Latest / The History of Greece: Philosophy, Empire, and Endless Reinvention — Fexingo History / Corinthian War: The Battle That Broke Spartan Power
Transcript
- Lucas: So we ended last time with Sparta victorious, the Long Walls torn down, and Athens humbled. But if you think that brought peace to Greece, you'd be very wrong. Within a decade, Sparta's iron fist had everybody sharpening their knives. Luna: I can't imagine Athens taking that lying down for long. Lucas: They didn't. But it wasn't just Athens. Thebes, Corinth, Argos—even Persia—all had reasons to want Sparta cut down to size. And what followed was a war that's often overshadowed by the Peloponnesian War but is just as brutal and revealing: the Corinthian War. Lucas: This was fought from 395 to 387 BCE, and it's a messy, multi-sided conflict where loyalties shifted like sand. At its core, it was a coalition—Athens, Thebes, Corinth, Argos—all backed by Persian gold, trying to break Spartan hegemony. And they almost succeeded. Luna: Why Corinth? They were on Sparta's side during the Peloponnesian War. Lucas: Exactly. And that's what makes it so interesting. Corinth fought alongside Sparta against Athens, but after the war, Sparta started acting like a bully. They refused to share spoils, interfered in Corinth's internal politics, and even supported a pro-Spartan faction that seized power. That turned old allies into bitter enemies. Lucas: So by 395, Corinth had flipped. They allied with their former enemy, Athens, and with Thebes and Argos. And they all found a common patron: the Persian king Artaxerxes II, whose satraps in Asia Minor had their own scores to settle with Sparta. Luna: Persia funding both sides… sounds familiar. Lucas: Right. It's the same game they played in the Peloponnesian War. But this time, they were bankrolling the anti-Spartan coalition, because Sparta's king Agesilaus II had been campaigning in Asia Minor, and that threatened Persian interests. Lucas: Agesilaus is one of the great Spartan kings—crippled, ambitious, and a brilliant general. He'd led a campaign against the Persians in 396, winning battles and stirring up rebellion. The Persians responded by sending gold to Greece to start a war that would force Agesilaus to come home. Luna: So they lit a fire behind him to pull him back. Lucas: Exactly. In 395, the Thebans provoked a border conflict with Sparta, and the war began. The first major battle was at Haliartus in Boeotia, where the Spartan general Lysander—yes, the same Lysander who won the Peloponnesian War—was killed. That was a huge blow. Lucas: Agesilaus did march back from Asia, but he didn't rush. He took his time, and when he arrived, he fought the coalition at the Battle of Coronea in 394. It was a tactical victory for Sparta, but a bloody one, and it didn't break the alliance. Luna: Meanwhile, what about the sea? Sparta had a fleet too. Lucas: That's where the war took a dramatic turn. The Persian satrap Pharnabazus and the Athenian admiral Conon—who'd fled Athens after the war—built a joint Persian-Athenian fleet. In 394, at the Battle of Cnidus off the coast of Asia Minor, they smashed the Spartan navy. Sparta never recovered its naval supremacy. Lucas: Conon then sailed to Athens, and with Persian money, he rebuilt the Long Walls and the walls around Piraeus. It was a symbolic and strategic restoration—Athens was back as a naval power, though still technically a subject of Persia. Luna: That must have been incredible for the Athenians. Their walls back after ten years. Lucas: It was a huge morale boost. And it gave Athens the confidence to rebuild its alliance system, forming what historians call the Second Athenian Confederacy. But the war on land continued to drag on, with lots of skirmishes and shifting fronts. Lucas: One of the most notable engagements was the Battle of Lechaeum in 390, near Corinth. There, a Spartan regiment—the famous mora—was wiped out by Athenian light troops, peltasts, under the Athenian general Iphicrates. It was the first time light infantry had defeated heavy hoplites in open battle, and it changed Greek warfare. Luna: Peltasts—those are the javelin-throwers, right? No heavy armor. Lucas: Yes, exactly. They were fast, mobile, and they could harass and retreat. Iphicrates trained them to operate in disciplined formations, and at Lechaeum, they used their speed to surround and pick apart the Spartan hoplites. It was a revolutionary moment. Lucas: But despite these successes, the coalition couldn't deliver a knockout blow. Sparta still had Agesilaus, and they could still field a formidable army. And the Persians, as always, were playing their own game. Luna: So how did it end? Lucas: With a treaty that humiliated all Greeks: the Peace of Antalcidas, also called the King's Peace, in 387 BCE. The Persian king Artaxerxes II dictated terms. He declared that all Greek cities in Asia Minor would belong to Persia, and that all other Greek states must be autonomous—meaning no leagues, no alliances, except Sparta's. Sparta was to be the enforcer of the peace. Luna: So Sparta got to be Persia's policeman. That can't have sat well. Lucas: It didn't. But the coalition had exhausted itself, and Persia threatened to attack anyone who rejected the terms. So they accepted. The war ended with Sparta still dominant, but weakened, and with Athens rising again. And it left a bitter legacy: the idea that Greek freedom was at the mercy of a Persian king. Lucas: The Corinthian War also set the stage for the next big shift: the rise of Thebes under Epaminondas, which we'll cover next time. But for now, what stands out is how this war showed that Greek city-states could never unite—they'd rather fight each other, even if it meant selling out to Persia. Luna: It's like they learned nothing from the Persian Wars. Lucas: Or they learned the wrong lesson. That the enemy of my enemy is my friend, even if that friend is the Great King. And that cycle of betrayal and short-term alliances defined the fourth century BCE.