After the battle of Chaeronea in 338, the external food supply of the Athenians was as much in the hands of others as it had been at the beginning of the century. It is difficult to believe that grain flowed as freely from the north, given the demonstrably increased vulnerability of the Athenians to food crisis in this period. It is noteworthy that imports from the west and south-east come into prominence in the sources only after Chaeronea.

The Athenians did little to endear themselves to the rulers of Macedonia. Philip's seizure of the grain ships in 340 was repeated at some point in the following decade. The speaker of On the Treaty with Alexander, delivered in 331, complains:

The grain fleets were most vulnerable when war was being waged between Macedon and Greek states, especially in 338/7 and 323/2 (the Lamian war), but also in 335/4 (the Theban war) and 331/0 (the revolt of Agis of Sparta, a limited enterprise). The Persian fleet was a force in the Aegean from 334/3 to the early summer of 332. Other states, for example, Byzantium, periodically obstructed the passage of the grain ships. Finally, piracy flourished during the period of Macedonian ascendancy.

GRAIN IMPORTS

Grain was still routinely sought in the Black Sea in the late 330s and 320s by traders serving Athens.