The Corinthian war lasting 395 B.C to 387 B.C ranks as one the greatest and bloodiest wars ever to be fought since man first recorded history. Tales, legends, and scholarly work have been written about the Corinthian War that pitted Sparta against four states: Athens, Argos, Thebes and Corinth. There is much debate on what was the precursor of the war, but historians believe that political intrigues, personal grudges, and jealously as some of the causes. This war never provided any meaningful value to the antagonist; the only beneficiaries of this war were the Persians, who forced Agesilaus to withdraw his army from Ionia. The Corinthian war was fought on both land, and sea. On land, the Spartans won major victories, but they fared very badly in the sea. The course of this war was defined by four major battles as will be explained by this article.

Battle of Haliartus.                

This battle was fought in 395 B.C pitting Sparta against Thebes. The Spartans were defeated, and their leader Lysander killed as he marshaled his troops to capture the town of Haliartus. This war signaled the start of the Corinth war that caused untold suffering to many people in Greece, and the surrounding lands.

Battle of Corinth.

This battle was fought in 394 B.C. In this battle, 14,000 Spartans soldiers faced a combined force of 26,000 Corinthians, Argives, Thebans and Athenians. Despite facing an army nearly twice its size, the Spartans won the battle. This was, however, a pyrrhic victory as they were forced to leave the Corinth Isthmus to the allies due to the high causality on their side.

Battle of Coronea.

This battle led by King Agesilaus II was fought in 394 B.C. The Spartans defeated a combined army of the Argives and the Thebans. This battle ranks as one the bloodiest to be ever be fought in the Corinthian war. In the words of Xenophon, a Greek philosopher, and historian “shield pressed against shield, the killed, and they were killed in turn.

Battle of Cnidus.

This battle was fought in 394 B.C pitting the Persians, and the Athenians versus the Spartans. The Spartans were handed a crashing defeat in the process their leader Pisander was killed. The final defeat of the Spartans marked the end of the Corinthian war as the Spartan attempt to be a maritime power was crushed.

The cause of the Corinthian War was believed to be envy and the growing threat of Sparta in claiming territories, which alarmed the four allied states. Before this war, Sparta emerged victorious in the Peloponnesian War against Athens, whose some territorial domains were transferred to Sparta.

The conspiracy against Sparta was sealed when Pharnabazus, the “satrap” or governor of Lydia, sent a Greek soldier Timocrates of Rhodes to bribe the major mainland Greek cities to rise in arms against Sparta. The initial fighting came as a conflict between the Theban ally Locrian versus the Spartan ally Phocian. In this war, Athens supported Thebes. By 395 BC, the states of Corinth and Argos supported Thebes and Athens.

The Corinthian War was a grand battle on both land and sea. On land, the Spartans emerged victorious, while at sea, they were defeated. Athens specifically sought to strengthen its empire by reclaiming its old island territories and greatly expanded its naval force. The Persian empire which supported the allied states soon became alarmed over Athenian expansion and defected its support to Sparta. The Persian King Artaxerxes and the Spartan commander Antalcidas met in Susa and agreed to end the war.

To persuade Athens to stop its fleet, the Spartans threatened to control Athenian trade routes which it already did before, damaging Athenian trade. Athens agreed, and Thebes, Corinth and Argos soon followed.  In 387 BC, the Peace of Antalcidas or the “King’s Peace” was signed, signifying an end to the Corinthian War.

The treaty outlined Persia’s control in the Ionian Empire while the other Greek cities would be free and independent. Sparta was relegated into the role of the “Grecian peacekeeper.”