Lecture 27: In 324 B.C., Alexander proclaimed the Exiles’ Decree, ordering the Greek cities to receive exiles, most of whom were pro-Macedonian oligarches or mercenaries. The edict violated the autonomy and freedom promised league members, and so sp…
Lecture 27: In 324 B.C., Alexander proclaimed the Exiles’ Decree, ordering the Greek cities to receive exiles, most of whom were pro-Macedonian oligarches or mercenaries. The edict violated the autonomy and freedom promised league members, and so sparked the rebellion know as the Lamian War. The incident was the climax to the deteriorating relations between Alexander and the Greeks since 335 B.C. After the sack of Thebes, Alexander had the reluctant cooperation of his Greek allies. The Spartans, who had refused to join the league, sought an alliance and money from Darius III. In 331 B.C., King Agis III raised a rebellion in the Peloponnesus, but Antipater defeated and slew Agis III at Megalopolis. The Athenians, mindful of the Spartan failure to fight at Chaeronea, had remained aloof. Under their pro-Macedonian statesman Lycurgus, Athens prospered while Alexander marched east.
At the same time, Alexander grew ever more impatient with his Greek allies. Several decrees on stone from the Ionian cities reveal how after 330 B.C. Alexander issued orders as a Great King rather than politely acted as a philhellene benefactor of cities. Therefore, in 323 B.C., just as the news of Alexander’s death reached Greece, the Athenians declared war to secure freedom of the Greeks. Demosthenes left retirement to urge on his countrymen. The Aetolians and Thessalians followed suit. Antipater was besieged in the Thessalian fortress at Lamia, but the Macedonian veterans under Craterus and Leonnatus arrived and crushed the Greeks ultimately collapsing the revolt. Antipater dissolved the League of Corinth, and imposed garrisons and pro-Macedonian oligarchies. The Greeks had their first bitter lesson in the new world wrought by Alexander: Their autonomy and freedom were the gifts of powerful Macedonian dynasts.
Suggested Reading:
Badian, The Deifi cation of Alexander the Great.
Bosworth, Conquest and Empire.
Christian, Athens from Alexander to Antony.
Heisserer, Alexander and the Greeks of Asia Minor.
Wilcken, Alexander the Great.
Lecture 28: https://www.bitchute.com/video/B6Peyio0My6C/
