Peloponnesian War Aftermath

• The Peloponnesian War irreversibly altered the balance of power in the Greek world, leading to political and economic crises in Athens and internal disarray in Sparta due to heavy losses among the Spartiate class.
• Sparta's ambition to succeed Athens as the sole power in Greece proved illusory.
• Cities like Corinth, Argos, and Thebes, and the Kingdom of Macedonia, began to assert their autonomy, shifting the Greek world from bipolar to polycentric.

The Fragility of Spartan Dominance

• Sparta's victory in the Peloponnesian War was partly due to its propaganda promoting the freedom and autonomy of Greek poleis.
• In reality, Sparta imposed oligarchic governments and military garrisons, demanding tributes, similar to Athens' earlier policies.
• This policy fostered discontent, even within cities that had supported Sparta, leading to a swift return to traditional political forms.

Athens: From the Thirty Tyrants to the Return of Democracy

• Following its defeat, Athens was ruled by a pro-Spartan government of 30 oligarchs, led by Critias, who initiated arrests, trials, and murders, ostensibly to suppress opposition but often to seize wealth.
• The democratic exiles reorganized and, under Thrasybulus, defeated the Thirty, restoring democracy in 403 B.C. amidst a civil war that led to political reprisals.
• An amnesty was declared, but it failed to prevent the persecution of those associated with the Thirty, including Socrates, who was condemned in 399 B.C. due to his ties with Critias and Alcibiades.

The Expedition of the Ten Thousand

• Despite its unstable control in Greece, Sparta opened a new front in Persia, supporting Cyrus the Younger against Artaxerxes II.
• Cyrus hired 10,000 Greek mercenaries who clashed with the Persian army at Cunaxa in 401 B.C.
• Cyrus was killed on the battlefield, leading to the Greeks' retreat through hostile territories, detailed in Xenophon's "Anabasis."

The Corinthian War

• Following Artaxerxes' victory, Sparta initiated a campaign in Asia Minor (400-395 B.C.) under King Agesilaus to liberate Greek cities from Persian control.
• Persia responded by supporting a coalition of Athens, Thebes, Argos, and Corinth against Sparta, leading to the Corinthian War (395-386 B.C.).
• Sparta had to abandon Ionian cities and relinquish imperial ambitions due to defeat at Cnidus in 394 B.C., where the Persian fleet, led by the Athenian Conon, defeated Sparta's naval power.

The "King's Peace"

• Persia sought to maintain a balance among the Greek poleis to prevent aggression against its empire and halted support for Athens, promoting instead a truce.
• In 386 B.C., the Peace of Antalcidas, or the King's Peace, was established, ensuring the autonomy of all poleis.
• The agreement forbade leagues or alliances and established the Persian king as the arbitrator of Greek affairs, which asserted Persia's dominance in Asia Minor.

The Rise of Thebes

• In 382 B.C., Sparta violated the Peace of Antalcidas by seizing Thebes and establishing a pro-Spartan government.
• Theban democratic exiles, led by Pelopidas and Epaminondas, ousted the Spartan regime in 379 B.C. and revived the Boeotian confederation.
• Thebes defeated Sparta in 371 B.C. at Leuctra using the oblique phalanx tactic developed by Epaminondas, leading to Theban hegemony over Greece.

Athens and Sparta versus Thebes

• Athens began to reconstruct its naval power, creating the Second Maritime League in 377 B.C. with about seventy cities to defend against Spartan imperialism.
• The league aimed for effective parity and guaranteed autonomy.
• The excessive strengthening of Thebes led Athens to reconcile with Sparta, resulting in a battle at Mantinea in 362 B.C., where the Boeotian League defeated Athens, Sparta, and their allies.
• Sparta began an irreversible decline, and the Athenian League disintegrated.

The End of Theban Hegemony

• However, Mantinea also marked the end of Theban hegemony, as the city's leaders, Pelopidas and Epaminondas, died in 364 B.C. and 362 B.C., respectively.
• Thebes retreated and abandoned its ambitions to become the leading power in Greece.

From Hoplites to Professional Soldiers

• Theban military successes, largely due to the oblique phalanx, marked a shift in combat tactics and army composition in the 4th century B.C.
• The traditional citizen-hoplite declined, and mercenary soldiers, who were professionalized, became increasingly common, serving to impact military effects on politics.
• Mercenaries, initially used by tyrants for personal defense, became prominent during the Peloponnesian War and remained consistently in use.

War and Financial Resources

• The poorest regions of Greece primarily served as sources for mercenary troops, which were largely paid for their strict loyalty.
• In terms of Greek cities, wealth increasingly determined war outcomes, favoring larger states like Persia and Macedonia with sufficient financial resources for military support.

The Intensification of Social Conflicts

• As mercenary armies increased, social unrest grew in the 4th century B.C due to long-term wars that negatively impacted commerce.
• The growing income gap between elites and impoverished citizens triggered demands for debt cancellation and land redistribution, leading to violence.

Political Disengagement

• Despite the internal unrest in Athens and Sparta, popular classes in city regimes were participating less in the government.
• Philosopher Aristotle pointed out that the excess of wealth distorted democratic regimes and concentrated power in the same hands as those of money, which was in line with oligarchies.

Emergence of Tyrannies

• Tyrannies reappeared, namely the one led by Dionysius the Elder, ruler of Syracuse from 406 to 366 B.C., which expanded across Sicily.

Macedonia: A New Power

• From 360 B.C., Macedonia became an important power as Athens, Sparta, and Thebes declined, and it was located north of Thessaly.
• While the Macedonian royal family, the Argeads, claimed Greek heritage, Macedonia was excluded from events after the 8th century B.C.

Cultural Shift

• While Macedonia traditionally was isolated, it forged friendly relations with Athens in the 5th century B.C., thus Alexander I gained the honorific title "proxenos and benefactor".
• Archelaus increased Macedonian culture in 414/413-399 B.C. by calling intellectuals and poets Pella, specifically the tragediographer Athenian Euripides.

The Politics of Phillip II

• Phillip II furthered politics and Macedonian history by ascending to the throne and expanding into Greece by addressing naval authority.
• He also dedicated army care by increasing the army's effects while adopting the Theban's method which aided to create a barrier to strike distant security.

Military Successes

• Using strategy, Phillip took over a region controlled by Athens and even prepared to meddle in Greece with internal wars.
• In 354 B.C, conflict between the members of the Delphic Amphictyony led to involvement from Thessaly.
• The Macedonian gained control of the important region of Central Greece, but abandoned influence for expansion.

The Disaster of Chaeronea

• Phillip grew expansively, causing the internal war in Greece to continue around strategy and opposition.
• Athens supported either Isocrates, who believed that Phillip was leading Pannelic, or Demostheres, who saw Phillip as a danger.
• The position of Demostheres was impacted by the receipt of clandestine money, which aided in establishing a new alliance during the region of Boetia.
• The alliance faced conflict from Macedonia in 338 B.C with loss in Greece, thus impacting all that came after that time.

The End of Polis

• The fight for final victory had a significantly higher objective because of the era when things continued to exist, their time was limited by external forces in the territories, and the original political culture became impacted as well.

The Peace and Anti-Persian Alliance

• Phillip however, took on a conciliatory line as the prisioners were restored to their regions and the Athens were able to maintain control of Agae.
• Phillip obtained rights from the people with civil rights in exchange and also with the creation to war.
• The purpose of all the Macedonians was that the campaign against Persia sought retribution, so Phillip went to a palace and vanished an ambitious project.

Alexander the Great: From the Mediterranean to India

The Control of Greece

• While the sudden death of Phillip caused great concern, it aided in the acenscion of Alexander III who led a reign that aided in the impact of Greece's history as a whole.
• Alexander obtained education from Aristotle, who impacted strategic capacity that was implemented among different cultures of the world that had been at war.
• It led to mass death for Athens in several regions, however the success led other regions to push the Macedonian power away due to an enormous death toll.
• It was expected from Alexander that he was one great leader because he was a great soldier that did what was necessary, with that in mind what Alexander did was a lot to process at the time.

The idea of Panhellenic

• Athens dedicated great efforts in making plans in order to support the Persian campaign because there was famine amoung the people.
• It had also impacted the cultural expectations along with personal gains that had a massive impact through the world stage through great unity and harmony.
• Those things that impacted were a source of pain for most with the most humble expectations at the time.

The Force of Alexander

• Those in charge of the situation used the help and assistance that the previous Phillip had used in areas such as Parmenion. With troops made up of army personnel and naval personnel, the troops provided a new scientific expectation because soldiers where getting sent out the areas.
• There where services available as well that had impacts on everything such as daily news.

The First of Many Victories

• The union between Macedonia and other troops occurred around the Asia Minore in 334 B.C when troops destroyed Satrapi in the area after Alexander had obtained a new level of achievement.
• To remember success in this area, Alexander aided the troops with symbolic acknowledgement.
• From that moment, he was able to gain another victory after it until there was an issue in 333 B.C in the border between Cilicia were Alexander conflicted with troops of royalty.
• Alexander began getting great rewards and respect with how he carried himself and he eventually reached the main point of the empire.

The Primary Bases

• The prime minister of the Mediterranean sea were now in charge of the troops because they sought to do something about the territory.
• Even before things occurred, Alexander went to those in Egypt to free them with expectations from the Pharaoh. Alexander was able to help empower his expectations for everything in order.

More Conquests

• In 331 B.C, the troops were able to move back into Mesopotamia to fight battles and win, thus starting a new conquering of the country.
• In addition, Alexander began adding into territories as well that had impacted cities that were in construction for people to take residency in.

The Invasion of India

• Alexander did not end there, instead he went for several new avangers to touch lands with mysteries.
• India was another conquest for Alexander to obtain a strong hand with the war against armies.
• There was a clash in 326 B.C with high level people to the point where Alexander was able to rise.
• The long term plans were eventually no longer able to be completed as Alexander was expected to create a plan of battle near a Punjab location and died with limited time soon after things had occurred.

The ability to rule

• Alexander carried himself in multiple roles because of the cultural and geographical differences.
• To accommodate the cultures, Alexander had adopted to new court customs, in addition to the Greek traditions being introduced.

The Organisation of the Empire

• To accommodate this loss, leaders needed to take over, even the territories remained in control and the new leaders were put in administration positions to not cause any more problems.
• The effort was to integrate the Greeks with the traditions to unify borders and create more for political parties. Many of the leaders as well would get married from 10,000 troops as a remembrance to soldiers.