G R E 
^ifdainsto flatter yoti, and having the ^'ood of his coun¬ 
try ever in view, airumcs that poll in tlie adminiftration 
in which fortune often prevails over policy, knowing 
himfelf refponfible for the ilfue. Sucli a minifter am I, 
vvhofe unpopular i'ounf.ls tend to render, not myfelf, 
but my country, great.” 
The arguments of Demofthenes not only faved Dio- 
peithes, but animated the Atlienians vvith a degree of 
vigour which they had been long unaccutiomcd to ex¬ 
ert. A fleet was fitted out under the command of Cal- 
lias, who made a defcent on the coaft of ThefTaly, after 
plundering the harbours in the Pelafgic gulph. A con- 
llderable body of forces was fent into Acarnania to re¬ 
pel the incurlions of Philip, alflfted by his kinfman and 
ally, Alexander of Epirus. The inhabitants of the 
illand of Peperathus, trufting to the proteftion of 
Athens, expelled the Macedonian garrifon from Halon- 
nefus. Repeated embalTies were difpatched to the Pe- 
loponnefians and Eubceans, exhorting them to throtv off 
the ignominious yoke of Macedon, and to unite with 
their Grecian brethren againfl: the public enemy. Philip 
was not unattentive to thefe commotions; but, his de- 
ligns againfl the valuable cities on the Propontis and 
Thracian Bofphorus being ripe for execution, he was 
unwilling to allow any fecondary confideration to divert 
^lim from that important enterprife. 
In the year before Chrift 342, his intrigues had gained 
a confiderable party in Byzantium, at the head of which 
was the perfidious Python, whofe vehement eloquence 
gave him great influence with the multitude. A con- 
fpiracy was formed to furrender one of the gates of the 
city ; the Macedonian army of thirty thoufand men ho¬ 
vered round; but the defign was difcovered, and Philip, 
to fcreen his partifans from public vengeance, withdrew 
his army, and invefted the neighbouring city of Perin- 
thus. In Euboea, tl;e recent prevalence of the Mace¬ 
donian party had been marked by many acts of violence 
and oppreflion. The cities of Chalcis, Oreum, and 
Eretria, prepared to rebel, having previoufly folicited 
afliftance from Peleponnel'us, Acarnania, Attica, and 
every province of Greece, which they had any reafon 
to deem favourable to their views. From other flates- 
they brought back promifes and hopes ; from Athens 
they obtained, chiefly by the influence of Demofthenes, 
a confiderable body of troops commanded by the brave 
and virtuous Phocion. The orator accompanied the 
expedition; and being allowed to addrefs the popular 
allemblies in moft of the cities of Euboea, he inflamed 
them with fuch animofity againfl Philip and his parti¬ 
fans, that little remained to be done by the valour of 
the Athenian general. The Eubceans every where took 
arms in defence of their freedom, the Macedonian gar- 
rifons were expelled from the principal cities, and driven 
from one poft to another, till they were compelled en¬ 
tirely to evacuate the ifland. Titis event occalioned 
great joy at Athens ; and the principal merit being 
afcribed to Demofthenes, he was crowned by the fenate 
and people with a golden crown. 
The lofs of Eubcea was ill-compenfated to Philip by 
the military operations againfl Perinthus, in which he 
found an enemy of courage and perfeveranc®. The 
town was fituated on the floping ridge of an ifthmus, 
and ftrongly fortified both by an and nature, the houfes 
and flreets rifing one above another like the I'eats of an 
amphitheatre, fo that the higher edifices overlooked 
and defended the lower. Having fcoured the neigh¬ 
bouring country with his cavalry, Philip exhaufted, in 
the fiege of Perinthus, all the military fkill known to 
the ancients. He raifed towers forty cubits higli, which 
enabled his men to fight on equal ground with the be- 
fieged ; his miners were biify at the foundation; at 
length the battering rams advanced to the wall, in 
which a confiderable breach was made, and the Perin- 
thians were reduced to the laft extremity, when they 
were unexpeftedly faved, firfl by a large fupply of arms 
E C E. 99A 
and provifions from Byzantium, next by a flrong rein¬ 
forcement of men in Perfian pay, commanded by Apol- 
lodorus, a citizen of Athens. Philip, ever laudably 
fparing of the lives of his men, determined to c liange 
the fiege into a blockade. Perinthus was fiuu up by 
fea and land : part of the Macedonian troops, w ho had 
become nintinous for want of pay, were indulged in 
plundering the rich teiritory of Byzantium, while the 
remainder were condu6fed to the fiege ot Selymbria, 
and foon after of Byzantium itfelf, the taking ot which 
places, it was hoped, might compenfate their dilap- 
pointments at Perinthus. 
During thefe military operations, the Athenian coun¬ 
cils were animated with a degree of energy and enthu- 
fiafm which had not appreared in them during many 
years, and which produced the laft tranfitory glimpfe of 
fuccefs and fplendour, before the glory of Athens was 
extinguiflied for ever. It was decreed by the lenate 
and people, in the year before Chrift 340, to fit out a 
fleet of an hundred and twenty galleys ; but unfortu¬ 
nately the command was given to Chares, whofe cha- 
radter rendered him as contemptible to the enemies, as 
he was detefted by the allies, of jhe republic. The 
Byzantines even excluded him from their liarbour; 
and he was defeated by Amyntas, the Macedonian ad¬ 
miral, oft' the oppofite (liore of Chalcedon. This dil- 
after, which was occafioned by the incapacity or trea¬ 
chery of their commander, made the Athenians call 
their eyes on Phocion, who, though ever ready to ferve 
his country, was only called for in times of danger and 
calamity. Before Phocion reached the Propontis, Phi¬ 
lip, fluflied with his late naval fuccefs, made an at¬ 
tempt to ftorm Byzantium. Confident in the ftrength 
of their walls, and the abundance of their magazines, 
the inhabitants of Byzantium, without rifking a lally, 
allowed Philip to carry on his works. During this in- 
adlion of the townfmen, Philip determined to attempt 
the walls by furpril'e. For executing this defign, he chole 
the gloom of a tempefluous night; a determined band of 
Macedonians paffed the ditch ; the fcaling-ladders were 
fi.xed ; when the centinels of Byzantium were alarmed 
by the barking of maftift's, kept in the towers, to fecurG 
them in the night. The alarm fpread with rajiidity 
among the guards, who rufliing tumultuoufiy from their 
refpeiftive ftations, were on the point of blindly alfauit- 
ing each other, when a bright meteor enabled them to 
diftinguifli their friends from their foes. Having iormed 
in fome order, they advanced againfl the Macedonians, 
who liad already gained the rampart ; but from whicli 
they W’ere repulfed, with dreadful flaughter, by lupie- 
rior numbers. Yet the defeat of this bold enterprife 
did not difeourage Philip) from carrying on his opera¬ 
tions ; and his perfeverance muft have prevailed over 
the obftinacy of the befieged, had not the Athenian 
fleet, under Phocion, arrived in the Thracian Bolpho- 
rus. The Byzantines received him with open arms ; 
and, under his fuperior prowefs, the troops of Philip 
were foiled in every rencounter. The king of Mace¬ 
don, who had as much flexibility in varying his mea- 
fures, as firmnefs in adhering to his purpotes, was un¬ 
willing any farther to prefs his bad fortune : he judged 
it neceft'ary to raife the fiege of Byzantium, to withdraw 
his forces from Selymbria and Perinthus, and to leave 
the Athenians in full polfelfion of the northern Ihore of 
the Propontis. 
Phocion, to whofe condufl the fafety of fo many im¬ 
portant cities was principally owing, failed from Byzan¬ 
tium amidfl the grateful acclamations of innumerable 
-fpedfators. In his voyage to the Cherlonefus, he cap¬ 
tured a fleet of victuallers and tranfports, carrying arms 
and provifions for the enemy. "When he arrived in that 
peninfula, he repreffed the infolence of the Cardians, 
who, reinforced by a Macedonian garrifon, had under¬ 
taken an expedition againfl the city of Seflos. Fie re■^ 
covered feveral places on the coaft of Thrace, which 
