Page:History of Greece Vol X.djvu/169

 CRUISE OF TIMOTHEUS. 147 the march of Stesikles with his division by land across Thessaly over the passes of Pindus, to Epirus ; where Alketas, who was at once the ally of Athens, and the dependent of Jason, conveyed them by night across the strait from Epirus to Korkyra. Having thus opened important connection with the powerful Thessalian despot, and obtained from him a very seasonable service, together (perhaps) with some seamen from Pagasae to man his fleet, Ti- motheus proceeded onward to the ports of Macedonia, where he also entered into relations with Amyntas, receiving from him signal marks of private favor, and then to Thrace as well as the neighboring islands. His voyage procured for him valuable subsidies in money and supplies of seamen, besides some new ad- hesions and deputies to the Athenian confederacy. This preliminary cruise of Timotheus, undertaken with the general purpose of collecting means for the expedition to Korkyra, began in the month of April or commencement of May 373 B. c. 1 1 The manner in which I have described the preliminary cruise of Timo theus, will be found (I think) the only way of uniting into one consisten, narrative the scattered fragments of information which we possess respect- ing his proceedings in this year. The date of his setting out from Athens is exactly determined by Demos- thenes, adv. Timoth. p. 1186 the month Munychion, in the archonship of Sokratides April 373 B. c. Diodorus says that he proceeded to Thrace, and that he acquired several new members for the confederacy (xv, 47) ; Xenophon states that he sailed towards the islands (Hellen. vi, 2, 12) ; two statements not directly the same, yet not incompatible with each other. In his way to Thrace, he would naturally pass up the Euboean strait and along the coast of Thessaly. We know that Stesikles and his peltasts must have got to Korkyra, not by sea circumnavigating Peloponnesus, but by land across Thessaly and Epirus ; a much quicker way. Xenophon tells us that the Athenians " asked Alketas to help them to cross over from the mainland of Epirus to the opposite island of Korkyra : and that they were in consequence carried across by night," 'A/Uercw 6e sSeri&Tjaav avvd i aj3i(3daa i Tovrovf /ca? OVTOI ftev VVKT&S iiOfOfitf.'S.iv.Tg.s irov rf/f ^wpaf, eto^/ltfov elf TTJV iroTiiv, Now these troops could not have got to Epirus without crossing Thes- saly ; nor could they have crossed Thessaly without the permission an escort of Jason. Moreover, Alketas himself was the dependent of Jason, whose goodwill was therefore doubly necessary (Xen. Hellen. vi, 1, 7). "We farther know that in the year preceding (374 B.C.), Jason was not vet in alliance with Athens, nor even inclined to become so, though th