32.38
When
Philip saw that matters must be decided on the battlefield, he called in his
forces from all quarters. His main anxiety was about the cities in Achaia,
which were so far away, and he was more uneasy about Argos than about
Corinth. He thought the best course would be to place it in the hands of
Nabis, the tyrant of Lacedaemon, as a deposit to be restored to him should
he be victorious, or should he meet with reverses to remain under the tyrant's
rule. He wrote to Philocles, who was governor of Corinth and Argos,
bidding him discuss the matter with Nabis. Philocles took a present with him,
and as a further pledge of future friendship between the king and the tyrant
he informed Nabis that Philip wished to form a matrimonial alliance between
his daughters and Nabis' sons. At first the tyrant refused to accept the city
unless the Argives themselves, by a formal decree, summoned him to their
assistance. When, however, he heard that at a crowded meeting of their
Assembly the Argives were pouring contempt and even execration on his
name, he considered that he had got a sufficient justification for plundering
them and he told Philocles that he might deliver up the city whenever he
chose. The tyrant was admitted into the place in the night without arousing
any suspicion; at daybreak all the commanding positions were occupied and
the gates closed. A few of the principal citizens had escaped at the beginning
of the tumult and their property was seized; those who still remained had all
their gold and silver taken away and very heavy fines were imposed upon
them. Those who paid up promptly were dismissed without insult or injury,
those who were suspected of concealing or withholding anything were
flogged and tortured like slaves. A meeting of their Assembly was then
summoned in which he promulgated two measures, one for the cancelling of
debts and another for the division of land -two firebrands with which the
revolutionaries were to inflame the lower classes against the aristocracy.
