Philip vs. Demosthenes, an ongoing business - Macedonia forged by Philip II - 7

Philip vs. Demosthenes, an ongoing business (351 BC)

In an attempt to simplify things, I generally am skipping the names of kings, generals or other people involved in all these skirmishes, negotiations, and battles but I would like to make one exception for Demosthenes. Athens, as it turned out, was Philip’s bitterest enemy and Demosthenes was the politician who put it into words. Athens was a democracy where people had the final say in all matters through the Assembly which would address the issues and vote by a show of hands. Another important component was the Boulé or Council that would set up the agenda of the Assembly and serve as its advisor while meeting on a daily basis. A number of men took advantage of their rhetorical skills to address the people and one of them was Demosthenes, who earned the reputation as the greatest Greek writer of speeches, but if he did so out of patriotism or simply to attack Philip’s credibility remains to be proven. In any case, he was highly influential in Athens’ decision to support Olynthus against Philip as he wrote an extensive speech for each call for help, known as the three Olynthiacs.

The fact is that Demosthenes did not realize that the days of Athens’ polis system were counted and that he could have given Philip at least a chance to rally on an equal basis when he made this overture. It was clear that Philip could make a decision and act upon it immediately while the Athenian system was slow and by the time they reached a decision it was often too late. Philip had raised a vast number of soldiers and could draw forces from Thessaly or other allies if needed. Because of the Third Sacred War at their doorstep, the Greeks had allowed this to happen and by the time this war was over some ten years later they had no way to stop Philip anymore. But we are not there yet.

With his power growing, Philip felt the time was right to seek a personal revenge by attacking Thebes. He had not forgotten his years there as a hostage; relations between Macedonia and Thebes had never been easy and now that he was more involved in the matters of Central Greece he was not going to miss the opportunity to teach them a lesson. He could not, of course, turn openly against Thebes but used Athens and Phocis, working behind the scenes. His manipulation would ultimately lead to ending the Third Sacred War and the war with Athens over Amphipolis. Everybody in Athens, including Demosthenes, believed this and thought it wise to make peace with Philip before he would set off to make more conquests. What Philip really wanted was a treaty of peace and alliance where he and the Athenians were equals, something that probably did not sink in with the Athenians.

Click here to read the full story about Philip II from the beginning