Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VIII.djvu/209

 GREECE 197 sia. Fresh negotiations were opened, a con- gress was held in Sparta in 371, and the peace known as the peace of Callias was ratified by all except Epaminondas, the representative of Thebes. Hostilities between the Thebans and Lacedaemonians commenced almost immediate- ly, and the great battle of Leuctra established the ascendancy of Thebes, while striking a de- structive blow at the power of Sparta. Jason, the despot of Pherse, joined the Thebans; but, instead of renewing the attack, he used his in- fluence in eifecting a truce by which the Lace- daemonians were allowed to withdraw from Bceotia. The Athenians, dreading the power of Thebes, now formed a new coalition, inclu- ding most of the Peloponnesian states. In 370 Epaminondas entered the Peloponnesus, laid waste the valley of the Eurotas, built Megalo- polis, which he peopled with Arcadians, and the town of Messene, on Mt. Ithome, recalling the exiled Messenians. Sparta applied to Ath- ens for help, and an alliance was formed to pre- vent the Thebans from invading the Peloponne- sus. But Epaminondas forced his way through the Onean mountains, and joined his allies, though nothing of importance was accomplish- ed, when both armies dispersed and returned home. In 368 Pelopidas led an expedition to Thessaly against Alexander, the despot of Phe- rse; thence he marched into Macedonia, and made an alliance with Ptolemy, the regent, who gave hostages for the observance of the treaty, among whom was Philip, afterward the king of Macedon. Soon after this the Arcadians were defeated by the Lacedaemonians. Epam- inondas entered the Peloponnesus again, in order to bring the Achosans, hitherto confed- erates of Sparta, into the Theban alliance. He succeeded; but a counter revolution was soon after effected, and the Achaean cities went back to Sparta. In 367-'6, accompanied by deputies from their allies, Pelopidas proceeded to Susa on an embassy to the Persian court, and Thebes was declared to be the head of Greece, in spite of the opposition of the Athenians and Arca- dians; but the Persian rescript was not receiv- ed with favor even by the allies of Thebes. Pelopidas having been seized by Alexander of Pherae, in a mission to Thessaly, an army was despatched for his rescue; and the troops, be- ing in danger from the pursuit of the Thessa- lians and Athenians, called Epaminondas, who was serving in the ranks, to the command, and under him were safely brought back to Thebes. Epaminondas was restored to the command of the army by the people, and immediately under- took another expedition for the release of Pe- lopidas, which was entirely successful. The Athenians meantime sent a fleet into the ^Egean sea under command of Timotheus, and took Samos, Potidsea, Pydna, Methone, and perhaps Olynthus. Thebes, jealous of the growing pow- er of Athens, resolved to try her fortunes on the sea. Epaminondas told his countrymen that they must not be content until they had transferred the Propylaea of the Acropolis, to the Theban Cadmea. He appeared in 363 with a fleet of 100 triremes in the Hellespont; but he accomplished little, and this was the only mar- itime expedition undertaken by the Thebans. About the same time Pelopidas, leading an army against Alexander of Phersa, defeated him at Cynoscephalffi, but was himself slain in the moment of victory. Alexander was com- pelled to limit himself to Pheraa, and to become a subject of Thebes. A war in the mean time was waged between Elis and Arcadia, and the presidency of the Olympic games was trans- ferred from the Eleans to the Pisatans (364). The Eleans asserting their rights by force, the temple of the Olympian Jupiter was converted into a fortress. The Eleans were repulsed, but they afterward struck the 104th Olympiad out of the catalogue. In 362 Epaminondas un- dertook his last invasion of the Peloponnesus, in consequence of the acts of the Arcadians. He attempted to surprise Sparta ; but though he entered the city, finding that his movements were anticipated, he retired. The hostile forces now concentrated in the plain between Tegea and Mantinea. A battle was fought, in which the Theban commander gained a great victory over the Mantineans and Lacedaemo- nians, but, while fighting in the foremost ranks, lost his own life. Peace was immediately af- terward made, in accordance with his dying advice. "We now come to the Macedonian pe- riod, which closes the brilliant independent existence of the Grecian commonwealths. The wars of which we have given a rapid sketch exhausted the resources and demoralized the character of the Greeks, and prepared the way for any powerful neighbor to build up an empire on the ruins of Hellenic independence. For many years the princes of Macedon, claim- ing to be of Hellenic lineage, had been growing in power, though in the midst of barbarism. Philip, son of Amyntas II., was sent in his youth as a hostage to Thebes, and there ac- quired a taste for Greek literature, and learned the art of war as improved by Epaminondas. At the age of 23 (359) he became king of Ma- cedon. In 358 he took Amphipolis after a siege, and thus came into collision with Ath- ens, to which Amphipolis formerly belonged. He secured the good will of the Olynthians by taking Potidasa and bestowing it upon them. In the same year (356) Philip gained the prize in the chariot race at Olympia, and a victory over the Illyrians. Athens was occupied in the mean time with the social war a war with her former allies, which commenced in 358, and ended in 355. The sacred war broke out near the same time between Phocis and Thebes, in the midst of which Philip began to interfere in the affairs of central Greece, assuming the character of defender of the god at Delphi. The Thessalian army was defeated near the gulf of Pagasae in 352 ; but his march against Phocis was arrested at Thermopylae by an Athenian force posted there. He then turned his arms northward to Thrace and the Cher-