Ancient Phocis: Sacred Wars, Alliances, and Macedonian Rule (600–323 BCE)

The region of Phocis lay in central Greece, west of Boeotia, south and east of Locris, and north of the Gulf of Corinth. The region contained Mount Parnassus, which divided it. Its name derived from Phocus of Corinth, who supposedly settled it. Homer indicated that the region sent forty ships to fight with the Achaeans at Troy. An important city was Delphi, the religious center for Greece, and the city of Elateia was also important. The region was a federation of about twenty towns, with no major city in complete control. Nearby was the strategic pass at Thermopylae, which played an important role in Greek and Phocian history. The region established a colony at Massalia in southern France (modern-day Marseilles) around 600.

Elateia lay in the middle of a fertile plain and controlled the entrance into Boeotia. In 595, the First Sacred War was fought for control of Delphi, with Phocis coming under the control of its rival, Thessaly, in 586. Cleisthenes, the tyrant of Sicyon, took Delphi away from Phocis in 585, making it an independent city. At some point during the next century, Phocis would win back its independence from Thessaly, defeating it in at least two battles. One, the Battle of Hyampolis (a strategic pass), had the Phocians digging a ditch, filling it with empty amphora, and covering it back up so that when the Thessalian cavalry attacked, the ditch collapsed, crippling the horses and throwing their riders.

Then the Thessalians attacked again, destroying a Phocis reconnaissance force of 300 men led by Gelon. The Phocians regrouped and fought hard before again defeating the Thessalians, who now retreated. Another force of 600 Phocians attacked the Thessalians at night, with their shields and armor painted white with chalk as if ghosts, causing panic, killing over 4,000, and routing the Thessalians for good.

In 480, the Persians under Xerxes made their advance against Greece. The Spartan king Leonidas led a small Greek force north to the pass at Thermopylae. Leonidas took 1,000 Phocians with him and then put them at Anoplaia, on the heights of Thermopylae, to guard the pass around the rear. The Persian troops under Hydarnes and the Immortals advanced and, surprising the Phocians, fired arrows that forced the Phocians to retreat to the heights above, while the Persian forces continued their journey down to the flank of the pass. The Phocians were soon branded as cowards for not engaging and holding the enemy. The Persians conscripted 1,000 troops, and at first they were to be killed since the Thessalians indicated that they were unreliable. The Phocians planned to resist the slaughter, but when the Persians saw this, they relented and did not destroy them. Following the victory at Plataea, the Phocians controlled Delphi, although it would change hands over the next century and at one time was aligned with Athens.

During the Archidamian War, or the second phase of the Peloponnesian War, Phocis allied itself with Sparta and sent troops against Athens. At the end of the Peloponnesian War, Phocis was still aligned with Sparta, but during the ensuing Corinthian War, Sparta and Thebes fought to dominate Phocis. By 370, Phocis was under Theban control. The Thebans began to impose harsh taxes on Phocis. Phocis responded by raising a mercenary army and taking control of Delphi.

In 356, the Third Sacred War began. Led by the general Onomarchos, Phocis was able to drive back the Thebans. In 354 and 353, Onomarchos led his army into Thessaly and defeated Philip II of Macedon. In one of the battles, Onomarchos used catapults against the Macedonians. The Phocians arranged their men in a crescent shape and placed the catapults on the sides of the hills. The Phocians feigned retreat, drawing the Macedonians in deeper. When the Macedonians came into range, the catapults opened fire, disrupting the Macedonian phalanx. The Phocians then attacked, breaking the Macedonian army, who fled. In 353, Onomarchos attacked Thessaly, and Philip, as the savior of Delphi, defeated Onomarchos and his army at the Battle of the Crocus Field.

The Phocians continued to fight during the next few years by continually raiding the treasury at Delphi to pay mercenaries and attached Thebes and Boeotia. The Thebans appealed to Philip for help. Philip sent a small army, enough to show force and help defend Thebes but not enough to end the war. Philip instead planned to end the war on his terms, sending his forces to occupy the pass at Thermopylae in 346. With his occupation, Philip controlled the region and its access. Philip restored the cities in Boeotia, which Phocis had seized. Philip now decided that the Amphictyonic League’s council should determine the fate of Phocis.

As part of the agreement, Macedon was now part of the council and given the two votes which Phocis had previously had. Macedon had now become a full- fledged member of the Greek world. Although Thessaly, the sworn enemy of Phocis, wanted it destroyed, Philip imposed a heavy fine but left the region free. The major cities were annihilated, but the inhabitants were allowed to live in small villages. Their continual hatred of Philip and Macedon caused the Phocians to send a contingent to Chaeronea, where they fought against Philip.

When Philip was assassinated, a general rebellion broke out, with Thebes on one side and Alexander the Great on the other. Phocis now allied itself with Alexander and sought to punish Thebes for their past treatment. They remained allied with Alexander until he died in 323 and they rebelled against Antipater when he invaded Greece.