Phocion

At once, therefore, Antipater led his forces against Athens, and Demosthenes and Hypereides left the city. Demades, however though he was unable to pay any portion of the fines which had been imposed upon him by the city (he had been seven times convicted of introducing illegal measures, had lost his civic rights, and was therefore debarred from speaking in the assembly), obtained immunity at this time, and brought in a bill for sending to Antipater ambassadors plenipotentiary to treat for peace.

But the people were fearful, and called upon Phocion, declaring that he was the only man whom they could trust. But if I had been trusted, said he, when I gave you counsel, we should not now be deliberating on such matters. And when the bill had thus been passed, he was sent off to Antipater, who was encamped in the Cadmeia,[*](The citadel of Thebes.) and was making preparations to march into Attica at once. And this was the first request that Phocion made, namely, that Antipater should remain where he was and make the treaty.

And when Craterus declared that it was not fair in Phocion to try to persuade them to remain in the territory of their friends and allies and ravage it, when they had it in their power to get booty from that of their enemies, Antipater took him by the hand and said: We must grant Phocion this favour. But as for the other terms of the peace, he ordered the Athenians to leave them to the conquerors, just as, at Lamia, he had been ordered to do by Leosthenes.

Accordingly, Phocion returned to Athens with these demands, and the Athenians acceeded to them, under the necessity that was upon them. Then Phocion went once more to Thebes, with the other ambassadors, to whom the Athenians had added Xenocrates the philosopher. For so high an estimate was set upon the virtue of Xenocrates, and so great was his reputation and fame in the eyes of all, that it was supposed the human heart could harbour no insolence or cruelty or wrath which the mere sight of the man would not infuse with reverence and a desire to do him honour.