Isocrates, To Philip (ed. George Norlin), section 19 (search)
More than that, he has about him the ablest men in Macedonia, who, however inexperienced they may be in other matters, are likely to know better than you do what is expedient for him. Furthermore, you will find that there are many Hellenes living in his country, who are not unknown to fame or lacking in intelligence, but men by sharing whose counsel he has not diminished his kingdom but has, on the contrary, accomplished deeds which match his dreams.
Isocrates, To Philip (ed. George Norlin), section 20 (search)
For what is lacking to complete his success? Has he not converted the Thessalians, whose power formerly extended over Macedonia, into an attitude so friendly to him that every Thessalian has more confidence in him than in his own fellow countrymen? And as to the cities which are in that region, has he not drawn some of them by his benefactions into an alliance with him; and others, which sorely tried him, has he not razed to the ground?
Isocrates, To Philip (ed. George Norlin), section 32 (search)
Now you will realize that it is not becoming in you to disregard any of these cities if you will review their conduct in relation to your ancestors; for you will find that each one of them is to be credited with great friendship and important services to your house: Argos is the land of your fathers,Perdiccas I., the founder of the Argive dynasty in Macedonia, was, according to Hdt. 8.137, a descendant of the Argive hero Temenus. See also Hdt. 5.22 and Grote, Hist. iii. p. 432. and is entitled to as much consideration at your hands as are your own ancestors; the Thebans honor the founderHeracles. See General Introd. p. xli. of your race, both by processionals and by sacrifices,At the “Festival of Heracles.” Xen. Hell. 6.4.7; Dio. Sic. 15.53. beyond all the other go
Isocrates, To Philip (ed. George Norlin), section 67 (search)
Now if Alcibiades in exile, and Conon after a disastrous defeat, and Dionysius, a man of no repute, and Cyrus, with his pitiable start in life, advanced so far and achieved such mighty deeds, how can we fail to expect that you, who are sprung from such ancestors, who are king of Macedonia and master of so many peoples, will effect with ease this union which we have discussed?
Similar to this was the career of Amyntas, king of the Macedonians. Worsted in battle by the neighboring barbarians, and robbed of all Macedonia, he at first proposed to quit the country and save his life, but hearing someone praise the remark made to Dionysius, and, like Dionysius, repenting of his decision, Amyntas seized a small fortified post, sent out thence for reinforcements, recovered the whole of Macedonia within three months, spent the remainder of his days on the throne, and finallyuit the country and save his life, but hearing someone praise the remark made to Dionysius, and, like Dionysius, repenting of his decision, Amyntas seized a small fortified post, sent out thence for reinforcements, recovered the whole of Macedonia within three months, spent the remainder of his days on the throne, and finally died of old age.Amyntas, defeated by the Illyrians, won such a victory in 393 B.C. See Dio. Sic. 14.92.3. Amyntas was father of Philip, and reigned from 394 to 370 B.C.
. Along the road are very famous graves, that of Menander, son of Diopeithes, and a cenotaph of Euripides. He him self went to King Archelaus and lies buried in Macedonia; as to the manner of his death （many have described it）, let it be as they say.
So even in his time poets lived at the courts of kings, as earlier still Anacreonides journeyed to Hiero at Syracuse. Dionysius, afterwards despot in Sicily had Philoxenus at his court, and Antigonus,Antigonus surnamed Gonatas became king of Macedonia in 283 B.C. ruler of Macedonia, had Antagoras of Rhodes and Aratus of Soli. But Hesiod and Homer either failed to win the society of kings or else purposely desMacedonia, had Antagoras of Rhodes and Aratus of Soli. But Hesiod and Homer either failed to win the society of kings or else purposely despised it, Hesiod through boorishness and reluctance to travel, while Homer, having gone very far abroad, depreciated the help afforded by despots in the acquisition of wealth in comparison with his reputation among ordinary men. And yet Homer, too, in his poem makes Demodocus live at the court of Alcinous, and Agamemnon leave a po
s, and possesses ebb and flow and creatures quite unlike those of other seas. Through their country flows the river Eridanus, on the bank of which the daughters of Helius （Sun） are supposed to lament the fate that befell their brother Phaethon. It was late before the name “Gauls” came into vogue; for anciently they were called Celts both amongst themselves and by others. An army of them mustered and turned towards the Ionian Sea, dispossessed the Illyrian people, all who dwelt as far as Macedonia with the Macedonians themselves, and overran Thessaly. And when they drew near to Thermopylae, the Greeks in general made no move to prevent the inroad of the barbarians, since previously they had been severely defeated by Alexander and Philip. Further, Antipater and CassanderAntipater and Cassander were successors of Alexander the Great. afterwards crushed the Greeks, so that through weakness each state thought no shame of itself taking no part in the defence of the country.
But the At
ty in the face of the besiegers, while Ptolemy helped them with all the forces he could muster.
Antigonus thus failed to reduce Egypt or, later, Rhodes, and shortly afterwards he offered battle to Lysimachus, and to Cassander and the army of Seleucus, lost most of his forces, and was himself killed, having suffered most by reason of the length of the war with Eumenes. Of the kings who put down Antigonus I hold that the most wicked was Cassander, who although he had recovered the throne of Macedonia with the aid of Antigonus, nevertheless came to fight against a benefactor.
After the death of Antigonus, Ptolemy again reduced the Syrians and Cyprus, and also restored Pyrrhus to Thesprotia on the mainland. Cyrene rebelled; but Magas, the son of Berenice （who was at this time married to Ptolemy） captured Cyrene in the fifth year of the rebellion. If this Ptolemy really was the son of Philip, son of Amyntas, he must have inherited from his father his passion for women, for, while wedded
ared upon him by Demetrius, resolved to take aggressive action. He was aware that Demetrius inherited a tendency to aggrandise, and he also knew that he visited Macedonia at the summons of Alexander and Cassander, and on his arrival murdered Alexander himself294 B.C. and ruled the Macedonians in his stead.
Therefore encountering D.C., but on Pyrrhus' coming to his aid he mastered Thrace and afterwards extended his empire at the expense of the Nestians and Macedonians. The greater part of Macedonia was under the control of Pyrrhus himself, who came from Epeirus with an army and was at that time on friendly terms with Lysimachus. When however Demetrius crosss broken, and when war broke out Lysimachus fought against Antigonus son of Demetrius and against Pyrrhus himself, had much the better of the struggle, conquered Macedonia and forced Pyrrhus to retreat to Epeirus.
Love is wont to bring many calamities upon men. Lysimachus, although by this time of mature age and considered happy in
him, Pyrrhus went to Ptolemy, son of Lagus, in Egypt. Ptolemy gave him to wife the half-sister of his children, and restored him by an Egyptian force.
The first Greeks that Pyrrhus attacked on becoming king were the Corcyraeans. He saw that the island lay off his own territory, and he did not wish others to have a base from which to attack him. My account of Lysimachus has already related how he fared, after taking Corcyra, in his war with Lysimachus, how he expelled Demetrius and ruled Macedonia until he was in turn expelled by Lysimachus, the most important of his achievements until he waged war against the Romans,
being the first Greek we know of to do so. For no further battle, it is said, took place between Aeneas and Diomedes with his Argives. One of the many ambitions of the Athenians was to reduce all Italy, but the disaster at Syracuse413 B.C. prevented their trying conclusions with the Romans. Alexander, son of Neoptolemus, of the same family as Pyrrhus but older, died
