Peace of Philocrates

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Peace of Philocrates is a peace treaty of ancient Greece from the year 346 BC. Chr.

Third holy war

The Peace of Philocrates ended in 346 BC. Since 356 BC Lasting Third Holy War . He wrote down the supremacy that Macedonia had won under Philip II through his intervention in the war.
The war was triggered by the Phocians with an attack on Delphi , whereby the conflict soon took on Greek dimensions as the neighboring states belonged to larger alliances. Philip, who was allied with Boeotia , scored in 352 BC. BC won the decisive victory over the Phocians in the battle on the crocus field and was able to secure rule over Thessaly . On the side of the Phokers were u. a. Sparta and Athens , but without being overly involved - Athens had parallel the Holy War until 355 BC. To fight in the alliance war with the states renouncing the Attic Federation and finally had to agree to the dissolution of the Federation. At the same time Philip won a number of Greek cities on the north coast of the Aegean Sea . While Sparta concluded an armistice with Thebes , Athens sent in 347 BC. A first delegation to Macedonia, who should sound out the chances of concluding a peace. But only a second embassy under Philocrates succeeded in negotiating the peace.

Consequences for Macedonia

Macedonia, which some Hellenes still regarded as semi-barbaric, had shown itself to be a champion of Greek ideals through the revenge of the temple crime committed by the Phokers. As a reward for this it was included in the Delphic Amphictyony ; it took over the chairmanship and the two votes of the Phokers who were expelled from it in this body. With this, Macedonia was practically officially accepted into the community of Greeks. The adoption of the Phoci votes now represented a potential danger for Athens and Philip's enemies. With his Thessalian allies, Philip was able to gain the majority of votes in the Amphictyon Council. Theoretically, Philip could use the troop contingents of the Amphictyon Council against his enemies, which he actually did in the Fourth Holy War . In fact, Macedonia has thus become the arbiter and the hegemonic guarantee of the Greek world. In addition to his permanent seat in the Amphictyon Council, Philip was now allowed to chair the Panhellenic Games. Macedonians had been excluded from the Games up to that point because they were not recognized as Greeks. Philipp made it possible after 346 BC The regular participation of the Macedonians in the Panhellenic Games. Even in Athens, Philip was celebrated by the Promakedonian party ( Isocrates , Aeschines) as a peace- maker who had now put an end to the internal Greek wars. Demosthenes , however, remained with his anti-Macedonian stance and gained more and more followers for it.

Only a few years later the peace agreed between Athens and Philip broke. With the victory in the Battle of Chaironeia ( 338 BC ) Philip forcibly pacified all of Greece and thus also created the conditions for the Persian campaigns of his son Alexander .

Demosthenes and Aeschines in the Peace of Philocrates

The provisions of the Peace of Philocrates have been handed down to us primarily through the speeches of Demosthenes and Aeschines . Both speakers, together with Philocrates, attended the legation in 346 BC. Participated. There were a total of two delegation meetings, Demosthenes, as an enemy of the Macedonians, was not allowed to attend the second and decisive meeting. Three years after the peace agreement, the Athenian orator Demosthenes indicted his Pro-Macedonian rival Aeschines. Aeschines was tried for treason ( parapresbeía ). According to Demosthenes, Aeschines is said to have neglected Athens' interests through his negotiations with Philip. Athens actually had to recognize all of Philip's expansion successes after the Peace of Philocrates. With this they finally lost the claim to Amphipolis , a formerly important polis for Athens, which brought in huge amounts of gold, secured the grain fleet route and was important for the wood supply. In his lawsuit against Aeschines, Demosthenes accuses him of having accepted bribes from Philip and of being jointly responsible for Athens' unfortunate situation. Aeschines' defense speech is also recorded. This is only the case in very few Athenian court cases, which is why this legal dispute is an important source for historical scholarship. In the judgment, Aeschines was acquitted by the referees with an extremely narrow majority.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Demosthenes, Orationes 19, 142-143.

literature

In addition to the relevant general descriptions of the history of ancient Greece in the 4th century (see list of literature ):

  • GL Cawkwell: The peace of Philocrates again , in: Classical Quarterly 28 (1978), pp. 93-104.
  • JR Ellis: Philip and the Peace of Philocrates , in: Philip II, Alexander the Great and the Macedonian heritage , ed. By WL Adams, Washington DC 1982, pp. 43–59.
  • Ian Worthington: Demosthenes of Athens and the Fall of Classical Greece, Oxford: Oxford University Press 2013
  • Samtta, Iris: Demosthenes. Tübingen 2010.