Lecture Notes for Week Ten

Lecture Notes for Week Ten
(3/30 4/1 4/3)

Monday, 3/30: The End of the Peloponnesian War and the Fall of Athens

By Spring 411:

northern and Hellesponting confederacy still pretty much intact
But west coast of Asia was largely detached, with the important exceptions of Lesbos, Cos, Halicarnassos, and Samos

Revolution at Athens

Extreme oligarchs, taking advantage of more moderate discontents, begin to build support for a new constitution

Alcibiades negotiates with Athenian officers on Samos, promising the he could secure an alliance for Athens with Tissaphernes, but that dissolution of the democracy would be a condition
Back at Athens, it was voted to move ahead with the negotiations

became clear that Alcibiades had promised more than he could deliver
Sparta and Tissaphernes are having conflicts (over the extent of Persian rights), but Tissaphernes still is not ready to break with them in favor of Athens

proposed impossible conditions for Athens, and renegotiated the treaty with Sparta to limit Persia's claims to Asia

Coup goes ahead anyway, and in June a council of 400 essentially replaces the Athenian assembly
Athenian democrats on Samos lead a counter-revolution:

established government-in-exile, which recalled Alcibiades and elected him general, in the hope of gaining alliance with Tissaphernes

alliance doesn't work out

Meanwhile, dissension among the ranks of the 400

sent envoys to Sparta to negotiate peace
garrisoned the entrance to the great harbor at Piraeus to be able to admit the Spartans and/or keep out the Athenian fleet from Samos

Negotiations with Sparta fail, and when the Spartan fleet is seen operating in the Saronic gulf, support for the 400 decays

popular uprising against the Pireaus garrison
negotiations with the 400

Appearance of Spartan fleet of 42 ships off Salamis

sailed around Attika toward Euboia
Athenian fleet of 36 utterly defeated
Euboia revolted

Situation at Athens desperate

no reserve fleet
army and fleet at Samos hostile
Main source of supplies lost

Oligarchs deposed

most fled to Decelea
one betrayed Oinoe to the Spartans
New constitution put in place

Meanwhile, in the Aegean:

Peloponnesian fleet of 86 sailed for Hellespont at the invitation of Pharnabazus
Athenians fleet followed, with 76 ships
Battle of Cynossema:

Athenians extended along shore of Chersonese
Peloponnesians planned to outflank the line to prevent it from escaping the straits, and to press the center in to the shore
Athenians countered by extending their right wing, thus weakening the line
Peloponnesians victorious on the center, but the right wing took advantage of the disorder and threw the Peloponnesian ships into a panic
Athenian left engaged around the cape of Cynossema, out of sight of the rest of the battle

repulsed Peloponnesians

Encouraging victory for the Athenians

followed by recovery of Cyzicus, which had revolted

End of Thucydides' narrative

Next year (410):

Pharnabazus more actively supporting the Peloponnesians
Spartan admiral Mindarus beseiges Cyzicus, with the support of Pharabazus' army
Athenian fleet of 86 passes into the Hellespont unseen, takes Mindarus by surprise
Athens wins the ensuing battle; Mindarus killed, 60 triremes taken or destroyed, reducing the Peloponnesian navy dramatically

With its fleet essentially gone, Sparta made a proposal for peace on the basis of the status quo

Athens unwilling to abandon an attempt to restore its power in the Aegean
Things had been going favorably
Peace offer rejected

The next few years, things in flux:

409: Athens loses Pylos and Nisaia
Darius sends son Cyrus to Sardis to deal with the activities on his western frontier, eliminate the rivalry between Tissaphernes and Pharnabazus
Lysander, new and dynamic Spartan admiral, negotiates with Cyrus
Alcibiades back in Athens in 407

granted full powers for conduct of the war

Early in 406: battle of Notion

Athenian fleet keeping guard on Ephesus
Lysander defeated it, captured 15 ships

Alcibiades discredited, even though he was not present
withdrew to an estate in the Hellespont
new generals elected, Conon given command of navy

Within a few months of this battle, Peloponnesians have a fleet of 140 ships, under admiral Callicratidas

Conon gets forced into battle near Mytilene, loses 30 of his 70 ships, rest blockaded

Athenians melt down dedications to finance more ships, promise freedom to slaves and citizenship to aliens in return for rowing ships
Quickly get together fleet of 150 to relieve Conon at Mytilene
Callicratides leaves 50 ships to maintain blockade, takes 120 out to meet Athenian relief fleet.

Battle fought near islets of Arginusai, south of Lesbos
Great Athenian victory; restoration of Athenian domination of eastern Aegean

loss of 25 ships and crews
execution of the generals for failure to rescue crews

Spartan offer for peace, rejected under the influence of Cleophon

405: Lysander again in command of Spartan navy, obtained more money from Cyrus

various exploits in the Aegean
eventually made for the Hellespont, laid siege to Lampsacus

Athenian fleet of 180 headed to the region
Lampsacus taken by the time they reached Sestos, but Athenians determined to force a battle
Proceeded along the coast to Aegospotami, an open beach without harborage, opposite Lampsacus

bad position -- provisions had to be brought from Sestos, two miles down
Peloponnesians (c. 200 ships) in excellent harbor with a city behind them for provisioning

For four days, Athenians sailed across but Peloponnesians, in drawn up for battle, refused to engage
On fifth day, Lysander sent scout ships to signal when the Athenians had disembarked from their ships

Peloponnesian ships rowed across at full speed, took Athenians completely by surprise
20 Athenian ships manage to escape (including Conon)
other 160 captured immediately
3-4,000 Athenians captured and killed

Conon managed to shoot across to the Spartan naval depot near Lampsacus, capture their sails and other gear, prevented Lysander from pursuing

Conon wisely chose not to return to Athens to be the bearer of such bad news
sent 12 ships home
went with the other 8 to Evagoras, king of Cypriot Salamis

The Fall of Athens

In the wake of Aegospotami, Athens was more or less completely depleted
Lysander, planning to blockade Athens, expells Athenian cleruchs from islands to swell the population at Athens
After subjugating Athenian cities in the Hellespont and Thrace, sailed with 150 ships into the Saronic gulf, occupied Aegina, blockaded Pireaus
Pausnias and Agis entered Attica, encamped at the Academe, west of the city

walls too strong to attack, army withdrew when winter set in, though fleet remained

Athenians made peace offer: would give up empire, become ally of Sparta

Sparta wanted better terms

Theramenes visits Lysander to find out what would be acceptable

returns after 3 months to find Athens ready to submit on any terms

Theramenes sent to Sparta with full powers to negotiate a settlement
Peloponnesian allies want to destroy Athens, sell population into slavery
Sparta a bit more level-headed (not a neighbor or commericial rival like Thebes and Corinth)

offered harsh, but reasonable terms:

Long walls and Pireaus fortifications to be dismantled
All Athenian foreign possesions given up
Whole fleet, except 12 triremes, given up
Athens a dependent ally of Sparta
Exiles (many of them oligarchs) restored

April 404: after the terms were ratified, Lysander sailed into Piraeus, began work of demolishing the walls:

Athenians and Peloponnesians worked together, to the music of flute-girls, celebrating the freedom of the Greeks
later that summer intervened to establish the oligarchy of the Thirty

Rule of the Thirty and Restoration of the Democracy

Board of Thirty oligarchs established as a 'provisional' government, under the aegis of Lysander
Sparta supplied garrison of 700 on the Acropolis to help Thirty purge the city of undesireables

began by killing genuinely unpopular people
went on to continue killing all opponents, and people whose property they wanted to appropriate

Many democrats, among them the general Thrasybulus, flee to Thebes, who at this point is not happy about having a Spartan satellite to its south
Unity among the Thirty themselves begins to break up
Thrasybulus in winter 404 with 70 followers came across the border, managed to take Phyle, which was unguarded

Thirty send forces against them, but they manage to hold out
Democrats gradually come to Phyle, increase Thrasybulus' forces to as many as 1000
in late spring 403, the Thirty made another attempt to dislodge the democrats in Phyle

cavalry and Spartan garrison marched north, but Thrasybulus surprised them at night, managed to rout them

Thirty decide to secure Eleusis as potential refuge in case a democratic coup occurred
Thrasybulus moves his forces to Pireaus, takes up defensive position on hill of Munychia, waited for attack of the Thirty

cause the attacking force to waver with an assault of javelins, at which point Thrasybulus' hoplites manage to gain a victory

In the wake, the Thirty are replaced by body of Ten, also oligarchs, but not as extreme as the Thirty had been

the Thirty withdrew to Eleusis

Both the Ten and the Thirty send to Sparta for support

Lysander assembled an army at Eleusis, fleet of 40 ships sent to Pireaus
Things not looking good for Thrasybulus, but
Back in Sparta, Lysander's influence has been declining,
And King Pausanias, his opponent, arrived on the scene to take over Lysander's command

All parties agreed to submit to Pausanias' arbitration:

general amnesty for everybody except the Thirty and a handful of close associates
Establishment of Eleusis as separate state, to which all oligarchs had safe passage for a time

Eleusis actually retaken in a few years

End of oligarchic threat to Athens, and largely the end of direct involvement of Sparta in Athenian internal affairs

Wednesday, 4/1: The Aftermath of the Peloponnesian War

Greece in the Aftermath of the Peloponnesian War

Sparta suddenly has an empire on its hands

Sparta's avowed aim in the Peloponnesian War had been to liberate the subjects of the Athenian Empire
Now, despite Sparta's tradition of confining its holdings to the Peloponnese, it now decides to follow Athens' footsteps, and the history of Greece for the next 30 years or so revolves around this Spartan expansionist policy, and the attempts by rivals to to oppose it.

Establishment of Spartan control of cities of the former Athenian empire under the guidance of Lysander

decarchies, governments of ten native pro-Spartans, set up
Spartan harmost ('governor') and garrison maintained the power of the decarchies
Extremely tyrannical: harmosts anxious to gain whatever they could; decarchs used violence and murder to eliminate opponents

Contrast with Athenian Empire:

Athenian empire had begun with the principle of defense against Persia

Same demand in the wake of Aegospotami, but rather than organize a confederacy to defend against Persia, Sparta had abandoned the Greeks of Asia (with exception of strategic Abydos) to Persia in exchange for Persian money

Athens had indeed taken away the autonomy of its subjects

but for the most part, its control of the subject cities was not of the same character as Spartan control, in terms of opressiveness and rapaciousness

By 403, Lysander is suspect at home, recalled, went into temporary exile

system of empire still in place, though, except that Sparta didn't insist on decarchies any longer, as long as the local government was under the supervision of the Spartan harmost

Collection of tribute and spoils: new phenomenon of a treasury at Sparta

'Digression': The Rebellion of Cyrus

After the death of Darius at the end of the Peloponnesian War, his eldest son Artaxerxes succeeded him to the throne, despite plottings of Cyrus
Cyrus returns to Sardis, where he is under the watch of Tissaphernes

begins to assemble an army of Greek mercenaries

we've already seen mercenaries at work during the Peloponnesian War; Mycalessos episode
in the wake of the Peloponnesian War there are large numbers of unemployed Greek soldiers

Spartan Clearchus, who had been Spartan governor in Byzantium until his attempt at tyranny there got him expelled, is recruiting for Cyrus

by 401, Cyrus has an army of 13,000 Greeks, including 10,600 hoplites, along with other troops from the empire
In Spring, they begin to march toward Susa, although most of them don't know what their goal is

Story told by Xenophon, who was an officer in this army

Anabasis, or 'March Up-Country' a step-by-step account of the expedition
Long and eventful journey, with military encounters well-described by Xenophon

Artaxerxes rather slow in preparing for the enemy

eventually got together an army of more than 40,000 troops
met Cyrus army in summer of 401 at Cunaxa, on the Babylonian frontier
The account of the battle
Greeks victorious overall, but part of their army had been defeated, and Cyrus was killed

Result is a large Greek army (10,000) stuck in the middle of a hostile Persian empire, with no prince to fight for and no one to pay their salaries

army refuses to surrender
take up Tissphernes' offer to escort them out of the country, believing Persians just wanted them out of the picture

along the way, Tissaphernes treacherously kills a number of the Greek officers, hoping to induce surrender

Again, Greeks refuse to surrender:

Xenophon elected general, exhorts army to persevere
Tremendous difficulty ahead: no guides, no supplies, inexperienced commanders, hostile territory, long journey
lots of exploits, eventually reach the Euxine sea, and thence to the Greek city of Trapezus

rested for a month, plundered some neighboring territory
consider founding a city in the region

But soldiers want to go home, and cohesion breaks down

make their way down the coast, to Byzantium (transported across by Spartan admiral at the request of Pharnabazus, who didn't want this Greek army on Asian soil any longer)
worked for the Thracians for a bit
then hired by Sparta in a war starting against Persia

Expedition not conclusive by any means, and only a private enterprise, but showed that a Greek army could carry arms in to Persia, and in some sense is a forerunner of Alexander the Great's conquest of the Empire later in the century

Back in Asiatic Greece:

During Cyrus' revolt, he encouraged the Greek cities of Asia Minor to revolt, to weaken Tissaphernes

all but Miletus managed to do so
After Cunaxa, Tissaphernes returned to Sardis with the intent of retaking the Greek cities

began by attacking Cyme, and Asiatic Greeks appealed to Sparta, their only option, for help

Sparta's relationship with Persia has changed: the Greek force under Cyrus had included, in addition to the mercenaries, a division of Spartan troops, so Sparta had committed an act of war against the Persian king

success of the Ten Thousand had inspired Greeks generally and Sparta especially to think that the Persian empire was not as invulnerable as it had seemed

400: Sparta sends an army to Asia, supplemented by many of the Ten Thousand

under command of Thibron, who is unable to maintain good discipline, and they don't accomplish very much

399: Dercyllidas replaces Thibron, much more clever general

took advantage of tensions between Tissaphernes and Pharnabazus to make a truce with Tissaphernes, concentrate on areas under Pharnabazus' control

able to gain control of the Troad easily, because of the internal political situation there

took booty to pay his mercenary troops

Establishes Troad as a sort of Deceleia for Asia, concludes truces with Pharnabazus and Tissaphernes while ambassadors went to Susa to negotiate with the king

398: active in Chersonese
397: Dercyllidas ordered to Caria

Spartan ambassadors to Susa had been rebuffed

Pharnabazus convinced the king to prosecute a war against Sparta by sea
Persia had a larger fleet available than Sparta, but needed a good commander

Conon re-enters the scene

he's been on Cyprus since Aegospotami, anxious for revenge on Sparta
through various channels, manages to get command of Persian fleet of 300 ships being prepared in Phonecia and Caria

Conon doesn't wait for preparations to be completed

Sails with 40 ships to Caunus in Caria
Sparta sends fleet of 120 from Rhodes to blockade him, Dercyllidas en route by land

Joint forces of Tissaphernes and Pharnabazus break the blockade at Caunus, went to stop Dercyllidas in the balley of the Maeander

Armistice concluded when both sides prefer not to enter battle

Conon meanwhile moves to Rhodes and is able to win it away from Sparta, anti-Spartan democracy instituted

Spartans realize they have to conduct things more vigorously: King Agesilaus, who had taken the throne in 398, sent out to replace Dercyllidas in 396

brings force of 2000 Neodamodes, Spartan military council of 30, including Lysander
Extremely ambitious: portrays himself as a new Agamemnon going out to conquer the East

That fall, Agesilaus invades Pharnabazus' territory

doens't accomplish much of lasting value
but takes considerable booty
Passed winter training at Ephesus, organized cavalry force

Spring 395: Victories in Lydia against Tissaphernes

Tissaphernes replaced (and executed) by Tithraustes
Tithraustes offered peace to Agesilaus; terms:

Agesilaus is to leave Asia
Greek cities to enjoy autonomy, but pay tribute to Persia

6-month armistice with Tithraustes to consult with Sparta, while Agesilaus still kept busy operating against Pharnabazus

Autumn 395: Agesilaus campainging in Pharnabazus' satrapy again

ravage satrapy up to walls of capital at Dascylion
eventually comes to an agreement with Pharnabazus, leaves his satrapy

Prepares fleet of 120 tiremes, under command of the inexperienced Pisander, to deal with Conon and the Persian fleet

Summer 394: Conon and Pharnabazus move fleet from Cilicia to the coast of the peninsula of Cnidos
Pisander, with much smaller fleet, sailed out to meet them

Asian contingents deserted
rest mostly taken or destroyed
Pisander died

Maritime power of Sparta destroyed

Greek cities of Asia expel Spartan garissons, acknowledge Persia
foundations of the Spartan empire seriously undermined

Meanwhile, in Mainland Greece:

Sparta dealing with problems with former allies:

Sparta had kept most of the benefits of the Peloponnesian war for itself, even though the allies had born much of the burden of the war
requests by allies treated with contempt
formerly troublesome allies within the Peloponnese punished:

Elis ravaged by Agis in 399, severe conditions imposed upon it
expelled Messenians from Naupaktos

Also began asserting authority in Northern Greece:

revived colony of Heraclea, near Thermopylae
pushed into Thessaly, put harmost and garisson in Pharsalus

When war with Persia getting hot in Asia, Persia tries to stir up opposition to Sparta in Greece, to divert Spartan efforts

Pharnabazus sends a Rhodian named Timocrates with money to bribe leaders of important cities into joining Persia in hostility toward Sparta

visits Argos, Corinth, Thebes, Athens, wins over many influential people

Many Greek states already alarmed at Sparta's growing power, waiting for opportune moment to resist

when news of Conon's activities becomes known, Athens semi-officially supports him by sending arms and equipment

The pot boils over in Boiotia in 395:

border dispute between Phocis and Locris

Phocians appeal to Sparta
Locrians appeal to Thebes

Thebans invade Phocis

Sparta demands that all parties submit to its arbitration, but Thebes refuses

Double invasion of Boiotia arranged:

Pausanias advances from the south
Lysander comes down from Heraclea in the north

Thebes appeals to Athens for support

Athenian Assembly makes bold decision to break free of Spartan rule, concludes 'eternal alliance' with Boiotia

Lysander wins over Orchomenos en route, heads to Haliartus (between Orchomenos and Thebes) to rendezvous with Pausanias

Lysander arrives first, attacked town

Haliartans from their walls see the approaching Theban army, resist the Spartans, and at the right moment sally forth from their gates

Spartans caught by surprise on both sides, army driven back, Lysander killed

Pausanias' army arrived soon afterward, followed by Athenian contingent under Thrasybulus

Pausanias decides not to attempt a battle, asks for a truce to retrieve dead of Lysander's army

truce granted on condition that the Peloponnesian army leave Boiotia
Pausanias condemned, spent rest of his life in exile at Tegea

Result is a new League to resist Sparta

Thebes and Athens joined by Corinth and Argos
soon increased by Euboia, Acarnania, the Thracians of the Chalcidice, and others

Thebans kick Spartans out of Heraclea and Thessaly, then Phocis

Maritime league to resist Sparta begins forming in the wake of Cnidus

Included Rhodes, Iasus, Cnidus, Ephesus, Samos, Byzantium, Cyzicus, Lampsacus

Friday, 4/3: The Corinthian War and the King's Peace

The Battle of Nemea, Summer 394

Spring 394: allies gathered forces at the Isthmus

Corinth wanted to march on Sparta

but time wasted in debate among the allies

Meanwhile, Sparta marched through Arcadia to Sicyon, from there to the Saronic gulf via Nemea
Opposing strengths:

Spartans had 6,000 hoplites, plus some 10,000 allies from Elis, Sicyon, Epidaurus, Tegea, et al.; cavalry and light-armed infantry
Allies had some 24,000 hoplites; cavalry and light-armed infantry

Confederates near Corinth, biding their time

Boiotians originally on the left wing, thus not anxious to go into battle

they'd be opposite the Spartan right wing

Athenians, who had been on the right, switched places with the Boiotians, and then the Boiotians were ready for a battle

Formed a 'deep' phalanx, advanced toward Spartans, at first unnoticed

line moved to the right, as was typical, to outflank Spartan left
Athenian left wing followed to the right, to avoid detachment from the main wing, even though this meant that potentially they could be enveloped by the Spartan right

Spartans, when they hear the approach, quickly form their battle line

advanced, leading to the right

When the lines faced each other, the Spartan right far outflanked the Athenian left
Confederate contingents for the most part overcame the Spartan allies, but the Spartans themselves overwhelmed the Athenian left, went on to attack other allied contingents as they returned from pursuit, on their unprotected sides (rather than attack the front of the lines).

killed many of the Argive, Corinthian, and Theban troops

No real gains on either side, but the hegemony of Sparta was not successfully challenged at this point

The Battle of Coronea, 394

In the wake of Haliartus in 395, Agesilaus had been recalled from Asia

came back via the overland route, through Thrace and Macedonia

has with him his forces from Asia, along with other troops he gathers along the way

learned of the Spartan victory at Nemea while at Amphipolis
Spartan defeat at Cnidos occurs shortly afterwards

Solar eclipse on August 14, when Agesilaus had reached Chaironeia
explained by the news of Cnidos

Confederate army moves to Boiotia following Nemea, make camp in the area of Coronea

good spot to block the route from Phocis to Thebes via the Kephisos valley
site of Athenian defeat in 447

Agesilaus advanced on the Confederate army, commanding his own right wing

Argives on Confederate left fled before engaging Spartan right
But Thebans on Confederate right rout the Orchomenians on the Spartan left
Two victorious right wings wheeled around to meet each other

Agesilaus wants to prevent Theban right from joining the other Confederate contingents

Deep Theban column breaks through the Spartan column to join up with other Confederates

Outcome of battle left Agesiaus as master of the field, erected trophy

But Theban breakthrough was a moral victory for the Confederates
Agesilaus unable to follow up his victory, left Boiotia by crossing Cornthian Gulf (Isthmus garrisoned by Confederates)

Aftermath of Coronea:

Struggle centers in the following years on Corinth:

Spartans trying to extend dominion beyond Peloponnese
Confederates trying to keep it within Peloponnese

Corinth builds long walls between city and port of Lechaion on west and Kenchreai on east
Blocks off entire Isthmus

393: Pharnabazus accompanies Conon and the fleet to the coast of mainland Greece, make a show of power ravaging Spartan territory, encouraging Confederates

returned home, but gave Conon use of fleet and money to rebuild the long walls of Athens(which had already begun before Cnidos)
Athens able to defy Sparta with less fear
Several islands, among them Chios, ally with Athens again

Spartans established headquarters at Sicyon to focus on the gates of the Peloponnese

number of unsuccessful efforts to break through the Corinthian line of defense
eventually, some pro-Spartans in Corinth opened a gate in the western wall at Corinth to admit Praxitas, the commander at Sicyon, with a division of 600 hoplites

Praxitas built a ditch and palisade between the long walls facing Corinth, to strengthen his position

Corinthians came down from the city, tore down the paslisade, fought a battle in which the Spartans were victorious

Spartans capture the town of Lechaion, though not the port itself

tore down part of the walls, made a number of incursions in Corinthian territory

But Praxitas withdrew when winter arrived

Athenians came with masons and repaired the breach in the walls

Constant raiding between Spartans at Sicyon and Corinthians and their allies

Athenian commander Iphicrates and his peltast mercenaries

armed with light shield and javelins, sword
more mobile, doesn't require the same kind of risk as a hoplite
more suitable for professional soldiery
Iphicrates adapted and formalized peltast equipment and tactics

Mercenaries and peltasts both become increasingly important from this point on

391: Agesilaus captures port of Lechaion with a joint land-sea operation
Following year captures Piraeon, on the promontory on the north of the Corinthian gulf

controls route between Corinth and Boiotia
also captured Sidon and Crommyon on the Saronic Gulf
Corinth thus boxed in except on Argolid frontier
Sparta controls passage through Isthmus

Iphicrates led a surprise peltast attack from Corinth on a Spartan division of 600 hoplites returning to Lechaion from Sicyon

repeated assaults of the peltasts wore out the hoplites, killed many of them
not a decisive victory, but suggestive of what the peltasts could accomplish

Agesilaus left behind a garisson, retired to Sparta in something of a disgrace

The King's Peace

Sparta had realized that the success of its opponents were largely attributable to Persian support
As early as 392, Sparta attempted to come to terms with Persia

Sent Antalcidas to negotiate with Tiribazus, then satrap in Sardis
Confederates sent Conon to Tiribazus to argue against Spartan proposals

Tiribazus intially favorable to Sparta (and imprisoned Conon), but soon recalled, replaced by Struthas, who was not favorable to Sparta
Conon died shortly thereafter on Cyprus

Military activities in the next few years in Asia inconsequential
389: Thrasybulus sailed with 40 ships to the Hellespont

won alliances with Thasos, Samothrace, the Chersonese, and Byzantium and Chalcedon on the Bosporus

enabled Athens to again collect tolls on traffic from the Black Sea

went to Lesbos, killed Spartan harmost there, won over Clazomenai
Headed to Rhodes, where he was supposed to thwart Spartan efforts to regain the island

levied war contributions from cities of Asia Minor on the way
at Aspendus, locals unhappy at the strong-arm collection tactics assasinated Thrasybulus

388: Spartan admiral Anaxibius sent out to act against Athens and Pharnabazus in the northeast

seized merchant vessels

Iphicrates sent out with 1200 peltasts to harass Anaxibius

all kinds of raiding between two parties in Hellespont region
Iphicrates ambushed Anaxibius by night as his troops were returning from establishing a garisson in Antandrus

renewed Athenian control of the region

Persia not particularly happy with any of this, nor with Athens' attempt to help Evagoras of Cyprus in his revolt against Persia in 390

Antalcidas again heads to Susa to try to negotiate a peace, this time with greater success

proposal, as last time, had been that the King should enforce a peace in which all Asiatic cities should be subjects of the king, and that all other Greek states should be independent

intended to break up the unity of Boiotia under Thebes' leadership, and the recent federal unity of Argos and Corinth

Sparta also gets the help of 20 triremes from Dionysus of Syracuse, one of the most important powers in the western Mediterannean at this point

Anatalcidas and Tiribazus return to Asia Minor in 387, find the Spartan fleet blockaded at Abydus by Iphicrates

able to break blockade, and, with the help of the Syracusan fleet, blockaded Athenians in the Hellespont, preventing them from reaching Athens
Meanwhile, trade at Athens disrupted by raids by Spartans from Aegina

Congress held at Sardis, at which Tiribazus read the edict of the King

Claimed possesion of all the cities in Asia, plus islands of Clazomenae and Cyprus
recognized Athens' rights to Lemnos, Imbros, and Scyros
declared all other Greek cities autonomous
announced that the King was ready to enforce these terms by force if necessary

Ambassadors returned to their cities to report the terms of the peace

met at Sparta to declare their acceptance
But Thebans tried to sign the peace on behalf of the Boiotian cities, which was a violation of the autonomy provisions, and exactly the thing Sparta was trying to prevent

after some debate, Thebes relented

Result is that Sparta had essentially made itself an instrument of Persia in order to maintain its own position

humiliating situation for the Greeks
return of Asian cities to Persian rule

Military activity under the King's Peace

Sparta, secure in its position because of Persian support, began to renew its activity in the mainland

Commanded Mantinea, which had been accused of various acts of disloyalty, to tear down its walls

they refused, and king Agesipolis marched out, redirected river Ophis to undermine the city's mud brick walls
city capitulated, Sparta broke up city of Manitnea into a number of smaller villages

Macedonia enters the scene

trying to increase its power
one hindrance has always been its exposure to attacks by Illyrian neighbors
around 392, King Amyntas concluded a defensive alliance with the Chalcidian league
When, soon afterward, Amyntas has to retreat before a huge Illyrian invasion, he turned over much of lower Macedonia and the area around the Thermaic gulf to form a Chalcidian Confederacy

different kind of confedracy: all the cities had common laws, rights of citizenship, intermarriage, and commerce, and no one city was the privileged leader
some of the Greek cities in the area not thrilled about giving up their ancestral laws
Olynthians, behind the whole movement, started to impose the plan on reluctant cities

Acanthus and Apollonia resisted, sent to Sparta for help
Amyntas, who has recovered his position by then, wants his cities back, sends to Sparta for help

Spartan policy is to oppose confederacies, keep any group from getting too powerful

382: Sent small advance force under Eudamidas

unable to meet the confederate army directly
but able to protect cities which had not yet been drawn into league, and induced Potidaia to revolt

Spartan Phoebidas following the advance force

while in the region of Thebes, conspired with some pro-Spartans there to seize the Cadmea, the Acropolis of Thebes

established pro-Spartan government in Thebes, drove out or arrested many of the anti-Spartans in the city

Technically something of a violation of the King's Peace

so Sparta fined Phoebidas for his actions, but left things as they were, with a garisson of 1500 Spartans on the Cadmea

Excellent base for Spartan power in central Greece

Next few years see a number of setbacks for the Spartans in the war against the Chalcidian Confederacy

but ultimately they prevailed, and in 379 all the Greek cities of the peninsula were compelled to join the Spartan alliance, other cities restored to Amyntas

Meanwhile, Theban exiles taking refuge at Athens

one of them, Pelopidas, plans to retake Thebes
establishes contacts with anti-Spartans still in Thebes
Winter 379/8 sneaked into Thebes with 6 co-conspirators

disguised themselves as dancing girls, enabled them to assasinate most of the leaders of the pro-Spartan party in Thebes
freed political prisoners, roused other anti-Spartans in Thebes
exiles and a contingent of Athenian volunteers repelled Spartan reenforcements from Thespiae and Plataea
Spartan garisson, despite its strong position, capitulated

King Cleombrotus enters Boiotia with an army, but doesn't do much

Athens asked to explain its actions, which violated the current peace with Sparta

Athens disavowed actions of the volunteers, punished their leaders

But shortly thereafter the Spartan harmost of Thespiae, Sphodrias, made a plan to attack and sieze Piraeus by a night march

complete failure -- he never made it past Eleusis

Athens imprisons the Spartan ambassadors, releases them when they disavow the action, promising that Sphodrias will be punished

but Sparta doesn't punish Sphodrias

All this leads to renewed hostility between Athens and Sparta

Athens in 378 allies with Thebes, at war for the next several years with Sparta

Also leads to the formation of a Second Athenian Sea League:

Athens had been forming alliances with states in Thrace, the Aegean, and Asia Minor for the last several years
The current breach with Sparta induces Athens to form these separate alliances into a common league, with the express intent of protecting the independence of Greek states against the agression of Sparta

obviously, the ghost of the old Athenian empire haunts this new enterprise
so Athens provided a number of safeguards against Athenian abuses of power in its arrangement for the new league

decree of Aristoteles 378/7

rule of Persia over Asian Greeks recognized, thus limiting the scope of the new league
league was to be purely defensive
league to consist of two parts: Athens on the one hand, all the other allies on the other

allies to have their own congress, meeting in Athens but with no involvement by Athens

Each body -- the Athenian Assembly and the Allied Congress -- could initiate measures, but it would have to be approved by the other body as well
no Athenian cleruchies to be permitted -- in fact, no Athenian was even allowed to purchase or rent a home or farm in the territory of any allies\
federal fund to be collected through contributions
fund to be administered by Athens
leadership of league forces to be in the hands of Athens