FROM THE DEATH OF ALEXANDER THE GREAT TO THE CONQUEST OF GREECE BY THE
ROMANS, B.C. 323-146.
The vast empire of Alexander the Great was divided, at his death, among
his generals; but, before relating their history, it is necessary to
take a brief retrospective glance at the affairs of Greece. Three
years after Alexander had quitted Europe the Spartans made a vigorous
effort to throw off the Macedonian yoke. They were joined by most of
the Peloponnesian states; but though they met with some success at
first, they were finally defeated with great slaughter by Antipater
near Megalopolis. Agis fell in the battle, and the chains of Greece
were riveted more firmly than ever. This victory, and the successes of
Alexander in the East, encouraged the Macedonian party in Athens to
take active measures against Demosthenes; and AEschines revived an old
charge against him which had lain dormant for several years. Soon
after the battle of Chaeronea, Ctesiphon had proposed that Demosthenes
should be presented with a golden crown in the theatre during the great
Dionysiac festival, on account of the services he had conferred upon
his country. For proposing this decree AEschines indicted Ctesiphon;
but though the latter was the nominal defendant, it was Demosthenes who
was really put upon his trial. The case was decided in 330 B.C., and
has been immortalised by the memorable and still extant speeches of
AEschines 'Against Ctesiphon' and of Demosthenes 'On the Crown.'
AEschines, who did not obtain a fifth part of the votes, and
consequently became himself liable to a penalty, was so chagrined at
his defeat that he retired to Rhodes.
In B.C. 325 Harpalus arrived in Athens. He had been left by Alexander
at Ecbatana in charge of the royal treasures, and appears also to have
held the important satrapy of Babylon. During the absence of Alexander
in India he gave himself up to the most extravagant luxury and
profusion, squandering the treasures intrusted to him, at the same time
that he alienated the people subject to his rule by his lustful
excesses and extortions. He had probably thought that Alexander would
never return from the remote regions of the East into which he had
penetrated; but when he at length learnt that the king was on his march
back to Susa, and had visited with unsparing rigour those of his
officers who had been guilty of any excesses during his absence, he at
once saw that his only resource was in flight. Collecting together all
the treasures which he could, and assembling a body of 6000
mercenaries, he hastened to the coast of Asia, and from thence crossed
over to Attica, At first the Athenians refused to receive him; but
bribes administered to some of the principal orators induced them to
alter their determination. Such a step was tantamount to an act of
hostility against Macedonia itself; and accordingly Antipater called
upon the Athenians to deliver up Harpalus, and to bring to trial those
who had accepted his bribes. The Athenians did not venture to disobey
these demands. Harpalus was put into confinement, but succeeded in
making his escape from prison. Demosthenes was among the orators who
were brought to trial for corruption. He was declared to be guilty,
and was condemned to pay a fine of 50 talents. Not being able to raise
that sum, he was thrown into prison; but he contrived to make his
escape, and went into exile. There are, however, good grounds for
doubting his guilt; and it is more probable that he fell a victim to
the implacable hatred of the Macedonian party. Upon quitting Athens
Demosthenes resided chiefly at AEgina or Troezen, in sight of his
native land, and whenever he looked towards her shores it was observed
that he shed tears.
When the news of Alexander's death reached Athens, the anti-Macedonian
party, which, since the exile of Demosthenes, was led by Hyperides,
carried all before it. The people in a decree declared their
determination to support the liberty of Greece. Envoys were despatched
to all the Grecian states to announce the determination of Athens, and
to exhort them to struggle with her for their independence. This call
was responded to in the Peloponnesus only by the smaller states, whilst
Sparta, Arcadia, and Achaia kept aloof. In northern Greece the
confederacy was joined by most of the states except the Boaotians; and
Leosthenes was appointed commander-in-chief of the allied forces.
The allied army assembled in the neighbourhood of Thermopylae.
Antipater now advanced from the north, and offered battle in the vale
of the Spercheus; but being deserted by his Thessalian cavalry, who
went over to his opponents during the heat of the engagement, he was
obliged to retreat and threw himself into Lamia, a strong fortress on
the Malian gulf. Leosthenes, desirous to finish the war at a blow,
pressed the siege with the utmost vigour; but his assaults were
repulsed, and he was compelled to resort to the slower method of a
blockade. From this town the contest between Antipater and the allied
Greeks has been called the Lamian War.
The novelty of a victory over the Macedonian arms was received with
boundless exultation at Athens, and this feeling was raised to a still
higher pitch by the arrival of an embassy from Antipater to sue for
peace. But the Athenians were so elated with their good fortune, that
they would listen to no terms but the unconditional surrender of
Antipater. Meantime Demosthenes, though still an exile, exerted
himself in various parts of the Peloponnesus in counteracting the
envoys of Antipater, and in endeavouring to gain adherents to the cause
of Athens and the allies. The Athenians in return invited Demosthenes
back to his native country, and a ship was sent to convey him to
Piraeus, where he was received with extraordinary honours.
Meanwhile Leonnatus, governor of the Hellespontine Phrygia, had
appeared on the theatre of war with an army of 20,000 foot and 2500
horse. Leosthenes had been slain at Lamia in a sally of the besieged;
and Antiphilus, on whom the command of the allied army devolved,
hastened to offer battle to Leonnatus before he could arrive at Lamia.
The hostile armies met in one of the plains of Thessaly, where
Leonnatus was killed and his troops defeated. Antipater, as soon as the
blockade of Lamia was raised, had pursued Antiphilus, and on the day
after the battle he effected a junction with the beaten army of
Leonnatus.
Shortly afterwards Antipater was still further reinforced by the
arrival of Craterus with a considerable force from Asia; and being now
at the head of an army which outnumbered the forces of the allies, he
marched against them and gained a decisive victory over them near
Crannon in Thessaly, on the 7th of August, B.C. 322. The allies were
now compelled to sue for peace; but Antipater refused to treat with
them except as separate states, foreseeing that by this means many
would be detached from the confederacy. The result answered his
expectations. One by one the various states submitted, till at length
all had laid down their arms. Athens, the original instigator of the
insurrection, now lay at the mercy of the conqueror. As Antipater
advanced, Phocion used all the influence which he possessed with the
Macedonians in favour of his countrymen; but he could obtain no other
terms than an unconditional surrender. On a second mission Phocion
received the final demands of Antipater; which were, that the Athenians
should deliver up a certain number of their orators, among whom were
Demosthenes and Hyperides; that their political franchise should be
limited by a property qualification; that they should receive a
Macedonian garrison in Munychia; and that they should defray the
expenses of the war. Such was the result of the Lamian war, which
riveted the Macedonian fetters more firmly than ever.
After the return of the envoys bringing the ultimatum of Antipater, the
sycophant Demades procured a decree for the death of the denounced
orators. Demosthenes, and the other persons compromised, made their
escape from Athens before the Macedonian garrison arrived. AEgina was
their first place of refuge, but they soon parted in different
directions. Hyperides fled to the temple of Demeter (Ceres) at
Hermione in Peloponnesus, whilst Demosthenes took refuge in that of
Poseidon (Neptune) in the isle of Calaurea, near Troezen. But the
satellites of Antipater, under the guidance of a Thurian named Archias
who had formerly been an actor, tore them from their sanctuaries.
Hyperides was carried to Athens, and it is said that Antipater took the
brutal and cowardly revenge of ordering his tongue to be cut out, and
his remains to be thrown to the dogs. Demosthenes contrived at least
to escape the insults of the tyrannical conqueror. Archias at first
endeavoured to entice him from his sanctuary by the blandest promises,
But Demosthenes, forewarned, it is said, by a dream, fixing his eyes
intently on him, exclaimed, "Your acting, Archias, never touched me
formerly, nor do your promises now." And when Archias began to employ
threats, "Good," said Demosthenes; "now you speak as from the
Macedonian tripod; before you were only playing a part. But wait
awhile, and let me write my last directions to my family." So taking
his writing materials, he put the reed into his mouth, and bit it for
some time, as was his custom when composing; after which he covered his
head with his garment and reclined against a pillar. The guards who
accompanied Archias, imagining this to be a mere trick, laughed and
called him coward, whilst Archias began to renew his false persuasions.
Demosthenes, feeling the poison work--for such it was that he had
concealed in the reed now bade him lead on. "You may now," said he,
"enact the part of Creon, and cast me out unburied; but at least, O
gracious Poseidon, I have not polluted thy temple by my death which
Antipater and his Macedonians would not have scrupled at." But whilst
he was endeavouring to walk out, he fell down by the altar and expired.
The history of Alexander's successors is marked from first to last by
dissension, crimes, and unscrupulous ambition. It is only necessary
for the purpose of the present work to mention very briefly the most
important events.
Alexander on his death-bed is said to have given his signet-ring to
Perdiccas, but he had left no legitimate heir to his throne, though his
wife Roxana was pregnant. On the day after Alexander's death a
military council was assembled, in which Perdiccas assumed a leading
part; and in which, after much debate, an arrangement was at length
effected on the following basis: That Philip Arrhidaeus, a young man
of weak intellect, the half-brother of Alexander (being the son of
Philip by a Thessalian woman named Philinna), should be declared king,
reserving however to the child of Roxana if a son should be born, a
share in the sovereignty: that the government of Macedonia and Greece
should be divided between Antipater and Craterus: that Ptolemy should
preside over Egypt and the adjacent countries: that Antigonus should
have Phrygia Proper, Lycia, and Pamphylia: that the Hellespontine
Phrygia should be assigned to Leonnatus: that Eumenes should have the
satrapy of Paphlagonia and Cappadocia, which countries, however, still
remained to be subdued: and that Thrace should be committed to
Lysimachus. Perdiccas reserved for himself the command of the
horse-guards, the post before held by Hephaestion, in virtue of which
he became the guardian of Philip Arrhidaeus, the nominal sovereign. It
was not for some time after these arrangements had been completed that
the last rites were paid to Alexander's remains. They were conveyed to
Alexandria, and deposited in a cemetery which afterwards became the
burial-place of the Ptolemies. Nothing could exceed the magnificence
of the funeral car, which was adorned with ornaments of massive gold,
and was so heavy, that it was more than a year in being conveyed from
Babylon to Syria, though drawn by 84 mules. In due time Roxana was
delivered of a son, to whom the name of Alexander was given, and who
was declared the partner of Arrhidaeus in the empire. Roxana had
previously inveigled Statira and her sister Drypetis to Babylon, where
she caused them to be secretly assassinated.
Perdiccas possessed more power than any of Alexander's generals, and he
now aspired to the Macedonian throne. His designs, however, were not
unknown to Antigonus and Ptolemy; and when he attempted to bring
Antigonus to trial for some offence in the government of his satrapy,
that general made his escape to Macedonia, where he revealed to
Antipater the full extent of the ambitious schemes of Perdiccas, and
thus at once induced Antipater and Craterus to unite in a league with
him and Ptolemy, and openly declare war against the regent. Thus
assailed on all sides, Perdiccas resolved to direct his arms in the
first instance against Ptolemy. In the spring of B.C. 321 he
accordingly set out on his march against Egypt, at the head of a
formidable army, and accompanied by Philip Arrhidaeus, and Roxana and
her infant son. He advanced without opposition as far as Pelusium, but
he found the banks of the Nile strongly fortified and guarded by
Ptolemy, and was repulsed in repeated attempts to force the passage of
the river; in the last of which, near Memphis, he lost great numbers of
men by the depth and rapidity of the current. Perdiccas had never been
popular with the soldiery, and these disasters completely alienated
their affections. A conspiracy was formed against him, and some of his
chief officers murdered him in his tent.
The death of Perdiccas was followed by a fresh distribution of the
provinces of the empire. At a meeting of the generals held at
Triparadisus in Syria, towards the end of the year 321 B.C., Antipater
was declared regent, retaining the government of Macedonia and Greece;
Ptolemy was continued in the government of Egypt; Seleucus received the
satrapy of Babylon; whilst Antigonus not only retained his old
province, but was rewarded with that of Susiana.
Antipater did not long survive these events. He died in the year 318,
at the advanced age of 80, leaving Polysperchon, one of Alexander's
oldest generals, regent; much to the surprise and mortification of his
son Cassander, who received only the secondary dignity of Chiliarch, or
commander of the cavalry. Cassander was now bent on obtaining the
regency; but seeing no hope of success in Macedonia, he went over to
Asia to solicit the assistance of Antigonus.
Polysperchon, on his side, sought to conciliate the friendship of the
Grecian states, by proclaiming them all free and independent, and by
abolishing the oligarchies which had been set up by Antipater. In
order to enforce these measures, Polysperchon prepared to march into
Greece, whilst his son Alexander was despatched beforehand with an army
towards Athens to compel the Macedonian garrison under the command of
Nicanor to evacuate Munychia. Nicanor, however, refused to move
without orders from Cassander, whose general he declared himself to be.
Phocion was suspected of intriguing in favour of Nicanor, and being
accused of treason, fled to Alexander, now encamped before the walls of
Athens. Alexander sent Phocion to his father, who sent him back to
Athens in chains, to be tried by the Athenian people. The theatre,
where his trial was to take place, was soon full to overflowing.
Phocion was assailed on every side by the clamours of his enemies,
which prevented his defence; from being heard, and he was condemned to
death by a show of hands. To the last Phocion maintained his calm and
dignified, but somewhat contemptuous bearing. When some wretched man
spat upon him as he passed to the prison, "Will no one," said he,
"check this fellow's indecency?" To one who asked him whether he had
any message to leave for his son Phocus, he answered, "Only that he
bear no grudge against the Athenians." And when the hemlock which had
been prepared was found insufficient for all the condemned, and the
jailer would not furnish more unless he was paid for it, "Give the man
his money," said Phocion to one of his friends, "since at Athens one
cannot even die for nothing." He died in B.C. 317, at the age of 85.
The Athenians afterwards repented of their conduct towards Phocion.
His bones, which had been cast out on the frontiers of Megara, were
brought back to Athens, and a bronze statue was erected to his memory.
Whilst Alexander was negotiating with Nicanor about the surrender of
Munychia, Cassander arrived in the Piraeus with a considerable army,
with which Antigonus had supplied him. Polysperchon was obliged to
retire from Athens, and Cassander established an oligarchical
government in the city under the presidency of Demetrius of Phalerus.
Although Polysperchon was supported by Olympias, the mother of
Alexander the Great, he proved no match for Cassander, who became
master of Macedonia after the fall of Pydna in B.C. 316. In this city
Olympias had taken refuge together with Roxana and her son; but after a
blockade of some months it was obliged to surrender. Olympias had
stipulated that her life should be spared, but Cassander soon
afterwards caused her to be murdered, and kept Roxana and her son in
custody in the citadel of Amphipolis. Shortly afterwards Cassander
began the restoration of Thebes (B.C. 315), in the twentieth year after
its destruction by Alexander, a measure highly popular with the Greeks.
A new war now broke out in the East. Antigonus had become the most
powerful of Alexander's successors. He had conquered Eumenes, who had
long defied his arms, and he now began to dispose of the provinces as
he thought fit. His increasing power and ambitious projects led to a
general coalition against him, consisting of Ptolemy, Seleucus,
Cassander, and Lysimachus, the governor of Thrace. The war began in
the year 315, and was carried on with great vehemence and alternate
success in Syria, Phoenicia, Asia Minor, and Greece. After four years
all parties became exhausted with the struggle, and peace was
accordingly concluded in 311, on condition that the Greek cities should
be free, that Cassander should retain his authority in Europe till
Alexander came of age, that Ptolemy and Lysimachus should keep
possession of Egypt and Thrace respectively, and that Antigonus should
have the government of all Asia. This hollow peace, which had been
merely patched up for the convenience of the parties concerned, was not
of long duration. It seems to have been the immediate cause of another
of those crimes which disgrace the history of Alexander's successors.
His son, Alexander, who had now attained the age of sixteen, was still
shut up with his mother Roxana in Amphipolis; and his partisans, with
injudicious zeal, loudly expressed their wish that he should be
released and placed upon the throne. In order to avert this event
Cassander contrived the secret murder both of the mother and the son.
This abominable act, however, does not appear to have caused a breach
of the peace. Ptolemy was the first to break it (B.C. 310), under the
pretext that Antigonus, by keeping his garrisons in the Greek cities of
Asia and the islands, had not respected that article of the treaty
which guaranteed Grecian freedom. After the war had lasted three years
Antigonus resolved to make a vigorous effort to wrest Greece from the
hands of Cassander and Ptolemy, who held all the principal towns in it.
Accordingly, in the summer of 307 B.C. he despatched his son Demetrius
from Ephesus to Athens, with a fleet of 250 sail, and 5000 talents in
money. Demetrius, who afterwards obtained the surname of
"Poliorcetes," or "Besieger of Cities," was a young man of ardent
temperament and great abilities. Upon arriving at the Piraeus he
immediately proclaimed the object of his expedition to be the
liberation of Athens and the expulsion of the Macedonian garrison.
Supported by the Macedonians, Demetrius the Phalerean had now ruled
Athens for a period of more than ten years. Of mean birth, Demetrius
the Phalerean owed his elevation entirely to his talents and
perseverance. His skill as an orator raised him to distinction among
his countrymen; and his politics, which led him to embrace the party of
Phocion, recommended him to Cassander and the Macedonians. He
cultivated many branches of literature, and was at once an historian, a
philosopher, and a poet; but none of his works have come down to us.
The Athenians heard with pleasure the proclamations of the son of
Antigonus his namesake, the Phalerean was obliged to surrender the city
to him, and to close his political career by retiring to Thebes. The
Macedonian garrison in Munychia offered a slight resistance, which was
soon overcome, Demetrius Poliorcetes then formally announced to the
Athenian assembly the restoration of their ancient constitution, and
promised them a large donative of corn and ship-timber. This
munificence was repaid by the Athenians with the basest and most abject
flattery. Both Demetrius and his father were deified, and two new
tribes, those of Antigonias and Demetrias, were added to the existing
ten which derived their names from the ancient heroes of Attica.
Demetrius Poliorcetes did not, however, remain long at Athens. Early in
306 B.C. he was recalled by his father, and, sailing to Cyprus,
undertook the siege of Salamis. Ptolemy hastened to its relief with
140 vessels and 10,000 troops. The battle that ensued was one of the
most memorable in the annals of ancient naval warfare, more
particularly on account of the vast size of the vessels engaged.
Ptolemy was completely defeated; and so important was the victory
deemed by Antigonus, that on the strength of it he assumed the title of
king, which he also conferred upon his son. This example was followed
by Ptolemy, Seleucus, and Lysimachus.
Demetrius now undertook an expedition against Rhodes, which had refused
its aid in the attack upon Ptolemy. It was from the memorable siege of
Rhodes that Demetrius obtained his name of "Poliorcetes." After in
vain attempting to take the town from the sea-side, by means of
floating batteries, from which stones of enormous weight were hurled
from engines with incredible force against the walls, he determined to
alter his plan and invest it on the land-side. With the assistance of
Epimachus, an Athenian engineer, he constructed a machine which, in
anticipation of its effect, was called Helepolis, or "the city-taker."
This was a square wooden tower, 150 feet high, and divided into nine
stories, filled with armed men, who discharged missiles through
apertures in the sides. When armed and prepared for attack, it
required the strength of 2300 men to set this enormous machine in
motion. But though it was assisted by the operation of two
battering-rams, each 150 feet long and propelled by the labour of 1000
men, the Rhodians were so active in repairing the breaches made in
their walls, that, after a year spent in the vain attempt to take the
town, Demetrius was forced to retire and grant the Rhodians peace.
In 301 B.C., the struggle between Antigonus and his rivals was brought
to a close by the battle of Ipsus in Phrygia, in which Antigonus was
killed, and his army completely defeated. He had attained the age of
81 at the time of his death. A third partition of the empire of
Alexander was now made. Seleucus and Lysimachus shared between them
the possessions of Antigonus. Lysimachus seems to have had the greater
part of Asia Minor, whilst the whole country from the coast of Syria to
the Euphrates, as well as a part of Phrygia and Cappadocia, fell to the
share of Seleucus. The latter founded on the Orontes a new capital of
his empire, which he named Antioch, after his father Antiochus, and
which long continued to be one of the most important Greek cities in
Asia. The fall of Antigonus secured Cassander in the possession of
Greece.
Demetrius was now a fugitive, but in the following year he was
agreeably surprised by receiving an embassy from Seleucus, by which
that monarch solicited his daughter Stratonice in marriage. Demetrius
gladly granted the request, and found himself so much strengthened by
this alliance, that in the spring of the year 296 he was in a condition
to attack Athens, which he captured after a long siege, and drove out
the bloodthirsty tyrant Lachares, who had been established there by
Cassander.
Meanwhile Cassander had died shortly before the siege of Athens, and
was succeeded on the throne of Macedon by his eldest son, Philip IV.
[Philip Arrhidaeus is called Philip III.] But that young prince died in
295, and the succession was disputed between his two brothers,
Antipater and Alexander. Demetrius availed himself of the distracted
state of Macedonia to make himself master of that country (B.C. 294).
He reigned over Macedonia, and the greater part of Greece, about seven
years. He aimed at recovering the whole of his father's dominions in
Asia; but before he was ready to take the field, his adversaries,
alarmed at his preparations, determined to forestall him. In the
spring of B.C. 287 Ptolemy sent a powerful fleet against Greece, while
Pyrrhus on the one side and Lysimachus on the other simultaneously
invaded Macedonia. Demetrius had completely alienated his own subjects
by his proud and haughty bearing, and by his lavish expenditure on his
own luxuries; while Pyrrhus by his generosity, affability, and daring
courage, had become the hero of the Macedonians, who looked upon him as
a second Alexander. The appearance of Pyrrhus was the signal for
revolt: the Macedonian troops flocked to his standard and Demetrius was
compelled to fly. Pyrrhus now ascended the throne of Macedonia; but
his reign was of brief duration; and at the end of seven months he was
in turn driven out by Lysimachus. Demetrius made several attempts to
regain his power in Greece, and then set sail for Asia, where he
successively endeavoured to establish himself in the territories of
Lysimachus, and of his son-in-law Seleucus. Falling at length into the
hands of the latter, he was kept in a kind of magnificent captivity in
a royal residence in Syria; where, in 283, at the early age of 55, his
chequered career was brought to a close, partly by chagrin, and partly
by the sensual indulgences with which he endeavoured to divert it.
Lysimachus, Seleucus, and Ptolemy now divided the empire of Alexander
between them. In Egypt the aged Ptolemy had abdicated in 285 in favour
of his son by Berenice afterwards known as Ptolemy Philadelphus, and to
the exclusion of his eldest son, Ptolemy Ceraunus, by his wife
Eurydice. Ptolemy Ceraunus quitted Egypt in disgust, and fled to the
court of Lysimachus; and Arsinoe, the wife of Lysimachus, jealous of
her stepson Agathocles, the heir apparent to the throne, and desirous
of securing the succession for her own children, conspired with Ptolemy
Ceraunus against the life of Agathocles. She even procured the consent
of Lysimachus to his murder; and after some vain attempts to make away
with him by poison, he was flung into prison, where Ptolemy Ceraunus
despatched him with his own hand. Lysandra, the mother of Agathocles,
fled with the rest of her family to Seleucus, to demand from him
protection and vengeance; and Seleucus, induced by the hopes of
success, inspired by the discontent and dissensions which so foul an
act had excited among the subjects of Lysimachus, espoused her cause.
The hostilities which ensued between him and Lysimachus were brought to
a termination by the battle of Corupedion, fought near Sardis in 281,
in which Lysimachus was defeated and slain. By this victory,
Macedonia, and the whole of Alexander's empire, with the exception of
Egypt, southern Syria, Cyprus, and part of Phoenicia, fell under the
sceptre of Seleucus.
That monarch, who had not beheld his native land since he first joined
the expedition of Alexander, now crossed the Hellespont to take
possession of Macedonia. Ptolemy Ceraunus, who after the battle of
Corupedion had thrown himself on the mercy of Seleucus, and had been
received with forgiveness and favour, accompanied him on this journey.
The murder of Agathocles had not been committed by Ptolemy merely to
oblige Arsinoe. He had even then designs upon the supreme power, which
he now completed by another crime. As Seleucus stopped to sacrifice at
a celebrated altar near Lysimachia in Thrace, Ptolemy treacherously
assassinated him by stabbing him in the back (280). After this base
and cowardly act, Ptolemy Ceraunus, who gave himself out as the avenger
of Lysimachus, was, by one of those movements wholly inexplicable to
our modern notions, saluted king by the army; but the Asiatic dominions
of Seleucus fell to his son Antiochus, surnamed Soter. The crime of
Ptolemy, however, was speedily overtaken by a just punishment. In the
very same year his kingdom of Macedonia and Thrace was invaded by an
immense host of Celts, and Ptolemy fell at the head of the forces which
he led against them. A second invasion of the same barbarians
compelled the Greeks to raise a force for their defence, which was
intrusted to the command of the Athenian Callippus (B.C. 279). On this
occasion the Celts attracted by the report of treasures which were now
perhaps little more than an empty name, penetrated as far southwards as
Delphi, with the view of plundering the temple. The god, it is said,
vindicated his sanctuary on this occasion in the same supernatural
manner as when it was attacked by the Persians: it is at all events
certain that the Celts were repulsed with great loss, including that of
their leader Brennus. Nevertheless some of their tribes succeeded in
establishing themselves near the Danube; others settled on the
sea-coast of Thrace whilst a third portion passed over into Asia, and
gave their name to the country called Galatia.
After the death of Ptolemy Ceraunus, Macedonia fell for some time into
a state of anarchy and confusion, and the crown was disputed by several
pretenders. At length, in 278, Antigonus Gonatas, son of Demetrius
Poliorcetes, succeeded in establishing himself on the throne of
Macedonia; and, with the exception of two or three years (274-272)
during which he was temporarily expelled by Pyrrhus, he continued to
retain possession of it till his death in 239. The struggle between
Antigonus and Pyrrhus was brought to a close at Argos in 272. Pyrrhus
had marched into the Peloponnesus with a large force in order to make
war upon Sparta, but with the collateral design of reducing the places
which still held out for Antigonus. Pyrrhus having failed in an
attempt to take Sparta, marched against Argos, where Antigonus also
arrived with his forces. Both armies entered the city by opposite
gates; and in a battle which ensued in the streets Pyrrhus was struck
from his horse by a tile hurled by a woman from a house-top, and was
then despatched by some soldiers of Antigonus. Such was the inglorious
end of one of the bravest and most warlike monarchs of antiquity; whose
character for moral virtue, though it would not stand the test of
modern scrutiny, shone out conspicuously in comparison with that of
contemporary sovereigns.
Antigonus Gonatas now made himself master of the greater part of
Peloponnesus, which he governed by means of tyrants whom he established
in various cities.
While all Greece, with the exception of Sparta, seemed hopelessly
prostrate at the feet of Macedonia, a new political power, which sheds
a lustre on the declining period of Grecian history, arose in a small
province in Peloponnesus, of which the very name has been hitherto
rarely mentioned since the heroic age. In Achaia, a narrow slip of
country upon the shores of the Corinthian gulf, a league, chiefly for
religious purposes, had existed from a very early period among the
twelve chief cities of the province. The league, however, had never
possessed much political importance, and it had been suppressed by the
Macedonians. At the time of which we are speaking Antigonus Gonatas
was in possession of all the cities formerly belonging to the league,
either by means of his garrisons or of the tyrants who were subservient
to him. It was, however, this very oppression that led to a revival of
the league. The Achaean towns, now only ten in number, as two had been
destroyed by earthquakes, began gradually to coalesce again; but Aratus
of Sicyon, one of the most remarkable characters of this period of
Grecian history, was the man who, about the year 251 B.C., first called
the new league into active political existence. He had long lived in
exile at Argos, whilst his native city groaned under the dominion of a
succession of tyrants. Having collected a band of exiles, he surprised
Sicyon in the night time, and drove out the last and most unpopular of
these tyrants. Instead of seizing the tyranny for himself, as he might
easily have done, Aratus consulted only the advantage of his country,
and with this view united Sicyon with the Achaean league. The
accession of so important a town does not appear to have altered the
constitution of the confederacy. The league was governed by a
STRATEGUS, or general, whose functions were both military and civil; a
GRAMMATEUS, or secretary; and a council of ten DEMIURGI. The
sovereignty, however, resided in the general assembly, which met twice
a year in a sacred grove near AEgium. It was composed of every Achaean
who had attained the age of thirty, and possessed the right of electing
the officers of the league, and of deciding all questions of war,
peace, foreign alliances, and the like. In the year 245 B.C. Aratus
was elected STRATEGUS of the league, and again in 243. In the latter
of these years he succeeded in wresting Corinth from the Macedonians by
another nocturnal surprise, and uniting it to the league. The
confederacy now spread with wonderful rapidity. It was soon joined by
Troezen, Epidaurus, Hermione and other cities; and ultimately embraced
Athens, Megara, AEgina, Salamis, and the whole Peloponnesus, with the
exception of Sparta, Elis, and some of the Arcadian towns.
Sparta, it is true, still continued to retain her independence, but
without a shadow of her former greatness and power. The primitive
simplicity of Spartan manners had been completely destroyed by the
collection of wealth into a few hands, and by the consequent progress
of luxury. The number of Spartan citizens had been reduced to 700; but
even of these there were not above a hundred who possessed a sufficient
quantity of land to maintain themselves in independence. The young
king, Agis IV., who succeeded to the crown in 244, attempted to revive
the ancient Spartan virtue, by restoring the institutions of Lycurgus,
by cancelling all debts, and by making a new distribution of lands; and
with this view he relinquished all his own property, as well as that of
his family, for the public good. But Agis perished in this attempt, and
was put to death as a traitor to his order. A few years afterwards,
however, Cleomenes, the son of Leonidas, succeeded in effecting the
reforms which had been contemplated by Agis, as well as several others
which regarded military discipline. The effect of these new measures
soon became visible in the increased success of the Spartan arms.
Aratus was so hard pressed that he was compelled to solicit the
assistance of the Macedonians. Both Antigonus Gonatas and his son
Demetrius II.--who had reigned in Macedonia from 239 to 229 B.C. were
now dead, and the government was administered by Antigonus Doson, as
guardian of Philip, the youthful son of Demetrius II. Antigonus Doson
was the grandson of Demetrius Poliorcetes, and the nephew of Antigonus
Gonatas. The Macedonians compelled him to accept the crown; but he
remained faithful to his trust as guardian of Philip, whose mother he
married; and though he had children of his own by her, yet Philip
succeeded him on his death. It was to Antigonus Doson that Aratus
applied for assistance; and though Cleomenes maintained his ground for
some time, he was finally defeated by Antigonus Doson in the fatal
battle of Sellasia in Laconia (B.C. 221). The army of Cleomenes was
almost totally annihilated; he himself was obliged to fly to Egypt; and
Sparta, which for many centuries bad remained unconquered, fell into
the hands of the victor.
The succession of Macedonian kings from Alexander the Great to the
extinction of the monarchy will be seen from the following table:--
B.C.
Philip III. Arrhidaeus . . . . . . . . 323-316
Cassander . . . . . . . . 316-296
Philip IV. . . . . . . . . 296-295
Demetrius I. Poliorcetes . . . . . . . . 294-287
Pyrrhus . . . . . . . . 287-286
Lysimachus . . . . . . . . 286-280
Ptolemy Ceraunus and others . . . . . . . . 280-277
Antigonus Gonatas . . . . . . . . 277-239
Demetrius II . . . . . . . . 239-229
Antigonus Doson . . . . . . . . 229-220
Philip V . . . . . . . . 220-178
Perseus . . . . . . . . 178-167
In the following year Antigonus was succeeded by Philip V., the son of
Demetrius II., who was then about sixteen or seventeen years of age.
His youth encouraged the AEtolians to make predatory incursions into
the Peloponnesus. That people were a species of freebooters, and the
terror of their neighbours; yet they were united, like the Achaeans, in
a confederacy or league. The Aetolian League was a confederation of
tribes instead of cities, like the Achaean. The diet or council of the
league, called the Panaetolicum, assembled every autumn, generally at
Thermon, to elect the strategus and other officers; but the details of
its affairs were conducted by a committee called APOCLETI, who seem to
have formed a sort of permanent council, The AEtolians had availed
themselves of the disorganised state of Greece consequent upon the
death of Alexander to extend their power, and had gradually made
themselves masters of Locris, Phocis, Boeotia, together with portions
of Acarnania, Thessaly, and Epirus. Thus both the Amphictyonic Council
and the oracle of Delphi were in their power. They had early wrested
Naupactus from the Achaeans, and had subsequently acquired several
Peloponnesian cities.
Such was the condition of the AEtolians at the time of Philip's
accession. Soon after that event we find them, under the leadership of
Dorimachus, engaged in a series of freebooting expeditions in Messenia,
and other parts of Peloponnesus. Aratus marched to the assistance of
the Messenians at the head of the Achaean forces, but was totally
defeated in a battle near Caphyae. The Achaeans now saw no hope of
safety except through the assistance of Philip. That young monarch was
ambitious and enterprising possessing considerable military ability and
much political sagacity. He readily listened to the application of the
Achaeans, and in 220 entered into an alliance with them. The war which
ensued between the AEtolians on the one side, and the Achaeans,
assisted by Philip, on the other, and which lasted about three years,
has been called the Social War. Philip gained several victories over
the AEtolians, but he concluded a treaty of peace with them in 217,
because he was anxious to turn his arms against another and more
formidable power.
The great struggle now going on between Rome and Carthage attracted the
attention of the whole civilized world. If was evident that Greece,
distracted by intestine quarrels, must be soon swallowed up by
whichever of those great states might prove successful; and of the two,
the ambition of the Romans, who had already gained a footing on the
eastern shores of the Adriatic was by far the more formidable to
Greece. After the conclusion of the peace with the AEtolians Philip
prepared a large fleet, which he employed to watch the movements of the
Romans, and in the following year (216) he concluded a treaty with
Hannibal, which, among other clauses, provided that the Romans should
not be allowed to retain their conquests on the eastern side of the
Adriatic. He even meditated an invasion of Italy, and with that view
endeavoured to make himself master of Apollonia and Oricum. But though
he succeeded in taking the latter city, the Romans surprised his camp
whilst he was besieging Apollonia, and compelled him to burn his ships
and retire. Meanwhile Philip had acted in a most arbitrary manner in
the affairs of Greece; and when Aratus remonstrated with him respecting
his proceedings, he got rid of his former friend and counsellor by
means of a slow and secret poison (B.C. 213).
In B.C., 209 the Achaeans, being hard pressed by the AEtolians, were
again induced to call in the aid of Philip. The spirit of the Achaeans
was at this time revived by Philopoemen, one of the few noble
characters of the period, and who has been styled by Plutarch "the last
of the Greeks." He was a native of Megalopolis in Arcadia, and in 208
was elected Strategus of the league. In both these posts Philopoemen
made great alterations and improvements in the arms and discipline of
the Achaean forces, which he assimilated to those of the Macedonian
phalanx. These reforms, as well as the public spirit with which he had
inspired the Achaeans were attended with the most beneficial results.
In 207 Philopoemen gained at Mantinea a signal victory over the
Lacedaemonians, who had joined the Roman alliance; 4000 of them were
left upon the field, and among them Machanidas who had made himself
tyrant of Sparta. This decisive battle, combined with the withdrawal
of the Romans, who, being desirous of turning their undivided attention
towards Carthage, had made peace with Philip (205), secured for a few
years the tranquillity of Greece. It also raised the fame of
Philopoemen to its highest point; and in the next Nemean festival,
being a second time general of the league, he was hailed by the
assembled Greeks as the liberator of their country.
Upon the conclusion of the second Punic war the Romans renewed their
enterprises in Greece, and declared war against Philip (B.C. 200). For
some time the war lingered on without any decided success on either
side; but in 198 the consul T. Quinctius Flamininus succeeded in
gaining over the Achaean league to the Roman alliance; and as the
AEtolians had previously deserted Philip, both those powers fought for
a short time on the same side. In 197 the struggle was brought to a
termination by the battle of Cynoscephalae, near Scotussa, in Thessaly,
which decided the fate of the Macedonian monarchy. Philip was obliged
to sue for peace, and in the following year (196) a treaty was ratified
by which the Macedonians were compelled to renounce their supremacy, to
withdraw their garrisons from the Grecian towns, to surrender their
fleet, and to pay 1000 talents for the expenses of the war. At the
ensuing Isthmian games Flamininus solemnly proclaimed the freedom of
the Greeks, and was received by them with overwhelming joy and
gratitude.
The AEtolians, dissatisfied with these arrangements, persuaded
Antiochus III., king of Syria, to enter into a league against the
Romans. He passed over into Greece with a wholly inadequate force, and
was defeated by the Romans at Thermopylae (B.C. 191). The AEtolians
were now compelled to make head against the Romans by themselves.
After some ineffectual attempts at resistance they were reduced to sue
for peace, which they at length obtained, but on the most humiliating
conditions (B.C. 189). They were required to acknowledge the supremacy
of Rome, to renounce all the conquests they had recently made, to pay
an indemnity of 500 talents and to engage in future to aid the Romans
in their wars. The power of the AEtolian league was thus for ever
crushed, though it seems to have existed, in name at least, till a much
later period.
The Achaean league still subsisted but was destined before long to
experience the same fate as its rival. At first, indeed, it enjoyed
the protection of the Romans, and even acquired an extension of members
through their influence, but this protectorate involved a state of
almost absolute dependence. Philopoemen also had succeeded, in the year
192, in adding Sparta to the league, which now embraced the whole of
Peloponnesus. But Sparta having displayed symptoms of insubordination,
Philopoemen marched against it in 188, and captured the city; when he
put to death eighty of the leading men, razed the walls and
fortifications, abolished the institutions of Lycurgus, and compelled
the citizens to adopt the democratic constitution of the Achaeans.
Meanwhile the Romans regarded with satisfaction the internal
dissensions of Greece, which they foresaw would only render her an
easier prey, and neglected to answer the appeals of the Spartans for
protection. In 183 the Messenians, under the leadership of Dinocrates,
having revolted from the league, Philopoemen, who had now attained the
age of 70, led an expedition against them; but having fallen from his
horse in a skirmish of cavalry, he was captured, and conveyed with many
circumstances of ignominy to Messene, where, after a sort of mock
trial, he was executed. His fate was avenged by Lycortas, the
commander of the Achaean cavalry, the father of the historian Polybius.
In B.C. 179 Philip died, and was succeeded by his son Perseus, the last
monarch of Macedonia. The latter years of the reign of Philip had been
spent in preparations for a renewal of the war, which he foresaw to be
inevitable; yet a period of seven years elapsed after the accession of
Perseus before the mutual enmity of the two powers broke out into open
hostilities. The war was protracted three years without any decisive
result; but was brought to a conclusion in 168 by the consul L.
AEmilius Paulus, who defeated Perseus with great loss near Pydna.
Perseus was carried to Rome to adorn the triumph of Paulus (167), and
was permitted to spend the remainder of his life in a sort of
honourable captivity at Alba. Such was the end of the Macedonian
empire, which was now divided into four districts, each under the
jurisdiction of an oligarchical council.
The Roman commissioners deputed to arrange the affairs of Macedonia did
not confine their attention to that province, but evinced their design
of bringing all Greece under the Roman sway. In these views they were
assisted by various despots and traitors in different Grecian cities,
and especially by Callicrates, a man of great influence among the
Achaeans, and who for many years lent himself as the base tool of the
Romans to effect the enslavement of his country. After the fall of
Macedonia, Callicrates denounced more than a thousand leading Achaeans
who had favoured the cause of Perseus. These, among whom was Polybius
the historian, were apprehended and sent to Rome for trial. A still
harder fate was experienced by AEtolia, Boeotia, Acarnania, and Epirus.
In the last-named country, especially, no fewer than seventy of the
principal towns were abandoned by Paulus to his soldiers for pillage,
and 150,000 persons are said to have been sold into slavery.
A quarrel between the Achaeans and Sparta afforded the Romans a
pretence for crushing the small remains of Grecian independence by the
destruction of the Achaean league.
The Spartans, feeling themselves incompetent to resist the Achaeans,
appealed to the Romans for assistance; and in 147 two Roman
commissioners were sent to Greece to settle the disputes between the
two states. These commissioners decided that not only Sparta, but
Corinth, and all the other cities, except those of Achaia, should be
restored to their independence. This decision occasioned serious riots
at Corinth, the most important city of the league. All the Spartans in
the town were seized, and even the Roman commissioners narrowly escaped
violence. On their return to Rome a fresh embassy was despatched to
demand satisfaction for these outrages. But the violent and impolitic
conduct of Critolaus, then Strategus of the league, rendered all
attempts at accommodation fruitless, and after the return of the
ambassadors the Senate declared war against the league. The cowardice
and incompetence of Critolaus as a general were only equalled by his
previous insolence. On the approach of the Romans under Metellus from
Macedonia he did not even venture to make a stand at Thermopylae; and
being overtaken by them near Scarphea in Locris, he was totally
defeated, and never again heard of. Diaeus, who succeeded him as
Strategus, displayed rather more energy and courage. But a fresh Roman
force under Mummius having landed on the isthmus, Diaeus was overthrown
in a battle near Corinth; and that city was immediately evacuated not
only by the troops of the league, but also by the greater part of the
inhabitants. On entering it Mummius put the few males who remained to
the sword; sold the women and children as slaves and having carried
away all its treasures, consigned it to the flames (B.C. 146). Corinth
was filled with masterpieces of ancient art; but Mummius was so
insensible to their surpassing excellence as to stipulate with those
who contracted to convey them to Italy, that, if any were lost in the
passage, they should be replaced by others of equal value! Mummius
then employed himself in chastising and regulating the whole of Greece;
and ten commissioners were sent from Rome to settle its future
condition. The whole country, to the borders of Macedonia and Epirus,
was formed into a Roman province, under the name of ACHAIA, derived
from that confederacy which had made the last struggle for its
political existence.