walls, but opened their gates and received the Athenians into their houses.  Phokion’s men proved not only irreproachable in their conduct, but repaid the confidence which had been shown them by fighting on all occasions with the utmost bravery.  Thus was Philip this time driven from the Hellespont, and regarded with contempt as a coward and a runaway, while Phokion took several of his ships, recovered some towns which had received Macedonian garrisons, and landed at various points on the coast to ravage and overrun the country, until at last he was wounded by the enemy and forced to return home.

XV.  Once when the people of Megara secretly invited Phokion to come to their aid, as he was afraid that the Boeotians might hear of his intentions and cut off the proposed reinforcements, he called a meeting of the Assembly at daybreak, laid the Megarian proposals before the Athenians, and as soon as a decree had been passed to aid them, ordered the trumpet to sound, bade his troops leave the Assembly and get under arms at once, and led them straightway to Megara.  The people of Megara gladly welcomed him, and he not only fortified Nisaea, but built two long walls from the city to its seaport, thus joining Megara to the sea in such a fashion that the city no longer feared its enemies by land, and cheerfully threw in its lot with the Athenians.

XVI.  When Philip was viewed with hostility by every state in Greece, and other generals had been elected in Phokion’s absence to make war against him, Phokion, when he returned from his tour among the islands, advised them to make peace, and come to terms with Philip, who on his part was quite willing to do so, and feared to go to war.  On this occasion a pettifogging Athenian, who spent all his time in the law courts, opposed Phokion, and said, “Do you dare, Phokion, to advise the Athenians to turn back when they have arms already in their hands?” “Yes, I do,” answered he, “and that too although I know that in time of war I shall be your master, and in time of peace you will be mine.”  As Phokion did not succeed, but Demosthenes carried his point, and counselled the Athenians to fight as far as possible from Attica, he said to him:  “My good sir, let us not consider where we are to fight, but how we can win the victory.  If we are victorious, the war will be kept at a distance, but all the horrors of war always press closely upon the vanquished.”  After the defeat,[629] the noisy revolutionary party dragged Charidemus to the tribune, and bade him act as general.  All the more respectable citizens were much alarmed at this.  They appealed to the council of the Areopagus to aid them, addressed the people with tears and entreaties, and prevailed upon them to place the city under the charge of Phokion.  Phokion now considered it necessary to submit with a good grace to the pleasure of Philip, and when Demades moved that Athens should share the general peace and take part in the congress of the Greek states, Phokion objected to the motion