The stirring appeals of the great orator at first had
little effect. There were many friends of Philip in the Greek states, even in
Athens itself. When, however, Philip entered central Greece and threatened the
independence of its cities, the eloquence of Demosthenes met a readier
response. In the presence of the common danger Thebes and Athens gave up their
ancient rivalry and formed a defensive alliance against Philip. Had it been
joined by Sparta and the other Peloponnesian states, it is possible that their
united power might have hurled back the invader. But they held aloof.
BATTLE OF CHAERONEA, 338 B.C.
The decisive battle was fought at Chaeronea in Boeotia. On
that fatal field the well-drilled and seasoned troops of Macedonia, headed by a
master of the art of war, overcame the citizen levies of Greece. The Greeks
fought bravely, as of old, and their defeat was not inglorious. Near the modern
town of Chaeronea the traveler can still see the tomb where the fallen heroes
were laid, and the marble lion set up as a memorial to their dauntless
struggle.
