The Last Speech 346 BC
February 346 BC, Attica. To ask peace of Philip, king of Macedon, who over twelve years has swallowed Amphipolis, Potidaea and Olynthus one after another, the Assembly has chosen ten envoys. You are Demosthenes, an orator aged 38, and the youngest of the embassy.
Historical background
Philip II, who became king of Macedon in 359 BC, trained a phalanx armed with long pikes and took Amphipolis in 357 and Potidaea in 356, losing an eye to an arrow while besieging Methone. In 348 he destroyed Olynthus, an ally of Athens. Meanwhile, in the heart of Greece, Phocis and Thebes were fighting the Sacred War over Delphi. Demosthenes, who lost his father at seven and was robbed of his inheritance by his guardians, learned to speak by prosecuting them at twenty, and won his name with speeches warning against Philip. In 346 Athens sent an embassy that included Philocrates, Aeschines and Demosthenes to Pella and made peace, but that summer Philip passed Thermopylae and crushed Phocis.
In 343 Demosthenes prosecuted Aeschines for misconduct on the embassy, and in 341 he delivered the Third Philippic. In 340, when Philip besieged Perinthus and Byzantium and seized 230 Athenian grain ships at Hieron at the mouth of the Bosporus, Athens broke the peace. In 339, at news that Elatea had fallen, Demosthenes rose in an Assembly where no one else would stand, went to Thebes and brought back an alliance. In August 338 the allied army of Athens and Thebes was beaten at Chaeronea by Philip and the eighteen-year-old Alexander, and Demosthenes was chosen to give the funeral oration for the dead. In 336 Philip was assassinated at Aegae, and in 335 Alexander destroyed rebellious Thebes. In the trial over the crown in 330 Demosthenes defeated Aeschines, but in 324 he was fined over the gold of Harpalus and went into exile. When Alexander died in 323 he returned amid the Lamian War, and in 322, after the allies were beaten at Crannon and Antipater's men closed in, he took poison in the temple of Poseidon on the island of Calauria.
Who you are
You begin as Demosthenes, aged 38, a citizen of the deme of Paeania. Your father, who ran workshops making swords and beds, died when you were seven, and at twenty you won back part of the inheritance your guardians had taken through the courts. You have no land and no skill with a sword, but you have Wit, plenty of gold and a name won in the Assembly. You have your mother Cleobule and your sister Nicarete, and your rival Aeschines, your allies Hyperides and Lycurgus, the pro-Macedonians Phocion and Demades, and Philip in the north are the people of this life.
Two ways to start
This scenario can be started in two ways. As the character puts you in the place of the person described on this page, to live out their story. At this moment keeps the same year and the same world, but you choose your seat, gender, age and home region yourself; instead of the character's own story events, the great moments of that time reach you in a form that fits the seat you chose.
Seats you can choose “At this moment”
- Citizen in the Athenian Assembly — One of the six thousand on the Pnyx
- Athenian of the pro-Macedonian party — A rich man who believes peace with Philip is the only way to survive
- Companion at the Macedonian court — One of the hetairoi who eat at the king's table
- Soldier of the Theban Sacred Band — One of the three hundred of the Cadmea
- Corinthian merchant — A grain and pottery dealer in the port between two seas
Or start as someone elsewhere and pick your home region yourself.
Turning point: If the Greek allies had won at Chaeronea
The backbone of this scenario is the new turning point "If the Greek allies had won at Chaeronea". Watching the king's army at Pella, diplomacy in the Peloponnese, Euboea and Byzantium, the trireme law and the terms you offer the Theban assembly after Elatea falls move the odds for 338 BC. If the allies lose, real history runs through the funeral oration in the Ceramicus, a white robe and a garland, the ashes of Thebes, the trial over the crown and the gold of Harpalus to the temple at Calauria in 322 BC; if the allies win, a different branch goes on through an Athenian league council, a struggle with Thebes for leadership and young Alexander's war of revenge to its own ending.
Sides you can take
- The allied army of Athens and Thebes Stand against Philip in the Assembly and join hands with Thebes. This road leads to a world where the allies win at Chaeronea.
- Philip and Macedon Keep the peace with the northern king or take his side. This is the road real history took.
Tips
Questions and answers
How close is this scenario to real history?
The Peace of Philocrates and the fall of Phocis in 346 BC, the trial of Timarchus in 345, the "false embassy" trial in 343, the Third Philippic in 341, the seizure of the grain ships at Hieron and the trireme law in 340, Elatea and the Athenian-Theban alliance in 339, Chaeronea and the Sacred Band in 338, Philip's assassination in 336, the destruction of Thebes in 335, the trial over the crown in 330, the Harpalus affair in 324, the Lamian War in 323, and Crannon and the death at Calauria in 322 are historical. Demosthenes and his parents, Aeschines, Hyperides, Phocion and Demades are real people; his sister, whose name has not come down to us, was given the name Nicarete in the game. The starting map, realms, real historical figures and the major events of the current of history follow actual history. The hero you play when you start “As the character” and their family are mostly real people, while some of the companions, rivals and loves around you are fictional people who could have lived in that age. Once you start, history may diverge according to your choices and those of the AI rulers.
What station do I start in?
You start as Demosthenes, a 38-year-old male commoner of the deme of Paeania and an orator, in Athens. You hold no land and are not yet married, and you have your mother and sister.
Is it free? Can I play right away?
Yes. Crown & Plough is a free browser game with no account and nothing to install. The "Start in this scene" button on this page opens the scenario's intro screen directly, and progress is saved automatically in your browser. It works on phones too.