Spartan yoke. The former founded Megalopolis as their common centre, the latter
Messene. But after the death of Epaminondas in 362, Thebes was left without a
leader; and when, in 355, she became involved in the 'Sacred War' with the
Phocians, the new Peloponnesian states turned towards Athens, and Messene
received a solemn promise of Athenian assistance, if ever she was attacked by
Sparta. In 353 Thebes was suffering considerably from the Sacred War, and the
Spartans made an ingenious attempt to recover their power, in the form of a
proposal for the restoration of territory to its original owners. This meant
that Athens would recover Oropus, which had been in the hands of Thebes since
366, and had previously been the subject of a long-standing dispute; that
Orchomenus, Thespiae, and Plataeae, which had all been overthrown by Thebes,
would be restored; and that Elis and Phlius would also recover certain lost
possessions. All these states would then be morally bound (so the Spartans
thought) to help Sparta to reconquer Arcadia and Messenia.

On the occasion of this speech (delivered in 353) the Megalopolitans had
appealed to Athens, and an Arcadian and a Spartan embassy had each had an
audience of the Assembly, and had each received strong support from Athenian
speakers. The principal motives of the supporters of Sparta were their hostility
to Thebes, and their desire not to break with the Spartans, whom Athens had
assisted at Mantineia in 362 against the Thebans and Megalopolitans. Demosthenes
supports the Arcadians, and lays great stress on the desirability of maintaining
a balance of power between Sparta and Thebes, so that neither might become too
strong. To allow Sparta to reconquer Arcadia, and, as the next step, Messenia,
would be to render her too formidable; and to reject the proposal of Sparta
would not preclude Athens from recovering Oropus and demanding the restoration
of the Boeotian towns. But the promise of assistance to the Arcadians should be
accompanied by a request for the termination of their alliance with Thebes.

Demosthenes' advice was not followed. In fact Athens was hardly in a position to