The political landscape of the Hellenic world shifted dramatically in the aftermath of the Peloponnesian War (431–404 BCE), a conflict that ended with Sparta’s victory but left the Greek city-states militarily exhausted and politically fragmented. The collapse of Athenian naval supremacy weakened the traditional balance of power, eroded collective security, and intensified interstate rivalry. In the decades that followed, alliances realigned frequently, as the Greek poleis struggled to recover economically and reassert influence in a region marked by instability and competition.
Over the next century, successive hegemonies rose and fell with striking rapidity. Sparta’s dominance (404–371 BCE), maintained through the Peloponnesian League and interventions across the Aegean, provoked resistance and ultimately collapsed after Thebes’ decisive victory at Leuctra (371 BCE), which ushered in a short-lived Theban hegemony (371–362 BCE) under Epaminondas (d. 362 BCE). Amid this fragmentation, Macedon emerged as the decisive beneficiary: under Philip II (reign 359–336 BCE), the kingdom was centralized, militarily reformed, and expanded through diplomacy and conquest. By his death, Philip had united most of Greece, enabling the unprecedented campaigns of his son, Alexander the Great (reign 336–323 BCE), whose conquests extended Hellenic influence from the Mediterranean to the Indus and transformed the wider ancient world.
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APA Style
Netchev, S. (2023, December 06). Map of the Hellenic Leagues and Hegemonies, 4th century BCE. World History Encyclopedia. https://www.worldhistory.org/image/18222/map-of-the-hellenic-leagues-and-hegemonies-4th-cen/
Chicago Style
Netchev, Simeon. "Map of the Hellenic Leagues and Hegemonies, 4th century BCE." World History Encyclopedia, December 06, 2023. https://www.worldhistory.org/image/18222/map-of-the-hellenic-leagues-and-hegemonies-4th-cen/.
MLA Style
Netchev, Simeon. "Map of the Hellenic Leagues and Hegemonies, 4th century BCE." World History Encyclopedia, 06 Dec 2023, https://www.worldhistory.org/image/18222/map-of-the-hellenic-leagues-and-hegemonies-4th-cen/.
