The
ambassadors thought that they ought to be contented and thankful for
these terms, with the exception of Xenokrates, who said, "If Antipater
looks upon us as slaves, the terms are moderate; if as free men, they
are severe."[645] When Phokion earnestly begged Antipater not to send
a garrison to Athens, he is said to have said in reply, "Phokion, I am
willing to grant you any request you please, unless it be one which
would be fatal both to you and to myself." Some say that this is not
the true version of the incident, but that Antipater enquired of
Phokion whether, if he did not place a garrison in Athens, Phokion
would guarantee that the city would abide by the terms of the peace,
and not intrigue with a view of regaining its independence: and as
Phokion was silent and hesitated how to reply, Kallimedon, surnamed
'the crab' a man of a fierce and anti-democratical temper, exclaimed:
"If, Antipater, this man should talk nonsense, will you believe him,
and not do what you have decided upon?"
XXVIII. Thus it came to pass that the Athenians received into their
city a Macedonian garrison, whose commander was Menyllus, an amiable
man and a friend of Phokion himself. It was thought that the sending
of the garrison was a mere piece of arrogance on Antipater's part, and
to be more due to an insolent desire to show the extent of his power
than to any real necessity. The time, too, at which it was sent,
rendered its arrival especially galling to the Athenians: for it was
during the celebration of the mysteries, on the twentieth day of the
month Boedromion, that the garrison entered the city.
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