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Phocis was an ancient region
in the central part of Ancient Greece, which included Delphi. The early history
of Phocis remains quite obscure. During the Second Persian invasion of Greece
in 480 the Phocians at first joined in the national defence, but, by their
irresolute conduct at the Battle of
Thermopylae
lost that position for the Greeks; at the Battle of
Plataea they were
enrolled on the Persian side. In 457 an attempt to extend their influence to
the headwaters of the Cephissus in the territory of Doris brought a Spartan
army into Phocis in defence of the "metropolis of the Dorians". A
similar enterprise against Delphi in 448 was again frustrated by Sparta, but
not long afterwards the Phocians recaptured the sanctuary with the help of the
Athenians, with whom they had entered into alliance in 454. The subsequent
decline of Athenian land power had the effect of weakening this new connection;
at the time of the Peloponnesian War
Phocis was nominally an ally and dependent of Sparta, and had lost control
of Delphi. In the 4th century Phocis was constantly endangered by its Boeotian
neighbours. After helping the Spartans to invade Boeotia during the Corinthian War
395–94, the Phocians were placed on the defensive. They received
assistance from Sparta in 380, but were afterwards compelled to submit to the
growing power of Thebes. The Phocian levy took part in the campaigns of Epaminondas into
Peloponnesus, except in the final campaign of
Mantinea
(370–362), from which their contingent was withheld. In return for
this negligence the Thebans fastened a religious quarrel upon their neighbours,
and secured a penal decree against them from the Amphictyonic synod in 356.
This led to the Third
Sacred War (356–346) The Phocians, led by two capable generals,
Philomelus and Onomarchus, replied to the
penal decree by seizing Delphi and using its riches to hire a mercenary army.
With the aid of their mercenaries, the Phocians carried the war into Boeotia
and Thessaly, fighting two important battles: the
Battle of Crocus
Field (353or 352); and the Battle of Thermopylae 353. Though driven out of
Thessaly by Philip of Macedon, the Phocians maintained themselves for ten
years, until the exhaustion of the temple treasures and the treachery of its
leaders placed Phocia at Philip's mercy. The conditions which he imposed –
the obligation to restore the temple funds, and the dispersion of the
population into open villages – were soon disregarded. In 339, the
Phocians began to rebuild their cities; in the following year they fought
against Philip at Chaeronea. Again
in 323, they took part in the
Lamian War against
Antipater, and in 279
helped to defend Thermopylae against the Gauls. After that little more is heard
of Phocis. During the 3rd century, Phocis passed into the power of Macedonia
and of the Aetolian League, to which in 196 it was definitely annexed.
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