CirdanDharix
11-14-2007, 17:54
Part I: The Chremonidan Wars
After defeating the Celtic invaders who had slain Ptolemaios Keraunos, Antigonos Gonatas found himself in undisputed possession of Makedonia with the support of Antiochos, son of Seleukos. While Pyrrhos was campaigning against the Romans in Megale Hellas, Antigonos had his hands free in Hellas, and he began spreading Makedonian hegemony over the Hellenic poleis. He established a fortress at Akrokorinthos, enabling him to control both the polis of Corinth and the isthmus connecting the Peloponnesos and the mainland.
Parallel to the Makedonian moves, there were reactions among the Hellenes. The ancient poleis of Athens and Sparta both worked to counter the encroaching Northern kingdom. In particular, Chremonides of Aithalidai, a strategos of the Athenians, cultivated the friendship of the powerful Ptolemaios II Philadelphos, and of king Areus of Sparta. His efforts finally led to the formation of a Koinon, or Commonwealth, of the Hellenic poleis opposed to Makedonia, centred on Athens, Sparta and Philadelphos' ally Rhodes. After consolidating his hold over most of the Peloponnesos, Antigonos aimed to capture Attica while it was cut off from Sparta. However, this plan was interrupted by Pyrrhos' invasion of Makedonia. But Pyrrhos withdrew his troops from Pella and Aigai after his Gallic mercenaries vandalised the royal tombs, and he incurred the displeasure of the Hellenistic world. But the hyperactive king of Epeiros wouldn't rest, and rumours of an imminent invasion of the Peloponnesos in order to establish Kleomenes as King of Sparta abounded. Antigonos left his eldest son Alkyoneus in his newly-reconquered capital and marched South with a great army and his son Krateros, both in order to crush Hellenic opposition and to prevent Pyrrhos from gaining a foothold in the Peloponnesos.
For their part, the leaders of the Hellenic Commonwealth did not remain passive. Seeing that a showdown with Makedonia would occur sooner rather than later, Areus of Sparta travelled to Crete in order to recruit mercenaries. Chremonides persuaded the Ecclesia, the assembly of citizens, to vote the expansion of Athenian naval power. He also prepared an embassy to Pyrrhos, to persuade him of the benefits he could reap from an alliance with a strong Commonwealth and to discredit Kleomenes. Antigonos marched his troops through Boeotia and received the allegiance of the Boeotians, while the powerful Aetolian federation, which held sway over Acarnania and Phokis, remained neutral. He arrived in Megara seemingly at the end of the month of Skirophorion, the last month of the Athenian year, and sent Krateros over the Isthmus to join the prince Alexandros in Corinth with almost half of his army. Chremonides, fearing the Makedonian king would attack during the Panathenaia, when the Athenians would be to busy with their festival to mount an effective defence, sent a messenger to Areus asking for immediate assistance.
As the strategos had foreseen, Antigonos let the first days of Hekatombeion pass, while his sons prepared for operations in the Peloponnesos and secured the alliance of Argos. Then, he marched on Athens as rehearsals for the Panathenaia should have been underway. However, unbeknownst to him, Chremonides had obtained that the new archon, Teleokles, repeat the days of the calendar--effectively postponing the festival. Hearing at the same time that the Makedonian army approached and that the first ships of Areus' convoy were arriving at Piraeus, the Athenian strategos marched out to meet the attackers, while sending a runner to the port so as to guide the reinforcements.https://i239.photobucket.com/albums/ff309/CirdanDharix/shot1.jpg Chremonides positioned his men on the top of a wooded hill South-West of the city, from where they could see the Acropolis behind them.
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As the Makedonians came forwards, the Athenian thetes ambushed and harassed them, fighting primarily with slings. The Makedonian light infantry proved unequal to the task of screening the army, suffering heavy losses and allowing the slingers to slow and disrupt the advancing battalions. Despite his advantage in numbers, Antigonos hesitated to attack because his enemy's position was strong, and allowed three hours to pass, during which time only skirmishing took place. This advantaged the Athenians, for not only were their skirmishers superior in valiance and warlike spirit to those of Antigonos, but moreover they were awaiting reinforcements. It was only when he heard that the Spartans had disembarked at Piraeus and were marching to aid the Athenians, that Antigonos took action, but not in a sufficiently decisive fashion. He ordered the phalangitai on his left flank to scale the hill and dislodge the Athenians; but as the men advanced they were constantly harried by the thetes, and this and the rough terrain prevented them from keeping their formation.
https://i239.photobucket.com/albums/ff309/CirdanDharix/shot3.jpg When they reached the crest, the Athenians beset them from the front and the flanks also,
https://i239.photobucket.com/albums/ff309/CirdanDharix/shot4.jpg and soon the Makedonians routed before the determination of the Hellenes. Soon the army of Areus made its appearance, and Cretan bowmen skirmishing in front of the hoplites began harassing the Makedones. Seeing this, Antigonos ordered his Thessalian horse to attack the newcomers, but the hills and woods impeded their charge, and the Spartan hoplites repulsed them, killing many men and horses. Then Chremonides himself led the Athenian charge into the Celtic mercenaries now holding the Makedonian left.
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Seeing this, Areus in turn sent all his men running to attack Antigonos from his right. The Makedones found themselves forced to fight a general melee in woods, where they could not use their long sarissa-spears effectively, putting them at a disadvantage against the hoplites.
https://i239.photobucket.com/albums/ff309/CirdanDharix/shot6.jpg Seeing the battle turn against him, Antigonos was the first to give the example of undignified flight, and soon the Makedonian resistance collapsed.
https://i239.photobucket.com/albums/ff309/CirdanDharix/shot7.jpg The Athenians and Spartans chased after their fleeing foes, killing many and capturing others whom they sold into slavery.https://i239.photobucket.com/albums/ff309/CirdanDharix/shot8.jpg They also found fifteen talents of silver in the defeated king's camp. Following their victory, the Hellenes expected him to flee to Megara, so that they advanced towards that polis. However, Antigonos fled North where he found boats to take him to Euboea, along with what remains of his army he could still save. When he heard of this disaster, Krateros, who now feared being trapped in the Isthmus, retreated to Boeotia with most of the Makedonian soldiers in the Peloponnesos. Only Alexandros and a few hundred men remained behind, with instructions to hold Akrokorinthos. The news of the Makedonian upset caused turmoil throughout the Peloponnesos, and soon Akrotatos, the son of Areus, laid siege to Akrokorinthos with the support of Sikyon. https://i239.photobucket.com/albums/ff309/CirdanDharix/shot9.jpg Meanwhile, the Athenians advanced as far as Megara, which they liberated. Such were the consequences of the battle of Athens.
The land-army in Athens did not campaign throughout the summer months of Metageitnion and Boedromion, and the reason was this: that Areus and Chremonides could not agree wither they should march. The Spartan king was of the opinion that they should attack Krateros in Boeotia, while Chremonides wished to invade Euboea so as to capture Antigonos and free the poleis of Chalkis and Eretria. Some people also claim that Chremonides spent his time chasing women rather than fighting, and it is true that it is at this time that the hetaira Hypatia came to be associated with him.
However, the Athenian strategos Nikandros took the Athenian fleet, strengthened by some ships that had come from Rhodes, and attacked the Makedonian ships that had anchored in the Euboea channel. A sea-battle was fought off Chalkis, ending with a victory for the Athenians.https://i239.photobucket.com/albums/ff309/CirdanDharix/shot10.jpg The Makedonians then relocated their fleet further North, to the beach at Artemision where the Hellenes had based their fleet during Xerxes' invasion of Hellas. But there to they were attacked and set to flight by the Athenians.
Towards the end of the summer, receiving intelligence from Makedonia that Pyrrhos had renewed his assaults and was taking the advantage against Alkyoneus, Krateros withdrew from Boeotia and marched North. The Hellenes then sent an expedition to Boeotia, and the Boeotians promised their support for an invasion of Thessaly. But the Hellenes perceived this to lack enthusiasm, and, saying that the Boeotians would side with the winners and give them no aid, they withdrew.https://i239.photobucket.com/albums/ff309/CirdanDharix/shot12.jpg At the end of the third prytany of Teleokles' year as archon of the Athenians, the ambassadors sent by Chremonides to Pyrrhos returned to Athens. So favourably had they impressed the Epeirote king, that not only did he promise his friendship to the new Commonwealth, but he sent back with the ambassadors twenty talents of silver. It is also said, that only this embassy dissuaded him from marching on Sparta, instead sending Kleomenes away from his court. No more than this took place during the autumn.
During the winter of Teleokles' year as archon, the kingdom of Pontos declared war on Sinope, and the Commonwealth promised their support to the attacked polis. The poleis of Sikyon, Megara, and Troizen were admitted into the Koinon Hellenon. Hoping to take advantage of the bad weather to surprise the Hellenes with naval operations, Antigonos launched an expedition towards Southern Laconia, but Nikandros defeated his fleet in a sea-battle off Kithira. He also moved reinforcements onto Euboea, remaining himself at Chalkis.
As soon as the Athenian month of Mounichion set in, Antigonos launched an expedition against Athens. However, he did not lead it in person, giving that task to an Argive, Arethous son of Eutychos. While the Makedonian fleet distracted Nikandros with an action near Salamis, Arethous passed from Euboea to the mainland by surprise, and sacked the small polis of Eleusis where the Athenians hold a great festival and initiate men into the mysteries of the two goddesses, Demeter and Persephone. After burning Eleusis to the ground, Arethous established a camp in an olive-tree grove on the way to Athens. When they had heard of this, the Athenians accounted it a great sacrilege, and, not waiting for him to come to them, they marched against Arethous, together with those of the Spartans who were present. When they found him encamped, the thetes with their slings and the Cretan bowmen began attacking the Makedones while a group of Cretan mercenaries circled around to the rear, to cut off their retreat. Seeing this Arethous and his picked men went to intercept the Cretans, but in his absence, the Athenians and the Spartans attacked the camp and the Makedones panicked and fled. The Hellenes ran them down and made a great slaughter of them, and Arethous barely escaped to Euboea with his life. However, Antigonos, blaming him for the defeat and taxing him with cowardice, had him put to death. Areus then left Athens to return to Sparta, where Kleomenes was attempting to stir up trouble against him. In the months of Thargelion, Megalopolis and the Arcadian koinon joined the Hellenic Commonwealth.
At the next Panathenaia, the Athenians displayed many weapons they had captured from the Makedones, and honoured their ephebes for their victories. Pytharatos was chosen as eponymous archon for the upcoming year, and the Achaians joined the Koinon Hellenon. The Athenians, at Chremonides' instigation, passed a law that all men had to contribute from their wealth to prepare an expedition against Euboea. But no campaign was initiated that year on land until the ninth prytany, although the Athenians gathered arms and supplies; and even on sea they waited five prytanies before sending out an expedition. Nikandros sailed into the Gulf of Magnesia and there destroyed what was left of Antigonos' fleet.
In their month of Elaphebolion, on the day which the Athenians consider the birth-day of the goddess Athena, the Makedonian garrison at Akrokorinthos surrendered to Akrotatos of Sparta. Alexandros, the Makedonian prince, was sent to Ptolemaios Philadelphos, at Alexandria, and there he died. The accounts of his death differ; some saying that Philadelphos had him drowned in the Nile, but others claiming he took his own life, so that he could not be used as a hostage to pressure his father. Medos son of Eurydemos, a strategos in the army of Akrotatos, was appointed tyrant of Corinth, on account that he was a Corinthian exile, having first been banished from the polis at the instigation of the Makedones. The Great Dionysia was celebrated with great splendour that year, although two days had to be repeated in the calendar so that sufficient preparations could be made.
In the month of Thargelion, Chremonides crossed onto Euboea with a great army. Besides the Athenians, the Spartans, the Megarans, the Sikyonians, the Arcadians, the Achaians, the Phliasians, the Eleans, the Epidaurians, the Troizenians, and the Korkyrans all had a share in this expedition. It is sometimes said that the Cretans also sent men, although this is untrue; all the men of Crete who were present were mercenaries. Further, Chremonides went as far as to enrol a hundred metics from Athens, promising them money and citizenship to any who distinguished himself in battle. Seeing that several myriads were brought against them, the Makedones retreated to Chalkis and prepared to withstand a siege. And Chremonides laid siege to the polis, surrounding it so as to cut off all supplies, and ordering a palisade erected so that the defenders could not sally forth and break the siege. Having done this, he settled down to wait for the starvation of his foes.
The year of Pytharatos was brought to a close without any further events of note, save that Krateros and Alkyoneus, the sons of Antigonos, concluded an alliance with the Romans against Pyrrhos. Peithidemos was chosen as the next archon of the Athenians. The Spartans, through a mix of diplomacy and threats, succeeded in bringing Argos and the remaining cities of the Peloponnesos into the Commonwealth. Alkyoneus, leaving the defence of Pella to his brother, gathered an army to rescue his father and marched into Boeotia, where the natives again changed sides. Now, the Makedones are known as a great and warlike race, but in the battles against Pyrrhos their best men had fallen, so that Alkyoneus was leading mainly farmers whom he had dragged away from their ploughs to send into battle with the only the cheapest of arms, the spear and the shield.
Alkyoneus invaded Attica in the month of Poseidon. At first he made no attempt to attack the city, instead marching towards Eleusis in search of a means to cross into Euboea, but when he failed to find one, he turned his steps towards Athens. Meanwhile, the Athenians received aid from Sparta and Corinth, and recalled some of their men from Euboea, so that on the road that leads from Eleusis to Athens, Alkyoneus was beset both the front and the rear. His levies were routed and he himself was slain, killed by a Spartan by the name of Philokrates. His head was cut off and launched over the walls of Chalkis, so that his father should know that his son and hope of rescue had both come to an end.
The monarch Antiochos of Syria, despite his war with Ptolemaios, sent a fleet to assist his brother-in-law Antigonos, in the next year when Diogeiton was archon of the Athenians. The Syrian fleet was so great, in terms of the number of its ships and their size, that it inflicted a disastrous defeat upon the Athenians off Salamis. Their strategos Nikandros himself was taken captive and sent off to Syria. After this the Syrians sailed to Eretria where they hoped to land supplies and men for Antigonos, but they found found the men of Eretria hostile to them and ready to give battle if they came to land. They departed without landing or initiating hostilities, and instead went directly to Chalkis, but found that they arrived to late. Having grown despondent and hopeless since the death of Alkyoneus, in the tenth day of the fourth prytany, Antigonos gathered together all the men who espoused his cause and left the walls of Chalkis, resolving to win or to die. All the men who had supported Makedonia followed him with arms, and the oldest of them was Aristodemos of Arsine, who they say had witnessed twenty Olympiads. All these men fought bravely against the army of the Commonwealth, and were killed. Antigonos himself went straight towards the place where Chremonides stood with a body of picked men, and attacked the hoplites until a man by name of Demetrios, a Phokian by race, struck off his horse's legs with a kopis. But when Demetrios offered to take the king's surrender, Antigonos struck out with sword and injured the Phokian's right arm. Thereupon, Elpidios son of Sophronios, a citizen of Megara, thrust his spear into the king's throat, killing him.
After the death of Antigonos and all his supporters, Chremonides entered Chalkis. Because the defenders had shown great courage, he ordered that their families were allowed to remain unmolested and in full possession of their property. Antigonos' body was sent to Krateros at Pella; his reign had been disastrous for Makedonia, but he had the excuses of ill-luck and unfavourable odds. The epitaph on his tomb reads "I am Antigonos son of Demetrios, who reigned over Makedonia and lost Hellas. I failed where Megas Alexandros succeeded; but who can call himself the equal of Alexandros?".
The Syrian fleet, when they heard of the death of Antigonos, departed and returned to Asia, where they reported what they had found. Antiochos judged he no longer had grounds to continue supporting Makedonia against the Koinon Hellenon, and peace was promptly signed. Krateros was crowned king in Pella, but he took charge of a greatly weakened Makedonia. Although he continued to enjoy the support of Mytilene, the kingdom was in a position no stronger than when Megas Alexandros took the throne, and her enemies were united and strong, unlike the Hellene poleis in Alexandros' time. For the Hellenes, however, the situation was more favourable than at any time since the Athenians and Spartans had defeated the Medes.
Already in the month of Hekatombeion, Krateros processed to renew the war against the Hellenes. He ordered his generals to raid Boeotia and Attica, to punish all those who supported the Commonwealth. A series of skirmishes correspondingly occurred throughout Boeotia all the way to the border of Attica, as the Makedones attempted to devastate the land, and the Hellenes attempted to drive them off. Olganos of Asine, a Spartan not of the royal blood, distinguished himself greatly in these battles. By and large these skirmishes were to the advantage of the Hellenes, and by the end of the year, Krateros was forced to recall his men.
Menekles was chosen to be the new eponymous archon of the Athenians, and the assembly voted to have a statue of Chremonides erected on the Acropolis, at public expense. However, the Pythian prophetess warned the Hellenes that, should they take the war to Makedonia without first rendering a momentous service to Apollo, they should be struck by plague. Accordingly, the strategoi of the Koinon Hellenon wondered what they were expected to do, when they heard that Pyrrhos of Epeiros was marching against Delphi. His son Ptolemaios having been driven from Makedonia, he found himself with his coffers empty when he needed to recruit new troops. He thought then of seizing the treasure of Delphi, where many votive offerings yet remained.
Seeing there the occasion to serve Apollo by protecting his shrine, the Hellenic strategoi dispatched an army led by Areus of Sparta himself to protect the holy shrine. However, the Aetolians and their cavalry harried the Epeirotes unceasingly as they marched through Aetolia, and Pyrrhos turned tail and besieged their capital, Thermon. Hearing this, Areus left only a small garrison at Delphi and marched against Pyrrhos. As the two armies neared each other, a man by name of Eumios, an Arcadian from Megalopolis, ventured to the camp of Pyrrhos. There, he represented to the king in these words: "O Pyrrhos, your glory could be greater than any man since Megas Alexandros, yet you would soil your name with a sacrilege none could ever forgive! If you maintained friendship with the Commonwealth of the Hellenes, surely you could march into Makedonia and restore yourself to the throne of Alexandros. Yet if you sack the sanctuary of Apollo, you will all at once lose an ally, offend a god, and gain an enemy who has already laid low Antigonos Gonatas, whom I reckon not the least of men. Were I you, king, I would withdraw my army, offer sacrifice to appease Apollo, and request from the Hellenes assistance to pay my mercenaries. For if you are at peace with the gods, and if you strike the Makedones from the North, then surely the strategoi of the Hellenes shall send you silver, even as their soldiers strike the Makedones from the South." Seeing the wisdom in the speech of Eumios, Pyrrhos withdrew his soldiers from Aetolia. And the Koinon Hellenon paid him one hundred talents of silver, although of these he gifted ten to the sanctuary of Apollo at Delphi.
Thereupon, Areus turned his army towards Makedonia and invaded Thessaly. He did this without having received permission from the other leaders of the Hellenes, who were assembled at Athens. Yet when he had won his victory at the Thermopylai, none could find fault with him. For the king had sent Kalos, his firstborn son, to Thessaly, to watch for an attack by the Hellenes. Kalos settled upon the Thermopylai, where in ancient times the Hellenes had held back the Persians for three days, as the site of his defence of Thessaly. Mindful of the pass at Mount Oeta, he set a strong guard there, while he sent his pikemen into the Thermopylai proper. Himself and the strong cavalry of the Thessalians, as well the horsemen that had come with him from Makedonia, he placed in reserve. Seeing that the position of the Makedones was strong, Areus resolved upon a stratagem.
When the Spartans entered the Thermopylai, at first they pressed the Makedones hard. But soon it seemed to their opponents that they grew slack in their assaults; and then, they cast down their shields and ran, as if to flee the battle. Thinking the victory theirs, the Makedones rushed out of the gates, and pursued the Spartans. But these made straight for helots bearing fresh shields, and, having re-armed themselves, returned to the fight. Meanwhile the slingers and the light foot surrounded the Makedones and assailed them with bullets and javelins. Seeing this, they sought the shelter of the Thermopylai; but hoplites from Achaea, having cast away their greaves and their heavy armour so that they might run more swiftly, had moved behind them, and denied them entrance to the gates. When he heard that his men were in difficulty, Kalos rushed forwards with the cavalry and all the soldiers from Mount Oeta. At first the Makedones fought valiantly, and there was much blood spilt on either side. But perceiving that the Hellenes began to get the better of them, the Makedones lost heart and many cast down their arms and fled. Seeing this, Kalos placed himself at the head of his cavalry and led the charges against the Hellenes. And to all his men he saw fleeing, he shouted out that it was not seemly for the footman to flee while his prince was the first to risk his life; for if the prince fell all was lost. Some of those who fled conceived shame of this, and returned to the fray; but many continued their flight. As Kalos made to charge the Hellenes again, his horse presently tripped upon the corpse of a fallen soldier, and cast him to the ground. Falling, he broke his neck and suffered a death unfit for his bravery.
After the death of their prince, the Makedones lost all their remaining courage and fled the field, and the Hellenes gave chase and slew many round Mount Oeta. Their camp fell into the possession of the Spartans; and ere the year was out, Areus had Demetrias, the chief port of the Makedones, under siege. At the same time, the Spartans honoured Doros of Aithalidai, the son of Chremonides, by allowing him to undertake the Agoge with the youths of Sparta.
The next year, Nikias was archon of the Athenians. In his year the Hellenes pursued the siege of Demetrias, but the polis would not yield. In the North, Krateros bore arms against Pyrrhos, and again drove him back. He began assembling a mighty army, numbering many myriads, although the spies of the Hellenes knew not whither he would aim his blows: West towards Epeiros, or South towards Hellas. The Athenians undertook works to enlarge their harbour at Piraeus this year also. The year after that, Hagnias was archon in Athens, but ere the first prytany was over, Areus of Sparta was taken ill and died. His son Akrotatos was crowned king, but the siege of Demetrias was not lifted, but carried on by Eudamidas. In the month of Poseidon, Medos, the tyrant of Corinth, gave the city a new constitution, structuring the power to be share between the tyrant and a popular assembly where every citizen had a vote. Thereupon, the city entered the Koinon Hellenon as a full member, whereas previously she had merely been an ally. In the month of Thargelion, Demetrias finally capitulated. Eudamidas did not raze the polis, but caused half her citizens to be sold into slavery, and gave his soldiers three days, during which they might pillage the city at leasure, taking or slaying whomever they pleased. After this he marched to Casthaneia, and destroyed the polis utterly. Thereafter the cities of Thessaly and Magnesia feared him greatly, and made their submission to escape his wrath. And he broke up the koinon of Thessaly, setting over each city or division a tyrant.
Krateros had sought the alliance of the pirates of the Aegean Sea, and these raided the Cyclades throughout the spring. But in the last day but two of Skirophorion, a combined fleet of the Athenians and the Rhodians, under the strategos Argeades, defeated the pirates off Aegina. It is said that this victory was achieved thanks to the ships known as Treiremiolai, or "three and a half", due to having an extra half-bench of rowers, giving them the speed needed to catch the ships of the pirates. After his victory, Argeades sailed to Lesbos and threatened Mytilene; but he had not enough men to assail the polis. Philokrates was chosen as the next archon of Athens, and Argeades raided the coast of Makedonia. Limendas, husband to Krateros' daughter, lead a Makedonian army against Epeiros and forced Pyrrhos to accept peace as the price for keeping his throne.
The leaders of the Commonwealth assembled at Corinth before the first prytany at Athens had run out. A constitution was adopted for the Commonwealth of the Hellenes, to structure the alliance on a permanent basis. A council of seven strategoi was formed to conduct the war, including the two kings of Sparta, two strategoi of the Athenians, two appointees of the Rhodians, and and single strategos elected by the all the members of the Koinon at the time of the Olympiads. In the assembly of the leaders, it was determined that decisions would be taken by voting, with each polis receiving a ballot to cast according to her own laws, and each of the seven strategoi having one ballot further. The poleis would be obliged to furnish, each according to her population and the volume of her trade, silver to pay for the campaigns and fighting-men. The first decision taken by the new assembly, was to form an army for the invasion of Makedonia proper.
The appointed contingents were instructed to assemble in Demetrias, and Eudamidas of Sparta was named as the commander-in-chief. From every division of Hellas and the islands, men came with arms to the meeting-place. Of these, only the Arcadians and a few of the Achaeans served on horse, while all the others came on foot. However, by the time the moon of Maimakterion was waning, it was evident the army would not be ready to campaign before the bad season, and would have to winter in Demetrias. Furthermore, the army's number fell short of the two myriads which had been appointed by the council. Over the winter, the assembly met in Athens, and it was decided to levy heavy fines on the poleis which had held back their soldiers from the campaign.
As soon as Thargelion brought back favourable weather, Eudamidas led the army North into Makedonia and advanced on Aigai. As he approached the royal tombs of the Makedones, Limendas, supposing that the Hellenes would occupy the tombs, came forth to give battle. His army was greatly superior in number to the host of Hellas, but the men were of unequal quality. On the one hand he had veteran fighting men from his campaigns against Pyrrhos; but the reinforcements arriving from Pella consisted largely of light-armed levies. Seeing the Makedones take the field, Eudamidas positioned his army on a ridge overlooking the tombs. It was arrayed thus: first came the phalanx on the descending slope, with the slingers above it on the crest of the hill and the peltasts behind the flanks; behind the slingers he placed several hundred picked men to serve as a reserve, and on the right flank, where the terrain made attacks easier, he positioned the horsemen.
Limendas made straight to seize the hill with his heavy infantry, leaving no time for skirmishing, but instead placing his peltasts behind the phalanx. And on his right flank he positioned his prodromoi, while his infantry delivered the brunt of the attack to the Hellenes' right. It was there that the fighting was the heaviest; and the Athenians had received the honour of holding the right. Limendas also ordered his Celtic mercenaries to circle about the right flank so as the arrive behind the Hellenes. But Eudamidas divined the manoeuvre and the Arcadian cavalry charged the savage Celts. Limendas in turn moved to his left flank and attacked the Arcadians with the Hetairoi, the heavy cavalry of the Makedonian nobility. Seeing that the Arcadians were driven back, and suffered many losses, Eudamidas was obliged to intervene with the Spartans. It is said that the charge of the Hetairoi was terrible, but that the Spartans stood their ground and repulsed it. In the fight Limendas and many of the Hetairoi fell; and the Spartan who slew Limendas was named Euryleon. This being done, Eudamidas returned to his position, while the Arcadians pursued the Hetairoi and drove them from the field. Then Eudamidas saw that a a gap had opened between the Athenians and the Argives to their left; for the Athenians struck hard and forced back the Makedones assailing them, whereas the Argives were content to defend themselves, but gained no ground. Thus, the reserves had to be engaged, lest the enemy makes use of the opening afforded him. For the Makedones did not falter with their leader's death, but rather renewed their assaults with new vigour. For they engaged presently the light-armed levies they had but recently brought up, and conducted their attacks at once from the front and from the right. However the Hellenic slingers were admirable that day, and they drove back the enemy skirmishers from the phalanx's right; and among the unarmoured Makedones, a great many were injured or even slain by stones and bullets.
Eudamidas then counter-attacked on the right flank with the Spartans, and drove back the Makedones. But he advanced so far that the Spartans and the peltasts supporting them found themselves isolated from the rest of the Hellenes. However, the other strategoi kept their heads and took soldiers from the left flank, where victory was already secure, and sent these troops to rescue Eudamidas. And these men, who were but little tired, did such great slaughter of the Makedones that the enemy lost heart, and many dropped their weapons and fled. But seeing that the left flank was left vulnerable, the Makedonian light horse made an assault there; but the remainder of the Arcadians and the foot of the Achaians moved against them, and defeated them with much slaughter. Thereupon the enemy attacks grew slack in all quarters, and the Hellenes raised a great paean and charged forth to drive the Makedones from the field. Such was the battle of Aigai, and it is said that Krateros lost two myriads of soldiers there. During the battle, the Spartans had lived up to their ancient reputation of valiance, and after them the Athenians and the Megarans had fought the hardest. But the Argives and the Boeotians were said to have lacked courage. Afterwards, Eudamidas obtained the sum of fifty talents of silver, which the Hellenes claim was found in the Makedonian camp. But the Makedones claim it was looted from their royal tombs.
Eumios of Megalopolis, the same man who had persuaded Pyrrhos to withdraw from Aetolia, then went to Pella, and Krateros had no choice but to agree to peace on the terms of the Hellenes. For he accepted the loss of Thessaly, and swore nevermore to bear arms into Hellas. Thus was the First Chremonidan War brought to a close. The succeeding year, Diognetos was archon of the Athenians, and Olganos of Arsine, who had distinguished hismelf against the Makedones, won the stadion at the Olympic games.
Yet, the sword was not allowed any rest; for Chremonides called an assembly of the Commonwealth in Athens, and brought against the Aetolians the charge that they harboured pirates in Acarnania. Thereupon, Akrotatos of Sparta repeated his father's accusations, namely that the Aetolians had comitted sacrilege when they had cultivated the land of Kirrha. The support of the Lakedemonians thus enabled Chremonides to obtain a decree of the assembly, declaring war upon the Aetolians. Eudamidas still had the army which had triumphed at Aigai in the field, and he brought it against the Aetolians, first capturing Delphi without harming the city. Thus began the Second Chremonidan War. It consisted mainly of a series of sieges and skirmishes throughout Aetolia, where, slowly but certainly, Eudamidas spread the domination of the Commonwealth. In the meanwhile, Argeades led a great naval expedition against the pirates, whom he defeated from Rhodes to Sicily, and from the Hellespont to Crete.
The following year, Antipatros was archon of the Athenians. The war in Aetolia continued. In Makedonia, Krateros' throne had never been secure since the defeat at Aigai. Many blamed the king and his father for losing the Makedones their empire. Thus, it came as no surprise that men in the employ of Ptolemaios Philadelphos were able to bribe the Hypaspistai guarding the royal bedchamber. On the thirty-second day of the fourth prytany of Antipatros' year, the month being Poseidon, Krateros was murdered on the Pharaoh's order. He died without a male heir, although his daughter Laodike attempted to claim the regency. The Makedones, however, would have preferred rule by the most bestial barbarian to rule by a woman, and she was made to poison herself. After this, Krateros' generals fought among themselves for the succession. However, seven hundred talents of good Attic silver sufficed to bring about the victory of one Manyas, a previously minor Makedonian general noted for his philhellenic tendencies. His rule, however, was established only insofar as it was backed by Hellenic silver and iron. The powerful polis of Mytilene broke her alliance to Makedonia, and became, over the following years, a haven for pirates, traitors and criminals fleeing from the Commonwealth.
In the following year, Arrheneides was chosen as eponymous archon of Athens. In the month of Elaphebolion the war with the Aetolians was finally brought to a close. Their leaders, Iphikrates and Alkomachos, were put to death, and many of their citizens sold into slavery. Over the remainder a tyrant loyal to the Koinon Hellenon would be set up.
After defeating the Celtic invaders who had slain Ptolemaios Keraunos, Antigonos Gonatas found himself in undisputed possession of Makedonia with the support of Antiochos, son of Seleukos. While Pyrrhos was campaigning against the Romans in Megale Hellas, Antigonos had his hands free in Hellas, and he began spreading Makedonian hegemony over the Hellenic poleis. He established a fortress at Akrokorinthos, enabling him to control both the polis of Corinth and the isthmus connecting the Peloponnesos and the mainland.
Parallel to the Makedonian moves, there were reactions among the Hellenes. The ancient poleis of Athens and Sparta both worked to counter the encroaching Northern kingdom. In particular, Chremonides of Aithalidai, a strategos of the Athenians, cultivated the friendship of the powerful Ptolemaios II Philadelphos, and of king Areus of Sparta. His efforts finally led to the formation of a Koinon, or Commonwealth, of the Hellenic poleis opposed to Makedonia, centred on Athens, Sparta and Philadelphos' ally Rhodes. After consolidating his hold over most of the Peloponnesos, Antigonos aimed to capture Attica while it was cut off from Sparta. However, this plan was interrupted by Pyrrhos' invasion of Makedonia. But Pyrrhos withdrew his troops from Pella and Aigai after his Gallic mercenaries vandalised the royal tombs, and he incurred the displeasure of the Hellenistic world. But the hyperactive king of Epeiros wouldn't rest, and rumours of an imminent invasion of the Peloponnesos in order to establish Kleomenes as King of Sparta abounded. Antigonos left his eldest son Alkyoneus in his newly-reconquered capital and marched South with a great army and his son Krateros, both in order to crush Hellenic opposition and to prevent Pyrrhos from gaining a foothold in the Peloponnesos.
For their part, the leaders of the Hellenic Commonwealth did not remain passive. Seeing that a showdown with Makedonia would occur sooner rather than later, Areus of Sparta travelled to Crete in order to recruit mercenaries. Chremonides persuaded the Ecclesia, the assembly of citizens, to vote the expansion of Athenian naval power. He also prepared an embassy to Pyrrhos, to persuade him of the benefits he could reap from an alliance with a strong Commonwealth and to discredit Kleomenes. Antigonos marched his troops through Boeotia and received the allegiance of the Boeotians, while the powerful Aetolian federation, which held sway over Acarnania and Phokis, remained neutral. He arrived in Megara seemingly at the end of the month of Skirophorion, the last month of the Athenian year, and sent Krateros over the Isthmus to join the prince Alexandros in Corinth with almost half of his army. Chremonides, fearing the Makedonian king would attack during the Panathenaia, when the Athenians would be to busy with their festival to mount an effective defence, sent a messenger to Areus asking for immediate assistance.
As the strategos had foreseen, Antigonos let the first days of Hekatombeion pass, while his sons prepared for operations in the Peloponnesos and secured the alliance of Argos. Then, he marched on Athens as rehearsals for the Panathenaia should have been underway. However, unbeknownst to him, Chremonides had obtained that the new archon, Teleokles, repeat the days of the calendar--effectively postponing the festival. Hearing at the same time that the Makedonian army approached and that the first ships of Areus' convoy were arriving at Piraeus, the Athenian strategos marched out to meet the attackers, while sending a runner to the port so as to guide the reinforcements.https://i239.photobucket.com/albums/ff309/CirdanDharix/shot1.jpg Chremonides positioned his men on the top of a wooded hill South-West of the city, from where they could see the Acropolis behind them.
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As the Makedonians came forwards, the Athenian thetes ambushed and harassed them, fighting primarily with slings. The Makedonian light infantry proved unequal to the task of screening the army, suffering heavy losses and allowing the slingers to slow and disrupt the advancing battalions. Despite his advantage in numbers, Antigonos hesitated to attack because his enemy's position was strong, and allowed three hours to pass, during which time only skirmishing took place. This advantaged the Athenians, for not only were their skirmishers superior in valiance and warlike spirit to those of Antigonos, but moreover they were awaiting reinforcements. It was only when he heard that the Spartans had disembarked at Piraeus and were marching to aid the Athenians, that Antigonos took action, but not in a sufficiently decisive fashion. He ordered the phalangitai on his left flank to scale the hill and dislodge the Athenians; but as the men advanced they were constantly harried by the thetes, and this and the rough terrain prevented them from keeping their formation.
https://i239.photobucket.com/albums/ff309/CirdanDharix/shot3.jpg When they reached the crest, the Athenians beset them from the front and the flanks also,
https://i239.photobucket.com/albums/ff309/CirdanDharix/shot4.jpg and soon the Makedonians routed before the determination of the Hellenes. Soon the army of Areus made its appearance, and Cretan bowmen skirmishing in front of the hoplites began harassing the Makedones. Seeing this, Antigonos ordered his Thessalian horse to attack the newcomers, but the hills and woods impeded their charge, and the Spartan hoplites repulsed them, killing many men and horses. Then Chremonides himself led the Athenian charge into the Celtic mercenaries now holding the Makedonian left.
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Seeing this, Areus in turn sent all his men running to attack Antigonos from his right. The Makedones found themselves forced to fight a general melee in woods, where they could not use their long sarissa-spears effectively, putting them at a disadvantage against the hoplites.
https://i239.photobucket.com/albums/ff309/CirdanDharix/shot6.jpg Seeing the battle turn against him, Antigonos was the first to give the example of undignified flight, and soon the Makedonian resistance collapsed.
https://i239.photobucket.com/albums/ff309/CirdanDharix/shot7.jpg The Athenians and Spartans chased after their fleeing foes, killing many and capturing others whom they sold into slavery.https://i239.photobucket.com/albums/ff309/CirdanDharix/shot8.jpg They also found fifteen talents of silver in the defeated king's camp. Following their victory, the Hellenes expected him to flee to Megara, so that they advanced towards that polis. However, Antigonos fled North where he found boats to take him to Euboea, along with what remains of his army he could still save. When he heard of this disaster, Krateros, who now feared being trapped in the Isthmus, retreated to Boeotia with most of the Makedonian soldiers in the Peloponnesos. Only Alexandros and a few hundred men remained behind, with instructions to hold Akrokorinthos. The news of the Makedonian upset caused turmoil throughout the Peloponnesos, and soon Akrotatos, the son of Areus, laid siege to Akrokorinthos with the support of Sikyon. https://i239.photobucket.com/albums/ff309/CirdanDharix/shot9.jpg Meanwhile, the Athenians advanced as far as Megara, which they liberated. Such were the consequences of the battle of Athens.
The land-army in Athens did not campaign throughout the summer months of Metageitnion and Boedromion, and the reason was this: that Areus and Chremonides could not agree wither they should march. The Spartan king was of the opinion that they should attack Krateros in Boeotia, while Chremonides wished to invade Euboea so as to capture Antigonos and free the poleis of Chalkis and Eretria. Some people also claim that Chremonides spent his time chasing women rather than fighting, and it is true that it is at this time that the hetaira Hypatia came to be associated with him.
However, the Athenian strategos Nikandros took the Athenian fleet, strengthened by some ships that had come from Rhodes, and attacked the Makedonian ships that had anchored in the Euboea channel. A sea-battle was fought off Chalkis, ending with a victory for the Athenians.https://i239.photobucket.com/albums/ff309/CirdanDharix/shot10.jpg The Makedonians then relocated their fleet further North, to the beach at Artemision where the Hellenes had based their fleet during Xerxes' invasion of Hellas. But there to they were attacked and set to flight by the Athenians.
Towards the end of the summer, receiving intelligence from Makedonia that Pyrrhos had renewed his assaults and was taking the advantage against Alkyoneus, Krateros withdrew from Boeotia and marched North. The Hellenes then sent an expedition to Boeotia, and the Boeotians promised their support for an invasion of Thessaly. But the Hellenes perceived this to lack enthusiasm, and, saying that the Boeotians would side with the winners and give them no aid, they withdrew.https://i239.photobucket.com/albums/ff309/CirdanDharix/shot12.jpg At the end of the third prytany of Teleokles' year as archon of the Athenians, the ambassadors sent by Chremonides to Pyrrhos returned to Athens. So favourably had they impressed the Epeirote king, that not only did he promise his friendship to the new Commonwealth, but he sent back with the ambassadors twenty talents of silver. It is also said, that only this embassy dissuaded him from marching on Sparta, instead sending Kleomenes away from his court. No more than this took place during the autumn.
During the winter of Teleokles' year as archon, the kingdom of Pontos declared war on Sinope, and the Commonwealth promised their support to the attacked polis. The poleis of Sikyon, Megara, and Troizen were admitted into the Koinon Hellenon. Hoping to take advantage of the bad weather to surprise the Hellenes with naval operations, Antigonos launched an expedition towards Southern Laconia, but Nikandros defeated his fleet in a sea-battle off Kithira. He also moved reinforcements onto Euboea, remaining himself at Chalkis.
As soon as the Athenian month of Mounichion set in, Antigonos launched an expedition against Athens. However, he did not lead it in person, giving that task to an Argive, Arethous son of Eutychos. While the Makedonian fleet distracted Nikandros with an action near Salamis, Arethous passed from Euboea to the mainland by surprise, and sacked the small polis of Eleusis where the Athenians hold a great festival and initiate men into the mysteries of the two goddesses, Demeter and Persephone. After burning Eleusis to the ground, Arethous established a camp in an olive-tree grove on the way to Athens. When they had heard of this, the Athenians accounted it a great sacrilege, and, not waiting for him to come to them, they marched against Arethous, together with those of the Spartans who were present. When they found him encamped, the thetes with their slings and the Cretan bowmen began attacking the Makedones while a group of Cretan mercenaries circled around to the rear, to cut off their retreat. Seeing this Arethous and his picked men went to intercept the Cretans, but in his absence, the Athenians and the Spartans attacked the camp and the Makedones panicked and fled. The Hellenes ran them down and made a great slaughter of them, and Arethous barely escaped to Euboea with his life. However, Antigonos, blaming him for the defeat and taxing him with cowardice, had him put to death. Areus then left Athens to return to Sparta, where Kleomenes was attempting to stir up trouble against him. In the months of Thargelion, Megalopolis and the Arcadian koinon joined the Hellenic Commonwealth.
At the next Panathenaia, the Athenians displayed many weapons they had captured from the Makedones, and honoured their ephebes for their victories. Pytharatos was chosen as eponymous archon for the upcoming year, and the Achaians joined the Koinon Hellenon. The Athenians, at Chremonides' instigation, passed a law that all men had to contribute from their wealth to prepare an expedition against Euboea. But no campaign was initiated that year on land until the ninth prytany, although the Athenians gathered arms and supplies; and even on sea they waited five prytanies before sending out an expedition. Nikandros sailed into the Gulf of Magnesia and there destroyed what was left of Antigonos' fleet.
In their month of Elaphebolion, on the day which the Athenians consider the birth-day of the goddess Athena, the Makedonian garrison at Akrokorinthos surrendered to Akrotatos of Sparta. Alexandros, the Makedonian prince, was sent to Ptolemaios Philadelphos, at Alexandria, and there he died. The accounts of his death differ; some saying that Philadelphos had him drowned in the Nile, but others claiming he took his own life, so that he could not be used as a hostage to pressure his father. Medos son of Eurydemos, a strategos in the army of Akrotatos, was appointed tyrant of Corinth, on account that he was a Corinthian exile, having first been banished from the polis at the instigation of the Makedones. The Great Dionysia was celebrated with great splendour that year, although two days had to be repeated in the calendar so that sufficient preparations could be made.
In the month of Thargelion, Chremonides crossed onto Euboea with a great army. Besides the Athenians, the Spartans, the Megarans, the Sikyonians, the Arcadians, the Achaians, the Phliasians, the Eleans, the Epidaurians, the Troizenians, and the Korkyrans all had a share in this expedition. It is sometimes said that the Cretans also sent men, although this is untrue; all the men of Crete who were present were mercenaries. Further, Chremonides went as far as to enrol a hundred metics from Athens, promising them money and citizenship to any who distinguished himself in battle. Seeing that several myriads were brought against them, the Makedones retreated to Chalkis and prepared to withstand a siege. And Chremonides laid siege to the polis, surrounding it so as to cut off all supplies, and ordering a palisade erected so that the defenders could not sally forth and break the siege. Having done this, he settled down to wait for the starvation of his foes.
The year of Pytharatos was brought to a close without any further events of note, save that Krateros and Alkyoneus, the sons of Antigonos, concluded an alliance with the Romans against Pyrrhos. Peithidemos was chosen as the next archon of the Athenians. The Spartans, through a mix of diplomacy and threats, succeeded in bringing Argos and the remaining cities of the Peloponnesos into the Commonwealth. Alkyoneus, leaving the defence of Pella to his brother, gathered an army to rescue his father and marched into Boeotia, where the natives again changed sides. Now, the Makedones are known as a great and warlike race, but in the battles against Pyrrhos their best men had fallen, so that Alkyoneus was leading mainly farmers whom he had dragged away from their ploughs to send into battle with the only the cheapest of arms, the spear and the shield.
Alkyoneus invaded Attica in the month of Poseidon. At first he made no attempt to attack the city, instead marching towards Eleusis in search of a means to cross into Euboea, but when he failed to find one, he turned his steps towards Athens. Meanwhile, the Athenians received aid from Sparta and Corinth, and recalled some of their men from Euboea, so that on the road that leads from Eleusis to Athens, Alkyoneus was beset both the front and the rear. His levies were routed and he himself was slain, killed by a Spartan by the name of Philokrates. His head was cut off and launched over the walls of Chalkis, so that his father should know that his son and hope of rescue had both come to an end.
The monarch Antiochos of Syria, despite his war with Ptolemaios, sent a fleet to assist his brother-in-law Antigonos, in the next year when Diogeiton was archon of the Athenians. The Syrian fleet was so great, in terms of the number of its ships and their size, that it inflicted a disastrous defeat upon the Athenians off Salamis. Their strategos Nikandros himself was taken captive and sent off to Syria. After this the Syrians sailed to Eretria where they hoped to land supplies and men for Antigonos, but they found found the men of Eretria hostile to them and ready to give battle if they came to land. They departed without landing or initiating hostilities, and instead went directly to Chalkis, but found that they arrived to late. Having grown despondent and hopeless since the death of Alkyoneus, in the tenth day of the fourth prytany, Antigonos gathered together all the men who espoused his cause and left the walls of Chalkis, resolving to win or to die. All the men who had supported Makedonia followed him with arms, and the oldest of them was Aristodemos of Arsine, who they say had witnessed twenty Olympiads. All these men fought bravely against the army of the Commonwealth, and were killed. Antigonos himself went straight towards the place where Chremonides stood with a body of picked men, and attacked the hoplites until a man by name of Demetrios, a Phokian by race, struck off his horse's legs with a kopis. But when Demetrios offered to take the king's surrender, Antigonos struck out with sword and injured the Phokian's right arm. Thereupon, Elpidios son of Sophronios, a citizen of Megara, thrust his spear into the king's throat, killing him.
After the death of Antigonos and all his supporters, Chremonides entered Chalkis. Because the defenders had shown great courage, he ordered that their families were allowed to remain unmolested and in full possession of their property. Antigonos' body was sent to Krateros at Pella; his reign had been disastrous for Makedonia, but he had the excuses of ill-luck and unfavourable odds. The epitaph on his tomb reads "I am Antigonos son of Demetrios, who reigned over Makedonia and lost Hellas. I failed where Megas Alexandros succeeded; but who can call himself the equal of Alexandros?".
The Syrian fleet, when they heard of the death of Antigonos, departed and returned to Asia, where they reported what they had found. Antiochos judged he no longer had grounds to continue supporting Makedonia against the Koinon Hellenon, and peace was promptly signed. Krateros was crowned king in Pella, but he took charge of a greatly weakened Makedonia. Although he continued to enjoy the support of Mytilene, the kingdom was in a position no stronger than when Megas Alexandros took the throne, and her enemies were united and strong, unlike the Hellene poleis in Alexandros' time. For the Hellenes, however, the situation was more favourable than at any time since the Athenians and Spartans had defeated the Medes.
Already in the month of Hekatombeion, Krateros processed to renew the war against the Hellenes. He ordered his generals to raid Boeotia and Attica, to punish all those who supported the Commonwealth. A series of skirmishes correspondingly occurred throughout Boeotia all the way to the border of Attica, as the Makedones attempted to devastate the land, and the Hellenes attempted to drive them off. Olganos of Asine, a Spartan not of the royal blood, distinguished himself greatly in these battles. By and large these skirmishes were to the advantage of the Hellenes, and by the end of the year, Krateros was forced to recall his men.
Menekles was chosen to be the new eponymous archon of the Athenians, and the assembly voted to have a statue of Chremonides erected on the Acropolis, at public expense. However, the Pythian prophetess warned the Hellenes that, should they take the war to Makedonia without first rendering a momentous service to Apollo, they should be struck by plague. Accordingly, the strategoi of the Koinon Hellenon wondered what they were expected to do, when they heard that Pyrrhos of Epeiros was marching against Delphi. His son Ptolemaios having been driven from Makedonia, he found himself with his coffers empty when he needed to recruit new troops. He thought then of seizing the treasure of Delphi, where many votive offerings yet remained.
Seeing there the occasion to serve Apollo by protecting his shrine, the Hellenic strategoi dispatched an army led by Areus of Sparta himself to protect the holy shrine. However, the Aetolians and their cavalry harried the Epeirotes unceasingly as they marched through Aetolia, and Pyrrhos turned tail and besieged their capital, Thermon. Hearing this, Areus left only a small garrison at Delphi and marched against Pyrrhos. As the two armies neared each other, a man by name of Eumios, an Arcadian from Megalopolis, ventured to the camp of Pyrrhos. There, he represented to the king in these words: "O Pyrrhos, your glory could be greater than any man since Megas Alexandros, yet you would soil your name with a sacrilege none could ever forgive! If you maintained friendship with the Commonwealth of the Hellenes, surely you could march into Makedonia and restore yourself to the throne of Alexandros. Yet if you sack the sanctuary of Apollo, you will all at once lose an ally, offend a god, and gain an enemy who has already laid low Antigonos Gonatas, whom I reckon not the least of men. Were I you, king, I would withdraw my army, offer sacrifice to appease Apollo, and request from the Hellenes assistance to pay my mercenaries. For if you are at peace with the gods, and if you strike the Makedones from the North, then surely the strategoi of the Hellenes shall send you silver, even as their soldiers strike the Makedones from the South." Seeing the wisdom in the speech of Eumios, Pyrrhos withdrew his soldiers from Aetolia. And the Koinon Hellenon paid him one hundred talents of silver, although of these he gifted ten to the sanctuary of Apollo at Delphi.
Thereupon, Areus turned his army towards Makedonia and invaded Thessaly. He did this without having received permission from the other leaders of the Hellenes, who were assembled at Athens. Yet when he had won his victory at the Thermopylai, none could find fault with him. For the king had sent Kalos, his firstborn son, to Thessaly, to watch for an attack by the Hellenes. Kalos settled upon the Thermopylai, where in ancient times the Hellenes had held back the Persians for three days, as the site of his defence of Thessaly. Mindful of the pass at Mount Oeta, he set a strong guard there, while he sent his pikemen into the Thermopylai proper. Himself and the strong cavalry of the Thessalians, as well the horsemen that had come with him from Makedonia, he placed in reserve. Seeing that the position of the Makedones was strong, Areus resolved upon a stratagem.
When the Spartans entered the Thermopylai, at first they pressed the Makedones hard. But soon it seemed to their opponents that they grew slack in their assaults; and then, they cast down their shields and ran, as if to flee the battle. Thinking the victory theirs, the Makedones rushed out of the gates, and pursued the Spartans. But these made straight for helots bearing fresh shields, and, having re-armed themselves, returned to the fight. Meanwhile the slingers and the light foot surrounded the Makedones and assailed them with bullets and javelins. Seeing this, they sought the shelter of the Thermopylai; but hoplites from Achaea, having cast away their greaves and their heavy armour so that they might run more swiftly, had moved behind them, and denied them entrance to the gates. When he heard that his men were in difficulty, Kalos rushed forwards with the cavalry and all the soldiers from Mount Oeta. At first the Makedones fought valiantly, and there was much blood spilt on either side. But perceiving that the Hellenes began to get the better of them, the Makedones lost heart and many cast down their arms and fled. Seeing this, Kalos placed himself at the head of his cavalry and led the charges against the Hellenes. And to all his men he saw fleeing, he shouted out that it was not seemly for the footman to flee while his prince was the first to risk his life; for if the prince fell all was lost. Some of those who fled conceived shame of this, and returned to the fray; but many continued their flight. As Kalos made to charge the Hellenes again, his horse presently tripped upon the corpse of a fallen soldier, and cast him to the ground. Falling, he broke his neck and suffered a death unfit for his bravery.
After the death of their prince, the Makedones lost all their remaining courage and fled the field, and the Hellenes gave chase and slew many round Mount Oeta. Their camp fell into the possession of the Spartans; and ere the year was out, Areus had Demetrias, the chief port of the Makedones, under siege. At the same time, the Spartans honoured Doros of Aithalidai, the son of Chremonides, by allowing him to undertake the Agoge with the youths of Sparta.
The next year, Nikias was archon of the Athenians. In his year the Hellenes pursued the siege of Demetrias, but the polis would not yield. In the North, Krateros bore arms against Pyrrhos, and again drove him back. He began assembling a mighty army, numbering many myriads, although the spies of the Hellenes knew not whither he would aim his blows: West towards Epeiros, or South towards Hellas. The Athenians undertook works to enlarge their harbour at Piraeus this year also. The year after that, Hagnias was archon in Athens, but ere the first prytany was over, Areus of Sparta was taken ill and died. His son Akrotatos was crowned king, but the siege of Demetrias was not lifted, but carried on by Eudamidas. In the month of Poseidon, Medos, the tyrant of Corinth, gave the city a new constitution, structuring the power to be share between the tyrant and a popular assembly where every citizen had a vote. Thereupon, the city entered the Koinon Hellenon as a full member, whereas previously she had merely been an ally. In the month of Thargelion, Demetrias finally capitulated. Eudamidas did not raze the polis, but caused half her citizens to be sold into slavery, and gave his soldiers three days, during which they might pillage the city at leasure, taking or slaying whomever they pleased. After this he marched to Casthaneia, and destroyed the polis utterly. Thereafter the cities of Thessaly and Magnesia feared him greatly, and made their submission to escape his wrath. And he broke up the koinon of Thessaly, setting over each city or division a tyrant.
Krateros had sought the alliance of the pirates of the Aegean Sea, and these raided the Cyclades throughout the spring. But in the last day but two of Skirophorion, a combined fleet of the Athenians and the Rhodians, under the strategos Argeades, defeated the pirates off Aegina. It is said that this victory was achieved thanks to the ships known as Treiremiolai, or "three and a half", due to having an extra half-bench of rowers, giving them the speed needed to catch the ships of the pirates. After his victory, Argeades sailed to Lesbos and threatened Mytilene; but he had not enough men to assail the polis. Philokrates was chosen as the next archon of Athens, and Argeades raided the coast of Makedonia. Limendas, husband to Krateros' daughter, lead a Makedonian army against Epeiros and forced Pyrrhos to accept peace as the price for keeping his throne.
The leaders of the Commonwealth assembled at Corinth before the first prytany at Athens had run out. A constitution was adopted for the Commonwealth of the Hellenes, to structure the alliance on a permanent basis. A council of seven strategoi was formed to conduct the war, including the two kings of Sparta, two strategoi of the Athenians, two appointees of the Rhodians, and and single strategos elected by the all the members of the Koinon at the time of the Olympiads. In the assembly of the leaders, it was determined that decisions would be taken by voting, with each polis receiving a ballot to cast according to her own laws, and each of the seven strategoi having one ballot further. The poleis would be obliged to furnish, each according to her population and the volume of her trade, silver to pay for the campaigns and fighting-men. The first decision taken by the new assembly, was to form an army for the invasion of Makedonia proper.
The appointed contingents were instructed to assemble in Demetrias, and Eudamidas of Sparta was named as the commander-in-chief. From every division of Hellas and the islands, men came with arms to the meeting-place. Of these, only the Arcadians and a few of the Achaeans served on horse, while all the others came on foot. However, by the time the moon of Maimakterion was waning, it was evident the army would not be ready to campaign before the bad season, and would have to winter in Demetrias. Furthermore, the army's number fell short of the two myriads which had been appointed by the council. Over the winter, the assembly met in Athens, and it was decided to levy heavy fines on the poleis which had held back their soldiers from the campaign.
As soon as Thargelion brought back favourable weather, Eudamidas led the army North into Makedonia and advanced on Aigai. As he approached the royal tombs of the Makedones, Limendas, supposing that the Hellenes would occupy the tombs, came forth to give battle. His army was greatly superior in number to the host of Hellas, but the men were of unequal quality. On the one hand he had veteran fighting men from his campaigns against Pyrrhos; but the reinforcements arriving from Pella consisted largely of light-armed levies. Seeing the Makedones take the field, Eudamidas positioned his army on a ridge overlooking the tombs. It was arrayed thus: first came the phalanx on the descending slope, with the slingers above it on the crest of the hill and the peltasts behind the flanks; behind the slingers he placed several hundred picked men to serve as a reserve, and on the right flank, where the terrain made attacks easier, he positioned the horsemen.
Limendas made straight to seize the hill with his heavy infantry, leaving no time for skirmishing, but instead placing his peltasts behind the phalanx. And on his right flank he positioned his prodromoi, while his infantry delivered the brunt of the attack to the Hellenes' right. It was there that the fighting was the heaviest; and the Athenians had received the honour of holding the right. Limendas also ordered his Celtic mercenaries to circle about the right flank so as the arrive behind the Hellenes. But Eudamidas divined the manoeuvre and the Arcadian cavalry charged the savage Celts. Limendas in turn moved to his left flank and attacked the Arcadians with the Hetairoi, the heavy cavalry of the Makedonian nobility. Seeing that the Arcadians were driven back, and suffered many losses, Eudamidas was obliged to intervene with the Spartans. It is said that the charge of the Hetairoi was terrible, but that the Spartans stood their ground and repulsed it. In the fight Limendas and many of the Hetairoi fell; and the Spartan who slew Limendas was named Euryleon. This being done, Eudamidas returned to his position, while the Arcadians pursued the Hetairoi and drove them from the field. Then Eudamidas saw that a a gap had opened between the Athenians and the Argives to their left; for the Athenians struck hard and forced back the Makedones assailing them, whereas the Argives were content to defend themselves, but gained no ground. Thus, the reserves had to be engaged, lest the enemy makes use of the opening afforded him. For the Makedones did not falter with their leader's death, but rather renewed their assaults with new vigour. For they engaged presently the light-armed levies they had but recently brought up, and conducted their attacks at once from the front and from the right. However the Hellenic slingers were admirable that day, and they drove back the enemy skirmishers from the phalanx's right; and among the unarmoured Makedones, a great many were injured or even slain by stones and bullets.
Eudamidas then counter-attacked on the right flank with the Spartans, and drove back the Makedones. But he advanced so far that the Spartans and the peltasts supporting them found themselves isolated from the rest of the Hellenes. However, the other strategoi kept their heads and took soldiers from the left flank, where victory was already secure, and sent these troops to rescue Eudamidas. And these men, who were but little tired, did such great slaughter of the Makedones that the enemy lost heart, and many dropped their weapons and fled. But seeing that the left flank was left vulnerable, the Makedonian light horse made an assault there; but the remainder of the Arcadians and the foot of the Achaians moved against them, and defeated them with much slaughter. Thereupon the enemy attacks grew slack in all quarters, and the Hellenes raised a great paean and charged forth to drive the Makedones from the field. Such was the battle of Aigai, and it is said that Krateros lost two myriads of soldiers there. During the battle, the Spartans had lived up to their ancient reputation of valiance, and after them the Athenians and the Megarans had fought the hardest. But the Argives and the Boeotians were said to have lacked courage. Afterwards, Eudamidas obtained the sum of fifty talents of silver, which the Hellenes claim was found in the Makedonian camp. But the Makedones claim it was looted from their royal tombs.
Eumios of Megalopolis, the same man who had persuaded Pyrrhos to withdraw from Aetolia, then went to Pella, and Krateros had no choice but to agree to peace on the terms of the Hellenes. For he accepted the loss of Thessaly, and swore nevermore to bear arms into Hellas. Thus was the First Chremonidan War brought to a close. The succeeding year, Diognetos was archon of the Athenians, and Olganos of Arsine, who had distinguished hismelf against the Makedones, won the stadion at the Olympic games.
Yet, the sword was not allowed any rest; for Chremonides called an assembly of the Commonwealth in Athens, and brought against the Aetolians the charge that they harboured pirates in Acarnania. Thereupon, Akrotatos of Sparta repeated his father's accusations, namely that the Aetolians had comitted sacrilege when they had cultivated the land of Kirrha. The support of the Lakedemonians thus enabled Chremonides to obtain a decree of the assembly, declaring war upon the Aetolians. Eudamidas still had the army which had triumphed at Aigai in the field, and he brought it against the Aetolians, first capturing Delphi without harming the city. Thus began the Second Chremonidan War. It consisted mainly of a series of sieges and skirmishes throughout Aetolia, where, slowly but certainly, Eudamidas spread the domination of the Commonwealth. In the meanwhile, Argeades led a great naval expedition against the pirates, whom he defeated from Rhodes to Sicily, and from the Hellespont to Crete.
The following year, Antipatros was archon of the Athenians. The war in Aetolia continued. In Makedonia, Krateros' throne had never been secure since the defeat at Aigai. Many blamed the king and his father for losing the Makedones their empire. Thus, it came as no surprise that men in the employ of Ptolemaios Philadelphos were able to bribe the Hypaspistai guarding the royal bedchamber. On the thirty-second day of the fourth prytany of Antipatros' year, the month being Poseidon, Krateros was murdered on the Pharaoh's order. He died without a male heir, although his daughter Laodike attempted to claim the regency. The Makedones, however, would have preferred rule by the most bestial barbarian to rule by a woman, and she was made to poison herself. After this, Krateros' generals fought among themselves for the succession. However, seven hundred talents of good Attic silver sufficed to bring about the victory of one Manyas, a previously minor Makedonian general noted for his philhellenic tendencies. His rule, however, was established only insofar as it was backed by Hellenic silver and iron. The powerful polis of Mytilene broke her alliance to Makedonia, and became, over the following years, a haven for pirates, traitors and criminals fleeing from the Commonwealth.
In the following year, Arrheneides was chosen as eponymous archon of Athens. In the month of Elaphebolion the war with the Aetolians was finally brought to a close. Their leaders, Iphikrates and Alkomachos, were put to death, and many of their citizens sold into slavery. Over the remainder a tyrant loyal to the Koinon Hellenon would be set up.