“an impenetrable hedge of spears” Homer Il 13 131ff.
Philip established an engineering corps Worthington, Spear, p. 37.
taking a hot bath in camp Poly 4 2 1.
“Some of them used to shave” Ath 6 206e–f.
Philip admired the Theban Sacred Band Plut Pel 18 5.
nicknamed him Battalus Plutarch also suggests that in Attica the word was a slang term that signified “asshole.” See Plut Dem 4.
underwent a strict training regime For Demosthenes’ training, see Plut Ten Or 844d–f and Plut Dem 5.
a quotation from the Iliad Hom Il 2 517–19.
what the Greeks came to call a Sacred War A “sacred war” was one connected in some way with the oracle at Delphi. There were three of them, this one being the third. The first two are not mentioned in this book.
They even dug beneath the floor of the temple Diod 16 56 7.
the treasury of the long-ago king of Lydia Ibid., 16 56 6.
“I am retreating like the ram” Pol 2 38 2.
Onomarchus was carried out to sea Eus 8 14 33. There are different versions of Onomarchus’s death. I prefer this one.
Demosthenes succumbed to stage fright Aes 2 34–35.
A treaty was agreed It was called the Peace of Philocrates, after the Athenian lead negotiator.
“When we recently made our way to Delphi” Dem 19 65.
“You wage war on Philip” Ibid., 4 40.
“to go to war for the shadow at Delphi” Dem Peace 5 25.
He delivered a speech The Third Philippic. Philippic was the generic name given to a series of anti-Macedonian speeches made by Demosthenes.
“overwhelmed by Persian gold” Plut Dem 14 2.
the marble column Phil Atthis FGrH 328 54.
“From the spoils of Persians and Thebans” Aes 3 116.
“Nobody dared to mount” Plut Dem 18 1.
“Who wishes to speak?” Dem Steph 18 170.
on August 4, 338, battle commenced Plut Cam 19 5 states that the battle took place on 7 Metageitnion, for which August 4 is the most likely equivalent.
The two armies were more or less equal Information on the Battle of Chaeronea is scarce and vague (see Diodorus, Polyaenus, and Plutarch). I follow Hammond’s reconstruction, pp. 567–70. It is not at all clear what part if any the Greek cavalry played in the battle despite its numerical superiority.
“Let’s drive them back to Macedon!” Pol 4 2 2.
“in the most shameful fashion” Plut Dem 20 2.
“Take me alive” Plut Mor 845f. Perhaps this story, if not invented by his enemies, has grown in the telling.
“Demosthenes, son of Demosthenes” Plut Dem 20 3.
“Fortune has cast you as Agamemnon” Diod 16 87 2.
“Perish any man who suspects” Plut Pel 18 5.
“Philip to enter the Peloponnese” Polyb 18 14 6–7.
“The bull has been garlanded” Diod 16 91 2.
Philip repudiated Olympias Justin 11 11 2.
“You scum, are you saying I am a bastard” Plut Alex 9 4–11 for this complete episode.
he suspected his son and Olympias In this account of the obscure dissensions at Philip’s court I follow Green, Alex, p. 90ff.
kingdom without a successor There was another son, Philip Arridhaeus, but he had learning difficulties.
lavish celebrations to mark the dynastic marriage Green, Alex, pp. 102–10, for a detailed account of Philip’s assassination.
“suitable for a god” Diod 16 92 5.
Olympias’s behavior after the event Justin 9 7 1. This may be a distortion or, even, an invention.
a crown for Pausanias Plut Dem 22 1–2.
“a terrible warning” Arr 1 9 10.
“If Alexander has really died” Plut Phoc 22 5.
“but with greater honor” Plut Dem 27 5.
Wherever he went Demosthenes knew For the death of Demosthenes, see ibid., 29–30, and Plut Ten Or 846d–e 847a–b.
“I was never convinced by your acting” Plut Dem 29 2.
a contentious and divisive figure Polyb 18 14 1.
“No, you were not wrong, men of Athens” Dem 18 208.
23. AFTERWORD—“A GOD-FORSAKEN HOLE”
The main sources are Plutarch’s life of Alexander and Waterfield’s Athens.
Xerxes had seen his invasion Herod 7 42 2–43 2.
Almost the first thing Alexander did For the visit to Troy, the main account can be found at Arr 1 11 7–12 1. Also Plut Alex 15 4.
Alexander tied him to his chariot Curt 4 6 26–29.
just as Achilles had done Hom Il 22 395–404.
“What advantage shall I have over other men” Plut Alex 7 4.
“Through a wise and salutary neglect” Edmund Burke, Speech on Conciliation with America 1775.
Athens was reduced These impressionistic paragraphs describing the city’s decline are indebted to Waterfield, pp. 279–314.
“How often will the glory of your ancestors” App 2 13 88.
“You cannot look upon Athens” Waterfield, p. 314. Michael of Chonae, Letters 8.
“We are all Greeks” Waterfield, p. 340.
SOURCES
“a possession for all time” Thuc 1 22.
BY ANTHONY EVERITT
Augustus
Cicero
Hadrian and the Triumph of Rome
The Rise of Rome
The Rise of Athens
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
ANTHONY EVERITT, formerly a visiting professor in the visual and performing arts at Nottingham Trent University, has written extensively on European culture and is the author of
Cicero, Augustus, Hadrian and the Triumph of Rome,
and
The Rise of Rome.
He has served as secretary general of the Arts Council of Great Britain. Everitt lives near Colchester, England’s first recorded town, founded by the Romans.
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