Page:History of Greece Vol XII.djvu/316

 284 HISTORY OF GREECE. and some other Peloponnesians, joined his standard ; so thai he was enabled to collect an army stated at 20,000 foot and 2000 horse. Defeating the first Macedonian forces sent against him, he proceeded to lay siege to Megalopolis ; which city, now as previously, was the stronghold of Macedonian influence in the peninsula, and was probably occupied by a Macedonian garrison. An impulse manifested itself at Athens in favor of active sym- pathy, and equipment of a fleet to aid this anti-Macedonian eflfort. It was resisted by Phokion and Demades, doubtless upon all views of prudence, but especially upon one financial ground, taken by the latter, that the people would be compelled to forego the Theoric distribution.^ Even Demosthenes himself, under circumstances so obviously discouraging, could not recom- mend the formidable step of declaring against Alexander — though he seems to have indulged in the expression of general anti-Macedonian sympathies, and to have complained of the helplessness into which Athens had been brought by past bad policy .2 Antipater, closing the war in Thrace on the best terms that he could, hastened into Greece with his full forces, and i-eached Peloponnesus in time to relieve Megalopolis, Avhich had begun to be in danger. One decisive battle, which took place in Arcadia, sufficed to terminate the war. Agis and his army, the Lacedaemonians especially, fought with gallantry and despera- tion, but were completely defeated. Five thousand of their men were slain, including Agis himself; who, though covered with wounds, disdained to leave the field, and fell resisting to the last. The victors, according to one account, lost 3500 men ; according to another, 1000 slain, together with a great many wounded. ' Plutarch, Reipubl. Gerend. Prseccpt. p. 818. ' This is what we make out, as to the conduct of Demosihenes, from .^schines adv. Ktesiph. p. 5,53. It is however difficult to believe, what ^^schines insinuates, that Demos- thenes boasted of having himself got up the LacedjEmonian movement — and yet that he made no proposition or suggestion for countenancing it. Demosthenes can hardly have lent any positive aid to the proceeding, though of course his anti-Macedonian feelings would be counted upon, in case things took a favorable turn. Deinarchus (ut supra) also accuses Demoithenes of having remai'ied inactive at this critical moment.