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Sparta and Thebes
Crises in the Polis
Thucydides 1.23
The greatest war in the past was the Persian War; yet in this war the
decision was reached quickly as a result of two naval battles and two
battles on land. The Peloponnesian War, on the other hand, not only
lasted for a long time, but throughout its course brought with it
unprecedented suffering for Greece. Never before had so many cities
been captured and then devastated, whether by foreign armies or by the
Greek powers themselves (some of these cities, after capture, were
resettled with new inhabitants); never had there been so many exiles;
never such loss of life—both in the actual warfare and in internal
revolutions.
Disintegrating Poleis:
Cracks in the Classical World
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Anabasis: Xenophon and the March of the 10,000
Paymasters (Persian king, Jason of Pherae, Phocians)
and Mercenaries
Separation of Statesman and General
Weakening Allegiance to the Polis
Mercenary Commanders (Conon) and Light-Armed
Troops (Peltasts)
March of the Ten Thousand
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Lysander and Friendship of Cyrus the Younger
Quarrel over Succession to Achaemenid Throne (Artaxerxes II and
Cyrus)
Artaxerxes II succeeds in 404 BCE
Rebellion of Cyrus the Younger (13,000 Greek mercenaries)
Battle of Cunaxa near Babylon (401 BCE); death of Cyrus
Execution of Greek generals by Artaxerxes II
Xenophon and the Anabasis (“march up country”)
Greek Perceptions of Achaemenid Persia
March of the Ten Thousand
New Modes of Hoplite Warfare
Greek Peltast
Irresponsible Spartan Foreign Policy
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Agesilaus and Lessons of March of Ten Thousand
Agesilaus’ “Trojan Expedition” of 396 BCE (Xenophon,
Hellenica, 3.4.3-4):
 Boeotians block Agesilaus from sacrificing at Aulis
Imperial Sparta: Administrative Choices in Asia Minor
and the Aegean:
 Harmosts (Spartan overseers).
 Decarchies (pro-Spartan councils of 10); ephors
dissolve them by 396 BCE (Xenophon, Hellenica 3.4.2)
Corinthian War (395-387 BCE)
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Death of Lysander in early stages of war
Athenian Conon defeats Spartans at Cnidus with Persian fleet (August,
394 BCE)
Asia Minor Greeks prefer Persia!
Pharnabazus (satrap), Persian fleet, and Conon’s leadership (Athens
refortified with Persian subsidies)
Athens, Thebes, Corinth, and Argos align against Sparta (with financial
support of Persian king Artaxerxes II): Corinthian War
King’s Peace (“Peace of Antialkidas”), spring, 386 BCE (Xenophon,
Hellenica 5.1.31; cf. Thucydides 8.43.3-4, 58.2)
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Leagues of Greek poleis prohibited (Sparta)
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Asia Minor Greeks to the Persians
Site of Battle at
Cnidus: Athenian
Commander Conon
defeats Spartan fleet
with Persian subsidy
August, 394 BCE
King’s Peace of 386 BCE
Xenophon, Hellenica 5.1.31
King Artaxerxes thinks it just that the cities in Asia should belong
to him, as well as Clazomenae and Cyprus among the islands,
and that the other Greek cities, both small and great, should be
left independent, except Lemnos, Imbros, and Scyros; and these
should belong, as of old, to the Athenians. But whichever of the
two parties does not accept this peace, upon them I shall make
war, in company with those who desire this arrangement, both by
land and by sea, with ships and with money.
Spartan Abuses and Growing Greek Resistance
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Spartan Occupation of Kadmeia, Thebes (382 BCE), Phoebidas
Spartan commander
Thebes liberated with Athenian assistance (379 BCE)
Spartan commander Sphodrias’ attack on Piraeus of Athens (378
BCE)
Formation of Second Athenian League in 377 BCE
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“so that the Spartans may allow the Greeks to live in peace, free
and autonomous, with all their territory secure.” (Decree of
Aristoteles)
Second Athenian League
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Proposed by Aristoteles in 377 BCE
All allies “will remain independent and autonomous,
enjoying the form of government they wish, admitting no
garrisons or magistrates and paying no tribute.”
No cleruchies (as in fifth-century Empire)
League policy: Athenian assembly (ekklesia) and assembly
of allies (synedrion)
Syntaxeis (“contributions”) finance League operations
Decree of Aristoteles
377 BCE: Constituting Second
Athenian League
Spartan Offenses and Threats to
Spartan Hegemony (ca. 395-375 BCE)
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Corinthian War
Harmosts and Decarchies
Spartan Peace with Persia and Betrayal of Asia Minor Greeks
Alienation of Athens and Thebes (“common peace,” or koinē eirēnē,
signed in 375 BCE)
Dissolution of the Boeotian League (Thebes)
Thessaly and Jason of Pherae (tagos)
Athenian generals Chabrias and Timotheus reconstitute Athenian
naval power
Summary:
Period of Spartan Hegemony
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Disaffection of many Greek states
Alienation of Athens and Thebes
Thebes rising state in Greek world (issue of confederations)
Reconstitution of Athenian naval power (Athens most powerful
Greek state ca. 377-371 BCE)
King’s Peace (Asia Minor Greeks; Greek leagues) and Persia as
significant player in Greek interstate relations
Peltasts and mercenaries
Boeotia
Theban Military Reforms
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Depth of Hoplite Phalanx (Fifty Men Deep on Left Wing)
Slanting Attack by Left Wing
Sacred Band (300 men; 150 homosexual pairs)
Thebes after 380 BCE
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Intermittent Warfare between Sparta and Hostile Allies
(Thebes and Athens)
Spartans reject Theban claim to Boeotian Hegemony
Principal Issue: Greek Federal States
Theban Military Reform under Epaminondas and
Pelopidas
Battle at Leuctra (371 BCE) and the lukewarm reception
at Athens
Thebes’ Imperial Moment (360s BCE)
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Invasions of the Peloponnesus (370/369, 367, 364, 362,
361, and 352 BCE)
Liberation of Messenia as a free and autonomous state
(369 BCE)
Arcadian League refounded as a counter to Spartan
power in Peloponnesus (369 BCE); foundation of
Megalopolis (369 BCE)
Defeat of Spartans at Mantinea (362 BCE; cf. Xenophon,
Hellenica, 7.5.27)
Consolidation of Central and Northern Greece
Athens after 380 BCE
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Defensive Alliance with Peloponnesian states in 370 BCE
(Thebes or Sparta?)
Reconstituted power in Aegean (Samos in 365 BCE,
Chersonese from 365 BCE, much of Chalcidic peninsula
in 364 BCE, Euboea in 357 BCE)
Social War: Chios, Rhodes, Byzantium, Cos, aided by
Mausolus of Caria (357/356 BCE)
Concentration on Black Sea region (from 355 BCE)
Instability in Fourth-Century Poleis:
Athens
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Trierarchies and Liturgies (antidosis): reports of
confiscations by state (390-387 BCE)
Growing Disparity of Wealth and Euergetism
Aristocratic Shirking of Liturgical Responsibilities (no
vested interest in the Second Athenian League)
Athens as Case Study of Fourth-Century Enervation of
the Polis
New Directions in Fourth-Century
Greek Political Thinking
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Plato’s Statesman
Isocrates’ Panegyricus
Isocrates’ Letter to Philip
Isocrates, Panegyricus 166 (380 BCE)
So whenever we transport to Asia a force stronger than
that of the Great King, which we can easily do if we choose,
we shall enjoy in security the resources of all Asia.
Moreover, it is much more glorious to fight against the
King for his empire than to contend against each other for
the hegemony.