Thomas R. Martin, An Overview of Classical Greek History from Mycenae to Alexander

---

The Corinthian War and the King's Peace

In a reversal of the alliances of the end of the Peloponnesian War¹, the Persian king initially allied with Athens and the other Greek city-states² against Sparta in the so-called Corinthian War³, which lasted from 395 to 386 B.C. But this alliance failed⁴, too, because the king and the Greek allies were seeking their own advantage rather than peaceful accommodation. The war ended with Sparta once again cutting a deal with Persia. In a blatant renunciation of its claim to be the defender of Greek freedom, Sparta acknowledged the Persian king's right to control the Greek city-states of Anatolia in return for permission to secure Spartan interests in Greece without Persian interference. The King's Peace⁵ of 386 B.C., as the agreement is called, effectively returned the Greeks of Anatolia to the dependent status of a century ago before the Greek victory in the Persian Wars of 490-479 B.C.