BRIBERY IN CLASSICAL ATHENS Kellam ... - Historia Antigua

Conover Bribery in Classical Athens Chapter Four
expansion (Demosthenes 19). By examining how and why the orator distorts his
narrative about Philip’s diplomacy, we can begin to understand the underlying concerns
that shaped this dominant image of the dōrodokos in the second half of the fourth
century. The next section will take up how and why the traitorous dōrodokos appeared in
wholly domestic contexts, as well.
From 357, when Philip seized the Athenian territories of Amphipolis and Pydna
in northern Greece, Macedon and Athens were at war (Aeschin. 2.70, 3.54; Isoc. 5.2).
For the most part, Athens was unable to thwart Philip’s advance, as he slowly secured a
major portion of northern Greece, including Athens’ last strategic stronghold in
Chalcidice, Olynthus, the loss of which in 348 we saw bitterly recounted in the Third
Philippic. By 347, when Philip agreed to enter into peace negotiations with Athens, he
was knocking on the door of central Greece, about to march in and settle an ongoing war
between Athens’ ally Phocis and her bitter enemy Thebes. Early the next year, ten
envoys—including Philocrates and the orators Aeschines and Demosthenes—were sent
to Macedon to negotiate the peace. The First Embassy returned to Athens, where
Philocrates persuaded the Athenian Assembly to ratify the Peace of Philocrates, which
recognized the current holdings of both Athens and Macedon. The same envoys were
elected to the Second Embassy, charged with getting Philip to swear to the same terms,
yet a whole two months passed before Philip would meet the embassy. By the time
Philip swore to the treaty’s terms, Macedon had acquired even more territory in the north,
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