ABSTRACT
When Celtic warriors in a furious horde invaded Greece in 278 BC, her inhabitants saw in their eventual victory over this northern terror a glorious renewal of the triumphs against the Persians in 490 BC, and 480-479 BC. Some stimulant for their national pride was needed. Since the victory of Philip II at Chaeronaea (338 BC), Greece had been substantially under the power of Macedon. There were restless movements amongst the cities from time to time: attempts to regain the old freedom for destructive rivalry. One such attempt after the death of Alexander was crushed after a deceptive initial success. Yet Athens and the others still retained enough illusory independence to become resentful at each setback to old pretensions and irritably willing to risk another futile throw in a game which they could no longer afford to play. The city-states were haunted over generations by the ghost of their defunct importance and were unwilling to discard their claims to individuality and liberty of action whether the imminent suzerain was Macedonian or Roman.
