THE SACRED WAR. 293

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 com-
mand 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 melt-
ing-pot, and with them a golden statue three cubits
high anda 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
were lavished on favorites. The necklaces of Helen
and Eriphyle were given to dissolute women, and a
woman flute-player received a silver cup and a
golden wreath from the temple horde.

All this gave Philip of Macedonia the desired
pretence. He marched against the Phocians, who
held Thermopyle, while keeping his Athenian ene-
mies quiet by lies and bribes. The leader of the
Phocian garrison, finding that no aid came from

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