Page:History of Greece Vol XII.djvu/66

 34 HISTORY OF GKKFXE. him, prevailed on the Peloponnesians to refuse compliance with Antipater and to send no contingents against Thebes.^ The Eleians and -^tolians held out general assurances favorable to the revolution at Thebes, while the Arcadians even went so far as to send out some troops to second it, though they did not ad- vance bevond the isthmus.^ Here Avas a crisis in Grecian affairs, opening new possibilities for the recovery of freedom. Had the Arcadians and other Greeks lent decisive aid to Thebes — had Athens acted even with as much energy as she did twelve years afterwards during the Lamian war, occupying Thermopylag with an army and a fleet — the gates of Greece might well have been barred against a new Macedonian force, even with Alexander alive and at its head. That the struggle of Thebes was not regarded at the time, even by macedonizing Greeks, as hopeless, is shown by the (subsequent observations both of ^schines and Deinai'chus at Athens. ^Eschines (delivering five years afterwards his oration against Ktesiphon) accuses Demosthenes of having by his per- verse backwardness brought about the ruin of Thebes. The foreign mercenaries forming part of the garrison of the Kadmeia were ready (^schines affirms) to deliver up that fortress, on receiving five talents : the Ai'cadian generals would have brought up their troops to the aid of Thebes, if nine or ten talents had been paid to them — having repudiated the solicitations of Anti- pater. Demosthenes (say these two orators) having in his pos- session 300 talents from the Pei'sian king, to instigate anti-Mace- donian movements in Greece, was supplicated by the Theban envoys to furnish money for these purposes, but refused the re- quest, kept the money for himself, and thus prevented both the ' Deinarchus cont. Demostli. p. 14. s. 19. kqI 'ApKuSuv ?jk6vtuv elc icrDubv, Kal t/jv fiiv Tcapix ' AvriTruTpov rzpeaf^eiav uTzpaKTOv uTToareiAuvTuv, etc. In the vote passed by the people of Athens some years afterwards, awarding a statue and other honors to Demosthenes, these proceedings in Peloponnesus are enumerated among his titles to public gratitude — koI (jj CKuAvae HeJ-OTTOvvecTtovc ettl QfjfSa^ ^ AXe^uvSpcj [3orj^f/aai, xp^f^OTU 6:<i)c Koi aiiTiJc npea3evaa(, etc. (Plutarch, Vit. X. Orator, p. 850). • Arrian, i. 10, 2 j .Sischines adv. Ktesiphont. p. 634.