You let increase his
power without taking a step to stop it, each regarding it as so much
time gained when he is destroying another, instead of planning and
working for the safety of Greece, when everybody knows that the
disaster will end with the inclusion of the most remote."
At last, when Philip had taken Elatea on the borders of Boeotia, the
Athenians, on the advice of Demosthenes, determined to make war and to
send envoys to Thebes. Demosthenes was at the head of the embassy; he
met at Thebes an envoy come from Philip; the Thebans hesitated.
Demosthenes besought them to bury the old enmities and to think only
of the safety of Greece, to defend its honor and its history. He
persuaded them to an alliance with Athens and to undertake the war. A
battle was fought at Chaeronea in Boeotia, Demosthenes, then at the age
of forty-eight, serving as a private hostile. But the army of the
Athenians and Thebans, levied in haste, was not equal to the veterans
of Philip and was thrown into rout.
=The Macedonian Supremacy.=--Philip, victorious at Chaeronea, placed a
garrison in Thebes and offered peace to Athens.
Pages:
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250
251
252