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.
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.
[3] 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 the truth in any matter in which it was remotely in his interest to lie".
[9] Buckler, the only historian to produce a systematic study of the sacred war, therefore places Neon in 355 BC, and suggests after the meeting with Pammenes, Philip went to begin the siege of Methone.
[9][10] The war 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.
[11] 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.
The Phocians had declined to send troops on the Mantinea campaign of 362 BC, despite Theban requests, and this appears to have caused lasting enmity in Thebes.
[14] 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.
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.
[21] 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.
He destroyed the stones which recorded the verdict against the Phocians, and abolished the government of the city, installing in its place a group of pro-Phocian Delphians, who had been in exile in Athens.
[22] Philomelus ordered the sanctuary be fortified on the western side (natural features defended the other approaches), and a large limestone wall was constructed.
[23] The Spartans, as expected, endorsed Philomelus's actions, since their fine was now erased, whilst Athens also expressed support, following their general anti-Theban policies.
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.
[27] 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.
[28] 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.
[30] 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 the Persian satrap Artabazus, shortly after the Battle of Neon.
[33] 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 the mercenary army, and voted to continue the war.
[40] Under the terms of their alliance, Lycophron of Pherae requested aid from the Phocians, and Onomarchos dispatched his brother, Phayllos with 7,000 men;[38] however, Philip repulsed this force before it could join up with the Pheraeans.
[46] In 353 BC, Onomarchos took advantage of 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.
[43] 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.
[44][54][58] He probably intended to follow up his victory over the Phocians by invading Phocis itself,[58] a prospect which greatly alarmed the Athenians, since once he was past Thermopylae, he could also march on Athens.
[59] 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 the remnants of the Phocians and the Pheraean mercenaries.
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.
[60] Over the winter of that year, Phayllos engaged in diplomatic efforts to gather more support from Phocis's allies, and succeeding in widening the theatre of conflict in the next campaigning season.
[60] 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.
[61] 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.
[64] 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.
[71] 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.
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 the Gauls.
