Imágenes de páginas
PDF
EPUB

the Athenians, in spite of the urgent warnings of the patriotic Demos'thenes, passed the straits without opposition, and laid the unhappy Phocians prostrate at the feet of their inveterate enemies (B. c. 347). Their cities were dismantled, their country laid desolate, and their vote in the Amphictyonic council transferred to the king of Macedon.

A new sacred war was excited by the artifices of Es'chines, the Athenian deputy to the Amphictyonic council, a venal orator, who had long sold himself to Philip. He accused the Locrians of Amphis'sa of cultivating the Cirrhéan plain, which had been consecrated with such solemn ceremonies in the first sacred war The Locrians, after the example of the Phocians, refused obedience to the sentence of the Amphic'tyons; and the charge of conducting the war against them was intrusted to Philip (B. c. 339). He hastened to Delphi, marched against Amphis'sa, took it by storm; and soon after revealed his designs against the liberties of Greece, by seizing and fortifying Elateía, the capital of Phócis. The Athenians and Thebans instantly took up arms; but they intrusted their forces to incompetent generals; and when they encountered the Macedonians at Charoneía, they were irretrievably defeated. The independence of the Grecian communities was thus destroyed; and in a general convention of the Amphictyonic states at Corinth (B. c. 337), Philip was chosen captain-general of confederate Greece, and appointed to lead their united forces against the Persian empire.

CHAPTER XI.

THE HISTORY OF MACEDON.

SECTION I.-Geographical Outline.

THE range of Mount Hæ'mus separates Thrace and Macedon from northern Europe, and the Cambúnian mountains on the south divide the latter country from Thessaly. The space intervening between these mountain-chains was, during a long succession of ages, distinguished by different appellations, according as the barbarous nations that tenanted these regions rose into temporary eminence. The most ancient name of Macedonia was Emath'ia; but the time and cause of the appellation being changed are unknown. It is difficult to describe the boundaries of a country whose limits were constantly varying; but in its most flourishing state, Macedon was bounded on the north by the river Strýmon, and the Scardian branch of Mount Hæ'mus; on the east by the Ægean sea; on the south by the Cambúnian mountains; and on the west by the Adriatic. It was said to contain one hundred and fifty different nations; and this number will not appear exaggerated, when it is remembered that each of its cities and towns was regarded as an independent state.

The western division of the country, on the coast of the Adriatic, was for the most part possessed by the uncivilized Taulant'ii. In their territory stood Epidam'nus, founded by a Corcyrean colony, whose name the Romans changed to Dyrac'chium (Durazzo), on account of its illomened signification; and Apollónia, a city colonized by the Corinthians. South of the Taulant'ii, but still on the Adriatic coast, was the territory of the Alymióta, whose chief cities were Elýma, and Bul'lis. East of these lay a little inland district called the kingdom of Orestes, because the son of Agamem'non is said to have settled there after the murder of his mother.

The southeastern part of the country, called Æmath'ia or Macedonia Proper, contained Egæ'a, or Edes'sa, the cradle of the Macedonian monarchy, and Pella, the favorite capital of its most powerful kings. The districts of math'ia that bordered the sea were called Piéria, and were consecrated to the Muses: they contained the important cities Pyd'na, Phyláce, and Díum. Northeast was the region of Amphax'itis, bordering the Thermaic gulf: its chief cities were Therma, subsequently called Thessaloníca (Salonichi), and Stagíra, the birthplace of Aristotle.

The Chalcidian peninsula, between the Thermaic and Strymonian gulfs, has its coast deeply indented by noble bays and inlets of the

Ægean sea. It contained many important trading cities and colonies, the chief of which, Palléne, in the headland of the same name: Potidæ'a, a Corinthian colony; Toróne, on the Toronaic gulf; and Olyn'thus, famous for the many sieges it sustained. In the region of Edónia, near the river Strýmon, was Amphip'olis, a favorite colony of the Athenians, Scotus'sa, and Crenídes, whose name was changed to Philip'pi by the father of Alexander the Great.

The most remarkable mountains of Macedon were the Scardian and other branches from the chain of Hæ'mus; Pangæ'us, celebrated for its rich mines of gold and silver; A'thos, which juts into the Ægean sea, forming a remarkable and dangerous promontory; and Olym'pus, which partly belonged to Thessaly. Most of these, but especially the Scardian chain and Mount A'thos, were richly wooded, and the timber they produced was highly valued by shipbuilders. The principal rivers falling into the Adriatic were the Panyásus, the Ap'sus, the Laus, and the Celyd'nus; on the Egean side were the Haliac'mon, the E'rigon, the Ax'ius, and the Strýmon, which was the northern boundary of Macedon, until Philip extended his dominions to the Nes'

sus.

The soil of Macedonia was very fruitful; on the seacoast especially it produced great abundance of corn, wine, and oil, and most of its mountains were rich in mineral treasures. Macedonia was celebrated for an excellent breed of horses, to which great attention was paid; no fewer than thirty thousand brood mares being kept in the royal stud at Pélla.

SECTION II.-History of the Macedonian Monarchy.

FROM B. C. 813 TO B. c. 323.

AN Argive colony, conducted by Car'anus, is said to have invaded math'ia by the command of an oracle, and to have been conducted by a flock of goats to the city of Edes'sa, which was easily stormed (B. c. 813). The kingdom thus founded was gradually enlarged at the expense of the neighboring barbarous nations; and was fast rising into importance, when, in the reign of king Amyn'tas, it became tributary to the Persians (B. c. 513), immediately after the return of Daríus from his Scythian campaign. After the overthrow of the Persians at Platæ'æ, Macedon recovered its independence; which, however, was never recognised by the Persian kings. Per'diccas II. (B. c. 554), on coming to the throne, found his dominions exposed to the attacks of the Illyrians and Thracians, while his brother was encouraged to contest the crown by the Athenians. He was induced by these circumstances to take the Spartan side in the first Peloponnesian war, and much of the success of Bras'idas was owing to his active co-operation.

Civilization and the arts of social life were introduced into Macedonia by Archelaus, the son and successor of Per'diccas (B. c. 413). His plans for the reform of the government were greatly impeded by the jealous hostility of the nobles, who were a kind of petty princes, barely conceding to their kings the right of precedence. He was a generous patron of learning and learned men; he invited Soc'rates to

his court; and munificently protected Eurip'ides when he was forced to depart from Athens.

Archelaus was murdered by Crat'erus, one of his favorites (B. C. 400); and his death was followed by a series of civil wars and sanguinary revolutions, which possess no interest or importance. They were terminated by the accession of Philip (в. c. 360), who, on the death of his brother Per'diccas III., escaped from Thebes, whither he had been sent as a hostage, and was chosen king in preference to his nephew, whose infancy disqualified him from reigning in a crisis of difficulty and danger.

Philip found his new kingdom assailed by four formidable armies, and distracted by the claims of two rival competitors for the throne, one of whom had the powerful support of the Athenians. Educated in the arts of war and state-policy by the great Epaminon'das, Philip displayed valor and wisdom adequate to the crisis: he purchased, by large bribes, the forbearance rather than the friendship of the Illyrians, Pæonians, and Thracians; he then marched with his whole force against Argæ'us and his Athenian auxiliaries, whom he defeated in a general engagement. Argæ'us was slain, and his supporters remained prisoners of war. Philip, anxious to court the favor of the Athenians, dismissed his captives without ransom, and resigned his pretensions to Amphip'olis.

Having restored tranquillity to his kingdom, he began to prepare for its security by improving the tactics and military discipline of his subjects. Epaminon'das, at Leuc'tra and Mantineía, had shown the superiority of a heavy column over the long lines in which the Greeks usually arranged their forces; and, improving on this lesson, he instituted the celebrated Macedonian phalanx. He soon found the advantage of this improvement: having been forced to war by the Pæonians, he subdued their country, and made it a Macedonian province; and then, without resting, he marched against the Illyrians, whom he overthrew so decisively, that they begged for peace on any conditions he pleased to impose.

While Athens was involved in the fatal war against the colonies Philip, though professing the warmest friendship for the republic, captured Amphip'olis, Pyd'na, and Potida'a; and stripped Cótys, king of Thrace, the most faithful ally the Athenians possessed, of a great portion of his dominions. Thence he turned his arms against the tyrants of Thes'saly and Epírus; and received from the Thessalians, in gratitude for his services, the cession of all the revenues arising from their fairs and markets, as well as all the conveniences of their harbors and shipping. When the campaign was concluded (B. c. 357), he married Olympias, daughter of the king of Epírus, a princess equally remarkable for her crimes and her misfortunes.

While Greece was distracted by the second sacred war, Philip was steadily pursuing his policy of extending his northern frontiers, and securing the maritime cities of Thrace. He was vigorously opposed by Kersoblep'tes and an Athenian army; in spite, however, of these enemies, he captured the important city of Methóne; but he deemed the conquest dearly purchased by the loss of an eye during the siege. His attention was next directed to the sacred war, which he was invi

ted to undertake by the Thebans. Having subdued the Phocians, he made an attempt to seize Thermop'yla (B. c. 352), but was baffled by the energetic promptitude of the Athenians. They were roused to this display of valor by the eloquent harangues of the orator Demos'thenes, whose whole life was spent in opposing Philip's designs against Grecian liberty. He was soon after doomed to meet a second disappointment; his troops being driven from the island of Eubœ'a by the virtuous Phocion, the last and most incorruptible of the long list of generals and statesmen that adorned the Athenian republic.

These disappointments only stimulated his activity. Having purchased, by large bribes, the services of several traitors in Olyn'thus, he marched against that opulent city (B. c. 349), while the venal orators at Athens, whom he had taken into his pay, dissuaded the careless and sensual Athenians from hastening to the relief of their allies. The noble exhortations, solemn warnings, and bitter reproaches of Demos'thenes, failed to inspire his countrymen with energy: they wasted the time of action in discussions, embassies, and fruitless expeditions; and when they began to prepare for some more serious interference, they were astounded by the intelligence that Olyn'thus was no more. It had been betrayed to Philip, who levelled its walls and buildings to the ground, and dragged the inhabitants into slavery. This triumph was followed by the conquest of the whole Chalcidian peninsula, with its valuable commercial marts and seaports. His artifices and bribes disarmed the vengeance of the Athenians, and lulled them into a fatal security, while Philip finally put an end to the sacred war, by the utter destruction of the Phocians. They even permitted him to extend his conquests in Thebes, and to acquire a commanding influence in the Peloponnésus, by leading an armament thither, which completed the humiliation of the Spartans.

For several years Philip was engaged in the conquest of the commercial cities in the Thracian Chersonese and on the shores of the Propon'tis, while the Athenians made some vigorous but desultory efforts to check his progress. At length the third sacred war against the Locrians of Amphis'sa gave him an opportunity of again appearing as the champion of the national religion of Greece. He entered Phócis, and thence marched to Amphis'sa, which he totally destroyed (B. C. 338). Before the southern Greeks could recover from their astonishment, he threw off the mask which had hitherto concealed his plans, and announced to the states his design of becoming their master, by seizing and fortifying Elatéia. The Thebans and Athenians united in defence of Grecian liberty, but unfortunately they intrusted their forces to feeble and treacherous commanders. They encountered the Macedonians, headed by Philip and his valiant son Alexander, in the plains of Cheronéia, and were irretrievably ruined. They were forced to accept of peace dictated by the conqueror, who treated the Thebans with dreadful severity, but showed great forbearance and kindness to the Athenians. In the following year a general convention of the Grecian states was held at Corinth, where it was resolved that all should unite in a war against the Persians, and that Philip should be appointed captain-general of the confederate forces. While preparations were making for this great enterprise, Philip was stabbed to the

« AnteriorContinuar »