Corinthian War

The Corinthian War was fought from 395 to 387 BC between Sparta and a coalition of Greek cities that included its former allies Corinth and Thebes, together with Athens and Argos. After winning the Peloponnesian War, Sparta had become the dominant power in Greece, but its heavy-handed rule quickly turned friends into enemies. Persia, alarmed by Spartan campaigns in Asia Minor under King Agesilaus II, secretly funded the anti-Spartan alliance. Much of the fighting took place around Corinth, which controlled the land route between the Peloponnese and central Greece. Sparta won several land battles, including at Nemea and Coronea, but suffered a major defeat at sea in 394 BC at Cnidus, where a Persian fleet commanded by the Athenian admiral Conon destroyed the Spartan navy. With Persian money, Conon then helped Athens rebuild its Long Walls. In 390 BC, the Athenian general Iphicrates used light-armed troops to destroy a unit of Spartan hoplites near Corinth, a rare humiliation. The war ended with the King's Peace of 387 BC, dictated by the Persian king.