The Fourth Sacred War broke out in 339 BCE against the Lokrians. Again, Philip of Macedonia assumed leadership and defeated the Lokrians. The Aetolians succeeded the Macedonians and by the end of the century the Aetolian League, a powerful military confederation, controlled Delphi. The wealth of the town made it a frequent target for attack, including a raid by Gauls in 279 BCE. Delphi was saved from this barbarian pillage by another landslide. In 189 BCE the Aetolians were defeated by the Romans, who then became Delphi's protectors. The Maides of Thrace plundered the sanctuary in 91. In 86 BCE, the Roman general Sulla removed all the valuable offerings that had survived the Fourth Sacred War. Emperor Nero, while a participant in the chariot race in 57 AD, seized approximately 500 of the sanctuary's beau-tiful bronze statues and brought them back to Rome. Emperor Constantine also stole innumerable works of art, possibly including the bronze horses of the Chariot of Helios outside the Temple of Apollo.¹⁵

After the Roman conquest of Greece, and especially after the spread of Christianity, Delphi declined. The sanctuary gradually fell into decay and was several times damaged by earthquakes. The Romans, notably by Emperor Nero, confiscated much of its art and treasure. The oracle's power continued to decline under Roman rule and was finally abolished by the Emperor Theodosius in 385 AD. The site was abandoned some time after 390 AD. A Christian settlement was ultimately built over the ruins.¹⁶

The site of the town and sanctuary was eventually occupied by the village of KastrÌ. In 1891 the village was moved and excavation of the site began. In 1892 the French archaeologists uncovered the whole sacred site, revealing the most sacred monuments of the ancient Greek world. Discoveries included temples, the Great Altar, the stadium and theater, the ancient town wall, and the treasury building, the walls of which are inscribed with famous hymns to Apollo. The site contains more than 4000 inscriptions, valued for modern knowledge of ancient Greece.¹⁷ The present site has been largely excavated and restored in part. It includes the sacred precinct of Apollo with its temple, the cave of the oracle, the treasury houses, the stadium further up the mountain slope, the Castalian Fountain below and still further down, the Marmaria, or sanctuary of Athena, with its temple to Athena and round Tholos of the 4th century BCE.¹⁸

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