Page:History of Greece Vol X.djvu/265

 AMYNTAS IN MACEDONIA. 243 At the moment of the battle of Leuktra (July, 371 B. c.) Jason was tagus of Thessaly, and Amyntas king of Macedonia. Amyntas was dependent on, if not tributary to, Jason, whose dominion, military force, and revenue, combined with extraordi- nary personal energy and ability, rendered him decidedly the first potentate in Greece, and whose aspirations were known to be un- bounded ; so that he inspired more or less alarm everywhere, espe- cially to weaker neighbors like the Macedonian prince. Through- out a reign of twenty-three years, full of trouble and peril, Amyn- tas had cultivated the friendship both of Sparta and of Athens, 1 especially the former. It was by Spartan aid only that he had been enabled to prevail over the Olynthian confederacy, which would otherwise have proved an overmatch for him. At the time when Sparta aided him to crush that promising and liberal con- federacy, she was at the maximum of her power (382-379 B. c.), holding even Thebes under garrison among her subject allies. But the revolution of Thebes, and the war against Thebes and Athens (from 378 B. c. downward) had sensibly diminished her power on land ; while the newly-organized naval force and mari- time confederacy of the Athenians, had overthrown her empire at sea. Moreover, the great power of Jason in Thessaly had so grown up (combined with the resistance of the Thebans) as to cut off the communication of Sparta with Macedonia, and even to forbid her (in 374 B. c.) from assisting her faithful ally, the Pharsalian Polydamas, against him. 2 To Amyntas, accordingly, the friendship of Athens, now again the greatest maritime poten- tate in Greece, had become more important than that of Sparta. We know that he tried to conciliate the powerful Athenian gen- erals, Iphikrates and Timotheus. He adopted the former as his son ; 3 at what exact period, cannot be discovered ; but I have 1 jEschines, De Fals. Leg. c. 13, p. 249; Isokrates, Or. v, (Philipp.) s. 124. 'O yap naTqp cov (Isokrotes to Philip) Trpof T? Tro/leif ravraf (Spar- ta. Athens, Argos, and Thebes), alf COL irapaivu irpoffe%eiv rbv vovv, n-pdf ('nruaaf OIKEIUC el%e. The connection of Amyntas with Thebes could hardly have been con- siderable; that with Argos, was based upon a strong legendary and ances- tral sentiment rather than on common political grounds ; with Athens, it was both political and serious ; with Sparta, it was attested by the most es 2 Xen, Hcllen. vi, 1, 17. 3 JEschines, De Pals. Leg. c. 13, p. 249
 * <*ntial military aid and cooperation.