King’s Peace

The King’s Peace ended the Corinthian War (395-386 b. c.e.) and made Sparta master of Greece.

Date: 386 b. c.e.

Also known as: Peace of Antalcidas Category: Treaties and diplomacy Locale: Mainland Greece and Asia Minor

Summary The Corinthian War pitted the Spartans against a coalition of Greek city-states supported by Persia and led by Athens, Thebes, and Corinth. Peace negotiations in 392 b. c.e. failed, and indecisive fighting continued for several years.

The tide turned in 387 b. c.e. when the Persian king Artaxerxes II transferred his support to Sparta. The Spartan fleet threatened to cut off grain imports to Athens, which was compelled to accept a treaty promulgated by Artaxerxes and negotiated by the Spartan Antalcidas. This treaty granted autonomy to all Greek states except for Cyprus, Clazomenae, and the cities of Asia Minor, which were to belong to Persia. Athens lost its overseas holdings but kept the islands of Lemnos (Limnos), Imbros (Gokgeada), and Skyros (Skiros). Thebes lost supremacy in Boeotia. Representatives convened at Sparta and ratified the treaty in 386 b. c.e.

Significance Although the Spartans had abandoned the Greeks of Asia Minor, they now controlled mainland Greece. Under the pretense of enforcing the King’s Peace, they imposed their will on other cities, until the Thebans defeated them at Leuctra in 371 b. c.e.

Further Reading

Badian, E. “The King’s Peace.” In Georgica: Greek Studies in Honour of George Cawkwell, edited by Michael Flower and Mark Toher. London: University of London, Institute of Classical Studies, 1991.

Cawkwell, George. The Greek Wars: The Failure of Persia. New York: Oxford University Press, 2005.

Hamilton, Charles D. Agesilaus and the Failure of Spartan Hegemony. Ithaca, N. Y.: Cornell University Press, 1991.

James P. Sickinger

See also: Agesilaus II of Sparta; Corinthian War; Leuctra, Battle of.