Lecture Seven

After 404: The Quest for Hegemony

The Main Contenders

The major players in the quest for hegemony include:

  • Epidamnus
  • Taulantii
  • Lychnidus
  • Illyria
  • Apollonia
  • Oricum
  • Orestis
  • Macedonia
  • Lynkestis
  • Aegae
  • Beroea
  • Pella
  • Thrace
  • Athens
  • Sparta
  • Thebes

Why not Sparta?

  • Following the Peloponnesian War, Sparta held supremacy on land and sea.
  • Sparta appointed Lysander as admiral and set up harmosts (magistrates) in various cities, favoring oligarchic governments over democracies.
  • They levied tribute, collecting more than a thousand talents yearly, despite previously avoiding coined money.
  • Lysander was the first Greek to whom cities erected altars and offered sacrifices as to a god.
  • The Samians renamed their festival of Hera to Lysandreia.
  • In 400 BCE, the Lacedaemonians aimed to protect the Greeks in Asia from being laid to waste, asserting their leadership of all Hellas.
  • An oracle warned Sparta that a "maimed royalty" would bring unexpected toils and war.
  • Diopeithes supported Leotychides by claiming there was an oracle of Apollo which bade the Lacedaemonians beware of the lame kingship,
  • Lysander argued that said prophecy refered rather of one who was not of the royal stock should become king.
  • In 398 BCE, on the agora (market-place), Cinadon highlighted the disparity between a small number of Spartan rulers and a large number of potential allies against them, suggesting internal vulnerabilities.
  • The Corinthian War (395-387 BCE) saw the Boeotians, Athenians, Corinthians, and Argives allying against Sparta, motivated by hatred of their harsh rule.
  • The King’s Peace (387/6 BCE), dictated by King Artaxerxes, aimed to establish a fragile peace by granting control of Asian cities and Cyprus to Persia, while other Greek cities remained independent, except for Lemnos, Imbros, and Scyros, which belonged to Athens.
  • Lacedaemonians sought to punish allies who were hostile during the war, demanding the Mantineans tear down their wall.
  • Sparta relied on allied states to send military contingents, fining them a stater per day for each missing man.
  • They also emancipated Helots, Perioeci, and Sciritans to supplement their forces.
  • Aristotle noted that Sparta's population was too small to sustain its military needs, with fewer than 1,000 soldiers despite the capacity to support 30,000.

Why not Athens?

  • In 401 BCE, Athens rewarded those who resisted unjust laws and restored democracy.
  • Laws were enacted to integrate foreigners who participated in restoring democracy.
  • Political participation was incentivized through pay, although some criticized this shift from earlier times when citizens contributed without expecting payment.
  • The Walls of Konon were rebuilt, with Demosthenes of Boeotia contracted for stone delivery at a rate of 790790 drachmas.
  • Isocrates in 380 BCE, advocated for uniting against Persia rather than fighting each other for hegemony, envisioning vast prosperity through conquest.
  • In 378/7 BCE, Athens aimed to establish an empire with allies who are free and autonomous, not receiving a garrison or a governor nor paying tribute

Why not Thebes?

  • Boeotian affairs were managed through eleven divisions, each providing a Boeotarch. Thebes contributed four.
  • Federal identities were reinforced through coinage.
  • Thebes claimed the right to take the oath in the name of all Boeotians, but Agesilaus insisted that each city swear independently, as directed by the King’s writing.
  • In 378-371 BCE, Leontiades highlighted the Thebans' historical hostility towards Lacedaemon.
  • In 371 BCE, a peace treaty was nearly reached, but the Thebans' attempt to change the wording to "the Boeotians" instead of "the Thebans" was rejected by Agesilaus.
  • The Battle of Leuktra in 371 BCE marked a turning point.
  • In 366 BCE, Thebes sought an alliance with the Persian King to gain an advantage in Greece.
  • After the Battle of Mantineia in 362 BCE, no party gained additional territory or sway, and there was more confusion and disorder in Greece than before.