Spartan hegemony

During the Peloponnesian War , which ended in 404 BC. er Sparta gained the support of many Greek states on the mainland and the Persian Empire , and after the war the island states of the Aegean Sea also came under its control. However, soon after the war, the Sparta allies and satellites began to show discontent towards it. Despite the fact that the victory was achieved by the joint efforts of the members of the Peloponnesian Union, Sparta alone received a contribution from the defeated states and tribute payments from the former Athenian Power ^[1] . The allies of Sparta were increasingly moving away from her. When in 402 BC. er Sparta attacked Elida , a member of the Peloponnesian Union who did not fulfill allied obligations during the Peloponnesian War, Corinth and Thebes refused to send troops to Sparta’s help ^[2] .

Thebes, Corinth and Athens also refused to participate in the expedition of the Spartans to Ionia in 398 BC. er The Thebans also prevented King Agesilaus from sacrificing to the gods before his departure ^[3] . Despite the absence of the armies of these states, the Agesilaus fought quite successfully against the Persians in Lydia , reaching Sard . Satrap Tissafern was executed because of his inability to stop the Agesilay army, and his successor, Tifravst , bribed the Spartans to move north into the satrapy of Pharnabaz . Agesilaus did just that, but at the same time he began to prepare a large fleet ^[4] .

Unable to defeat the army of Agesilas, Farnabaz decided to force Agesilay to leave, causing an unstable situation in Greece. He sent a Timokratic Rhodian , an Asian Greek, to bring money to the main Greek cities and incite them to act against Sparta ^[5] . Timocrat visited Athens, Thebes, Corinth and Argos and succeeded in convincing the strong factions in each of these states to pursue anti-Spartan politics ^[6] . The Thebans, who had previously demonstrated their antipathy towards Sparta, pledged to start a war.

The fighting was conducted mainly in the area of Corinth (hence the name of the war) and in the Aegean Sea . On land, the Spartans initially won several victories, but failed to build on their success. At sea, the Spartan fleet was defeated by the Persian, with the result that Sparta refused to attempt to become a naval power. Thanks to this, Athens fought off a number of islands that they owned in the 5th century BC er

Alarmed by the successes of the Athenians, the Persians began to support Sparta , which forced the Allies to seek peace. The war ended in 387 BC. er the signing of a peace treaty, known as Antalkidov Peace . The war consolidated the leading position of Sparta in the Greek political system and strengthened the influence of the Persian empire on Greek affairs ^[7] .

According to Antalkidov, the world that ended the Corinthian War , the Spartan hegemony was restored. At the end of this war, the Spartans began to pursue an aggressive policy against disloyal allies, in 385 BC. er Spartans went to Mantinea (the reason for the march was non-fulfillment of allied obligations) demanding to “demolish the city walls”, and when the Mantineians refused, they took it, and “Mantinea was turned into four separate settlements, as it was in former times” ^[8] . Around the same time, the Boeotian city of Platea , which had long been an ally of Athens and was destroyed in 427 BC, was restored by the Spartans. er ^[9] , which caused displeasure from Thebes.

Supervising the observance of the conditions of peace, Sparta acted on the side of the victims and liberated the cities captured by other Greeks (for example, Hestia in Evia Island ^[10] , cities in Halkidiki, etc.) Around the same time, the Chalcis city ​​of Oylinf began to strengthen, violating the conditions of the Royal World ^[11] and seizing all of Halkidiki and even part of Macedonia . The leaders of the Democratic Party of Thebes and the Athenians supported Olinf, sending an embassy there and negotiating a new anti-Spartan alliance ^[12] . In 382 BC. er at the request of cities from the neighborhood of Olinf, the Spartans sent an army under the command of Eudamidus against the olinfians. The second part of the army was sent later under the command of Febid ^[13] . When the army passed through Boeotia , there was a political struggle between the democratic supporters and the oligarchs in Thebes. The leader of the oligarchic party, Leontiad, asked Febid to occupy Cadmea (a fortress in Thebes), hoping with his help to become the main person in Thebes. Phoebe agreed, and Kadmeya was captured ^{[14] [15] [16] [17]} . Thus the Spartans subjugated Thebes ^[18] . The perfidious seizure of the city caused outrage throughout Greece ^{[19] [20]} and the Spartans themselves ^{[21] [22]} . One of the leaders of the Democratic Party, the Polemarche of Ismenia, was executed (according to Plutarch, in Sparta, according to other sources - in Thebes) because "... he sympathizes with the barbarians, that he harmed Greece with the Persian Alliance of hospitality, that he was bribed by the Persian king (before the beginning of the Corinthian War ^{[9] [23]} ) ... ^[24] ”. According to the version of the Soviet historian S. Ya. Lurie ^[25] , “those democratic figures who did not manage to escape from the city were killed or imprisoned”, but Plutarch himself, according to whom Lurie writes, clarifies that, apart from Ismenia, only one of the Democratic leaders was already killed in Athens by order of the oligarchs (it was Androklid, who, along with Ismeny, received money from the Persian king and was the initiator of the Corinthian war), “unsuccessfully attempted to kill others” (also in Athens) ^[26] . Quite a lot of Democrats remained at large and later took part in a coup in December 379 BC. er

The Spartans sent Televtiia with an army against the Olinfians instead of the fined but not executed Phebid, but he was defeated and killed ^[27] . At the same time, the Spartans, who sought to bring oligarchic parties loyal to them everywhere to power, went to Flint , and after a siege that lasted a year and 8 months, the city surrendered ^[28] .

Against Olinf, the Spartans sent King Agesipolis , but he died of a fever ^[28] . A military commander of Polybiad was appointed in his place, and the siege continued. Finally, in 379 BC. er Olinf residents surrendered ^[28] . Thus, “in Greece ... there was no longer any other republic, not a single city that dared and could revolt against Sparta, when suddenly a coup in Thebes changed everything” ^[18] .

In December ^{[29] [18]} , a conspiracy was organized against the Theban oligarchs with the support of two Athenian strategists , leading to a coup in Thebes.

Having learned about the expulsion of the Spartan garrison from Kadmea, they decided in Sparta to send an army against the Thebans, led by Tsar Cleombroth I. He was ordered to ensure the independence of the Boeotian cities from Thebes ^[18] . In January 378 BC. er ^[30] Cleomebroth invaded Boeotia. There was only one skirmish in which the Spartans won. Cleomebroth, then, going as far as Platea and Kinoskephal , turned into Thespia , left Sfodriya with the garrison there and returned to Sparta ^[31] .

The Athenian supporters of the Thebans were frightened and dissolved the alliance with Thebes. Then the Thebans bribed Sfodriya to invade Attica . Sfodrius attempted a night attack on Piraeus , but only reached Eleusis ^{[32] [33]} . Not having time to attack at night, Sfodriy retreated, and on the way he burned down several rural dwellings ^[18] . Outraged Athenians complained to him in Sparta, but with the help of Agelessaya Sfodrius was acquitted.

After that, the Athenians renewed their alliance with Thebes ^[34] and created the second Athenian Maritime Union . It also includes Rhodes , Lesbos , Evia , and the northern and southern Sporades ^[35] . The Spartan Ephors , on the other hand , declared a campaign against the Thebans, and placed King Agesilas II the chief commander. Agesilaus with an army of 18,000 soldiers ^[36] crossed Kiferon and established a base in Thespies , from where he attacked the Theban region. However, this campaign ended to no avail. Agesilaus left Febida as governor of Thespii and returned to the Peloponnesus ^[37] .

The febid from time to time devastated the Theban region. Wanting revenge, the Thebans attacked Thespii. In the ensuing battle the Thebans defeated, and Febid was killed ^{[38] [39]} .

In the spring of 377 BC. er the Spartans are the third time invading Boeotia. Commanded by the Spartans Agesilaus. The Boeotians lined up at the Grayski lone (near Orop and Tanagra) and took defensive positions. By deceptive maneuver, Agesilaus showed the Boeotians that he was heading towards their city, the Thebans, fearing for their city, rushed towards Thebes, with small skirmishes between the lightly armed parts of both troops. But the battle did not take place, and Agesilaus withdrew from the city and set up camp on the spot where the Thebans had recently been stationed. On the way back, the army of Agesilay attacked the Theban paltasta, but were rejected by the Allied horsemen of the Spartans and lost many dead. After that, Agesilaus arrived in Thespii, where there was a fierce civil struggle; having restored order in the city, Agesilaus returned to Sparta ^[40] .

Meanwhile, the Thebantans had a poor harvest for two years. Therefore, they sent 2 triremes to Pagasy for bread . Thebans bought bread, but on the way back the ships were seized by the head of the Spartan garrison in Orey Alket. The Thebans were imprisoned, but then they fled, captured the fortress and inclined Ouray to deposit from the Spartans ^[41] .

In 376 BC. er Spartans under the command of Cleombroth (Agesilaus was ill) invade Boeotia. However, they did not succeed in reaching Thebes, since the strategically important Mount Kiferon, where the pass to Boeotia was located, were already occupied by the Thebans and Athenians ^[42] .

After this, a congress of the Peloponnesian Union took place in Sparta, where it was decided to block Athens from the sea, and then take them to death, and also to land troops from ships in Central Greece to invade Boeotia from the west or from the north ^[43] .

First, the Spartans managed to block Athens, cutting off the sea routes of supply of bread from the Black Sea . But then, when the Athenians began to lack bread, they sent a fleet against the Spartans under the command of Habrius , who defeated the Spartans in the battle of Naxos ^{[43] [44]} .

Since the Spartans were preparing to transport troops by sea to Boeotia, the Thebans turned to the Athenians with a request to divert the Spartans from going to Boeotia. The Athenians agreed and in 375 BC. er sent 60 ships under the command of Timothy . He rounded the Peloponnese and subjugated Athens to Kerkyra ^{[45] [46]} .

In the same year, the Thebans launched a counterattack on the Boeotian cities that were under the rule of Sparta, captured them and revived the Boeotian union ^[47] . During these campaigns, the battle of Tehirah took place , in which the Thebans, under the command of Pelopid, won a significant victory over the Spartans ^[48] . As a result, the Thebans liberated all the Boeotian cities from the Spartans, except Orchomen ^[49] .

At the same time, the Thessalian city ​​of Fera , whose king, Jason, began to unite Thessaly, was growing stronger ^[50] . The Boeotians formed an alliance with Jason ^[51] .

The Thebans, having conquered Boeotia, invaded Phocida . The Phocians asked the Spartans for help, threatening in case of refusal to submit to the Thebans. The Spartans sent an army led by Cleombroth across the Gulf of Corinth to Phocis. When the Spartans appeared in Phocis, the Thebans retreated to Boeotia ^[47] .

In 374 BC. er the Athenians understood that their actions in alliance with Thebes only lead to the strengthening of the latter. Therefore, they sent ambassadors to Sparta and made peace. Timofey, who traveled around the Peloponnese, was recalled to Athens ^[52] .

In 373 BC. er the Spartans laid siege to Kerkyra . Kerkyra was blocked from land and sea, and soon the Kerkyrians were in distress. They asked Athens for help. Iphicrates headed for them with the fleet in April ^[53] . However, the Kerkyrians were able to defeat the Spartans before the arrival of Ifikrath. Ifikrat arrived and defeated the Syracuse fleet (Allied Sparta) and captured the members of his crew ^[54] .

In the same year, the Thebans took Platea ^[55] , which was another reason why Athens had broken its alliance with Thebes, because the Plateans were in a long-standing friendship with the Athenians. In Athens, it was decided to make peace with Sparta. In 371 BC. er The ambassadors of almost all Greek states were sent to Sparta, and Kallius peace was concluded in June ^[56] . Only the Thebans did not sign this treaty. ^[57]

This was the cause of the fifth invasion of the Spartans in Boeotia. The Spartans, led by Cleombrot, invaded Boeotia from the north-west ^[18] , moved into the Thespian region and camped near Levktr. Then came the battle , in which the Thebans, under the command of Epaminondas, won a decisive victory over the Spartans. ^[58] In the battle, Epaminondas applied “oblique order” tactics, pushing the left flank of his army beyond the center and right flank ^[59] . In addition, the left flank was reinforced by selective units and set against the Spartan right flank ^[60] . The Spartans could not stand the powerful blow and retreated, King Cleombroth was killed. This battle put an end to the 300-year superiority of the Spartan infantry ^[61] .

The battle of the Levktrah had a significant impact on the internal political situation in Greece. Sparta has lost hegemony in Greece. Began a period of hegemony of Thebes, which lasted 9 years. Many policies of Euboea, Phocis, Aetolia and other regions of Central Greece entered the Boeotian union. Anti-Spartan sentiments intensified in the Peloponnese , and in many cities democratic groups came to power ^{[62] [63]} .

Primary

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• Cornelius Nepos . About the great foreign commanders: Ifikrat, Khabriy, Timofey, Epaminond, Pelopid, Agesilaus

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