The Peloponnesian League (c. 550 BCE - c. 366 BCE) was a loose confederation of Greek city-states led by Sparta. The League was the oldest and longest-lasting political association in the ancient Greek world. For Sparta, the League gave it protection from uprisings within its own borders and eventually secured its dominance in the region and later, following victory in the Peloponnesian War in 404 BCE, the whole of Greece. Then, coming up against a rampant Thebes and their brilliant general Epaminondas, Sparta was defeated at the Battle of Leuctra in 371 BCE. Without its dominant leader the League dissolved shortly thereafter.
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Timeline
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c. 550 BCE - c. 366 BCEPeloponnesian League alliance between Sparta, Corinth, Elis and Tegea which establishes Spartan hegemony over the Peloponnese.
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494 BCE - 493 BCESpartan forces under Cleomenes I attack the city of Argos.
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494 BCE - 493 BCETelesilla of Argos defends her city against the Spartan forces with an army of women.
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c. 490 BCELeonidas beomes one of Sparta's two kings.
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Aug 480 BCEBattle of Thermopylae. 300 Spartans under King Leonidas and other Greek allies hold back the Persians led by Xerxes I for three days but are defeated.
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479 BCEXerxes' Persian forces are defeated by Greek forces at Plataea effectively ending Persia's imperial ambitions in Greece.
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478 BCESparta withdraws from alliance against Persia.
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464 BCE - 463 BCEEarthquake in Sparta, followed by slave revolt. Surrender of Thasos.
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460 BCE - 445 BCEFirst Peloponnesian War.
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432 BCESparta declares that Athens has broken the Thirty Year Peace and prepares for war.
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431 BCE - 404 BCEThe 2nd Peloponnesian War between Athens and Sparta (the Delian League and the Peloponnesian League) which involved all of Greece.
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429 BCEPeloponnesian forces led by Sparta begin the siege of Plataea.
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427 BCEPlataea finally falls to the Spartans after a two year siege.
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424 BCESpartan Brasidas' campaign in Thrace.
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424 BCESpartan general Brasidas takes Amphipolis, Thucydides failed to prevent this and is exiled.
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424 BCEA force of Athenian peltasts defeat Spartan hoplites on Sphaktria in the Peloponnese.
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422 BCESpartan general Brasidas employs Myrkinian and Chalkidian peltasts to defeat a force of Athenian hoplites at Amphipolis.
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421 BCESpartan soldiers return from campaigning Thrace, some as Neodamodeis.
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420 BCESparta is excluded from the Olympic Games for breaking the ekecheiria or sacred truce.
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418 BCESparta, led by Agis II, defeats Argos and her allies at the battle of Mantinaea.
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413 BCEOn the advice of Alcibiades the Spartans take over the Athenian-held fort of Dekeleia.
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412 BCESparta allies with Persia.
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410 BCEAlcibiades leads the Athenian fleet to victory over Sparta at Cyzicus.
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c. 407 BCEThe Athenian fleet is defeated by Lysander of Sparta at Notium.
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404 BCESpartan general Lysander attacks the Athenian port of Piraeus destroying parts of the Long Wall fortifications.
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c. 398 BCEXenophon works as mercenary for Sparta.
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395 BCE - 386 BCEThe Corinthian Wars between Sparta and an alliance of Athens, Corinth, Argos, Boeotia and Thebes.
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394 BCESpartan king Agesilaus II defeats a Theban coalition at the battle of Coronea.
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390 BCEAthenian leader Iphikrates employs peltasts to defeat Spartan hoplites at Lechaion near Corinth.
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387 BCESparta attacks the Athenian port of Piraeus.
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382 BCE - 379 BCESparta establishes a garrison at Thebes.
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378 BCE - 377 BCESpartan king Agesilaus II campaigns in Boeotia.
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377 BCE - 355 BCEThe Cycladic city states join Athens in the Second Athenian League against Sparta .
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375 BCEThebes defeats Sparta at the Battle of Tegyra.
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371 BCEThebes, led by Epaminondas, defeats Sparta in the Battle of Leuctra.
