Latest / The History of Greece: Philosophy, Empire, and Endless Reinvention — Fexingo History / The Corinthian War: The Alliance That Broke Sparta's Grip
Transcript
- Lucas: So we've talked a lot about the Peloponnesian War and how Athens lost its empire. But what I find really fascinating is what came right after — because Sparta won, but it didn't know how to be an empire. That sets the stage for something called the Corinthian War, which is this messy, complicated conflict that just about everyone got dragged into. Luna: The Corinthian War — I've heard the name, but it's one of those things that never really gets explained. Lucas: Right, it's the forgotten war, sandwiched between the Peloponnesian War and the rise of Thebes. But it's crucial because it breaks Sparta's back. So let's set the scene — after 404 BC, Sparta is the undisputed master of Greece. It's installed oligarchies in former Athenian subject cities, it's collecting tribute, and it's acting like Athens did, but with a lot less diplomatic finesse. Lucas: And here's the thing — Sparta's own allies start to chafe. Corinth and Thebes had fought alongside Sparta against Athens, but they didn't do it just so Sparta could boss them around. When Sparta starts meddling in their internal politics, the resentment builds fast. Luna: So it's kind of like the aftermath of a victory where the victor becomes the new bully. Lucas: Exactly. And the spark comes from a place you might not expect — Persia. The Persians had funded Sparta's fleet during the Peloponnesian War, but once Athens was beaten, Sparta started making overtures to the Greek cities in Anatolia, which Persia considers its own backyard. Tissaphernes, the local satrap, gets worried, and before you know it, Persia is bankrolling a coalition against Sparta. Lucas: So you have this bizarre alliance: Athens, which Persia had been fighting for a hundred years, and Thebes, Corinth, Argos — all of them now taking Persian gold to fight Sparta. The war kicks off in 395 BC with a skirmish near Thebes, and it quickly spirals. Luna: Persian gold, that's a phrase you hear a lot in Greek history. Lucas: It's the grease that turns the wheels. The Persians are smart about it — they don't need to fight, they just need to keep the Greeks divided. And there's a really interesting figure on the Persian side: Conon, an Athenian admiral who had fled after the Peloponnesian War and been given command of a Persian fleet. He teams up with the satrap Pharnabazus, and together they win a decisive naval victory at Cnidus in 394 BC. Lucas: That battle is a game-changer. It destroys Sparta's fleet, which had been the backbone of its power. Suddenly, Sparta can't project naval force anywhere in the Aegean. And that opens the door for Athens to rebuild its walls and even start a new naval league — not the Delian League exactly, but a smaller version. Luna: So Athens gets a second chance at sea power. Lucas: Yes, and that's exactly what Sparta feared. But on land, the war is more of a slog. There's a big battle at Haliartus, in Boeotia, where the Spartan general Lysander — the guy who won the Peloponnesian War — gets killed. That's a huge symbol. Then at Nemea, in 394 BC, the Spartans win a tactical victory, but they can't follow it up because they're fighting on multiple fronts. Lucas: The war drags on for years. It's not about big set-piece battles so much as raids, sieges, and mercenary armies. Both sides are exhausted, and the Persians are playing them off each other beautifully. Finally, in 386 BC, the Persian king Artaxerxes II imposes a peace treaty that becomes known as the Peace of Antalcidas, or the Royal Peace. Luna: The Royal Peace — that sounds like it's a good deal for Persia. Lucas: It's a fantastic deal for Persia. The treaty basically says: all Greek cities in Asia belong to Persia, and all the Greek cities elsewhere are to be autonomous — no leagues, no empires. The Spartans are the enforcers of this peace, which sounds good for them, but it actually makes them look like puppets of Persia. They have to dismantle their own alliances too. Lucas: And here's where it gets ironic — the city that had 'liberated' Greece from Athens is now the one that sells out the Ionian Greeks to Persia. It's a moral blow that echoes through the next decades. Luna: So the war basically ends with Sparta humiliated and Persia as the big winner. Lucas: Big picture, yes. But the consequences are even more interesting. The war leaves a power vacuum. Sparta is weakened, Athens is recovering, and Thebes is now a major player — and that sets up the next big conflict, the one that culminates at Leuctra in 371 BC, which we've covered. So the Corinthian War is the bridge between the world of Thucydides and the world of Epaminondas. Lucas: One specific detail I love is the role of mercenaries. The Greeks had always used some mercenaries, but during the Corinthian War, it becomes the norm. You see entire armies of paid soldiers fighting for whoever can pay them, and that's partly because the city-states are so cash-strapped. It changes the nature of warfare. Luna: That's the kind of thing you don't read in the school textbooks — the economic reality behind the battles. Lucas: Exactly. And there's also a domestic political angle. In Corinth, the war sparks a brutal civil conflict between oligarchs and democrats. The democrats, with help from Argos, manage to unite the two cities for a while — it's this weird merger called the 'Corinthian-Argive union'. It doesn't last, but it shows how volatile the situation was. Lucas: And that volatility is what the Persians exploit. They don't want a strong Greece, they want a weak Greece. So they fund one side, then the other, and when the war ends, they've achieved their objective: no single Greek power can threaten them. Luna: It's like a game of chess where the king stays behind the lines and moves the pawns. Lucas: That's a perfect way to put it. And the pawns — the Greek cities — end up the worse for wear. The war costs them thousands of lives, it drains their treasuries, and it radicalizes their politics. But it also creates opportunities. It's during this period that Athens starts to rebuild its navy, and Thebes starts to reorganize its army — both of which pay off later. Lucas: There's a moment in the war that I think sums up the chaos. In 393 BC, Conon returns to Athens after the battle of Cnidus, and he brings Persian money to help rebuild the Long Walls — the fortifications that had been torn down after the Peloponnesian War. So you have an Athenian hero, funded by the Persian king, rebuilding the very walls that had once protected Athens's empire. The irony is almost too much. Luna: It really is a tangled web. Lucas: And that's what makes the Corinthian War so compelling. It's not a clean story of right and wrong. It's about survival, pragmatism, and the lengths states will go to avoid being crushed by a rival. The Spartans end up losing more than they win, and the peace they're forced to accept leaves a legacy of bitterness. Lucas: And you know, as we were working through this story, I kept thinking about how often in history the 'victors' of a great war end up stumbling badly in the aftermath. Sparta had won the Peloponnesian War, but within a decade it had alienated everyone and was fighting a desperate, multi-front war. There's a lesson there, maybe, about the burdens of empire. Luna: Yeah, it's like the hangover after the victory party. Lucas: And that's part of why we're so grateful to keep doing these deep dives. The kind of listener who sticks with us through this long arc of Greek history — from Marathon to the Corinthian War — is exactly the kind of person who appreciates these connections. And if you're one of those people, and you feel like supporting the show so we can keep it ad-free, you can buy me a coffee at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. No pressure, but it does help us keep the research going. Luna: And it's nice to know we're doing this for people who actually care about the details, not just the big battles. Lucas: Exactly. So, back to the war. One more thing that often gets overlooked is the role of the Greek cities in Asia Minor. They had been under Persian rule for over a century, and during the Corinthian War, some of them see a chance to break free. But the Peace of Antalcidas crushes those hopes — it explicitly hands them back to Persia. That's a bitter pill for those communities, and it seeds a longing for liberation that will later be picked up by Alexander the Great. Lucas: So the Corinthian War doesn't really 'resolve' anything. It just reshuffles the deck. Sparta is no longer the undisputed hegemon, Athens is rising again, Thebes is on the upswing, and Persia is the kingmaker. It's a transitional period, but one that sets the stage for the dramatic events of the next half century. Luna: It's weird how these wars that seem so obscure at the time end up shaping everything that comes after. Lucas: That's history for you. The big turning points often don't come with trumpets and fanfare — they come in the form of exhausted armies and cynical peace treaties. The Corinthian War is one of those quiet turning points that doesn't get the attention it deserves, but it's right there in the background of everything from Plato's political writings to the rise of Macedon. Lucas: So next time you hear about the 'Spartan mirage' or the fall of the city-states, remember the Corinthian War. It's the forgotten hinge between two eras. And maybe that's a reminder that history isn't just about the famous battles — it's also about the messy, complicated years in between.