Third Sacred War - Start of The War (c. 355 BC)

Start of The War (c. 355 BC)

Following the declaration of war against Phocis, Philomelos decided he would need to substantially increase the size of his army. Rather than levy the Phocian citizen body, Philomelos decided to hire more mercenaries; the only way he could afford to do this was by plundering the dedications in the treasury of Apollo. That the treasury contained much wealth, from years of accumulated donations, is well-established; it is estimated that the Phocians spent some 10,000 talents of Apollo's treasure during the war. In order to overcome the reluctance of mercenaries to fight for a sacrilegious cause, Philomelos increased the rate of pay by half, which allowed him to recruit a force of 10,000 troops over the winter, for the forthcoming war.