Peace of Philocrates - Breakdown of The Peace

Breakdown of The Peace

Although Demosthenes had been a principal architect of the Peace of Philocrates, almost as soon as it was made, he wished to be rid of it. In July 346 BC, he had been a proponent of saving Phocis, but unlike the rest of the Athenian assembly, he had insisted that the Athenians should still go to the Phocians' aid even when it was known that Philip was in control of Thermopylae. Over the next few years, Demosthenes became leader of the "war-party" in Athens, and at every opportunity he sought to undermine the peace: "His method was simple and effective. He kept hammering away at untruths until enough Athenians came to believe them." Demosthenes believed that all Philip's successes were due to his bribery and corruption of the Greeks, a view which, although there is little evidence for it, became commonplace until re-examined by modern historians. Conversely, there was also a substantial body of feeling in Athens, led by Aeschines, that the peace should be maintained and developed. The political trials of the time can be used to gauge sentiment in Athens; in 345 BC, Aeschines prosecuted Demosthenes's ally Timarchus, who was duly convicted; conversely, in 343 BC, Demosthenes prosecuted Aeschines, who was acquitted by the barest of margins. Until 343 BC therefore, the majority of the Athenian assembly therefore favoured maintaining the peace, even though they disliked it. Philocrates himself however, seeing that his policy was generally unpopular, had gone into exile before 343 BC.

Between 344 and 342 BC, Philip tried to strengthen the peace, by converting it into a 'common peace', that all Greek states which chose to could join. In 344 BC, the orator Python was sent by Philip to Athens to defend Philip against the attacks of the war-party, and to propose possible changes to the peace. In response, Demosthenes delivered one of his most effective and famous speeches, the so-called Second Philippic, attacking Philip and all his works. His ally Hegesippus then proposed that the peace should indeed be amended, such that Philip should cede Amphipolis to Athens. The Assembly, stirred by Demosthenes' oratory, passed the motion, leaving the Macedonian embassy speechless—clearly, Philip could not, and would not give up Amphipolis. An Athenian embassy sent to Pella to discuss this proposal was given short shrift by Philip. However, Philip left the offer of a common peace open until 342 BC, when the Athenians again formally rejected the idea.

From 343 BC onwards, in order to try to disrupt the peace, Demosthenes and his followers used every expedition and action of Philip to argue that he was breaking the peace. For instance, in 342 BC, when Philip campaigned against the Cassopaeans, they declared that Philip was campaigning against Ambracia, and an Athenian expedition was duly dispatched—but to Acarnania, not Ambracia. Philip however seems to have had no intention of attacking Ambracia, and the expedition thus achieved nothing. Finally, in 341 BC, matters began to come to a head. Athens sent out new settlers to the cleruchs on the Chersonsese under the command of Diopithes, who proceeded to ravage the territory of Cardia, an ally of Philip. Philip therefore wrote to the Athenians to demand that they desist, but in his speech 'On the Chersonese', Demosthenes persuaded the Athenians that since Athens was effectively at war with Philip anyway, there was no need to do what Philip asked; Diopithes therefore continued to cause trouble in Thrace. Then, in the Third Philippic of approximately May 341 BC, Demosthenes accused Philip of breaking the peace by intervening in the affairs of Euboea. Callias of Chalcis now emerged as a potential ally of the Athenians; still intent on unifying the cities of Euboea under his leadership, he had been disturbed by the number of Euboean cities, particularly Eritrea and Oreus, adopting a pro-Macedonian stance. In June 341 BC, Athens and Chalcis allied themselves, and proceeded to attack Eritrea and Oreus and install suitable governance in those cities. Callias then proceeded to harass the cities and shipping on the Gulf of Pagasae. Finally, in the Fourth Philippic delivered later in 341 BC, Demosthenes argued that Athens should send an embassy to the Persian king, requesting money for a forth-coming war with Macedon. The embassy was sent, much to Philip's anger, but was sharply rebuffed by the Persians.

In 341 BC, Demosthenes travelled to Byzantium, which entered into an alliance with Athens. The Athenian statesman struck a similar deal with Abydos, triggering Philip's petulance. The Athenians responded to Philip's grievances, denouncing the terms of the peace treaty, an action entailing the official declaration of war.