Page:History of Greece Vol XI.djvu/347

 PHILIP AND OLYNTHUS. 32i for the time suspended. Meanwhile the Athenians seem to have proposed to Olynthus a scheme of decided alliance against Philip. 1 But the Olynthians had too much to fear from him, to become themselves the aggressors. They still probably hoped that he might find sufficient enemies and occupation elsewhere, among Thracians, Illyrians, Pasonians, Arymbas and the Epirots, and Athenians ; 2 at any rate, they would not be the first to provoke a contest. This state of reciprocal mistrust 3 continued for several months, until at length Philip began serious operations against them ; not very long after his recovery from the sickness in Thrace, and seemingly towards the middle of 350 B. c. ; 4 a little before the beginning of Olympiad 107, 3. It was probably during the continuance of such semi-hostile re- lations that two half-brothers of Philip, sons of his father Amyntas by another mother, sought and obtained shelter at Olynthus. They came as his enemies ; for he had put to death already one of their brothers, and they themselves only escaped the same fate by flight Whether they had committed any positive act to pro- 1 Demosthenes, Olynthiac i. p. 1 1. s. 7 vvvl yiip, b ITUVT e f kdpvA.- ovv TEWC, 'O/lvviS-tovf eKiro7t.Efj.^crai delv $i/li7r7rcj, yeyovev v, Kal ravd' d)f av vfj.lv fiu^iara avfupepot. Et fiev yap v' v/nuv uveihovro TOV Trohepov, Gciktpoi av/ifj.a%oc Kal psxP 1 TOV Tawr* uv fyvuKorec qaav lauc, etc. Compare Olynth. iii. p. 30. s. 9. and p. 32. s. 18. oii9t)f, must of course be matter of conjecture. Jf the expression had been found in the Oration De Coronft, delivered twenty years afterwards, we might have construed ev&i),, very loosely. But it occurs here in an oration delivered probably in the lat- ter half of 350 B. c., but certainly not later than the first half of 348 B. c Accordingly, it is hardly reasonable to assign to the interval here designated by ev&iif (that between Philip's recoveiy and his serious attack upon the Olynthians) a longer time than six months. We should then suppose this ottack to have been commenced about the last quartet of Olymp. 107, 2 ; ol in the first half of 350 B. c. This is the view of Bohnecke, and, I thinly rery probable (Forschungen, p. 21 1 ).