Philomelus of Phocis () was general of the Phocians in the

Third Sacred War The Third Sacred War ( 356– 346 BC) was fought between the forces of the Delphic Amphictyonic League, principally represented by Thebes, and latterly by Philip II of Macedon, and the Phocians. The war was caused by a large fine imposed in 35 ...

, brother of Onomarchus and son of Theotimus.

Biography

Philomelus, with the help of

Sparta Sparta was a prominent city-state in Laconia in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (), while the name Sparta referred to its main settlement in the Evrotas Valley, valley of Evrotas (river), Evrotas rive ...

, set up as a ''

strategos autokrator ''Strategos'' (), also known by its Latinized form ''strategus'', is a Greek term to mean 'military general'. In the Hellenistic world and in the Byzantine Empire, the term was also used to describe a military governor. In the modern Hellenic ...

'' a mercenary army and managed to defeat the

Locrians The Locrians (, ''Lokroi'') were an ancient Greek tribe that inhabited the region of Locris in Central Greece, around Parnassus. They spoke the Locrian dialect, a Doric-Northwest dialect, and were closely related to their neighbouring tribes ...

. Then he conquered

Delphi Delphi (; ), in legend previously called Pytho (Πυθώ), was an ancient sacred precinct and the seat of Pythia, the major oracle who was consulted about important decisions throughout the ancient Classical antiquity, classical world. The A ...

and fully controlled the local Oracle, forcing

Pythia Pythia (; ) was the title of the high priestess of the Temple of Apollo (Delphi), Temple of Apollo at Delphi. She specifically served as its oracle and was known as the Oracle of Delphi. Her title was also historically glossed in English as th ...

to admit and agree that he could do what he wanted as owner of the Oracle. After that, he stole the treasures of the temple and all the valuable offerings to the god

Apollo Apollo is one of the Twelve Olympians, Olympian deities in Ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek and Ancient Roman religion, Roman religion and Greek mythology, Greek and Roman mythology. Apollo has been recognized as a god of archery, mu ...

and used them in order to form additional army corps consisting of 10,000 mercenaries. With the support and help of Sparta,

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

and

Corinth Corinth ( ; , ) is a municipality in Corinthia in Greece. The successor to the ancient Corinth, ancient city of Corinth, it is a former municipality in Corinthia, Peloponnese (region), Peloponnese, which is located in south-central Greece. Sin ...

, Philomelus again prevailed over the Locrians and Thessalians, but he was defeated in 354 BC by the Boeotians and was killed falling off a cliff.Lampsas Giannis, ''Dictionary of the Ancient World (Lexiko tou Archaiou Kosmou)'', Vol. IV, Athens, Domi Publications, 1984, p. 784.

References

{{reflist Ancient Phocian generals 354 BC deaths