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The Macedonians because of the disaster sustained in the battle and the magnitude of the dangers pressing upon them were in the greatest perplexity. Yet even so, with such fears and dangers threatening them, Philip was not panic-stricken by the magnitude of the expected perils, but, bringing together the Macedonians in a series of assemblies and exhorting them with eloquent speeches to be men, he built up their morale, and, having improved the organization of his forces and equipped the men suitably with weapons1 of war, he held constant manoeuvres of the men under arms and competitive drills. [2] Indeed he devised the compact order and the equipment of the phalanx, imitating the close order fighting with overlapping shields of the warriors at Troy,2 and was the first to organize the Macedonian phalanx. [3] He was courteous in his intercourse with men and sought to win over the multitudes by his gifts and his promises to the fullest loyalty, and endeavoured to counteract by clever moves the crowd of impending dangers. For instance, when he observed that the Athenians were centring all their ambition upon recovering Amphipolis and for this reason were trying to bring Argaeus back to the throne, he voluntarily withdrew from the city, after first making it autonomous.3 [4] Then he sent an embassy to the Paeonians, and by corrupting some with gifts and persuading others by generous promises he made an agreement with them to maintain peace for the present. In similar fashion he prevented the return of Pausanias by winning over with gifts the king4 who was on the point of attempting his restoration. [5] Mantias, the Athenian general, who had sailed into Methone,5 stayed behind there himself but sent Argaeus with his mercenaries to Aegae.6 And Argaeus approached the city and invited the population of Aegae to welcome his return and become the founders of his own kingship. [6] When no one paid any attention to him, he turned back to Methone, but Philip, who suddenly appeared with his soldiers, engaged him in battle, slew many of his mercenaries, and released under a truce7 the rest, who had fled for refuge to a certain hill, after he had first obtained from them the exiles, whom they delivered to him.

Now Philip by his success in this first battle encouraged the Macedonians to meet the succeeding contests with greater temerity. [7] While these things were going on, the Thasians settled the place called Crenides,8 which the king afterward named Philippi for himself and made a populous settlement. [8]

Among the writers of history Theopompus of Chios9 began his history of Philip at this point and composed fifty-eight books, of which five are lost.

1 For the reorganization of the Macedonian army see Pickard-Cambridge, Cambridge Ancient History, 6.205. The addition of foot-soldiers to form the famous "Phalanx" and the provision of a long pike, sarissa, were the most important military reforms. See also Wilcken, Alexander the Great (trans.), 31-32.

2 See Hom. Il. 13.131ff.“ Spear crowded spear,
Shield, helmet, man press'd helmet, man and shield;
The hairy crests of their resplendent casques
Kiss'd close at every nod, so wedged they stood.
”(Cowper's translation.) These lines are quoted of the phalanx by Polybius 18.28.6 and Curtius Rufus 3.2.13.

3 Amphipolis was coveted by the Athenians (who had lost it to Brasidas in the Peloponnesian War) because of its commanding position by the Strymon River, giving access to the plains of Macedonia, and its nearness to forests needed in shipbuilding and to the gold and silver mines of Mt. Pangaeus. Between this occasion when Amphipolis was declared autonomous to thwart Argaeus, who had promised to hand it over to Athens if they made him king, and Philip's capture of the town (see chap. 8.2 ff.), a secret treaty was made by which Philip promised to procure Amphipolis for Athens if he were assured of a free hand in Pydna, formerly Macedonian but then in the Athenian League. See Beloch, Griechische Geschichte (2), 3.1.225-226; Pickard-Cambridge, Cambridge Ancient History, 6.203-204. Compare Polyaenus 4.2.17; Justin 7.6; Dem. 23.121; Dem. 2.6 f.; and Theopompus fr. 165 (Oxford).

4 The Thracian king mentioned chap. 2.6.

5 See chap. 2.6. Methone is above Pydna near the Macedonian border.

6 Old capital of Macedonia, considerably inland.

7 Some of these were Athenians whose losses he made good and through whom he tried to arrange an alliance with Athens. See Dem. 23.121.

8 North-east of Mt. Pangaeus in Thrace. "Philippi is a city that was formerly called Datus, and before that Crenides, because there are many springs bubbling around a hill there. Philip fortified it because he considered it an excellent stronghold against the Thracians, and named it from himself, Philippi." Appian Civil Wars 4.105, translated by White (L.C.L.). Datus was the older name found in Hdt. 9.75. Κρηνίδες is found in IG, 2(2). 127 of the year 356/5. This seems to be the first instance of the practice, later so common, of naming cities for a king.

9 Of this work, the longest history published till then, two hundred seventeen fragments remain. Theopompus' admiration for Philip is reflected by Diodorus, who must have relied heavily on his account. For the contents of the Philippica see Beloch, Griechische Geschichte (2), 3.2.18-24.

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