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own country; and he defeated the confederates at Corone'a; but the Spartan fleet was soon after defeated by the Athenians under Conon near Cnidos.

19. After various vicissitudes, all parties became weary of the war, and a treaty of peace was concluded, called the peace of Antal'cidas, from the Lacedæmonian who negotiated it. The conditions were, that all the Grecian cities of Asia should belong to Persia, and that all the others should be completely independent, except that the islands of Lemnos, Scyros, and Imbros, should remain under the dominion of Athens.

20. While Athens and Sparta had been for some time declining, Thebes, emerging from obscurity, rose, for a short period, to a degree of splendor superior to that of all the other states. The Spartans, jealous of its rising greatness, took ad vantage of some internal dissensions, and seized upon its citadel; but it was recovered, and the independence of Thebes was again restored by the efforts of Pelop'idas and Epaminon'das two famous Thebans, admired for their talents and exploits, and for their faithful friendship for each other.

21. A war between the two states ensued; and the Theban army of 6,000 men, commanded by Epaminon'das and Pelop'idas, gained the memorable battle of Leuc'tra. In this battle, the Thebans lost only 300 men, while the Spartans lost 4,000, together with their king Cleom'brotus; and it was with mortification and astonishment that they saw themselves defeated by numbers greatly inferior, a thing unknown for ages.

22. The victorious Thebans, headed by Epaminon'das, and joined by many of the Grecian states, entered the territories of Lacedæmon, and overran all Laconia with fire and sword, to the very suburbs of the capital. This country had not been ravaged by a hostile army for 600 years; and the boast of the inhabitants, "that never had the women of Sparta beheld the smoke of an enemy's camp," was now done away.

23. The Theban commander, having completely humbled the power of Sparta, returned to Thebes with his victorious army: not long after, the war being renewed, he gained another great victory over the Lacedæmonians, commanded by Agesila'us, and assisted by the Athenians, at Mantine'a; but he fell mortally wounded in the moment of victory.

24. Epaminondas is regarded as one of the greatest characters of Greece, equally eminent as a philosopher, a statesman, a general, and a citizen. He raised his country to its highest eminence in military renown, and its power and splen dor perished with him.

25. The battle of Mantine'a was followed by a peace between all the Grecian states, establishing the independence of each city. Soon afterward the Spartans, under the command of Agesila'us, proceeded to Egypt, to assist Tachos, the king of that country, against Nectane bus, who aspired to the throne. But when the Egyptians, who crowded to see the famous warrior, beheld a little, deformed, lame old man, sitting on the sea shore, clad in homely attire, they could scarcely conceal their disappointment. In consequence of some personal affront received from Tachos, Agesila'us deserted him, and raised his competitor to the throne. Having set sail for Sparta, he died on the coast of Egypt, leaving a high reputation as an able statesman and warrior.

SECTION IX.

Philip of Macedon: Sacred War: Battle of Charonea. Alexander the Great: Conquest of Persia: Battles of the Granicus, Issus, and Ārbela: Alexander's Death.From B. C. 360 to 324.

1. After the death of Agesila'us, little occurs in the history of Greece deserving notice, till the appearance of Philip of Macedon. The several states were now in an abject condition, the inhabitants having greatly degenerated from the patriotism and valor of their ancestors.

2. Athens, at this time the most prominent of the republics, was sunk in luxury and dissipation; yet she was distinguished for her cultivation of literature and the arts. Sparta, weakened by the new independence of Peloponne'sus, and corrupted by the introduction of gold, had abandoned her characteristic simplicity and severity of manners, and was greatly reduced from her former greatness. Under these circumstances, Philip formed the ambitious project of bringing the whole of Greece under his dominion.

3. The kingdom of Macedon, or Macedonia, had existed upwards of 400 years, but it had not risen to any considerable eminence; it had formed no part of the Greek confederacy, and had had no voice in the Amphictyon'ic council. The inhabitants boasted of the same origin with the Greeks, but they had had little intercourse with the mother country, and were considered by the latter, as barbarians.

4. The Macedonian Empire, which was commenced by Philip, and completed by his son Alexander, formed the third great empire of antiquity. It is sometimes called the Grecian Empire, because Greece, in its most extensive sense, included Macedonia, and because all Greece was subject to Philip and Alexander.

5. Philip, when only ten years old, was sent as a hostage to Thebes, and there enjoyed the advantage of an excellent Grecian education under Epaminon'das. At the age of 24 years he ascended the throne. He possessed great military and political talents, and was eminently distinguished for his consummate artifice and address. In order to accomplish his design of bringing all the states of Greece under his dominion, he cherished dissensions among them, and employed agents or pensionaries in each, with a view of having every public measure directed to his advantage.

6. The Phocians had long cultivated a valuable tract, called the Cirrhæan plain, which, it was now maintained, had been, in a former age, consecrated to the Delphian Apollo; and it was decreed, by the council of the Amphictyons, that they should cease to use the sacred land under the penalty of a heavy fine From this circumstance a contest arose, called the Sacrea War, in which almost all the states of Greece took a part, and which was carried on with spirit for ten years. The Thebans, Locrians, Thessalians, and others, undertook to punish the Phocians, who were supported by Athens, Sparta, and some other states.

7. Philip, having taken and destroyed the city of Olynthus, at length availed himself of the opportunity, which this war afforded, of bringing his power into full contact with the Grecian states. He proposed to act as arbitrator of the matter in dispute, and procured himself to be elected a member of the Amphictyonic council; and he was afterwards styled the Amphictyonic general. The Athenians, suspicious of his designs, refused to acknowledge the election, and, being now guided by the inflammatory eloquence of Demos'thenes, rather than by the pacific counsels of Pho'cion, they were plunged into a destructive contest with their powerful rival and neighbor.

8. A second Sacred War drew Philip again into Greece, The Locrians of Amphis'sa having encroached upon the consecrated ground of Delphi, and having refused to obey the decrees of the Amphictyonic council, Philip was invited, as their general, to vindicate their authority by force of arms. The Athenians and Thebans, roused to the utmost enthusi

asm by Demos'thenes, united to resist the growing power of this ambitious monarch. The two armies met at Charone'a, and, after a most obstinate battle, Philip gained a decisive victory, which secured to him an entire ascendency in Greece.

9. It was not the policy of the conqueror to treat the several states as a vanquished people. He permitted them to retain their separate in ependent governments, while he directed and controlled all the public measures.

10. Philip next projected the invasion of Persia, and, convoking a general council of the states, laid before them his design, which was highly popular, and he was chosen comniander-in-chief of the united forces of all the states of Greece. Having made formidable preparations for his expedition, and being just ready for his departure, he was assassinated by a captain of his guards, while solemnizing the nuptials of his daughter. The news of Philip's death caused the most tumultuous joy among the Athenians, who indulged the vain hope of again recovering their liberty.

11. Alexander (afterward surnamed the Great), the son of Philip, succeeded to the throne of Macedon, at the age of 20 years. He had been educated by Aristotle, the most eminent philosopher of his time, and, at an early age, he gave proofs of a love of learning, a generous and heroic disposition, distinguished talents, and unbounded ambition.

12. Demosthenes exerted all his eloquence to persuade his countrymen to unite against the youthful king. But Alexander, having reduced to subjection some barbarous nations to the north of Macedon, turned the whole force of his arms upon Greece. The Thebans, who had risen in rebellion, were defeated with great slaughter, their city razed to the ground, and the inhabitants, to the number of 30,000, sold for slaves. These dreadful acts of severity so intimidated the other states that they immediately submitted to his dominion.

13. Alexander then assembled the deputies of the Grecian s'ates at Corinth, and renewed the proposal of invading Persia, ard he was appointed, as his father had been, generalissimo. He had, for his companions in arms, Parme'nio and other officers, who had distinguished themselves in the wars of Philip

14. With an army of 30,000 foot and 5,000 horse, the sum of only 70 talents, and provisions merely for a single month, he crossed the Hellespont, in order, with means apparently so inadequate, to accomplish his arduous enterprise. He first

proceeded to the site of Ilium, or Troy, and offered sacrifices to the manes of the heroes who fell in the Trojan war, particularly Achilles, whom he pronounced to be the most fortunate of men, in having Patro'clus for his friend, and Homer for his panegyrist.

15. Dari'us Codom' anus, king of Persia, resolving to crush at once the young hero, whom he styled "the mad boy," met him, on the banks of the Granicus, with an army of 100,000 foot, and 20,000 horse. Here an obstinate battle was fought, in which the Persians were defeated, with the loss, according to Plutarch, of 22,000 men, while the Macedonians lost only 34. In this battle Alexander escaped very narrowly with his life. Being attacked by two officers, one of whom was about to cleave his head with a battle-axe, he was preserved by Cly'tus, who prevented the blow by running the officer through the body with a spear.

16. The consequences of this victory were important to Alexander, as it put him in possession of the city of Sardis, with all its riches; and he soon after took Mile'tus, Halicarnas'sus, and other places of importance.

17. The next campaign opened early in the spring, when the great battle of Issus was fought. The Persian army, stated at about 600,000 men, was defeated with prodigious slaughter, no less than 110,000 being killed, while the Macedonians lost only 450. The engagement took place in a narrow defile, where only a small part of the Persian army could be brought into action.

18. The mother, wife, and two daughters of Darius, fell into the hands of the conqueror, who treated his royal captives with the greatest delicacy and respect. Darius, hearing of Alexander's kindness towards his family, sent an embassy to him, offering, for their ransom, the sum of 10,000 talents, (about £2,000,000 sterling,) and proposing a treaty of peace and alliance, with the further offer of his daughter in marriage, and all the country between the Euphrates and the Ægæ'an sea as her dower.

19. When the offer was laid before Alexander's council, Parme'nio is reported to have said, "If I were Alexander, I would accept the terms." "And so would I," replied Alexander, "were I Parme'nio." The answer which he returned to the proposal imported that he had invaded Asia to avenge the unprovoked aggressions of the Persian monarchs that, if Darius would come to him, and ask for his wife and family, he would willingly deliver them to him; but, if he proposed to

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