Page:History of Greece Vol XII.djvu/350

 318 HISTORY OF GREECE. hear of a descent by Mikion Avitli a Macedonian fleet at Rliam- nus on the eastei-n coast of Attica, repulsed by Pliokion ; also of a Macedonian fleet, of 240 sail, under Kleitus, engaging in two battles with the Athenian fleet under Eetion, near the islands called Echinades, at the mouth of the Achelous, on the western ^tolian coast. The Athenians were defeated in both actions, and great efforts were made at Athens to build new vessels for the purpose of filling up the losses sustained.' Our information is not sufiicient to reveal the purposes or details of these proceedings. But it seems probable that the Macedonian fleet were attacking ^tolia through OEniadte, the citizens of which town had recently been expelled by the -^tolians ; - and perhaps this may have been the reason why the ^tolian contin- gent was withdrawn from Thessaly. In spite of such untoward events at sea, the cause of Pan- hellenic liberty seemed on the whole prosperous. Though the capital opportunity had been missed, of taking Antipater captive in Lamia, still he had been expelled from Greece, and was unable, by means of his own forces in Macedonia, to regain his footing. The Grecian contingents had behaved with bravery and unanimity in prosecution of the common purpose ; and what had been already achieved was quite sufficient to justify the rising, as a fair risk, promising reasonable hopes of success. Nevertheless Greek citizens were not like trained Macedonian soldiers. After a term of service not much prolonged, they wanted to go back to their families and properties, hardly less after a victory than after a defeat. Hence the army of Anti- philus in Thessaly became much thinned,^ though still remaining large enough to keep back the Macedonian forces of Antipater, even augmented as they had been by Leonnatus — and to com- pel him to await the still more powerful reinforcement destined to follow under Kraterus. In explaining the relations between these three Macedonian commanders — Antipater, Leonnatus, and Kraterus — it is neces- sary to go back to June 323 B. c, the period of Alexander's death, and to review the condition into which his vast and mighty empire had fallen. I shall do this briefly, and only so far as it ' Diodor. xviii. 15. * Diodor xviii. 8. ' Diodor. xviii. 17.