Third Sacred War

The Third Sacred War was the last great internecine conflict of the classical Greeks, the culmination of continuously series of wars that began as early as 465 BC, only to be ended by Philip of Macedonia in 346 BC.

In the twenty years after the mutually disastrous battle of Mantinea, the leaderless, Greek city-states further exhausted themselves in continued and confused civil warfare.

The so-called Social War (357- 55 BC) or ‘War of the Allies’ of Athens, only weakened the Athenian fleet.

From small beginning, this war threatened to involve all of Greece. Thebans and other Thessalonians in the Amphictyonic League charged their ancient enemy Phocis with cultivating lands sacred to Apollo.

Phocis was fined as was (belatedly) Sparta for its seizure in 382 of the Cadmea at Thebes.  Under Philomelus, Phocis refused to pay; it armed, captured the Delphic shrine and its treasury in 355. The Phocians had taken possession of the sanctuary and were meting down the offerings and the contents of the treasury for their military expenses and the service of the oracle had been almost suspended.

Thebes declared war in 355, defeating Philomelus at Neon in 354 and causing a Phocian retreat in 353. Philip helped Thebes conquer Phocis from 351 to 347, seeking peace with Athens at the same time.

The Third Sacred War lasted until 346 BC, where King Philip II of Macedonia gained control of Delphi. The war was concluded with Peace of Philocrates and Philip II became the chairman of the Amphictyonic League.
Third Sacred War

Excavations: Ernest A. Gardner (1887-95)

Archaeological fieldwork was initiated during the directorship of Ernest Gardner who had gained experience in Egypt with Flinders Petrie at Naukratis. The first major project (from 1887) was on the island of Cyprus, supported by the Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies (Cyprus Exploration Fund).

The first excavation on mainland Greece was at Megalopolis. This proved to be controversial over the interpretation of the theatre.

Smaller projects were then attempted, first at Aegosthena in 1893, directed by E.F. Benson. The following year A.G. Bather and V.W. Yorke explored two sites, Abae and Hyampolis, in Phocis.

The financial position did not allow further field projects in the session 1894/95. However, a preliminary excavation at Alexandria was made in April 1895 by David G. Hogarth with assistance from two BSA students, E.F. Benson and Edwyn Robert Bevan.

A regional survey of Aetolia was conducted in 1892 and 1893 by W.J. Woodhouse (who had gained experience at Megalopolis).

Such work was in marked contrast to the other Schools in Greece: for example, the French at Delphi and on Delos, the Americans at the Argive Heraion, and the Germans in Athens itself.