C 473 ] 
Pythian temple, it fhone forth among the Greeks 
(8). Philip conquered thefe Phoceans, and put an 
end to the holy war, as it was called. 
About the time this war broke out, he took the 
city Crenides, on the borders of Thrace, which he 
enlarged, and called Philippi, after his own name ; 
and he fo improved the gold mines in its diftrift, 
which before were of fmall account, that they pro- 
duced above a thoufand talents yearly, and enabled 
him to coin gold, which he called Philippics (9). 
What Athenceus fays of the fcarcity of gold, may 
be true, if confined to Macedon, and the poorer 
flates of Greece ; but muft not be extended to 
Corinth or Athens; for though Thucydides does not 
fpecify the quantity of gold that was in the Athenian 
treafury at the beginning of the Peloponnefian war, 
it was, probably, not inconfiderable ; for the gold 
about the flaiue of Minerva weighed 40 talents, 
which valued (according to Herodotus) at 1 3 times 
its weight in filver, will be found to amount to above 
120,000 pounds fterling. 
There is a gold coin in the Britifh Mufeum, of 
elegant workmanfliip, with the head of Minerva on 
one fide, and the owl and oil bottle on the other, 
the infeription AGE, and under the oil bottle the let- 
ters MH. It weighs 109I Troy grains; but being a 
little worn, it probabl}^, when new, came up to the 
juft weight of the Roman Imperial Aureus. Whence 
we may conclude, that, when this piece was ftruck, 
the Athenians had reduced their money to the 
(8) Athenaeus, L. VI. p. 231. See Diodorus, L. XVf. p. 527. 
Stephens’s edit. (9) Diodorus, L. XVI. p. 514. 
VoL. LXI. Ppp Roman 
