Abstract
IN THE EARLY SUMMER of 356 B.C. the Phocians, under their leader Philomelus, seized Delphi. This was a move against Thebes, which was manipulating the Amphictyony, the league of Greek tribes which was responsible for maintaining the temple at Delphi, to coerce and punish Phocis for breaking away from the Theban alliance. As a result of the Phocian action, the Amphictyony declared a Sacred War against Phocis.1 At first the Phocians had no wish to take the treasures from Apollo's temple at Delphi; indeed, Philomelus, almost immediately after seizing the sanctuary, declared that he had no intention of plundering the temple or of committing any other unlawful act (Diod. 16.24.5), and once he had established his position he sent embassies to the principal Greek cities to announce that he had not seized Delphi because of the sacred treasures, but to re-assert the ancient Phocian claim to the guardianship of the temple, and that he would render account of the treasures to all the Greeks and was prepared to furnish the weight and the number of the dedications to all who wished to examine them (Diod. 16.27.3-4).
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