Smith, William: A smaller dictionary of Greek and Roman antiquities (London, 1871)

AMPIIICTYOXES.

20

AMPHICTYONES.

tLo states belonging to each of these tribes
were on a footing of perfect equality. Thus
Sparta enjoyed no advantages over Dorium
and Cytinium, two small towns in Doris: and
Athens, an Ionic city, was on a par with Ere-
tria in Euboea, and Priene in Asia Jlinor,
two other Ionic cities. The ordinary council
was called Pylaea (wvXaCa), from its meeting
in the neighbourhood of Pylae (Thermopylae),
but the name was given to the session at
Delphi as well as to that at Thermopylae.
The council was composed of two classes of
representatives, one called Pylagorae (HuAa-
yopai), and the other Ilieromncmoncs ( Iepo-
Mi^nows). Athens sent three Pylagorae and
one Ilieromnemon; of whom the former were
elected apparently for each session, and the
latter by lot, probably for a longer period.
Respecting the relative duties of the Pyla-
gorae and Ilieromnemones we have little
information : the name of the latter implies
that they had a more immediate connection
with the temple. We arc equally in the
dark respecting the numbers who sat in the
council and its mode of proceeding. It would
seem that all the deputies had seats in the
council, and took part in its deliberations ;
but if it be true, as appears from Aeschines,
that each of the tribes had only two votes, it
is clear that all the deputies could not have
voted. In addition to the ordinary council,
there was an ccclesia (eKxAr/crta), or general
assembly, including not only the classes
above mentioned, but also those who had
pined in the sacrifices, and were consulting
the god. It was convened on extraordinary
occasions by the chairman of the council. Of
the duties of the Amphictyons nothing will
give us a clearer view than the oath they
look, which was as follows :—" They would
destroy no city of the Amphictyons, nor cut
off their streams in war or peace; and if any
should do so, they would march against him,
and destroy his cities; and should any pillage
the property of the god, or be privy to or
plan anything against what was in his temple
(at Delphi), they would take vengeance on
him with hand and foot, and voice, and all
their might." Erom this oath we see that
the main duty of the deputies was the preser-
vation of the rights and dignity of the temple
of Delphi. We know, too, that after it was
burnt down (b. c. 548), they contracted with
the Alcmaeonidae for its rebuilding. History,
moreover, teaches that if the council produced
any palpable effects, it was from their interest
in Delphi; and though they kept up a standing
record of what ought to have been the interna-
t i onal law of Greece, they sometimes acquiesced
in, and at other times were parties to, the most
iniquitous acts. Of this the case of Crissa

is an instance. This town lay on the Gulf of
Corinth, near Delphi, and was much frequented
by pilgrims from the West. The Crissaeans
were charged by the Delphians with undue
exactions from these strangers. The coun-
cil declared war against them, as guilty of a
wrong against the god. The war lasted ten
years, till, at the suggestion of Solon, the
waters of the Pleistus were turned off, then
poisoned, and turned again into the city. The
besieged drank their fill, and Crissa was soon
razed to the ground ; and thus, if it were an
Amphictyonic city, was a solemn oath doubly
violated. Its territory—the rich Cirrhaean
plain—was consecrated to the god, and curses
imprecated upon whomsoever should till or
dwell in it. Thus ended the First Sacred
War (b. c. 585), in which the Athenians were
the instruments of Delphian vengeance. The
second or Phocian war (b. c. 350) was the
most important in which the Amphictyons
were concerned; and in this the Thebans
availed themselves of the sanction of the
council to take vengeance on their enemies,
the Phocians. To do this, however, it was
necessary to call in Philip of JIacedon, who
readily proclaimed himself the champion of
Apollo, as it opened a pathway to his own
ambition. The Phocians were subdued (b. c.
34G), and the council decreed that all their
cities, except Abac, should be razed, and the
inhabitants dispersed in villages not contain-
ing more than fifty persons. Their two votes
were given to Philip, who thereby gained a
pretext for interfering with the affairs of
Greece ; and also obtained the recognition of
his subjects as Hellenes. The Third Sacred
War arose from the Amphissians tilling the
devoted Cirrhaean plain. The Amphictyons
called in the assistance of Philip, who soon
reduced the Amphissians to subjection. Their
submission was immediately followed by the
battle of Chaeroneia (b. c. 338), and the
extinction of the independence of Greece. In
the following year, a congress of the Amphic-
tyonic states was held, in which war was
declared as if by united Greece against Persia,
and Philip elected commander-in-chief. On
this occasion the Amphictyons assumed the
character of national representatives as of old,
when they set a price upon the head of Ephi-
altes, for his treason to Greece at Thermo-
pylae. It has been sufficiently shown that
the Amphictyons themselves did not observe
the oaths they took ; and that they did not
much alleviate the horrors of war, or enforce
what they had sworn to do, is proved by
man}' instances. Thus, for instance, Mycenae
was destroyed by Argos (b. c. 535), Thespiae
and Plataeae by Thebes, and Thebes herself
swept from the face of the earth by Alex-mJer,