raise troops with. On his return to Phocis, Philomelus began assembling a mercenary army using the 15 talents from Archidamos, and also raised a force of 1000 peltasts from amongst the Phocian citizenry. In approximately July 356 BC, Philomelus marched on Delphi, just before the end of the period in which the Phocians had been required to pay their fine. He easily captured

5280-541: The Spartans and the Athenians, probably around 14 February. The Spartans dispatched Archidamus III with 1,000 hoplites, and the Athenians ordered everyone eligible for military service under the age of 40 to be sent to the Phocians' aid. However, between the Phocians' appeal and the end of the month, all plans were upset by the return of Phalaikos to power in Phocis; the Athenians and the Spartans were subsequently told that they would not be permitted to defend Thermopylae. It

5390-545: The Thebans. This was a clear insult to the council and Philip II intervened once more as a regulator. The Fourth Sacred War broke out, ending in the total subjugation of Greece to the kingdom of Macedonia. The Phocians recovered gradually from the repercussions of the Third Sacred War and managed to be reinstated in the Amphictyony in 279 BC, when they joined forces with the Aetolian League fighting against

5500-523: The Thessalian League gradually increased in size and power as a loyal ally and it played a significant role in the campaigning and theatre of operation during the Roman civil wars. During the Third Macedonian War about 300 Thessalian cavalry fought alongside Rome. The Thessalian League was one of the several Greek leagues the Roman tolerated until 146 BCE, when the Roman commander Mummius razed

5610-460: The Thessalian opponents of Pherae that he could, and according to Diodorus, his final army numbered 20,000 infantry and 3,000 cavalry. At some point during his campaigns in Thessaly, Philip captured the strategic port of Pagasae , which was in effect the port of Pherae. It is unclear whether this was during the first or second campaign; both Buckler and Cawkwell suggest that it took place in

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5720-499: The Thessalians under Philip V of Macedon at the battle at Cynoscephalae by 197 BCE, bringing a systematic change of the political boundaries of central Greece. His victory proved the superiority of the legion over the phalanx and Roman influence and control spread throughout Thessaly. At the end of Second Macedonian War in 196 BCE, Rome established Thessaly as a koinon, Federal League, and cultivated its development to make it part of hegemonic powers of central and northern Greece. At

5830-547: The Thessalians, as described above. Since Athens was also a combatant in the Sacred War, the war between Athens and Macedon was inextricably linked with the progress of the Sacred War. In 352 BC, Philip's erstwhile ally, the Chalcidian League (led by Olynthos ), alarmed by Philip's growing power, sought to ally themselves with Athens, in clear breach of their alliance with Philip. In response, Philip attacked Chalcidice in 349 BC, and by 348 BC, had completely destroyed

5940-680: The Thessalians, challenging the power of the Aleuadae. By 374 BCE, the Pherae and the Aleuadae were united with the common, agricultural population of Thessaly by Jason of Pherae . Jason's military organization and work to unify the state challenged the Macedonian influence over Thessaly. Macedonia had left a legacy of pitting Thessalian cities against one another to prevent the rise of a powerful national state. To this end, King Archelaus of Macedonia had seized border provinces of Thessaly for substantial periods and taken sons of Thessalian aristocrats as hostages. However, according to one source, “Jason’s army

6050-428: The autumn meeting in 357 BC, the Thebans were able to have both the Phocians (for the cultivation of the sacred land) and the Spartans (for occupying Thebes some 25 years previously) denounced and fined. Since the fines for both parties were "unjustifiably harsh", the Thebans probably expected neither party to pay, and thus to be able to declare a sacred war on either. There seems to have been some sympathy in Greece for

6160-408: The capital of the League. The two families formed two powerful aristocratic parties and bore considerable influence over Thessaly. A lack of records makes it difficult to have any details of Thessalian life or politics until the 5th century BCE, when records discuss the rise of another Thessalian family—the dynasts of Pherae . The dynasts of Pherae gradually rose to hold great power and influence over

6270-778: The ceremony of the Isthmian Games in 196 BCE, Flamininus, associated in name with the Roman Senate, published a decree that declared: “The Senate of Rome and Titus Quinctius the pro-consul having overcome King Philip and the Macedonians, leave the following peoples free, without garrisons and subject to no tribute and governed by their countries’ laws—the Corinthians, Phocians, Locrians, Euboeans, Phthiotic Achaeans, Magnesians, Thessalians, and Perrhaibians”. Hence, Thessalian Leagues started administering their affairs with

6380-489: The cities that Phocis had captured during the war ( Orchomenos , Coroneia and Corsiae ), and then declared that the fate of Phocis would not be decided by him, but by the Amphictyonic Council. This caused great panic in Athens, since the Phocians could never hope for mercy from the Amphictyons, and since Athens had also (having allied with Phocis) shared in the same sacrilege. However, it is clear that Philip

6490-421: The city of Corinth to the ground, disbanded the leagues, and informally reduced Greece to provincial status. [REDACTED] Media related to Ancient Thessaly at Wikimedia Commons Aleuadae The Aleuadae ( Ancient Greek : Ἀλευάδαι ) were an ancient Thessalian family of Larissa , who claimed descent from the mythical Aleuas (Ἀλεύας). The Aleuadae were the noblest and most powerful among all

6600-480: The city of Delphi, along with the sanctuary of Apollo. Philomelus captured the nobles of the Thrakidai family, who had probably been involved in imposing the fine on Phocis, and killed them, seizing their wealth to add to his treasury. He promised the other Delphians that he would not harm them, although he had initially contemplated enslaving the whole city. The news of Philomelus's move against Delphi resulted in

6710-532: The civil war. When the military result was not finalized, Pelopidas was summoned to enter the protracted struggle between Alexander II and Ptolemy of Aloros in Macedonia- the Theban general, however, urged rearrangement of the Thessalian League at that time. The most important parts of the rearrangement were the replacement of the tagos by an archon , and the reorganization of the Thessalian army according to

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6820-456: The closest town to Thermopylae, with Thessalian troops. The destruction of the Phocian cities and the heavy fine imposed on the Phocian confederation certainly caused the Phocians to bear a grudge against Philip II. Seven years later the Locrians brought charges against the Athenians in the amphictyonic council and a special session of the council was set in order to deal with that matter. The Athenians, however, did not send envoys and neither did

6930-411: The declaration of war against Phocis, Philomelus decided he would need to substantially increase the size of his army. Rather than levy the Phocian citizen body, Philomelus decided to hire more mercenaries; the only way he could afford to do this was by plundering the dedications in the treasury of Apollo. That the treasury contained much wealth, from years of accumulated donations, is well-established; it

7040-552: The defeat of the tyrants of Pherae around 353 BCE and he was elected president (archon) of the Thessalian League. Being entrusted with this position for life, Philip was able to unite the resources and manpower of both Macedonia and Thessaly in order to create a powerful alliance that gave him tremendous influence over the Greek city-states. At his death, many Greek cities rejoiced and some rose up to expel, or attempt to expel, their Macedonian garrisons. This revolt resulted in an invasion of

7150-489: The dignity of Tagus . When the dynasts of Pherae became tyrannical, some of the Larissaean Aleuadae conspired to put an end to their rule, and for this purpose they invited Alexander II , son of Amyntas III . Alexander took Larissa and Crannon , but kept them to himself. Afterwards, Pelopidas restored the original state of things in Thessaly; but the dynasts of Pherae soon recovered their power, and

7260-492: The dignity of basileus ( βασιλεύς ) (that is, probably Tagus ), for such feuds among the Aleuadae themselves are frequently mentioned. After the end of the Peloponnesian War , another Thessalian family, the dynasts of Pherae , gradually rose to power and influence, and gave a great shock to the power of the Aleuadae. As early as 375 BC, Jason of Pherae , after various struggles, succeeded in raising himself to

7370-542: The division of Thessaly into four parts took place in the reign of the first Aleuas. German philologist Philipp Karl Buttmann places this hero in the period between the so-called return of the Heraclids and the age of Peisistratus . But even earlier than the time of Peisistratus the family of the Aleuadae appears to have become divided into two branches, the Aleuadae and the Scopadae, called after Scopas (though not

7480-407: The fact that Thebes, financially exhausted, sent out a troop of 5,000 Theban soldiers as mercenaries to support the revolt of Artabazus, satrap of Hellespontine Phrygia, against the Persian king. He led an attack against Locris and captured Thronion, which constituted a key strategic point on the route network of central mainland Greece. He turned south and invaded Doris and eventually Boeotia, where he

7590-439: The families of Thessaly, whence Herodotus calls its members "rulers" or "kings" ( βασιλεῖς ). The first Aleuas, who bore the epithet of Pyrrhos ( Πύρρος ), that is, "red-haired", is called king, or Tagus , of Thessaly , and a descendant of Heracles through Thessalus . Aleuas played no role his eponymous dynasty outside his kinship's veneration of him at an unidentified sanctuary in Thessaly, but Aelian recorded

7700-543: The fate of Onomarchos, struck a bargain with Philip, and in return for handing Pherae over to Philip, he was allowed, along with 2000 of his mercenaries, to go to Phocis. Philip now worked to unite the traditionally fractious cities of Thessaly under his rule. He took direct control of several cities in western Thessaly, exiling the dissidents, and in one case refounding the city with a Macedonian population; he tightened his control of Perrhaebia, and invaded Magnesia , also taking it as his own and garrisoning it; "when finished, he

7810-404: The four tetrads of Aleuas. Pelopidas’ death during the battle assured continuous regional civil war. In the late summer of 358 BCE, Alexander II of Pherae's death opened a path for Philip’s diplomatic conquest of Thessaly at the request of Cineas of Larissa . The civil war in Thessaly lasted for six years until Philip’s intervention put an end to it. In 355 BCE, Thebes convinced several members of

7920-478: The initiative and marched into Epicnemidian Locris. Since the Phocian army would be outnumbered by the whole Amphictyonic levy, it is probable that he sought to defeat his enemies one by one, starting with the Locrians. If he could defeat the Locrians, then he was in a position to occupy the narrow pass of Thermopylae and block the union of the Thessalian and Boeotian armies, the main Amphictyonic contingents. Philomelus's army thus crossed into Locris, probably using

8030-457: The language of birds, and interpret their flight in augury . Plutarch wrote that he was hated by his father on account of his haughty and savage character; but his uncle nevertheless contrived to get him elected king and sanctified by the god of Delphi . His reign was more glorious than that of any of his ancestors, and the nation rose in power and importance. This Aleuas belongs to the mythical period of Greek history. According to Aristotle

8140-476: The means of this atrocity, Philomelus was asserting the Phocian claim to the presidency of the sanctuary. Buckler observes that "in his first acts, Philomelus set a brutal stamp on the war". After defeating the Locrians, Philomelus continued to strengthen his position in Delphi. He destroyed the stones which recorded the verdict against the Phocians, and abolished the government of the city, installing in its place

8250-722: The meeting with Pammenes, Philip went to begin the siege of Methone. Other historians have placed Neon in 354 BC, because Diodorus says that the battle took place while Philip besieged Methone which Diodorus (at one point) places in 354 BC. Disregarding the dates, most historians agree upon the same sequence of events for the first phases of the Sacred War. The principal question is therefore when that sequence started. Thus, Buckler (as well as Beloch and Cloche) dates Neon to 355 BC, Methone to 355–354 BC, Philip's first Thessalian campaign to 354 BC, and his second to 353 BC. Conversely, Cawkwell, Sealey, Hammond and others lower all these dates by one year, beginning with Neon in 354 BC. The war

8360-543: The mercenary army, and voted to continue the war. Buckler highlights the particular importance of the Phocian mercenary force on the decisions made by (or for) the Phocian Confederation during the course of the war, and also the peculiar consequences it had for the Phocians: "The primary loyalty of that army would go to its commander and paymaster, not to the Phocian Confederacy. In effect, continued war forced

8470-508: The myth of how he became a divinely-inspired seer, in the fashion of a gift from a serpent : while he was tending sheep on the slopes of Mount Ossa , a serpent became enamored of him, kissed his hair, licked his face and brought him gifts. According to the Bibliotheca , a grateful brood of serpents, in return for his having erected a funeral pyre for their serpent-mother, purified his ears with their tongues, so that he might understand

8580-444: The oaths, enabling the Athenian ambassadors to return home. It was in the aftermath of finally ratifying the Peace that Philip applied the coup de grâce . He had persuaded the Athenians and other Greeks that he and his army was heading for Halus, but it seems certain that he also sent other units straight to Thermopylae. Thus, when he swore oaths to the Athenian assembly in Pherae, his troops were already very close to Thermopylae; by

8690-497: The offense of cultivating sacred land; refusing to pay, the Phocians instead seized the Temple of Apollo in Delphi, and used the accumulated treasures to fund large mercenary armies. Thus, although the Phocians suffered several major defeats, they were able to continue the war for many years, until eventually all parties were nearing exhaustion. Philip II used the distraction of the other states to increase his power in central Greece, in

8800-564: The pass. By 12 July the news that Philip was "in the gates" arrived in Athens; the Athenians then knew that the situation was hopeless, and instead of acting on the previous recommendation of the council, the Assembly instead passed a motion re-affirming the Peace of Philocrates. Now that he was in control of Thermopylae, Philip could be certain of dictating the terms of the end of the Sacred War, since he could now use force against any state that did not accept his arbitration. He began by making

8910-400: The peace. However, the Athenians were still ignorant of this turn of events when Phocian ambassadors came to Athens to plead for military aid around 9 July. The Athenian council recommended that the peace be rejected, and Thermopylae be occupied in order to help save Phocis; since, as far at the Athenian embassy knew, Philip's troops were still in Pherae, there seemed to be ample time to occupy

9020-560: The plain of Peneus by Alexander. Faced with the Macedonian army suddenly appearing behind them, and having had little time to organize any resistance, the League surrendered and elected Alexander archon in his father’s place. On the eve of the Second Macedonian War , Thessaly was divided between the two dominant powers of Aitolia and Macedonia . When the Roman commander Titus Quinctius Flamininus ’s legions set foot on mainland Greece in 199 BCE, he and Aitolian allies defeated

9130-469: The process becoming ruler of Thessaly . In the end, Philip's growing power, and the exhaustion of the other states, allowed him to impose a peaceful settlement of the war, marking a major step in the rise of Macedon to pre-eminence in Ancient Greece . The ancient sources for the Third Sacred War are scant, and generally lacking in firm chronological information. The main source for the period

9240-423: The process. Polyaenus suggests that the first of Onomarchos's victories was aided by the use of the catapults to throw stones into the Macedonian phalanx, as it climbed a slope to attack the Phocians. After these defeats, Philip retreated to Macedon for the winter. He is said to have commented that he "did not run away but, like a ram, I pulled back to butt again harder". In 353 BC, Onomarchos took advantage of

9350-514: The remnants of the Phocians and the Pheraean mercenaries. However, Buckler argues that Diodorus never mentions Thermopylae, and the force under Nausicles was sent to help the Phocians the following year; instead, he believes that another Athenian force held the pass unassisted. Although it might have proved possible to force the pass, Philip did not attempt to do so, preferring not to risk a defeat after his great successes in Thessaly. Meanwhile,

9460-442: The same force as during the previous year. Furthermore, the Athenians dispatched Chares to help their Phocian allies, seeing the opportunity to strike a decisive blow against Philip. Subsequent events are unclear, but a battle was fought between the Macedonians and the Phocians, probably as Philip tried to prevent the Phocians uniting forces with the Pheraeans, and crucially, before the Athenians had arrived. According to Diodorus,

9570-480: The sanctuary, as was customary. This pseudo-oracle provided Philomelus with supposed divine justification from Apollo for his actions. He next sent embassies to all Greek states, asserting the Phocian claim to Delphi, and promising not to touch the treasury of Apollo; Buckler suggests that he did not expect the Greeks to acquiesce to his actions, but hoped to draw support away from the Amphictyons. The Spartans, as expected, endorsed Philomelus's actions, since their fine

9680-426: The sculptor Scopas ). The Scopadae inhabited Crannon and perhaps Pharsalus also, while the main branch, the Aleuadae, remained at Larissa . The influence of the families, however, was not confined to these towns, but extended more or less over the greater part of Thessaly. They formed in reality a powerful aristocratic party ( βασιλεῖς ) in opposition to the great body of the Thessalians. For many generations

9790-441: The second campaign, before the Battle of Crocus Field. By taking Pagasae, it is possible that Philip prevented Pherae from being reinforced by sea during his second campaign. Buckler suggests that Philip had learnt his lesson from the previous campaign, and intended to cut Pherae off from outside help before attacking it. Meanwhile, Onomarchos returned to Thessaly to try to preserve the Phocian ascendancy there, with approximately

9900-440: The siege of Methone twice under different dates—and his dates cannot therefore be relied upon. After Philomelus's defeat at Neon, the Thebans thought it safe to send the general Pammenes to Asia with 5000 hoplites; Pammenes probably met with Philip at Maroneia in 355 BC, presumably on his outward journey. Buckler, the only historian to produce a systematic study of the sacred war, therefore places Neon in 355 BC, and suggests after

10010-457: The suggestion of Ovid that he had a tragic end, nothing is known about him. At the time when Xerxes invaded Greece, three sons of this Aleuas, Thorax , Eurypylus, and Thrasydaeus, came to him as ambassadors, to request him to go on with the war, and to promise him their assistance. When, after the Persian war , Leotychides was sent to Thessaly to chastise those who had acted as traitors to their country, he allowed himself to be bribed by

10120-465: The terms of the peace settlement. The embassy then returned to Athens to present the proposed terms to the Athenian assembly, along with a Macedonian embassy, empowered by Philip to finalize an agreement. On 23 April, the Athenians swore to the terms of the treaty in the presence of the Macedonian ambassadors. After agreeing to the peace terms with Macedonian ambassadors in April, the Athenians dispatched

10230-477: The theatre of conflict in the next campaigning season. Uniquely in Greek history, the Phocians were able to absorb huge losses in manpower, thanks to their pillaging of Temple of Apollo, a factor which was to contribute to the war dragging on indecisively until 346 BC. Philip had not involved himself in the Sacred War since his victory at the Crocus Field in 352 BC. In the meantime, it had become clear that

10340-487: The time the Athenian ambassadors arrived home (9 July), Philip was already in possession of the pass. By delaying the oaths, and making what was effectively a feint against Halus, he prevented the Athenians from seeing their imminent danger, and from having time to garrison the Thermopylae. All of central and southern Greece was now at Philip's mercy, and the Athenians could not now save Phocis even if they abandoned

10450-526: The truth in any matter in which it was remotely in his interest to lie". Nevertheless, their allusions in speeches to contemporary or past events indicate some of the gaps in Diodorus's account, and help with the arrangement of a chronology. The accounts of Diodorus, Demosthenes and Aeschines can be further supplemented by fragments of otherwise lost histories (such as that by Theopompus ) and by contemporary epigraphic sources. Modern historians' dates for

10560-576: The two armies met on a large plain near the sea, probably in the vicinity of Pagasae. Philip sent his men into battle wearing crown of laurel, the symbol of the Apollo; "as if he was the avenger...of sacrilege, and he proceeded to battle under the leadership, as it were, of the god". In the ensuing battle, the bloodiest recorded in ancient Greek history, Philip won a decisive victory against the Phocians. In total, 6,000 Phocian troops were killed including Onomarchos, and another 3,000 taken prisoner. Onomarchos

10670-420: The tyrants. One historian spoke of this period as follows, “Thessaly remained politically fragmented and hence unstable, and the chaos of civil war in the region attracted the interest of a series of outsiders: Boeotia, Athens, and eventually Philip II of Macedonia .” In the year 364 BCE, the new joint Thessalo-Boeotian army, led by the Theban general Pelopidas , marched to Alexander II of Pherae to intervene in

10780-442: The war have been hotly debated, with no clear consensus. It is generally accepted that the war lasted 10 years, and ended in summer 346 BC (one of the few firm dates), which yields a date of 356 BC for the beginning of the war, with Philomelus's seizure of Delphi. Diodorus's chronology for the sacred war is very confused—he dates the start and end of the war a year too late, variously says the war lasted 9, 10 or 11 years, and included

10890-607: Was an appointment for life, and gave Philip control over all the revenues of the Thessalian Confederation, and furthermore made Philip leader of the united Thesslian army. Philip was now able to settle Thessaly at his leisure. He first probably finished the siege of Pagasae, to deny the Athenians a landing place in Thessaly. Pagasae was not part of the Thessalian Confederation, and Philip therefore took it as his own, and garrisoned it. The fall of Pagasae now left Pherae totally isolated. Lycophron, rather than suffer

11000-468: Was attracted by the military potential of the Thessalian League. Thessaly was famous for its horse-breeding as well as the skill and effectiveness of its cavalry, considered equal to Philip's own Macedonian Companions. When Philip answered the call for help and captured the port of Pherae, he became fully engaged on the Theban side of the Third Sacred War . His interventions eventually resulted in

11110-463: Was dictating the terms behind the scenes; allowing the Amphictyons the formal responsibility allowed him to dissociate himself from the terms in the future. In return for ending the war, Macedon was made a member of the Amphictyonic council, and given the two votes which had been stripped from Phocis. This was an important moment for Philip, since membership of the Ampictyony meant that Macedon

11220-418: Was either hanged or crucified and the other prisoners drowned, as ritual demanded for temple-robbers. These punishments were designed to deny the defeated an honourable burial; Philip thus continued to present himself as the pious avenger of the sacrilege committed by the Phocians. It was probably in the aftermath of his victory (if not before) that the Thessalians appointed Philip archon of Thessaly. This

11330-560: Was finally controlled by the allied Boeotians close to Chaeronea. Philip returned to Thessaly the next summer (either 353 or 352 BC, depending on the chronology followed), having gathered a new army in Macedon. Philip formally requested that the Thessalians join him in the war against the Phocians; the Thessalians, even if underwhelmed by Philip's performance the previous year, realistically had little choice if they wanted to avoid being conquered by Onomarchos's army. Philip now mustered all

11440-474: Was injured, and rather than risk capture, threw himself off the mountain, falling to his death. Onomarchos, who was second in command, managed to salvage the remainder of the army, and retreated to Delphi, whilst Pammenes retired to Thebes with the Boeotian army. The Amphictyons seem to have concluded that their victory at Neon had effectively ended the war, and the Phocians would sue for peace. Otherwise, it

11550-405: Was lord of Thessaly." Once satisfied with his reorganisation of Thessaly, Philip marched south to the pass of Thermopylae , the gateway to central Greece. He probably intended to follow up his victory over the Phocians by invading Phocis itself, a prospect which greatly alarmed the Athenians, since once he was past Thermopylae, he could also march on Athens. The Athenians therefore dispatched

11660-407: Was now erased, whilst Athens also expressed support, following their general anti-Theban policies. However, Philomelus's embassies elsewhere met with failure. The Locrians demanded that the Amphictyons avenge them and Apollo, and the Thebans sent embassies to the other council members suggesting that a sacred war should be declared against Phocis. This was assented to by most Greek states, including

11770-408: Was now no longer a 'barbarian' state in Greek eyes. The terms imposed on Phocis were harsh, but realistically Philip had no choice but to impose such sanctions; he needed the support of the Thessalians (sworn enemies of Phocis), and could not risk losing the prestige that he had won for his pious conduct during the war. However, they were not as harsh as some of the Amphictyonic members had suggested;

11880-619: Was ostensibly caused by the refusal of the Phocian Confederation to pay a fine imposed on them in 357 BC by the Amphictyonic League , a pan-Hellenic religious organisation which governed the most sacred site in Ancient Greece, the Temple of Apollo at Delphi . The fine was occasioned by the Phocians's illegal cultivation of sacred land on the Kirrhaean plain, which they did not deny; the fine was, however, far beyond

11990-432: Was said to number eight thousand cavalry and twenty thousand hoplite mercenaries, a force large enough to encourage Philip’s father to seek a nonaggression pact with him.” The late fourth and early third centuries witnessed uneasy peace, which were punctuated by the emergence of civil war. While Sparta established dominance elsewhere in Greece, Jason strengthened the Thessalian League and made alliances with Macedon and

12100-510: Was to illustrate moral lessons from history; his account of the Third Sacred War therefore contains many gaps. Beyond Diodorus, further details of the Sacred War can be found in the orations of Athenian statesmen, primarily Demosthenes and Aeschines , which have survived intact. Since these speeches were never intended to be historical material, they must be treated with circumspection; Demosthenes and Aeschines have been described as "a couple of liars, neither of whom can be trusted to have told

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