successfully at war, drove back his foes, and pressed his conquests
till he had captured Thermopylae and invaded Thessaly.

Here the Phocians came into contact with a foe dangerous to themselves
and to all Greece. This foe was the celebrated Philip of Macedonia, a
famous soldier who was to play a leading part in the subsequent game. He
had long been paving the way to the conquest of Greece, and the Sacred
War gave him just the opportunity he wanted.

Macedonia lay north of Greece. Its people were not Greeks, nor like
Greeks in their customs. They lived in the country, not in cities, and
had little or none of the culture of Greece. But they were the stuff
from which good soldiers are made. Hitherto this country had been hardly
thought of as an element in the Grecian problem. Its kings were despots
who had been kept busy with their foes at home. But now a king had
arisen of wider views and larger mould. Philip had spent his youth in
Thebes, where he had learned the art of war under Epaminondas. On coming
to the throne he quickly proved himself a great soldier and a keen and
cunning politician. By dint of war and trickery he rapidly spread his
dominions until all his home foes were subdued, Macedonia was greatly
extended, and Thessaly, the most northern state of Greece, was overrun.

Therefore the invasion of Thessaly by the Phocians brought them into
contact with the Macedonians. At first Onomarchus was successful. He won
two battles and drove Philip back to his native state. But another large
army was quickly in the field, and this time the army of Onomarchus was
utterly beaten and himself slain. As for Philip, although he probably
cared not an iota for the Delphian god, he shrewdly professed to be on a
crusade against the impious Phocians, and drowned all his prisoners as
guilty of sacrilege.

A third leader, Phayllus by name, now took command of the Phocians, and
the temple of Apollo was rifled still more freely than before. The
splendid gifts of King Croesus had not yet been touched. They were
held too precious to be meddled with. But Phayllus did not hesitate to
turn these into money. One hundred and seventeen ingots of gold and
three hundred and sixty golden goblets went to the melting-pot, and with
them a golden statue three cubits high and a lion of the same precious
metal. And what added to the horror of pious Greece was that much of the
proceeds of these precious treasures was lavished on favorites. The
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