The Spartan Hegemony

1. The Spartan Hegemony 404-371 B.C.

2. The Great Victory • Some months after the Battle at Aegospotami Athens surrenders. • The Terms: • Demolish the Long Walls • Surrender all ships except 12 • Accept the lead of Sparta • An oligarchic government by 30 men is put in place by Lysander • Democracy is abolished • The Athenian Empire is inherited by Sparta

3. The Protagonists

4. Lysander • Probably from a family of Inferiors, of noble descent but impoverished • Lover of prince Agesilaos (frequently Agesilaus) • Ambitious and Un-Spartan in some ways • He understood that the only way to defeat Athens was to create a navy. • He created a bond with the Persian prince Cyrus, son of king Darius II, who funded the Spartan fleet • He was power-hungry, but not enough to stage open revolt against the Spartan constitution

5. Agesilaos II (401-360) • A towering figure in Spartan history • He became king (Eurypontid dynasty) when Sparta was the ruler of the Greek world, and shortly afterwards went to conquer Persia • He died in Egypt, aged 84, hiring out his services as a mercenary to replenish the treasury of a broken and impoverished Sparta • Half-brother of king Agis II, unexpectedly became king, with Lysander’s support, after the lawful heir Leotychidas was declared illegitimate • He had undergone the agoge despite his lame leg (birth defect), where through relentless effort distinguished himself • Very popular among the men in the army, very influencial • Also very rigid, relentless in his hatred of Thebes, and very conservative, he influenced many wrong decisions and is largely responsible for the decline of Spartan power.

6. Pharnabazus / Tissaphernes • Rival Persian Satraps of Asia Minor • Pharnabazus brings about the end of Spartan Supremacy by funding the Athenian regeneration effort in the 390’s. • Tissaphernes was devoted to Artaxerxes II, and a sworn enemy of Sparta • He fell victim of queen Parysatis for his role in the death of her favorite son Cyrus. • Both seriously impeded Spartan plans in Asia Minor and her imperial ambitions through sharp diplomacy and bribery.

7. Darius II and Cyrus the Younger • Darius, maybe at the suggestion of his queen, Parysatis, changed Persian policy towards Greek affairs. • The new policy was to fund the weaker side and keep them fighting in a manner that served Persian interests • His heir Artaxerxes II successfully continued this policy. • His charismatic younger son Cyrus, funded Lysander to defeat Athens , and then revolted against his brother king Artaxerxes with help from Sparta and other Greek mercenaries (400 BC) • In the battle of Cunaxa Cyrus won but was killed. • The march of the mercenaries through Persia back to Greece confirmed that it is possible to defeat Persia

8. The Perils of Athens • The sounds of the flutes playing while Lysander’s workers were demolishing the walls of Athens haunted the Athenians for many years. • His puppet government exhibited such cruelty that ‘the Thirty’ came to be identified with pure evil in Athenian memory • A resistance was staged by Thrasybulus from the fortress of Phyle, which eventually led to civil war, and the rebels prevailed.

9. Athenian Restoration • Eventually the Agiad king Pausanias, who disliked Lysander and his tactics, worked out a settlement. • The Spartans did not intervene to support the Thirty • The democracy was restored in 403, and public life was reorganized • The old enemy was back, albeit diminished.

10. Spartan Government • Sparta inherited the Athenian Empire, but very quickly proved to be highly unsuitable for imperial leadership • Instead of the promised freedom, Sparta established oligarchic regimes (boards of 10: decarchies). • Instead of the autonomy under Athenian rule, now the cities were tightly controlled by Spartan garrisons (harmosts) • Instead of the rule of law under the Athenian empire, now they had the temperamental rule of ill-suited Spartan officials, excessively prone to bribery • Instead of fair commerce and free trade, 1000 talents from excessive taxation were sent to Sparta only in the first year • Soon the days of Athenian rule were seen with nostalgia, and much resentment arose against Sparta • Former allies like Thebes and Corinth created an alliance with Athens

11. The Campaign Against Persia • After the return of the 10,000 a campaign was staged against Persia • Agesilaos did well in Asia Minor, but Persian diplomacy seized the initiative before he could inflict serious damage to the empire. • They funded Athens and her allies to start war on Sparta. • The Corinthian war (395-387) was an indecisive conflict which damaged the Greek world as a whole.

12. The Persian Empire

13. Ancient Corinth

14. Corinthian War • The alliance of Athens, Corinth, Thebes, Argos and others remains strong despite a number of setbacks by Spartan armies. • Initially funded by Persian money • A Persian fleet under the Athenian Conon destroys the Spartan navy off Cnidos (394 BC) • Then proceeds to effectively end the Spartan Empire in the Aegean • Athens tries to regain some of her possessions • At land the Spartan army retains an advantage but does not succeed to dominate • The Athenian Iphicrates using light troops succeeds in inflicting casualties on Spartan troops, and reveals the flaws of the Spartan phalanx. • This inconclusive warfare ends with the King’s peace in 387/6 • Spartan power has diminished, and in the coming years Sparta is going to serve as the police force of the Great King of Persia in Greece.