The League of Corinth, also referred to as the Hellenic League (from

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

Ἑλληνικός ''Hellenikos'', "pertaining to Greece and Greeks"), was a

confederation A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a union of sovereign groups or states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical iss ...

states created by Philip II in 338–337 BC. The League was created in order to unify Greek military forces under

Macedonian Macedonian most often refers to someone or something from or related to Macedonia. Macedonian(s) may specifically refer to: People Modern * Macedonians (ethnic group), a nation and a South Slavic ethnic group primarily associated with North Ma ...

leadership (

hegemony Hegemony (, , ) is the political, economic, and military predominance of one State (polity), state over other states. In Ancient Greece (8th BC – AD 6th ), hegemony denoted the politico-military dominance of the ''hegemon'' city-state over oth ...

) in their combined conquest of the Persian

Achaemenid Empire The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenian Empire (; peo, 𐎧𐏁𐏂, , ), also called the First Persian Empire, was an ancient Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great in 550 BC. Based in Western Asia, it was contemporarily the largest em ...

. King Philip was initially urged by

Isocrates Isocrates (; grc, Ἰσοκράτης ; 436–338 BC) was an ancient Greek rhetorician, one of the ten Attic orators. Among the most influential Greek rhetoricians of his time, Isocrates made many contributions to rhetoric and education throu ...

(in Isocrates' ''Philippus'' oration), in 346 BC, to unify

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders wi ...

against the Persians. After the Battle of Chaeronea, the league became controlled by King Philip. The title 'League of Corinth' was invented by modern historians because the first council of the League took place in

Corinth Corinth ( ; el, Κόρινθος, Kórinthos, ) is the successor to an ancient city, and is a former municipality in Corinthia, Peloponnese, which is located in south-central Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform, it has been part ...

, and the Greek word

synedrion A synedrion or synhedrion ( Greek: συνέδριον, "sitting together", hence " assembly" or "council"; he, סנהדרין, ''sanhedrin'') is an assembly that holds formal sessions. The Latinized form is synedrium. Depending on the widely varie ...

is better translated as ''congress'' or ''conference'' rather than ''league''. The organization was the first time in history that the Greek city-states (with the notable exception of

Sparta Sparta ( Doric Greek: Σπάρτα, ''Spártā''; Attic Greek: Σπάρτη, ''Spártē'') was a prominent city-state in Laconia, in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (, ), while the name Sparta referr ...

, which would join only later under Alexander's terms) would unify under a single political entity.

Organization

The League was governed by the

Hegemon Hegemony (, , ) is the political, economic, and military predominance of one state over other states. In Ancient Greece (8th BC – AD 6th ), hegemony denoted the politico-military dominance of the ''hegemon'' city-state over other city-states. ...

(''

strategos autokrator ''Strategos'', plural ''strategoi'', Latinized ''strategus'', ( el, στρατηγός, pl. στρατηγοί; Doric Greek: στραταγός, ''stratagos''; meaning "army leader") is used in Greek to mean military general. In the Hellenisti ...

'' in a military context), the

Synedrion A synedrion or synhedrion ( Greek: συνέδριον, "sitting together", hence " assembly" or "council"; he, סנהדרין, ''sanhedrin'') is an assembly that holds formal sessions. The Latinized form is synedrium. Depending on the widely varie ...

(council) and the

Dikastai Dikastes ( el, δικαστής, pl. δικασταί) was a legal office in ancient Greece that signified, in the broadest sense, a judge or juror, but more particularly denotes the Attic functionary of the democratic period, who, with his collea ...

(judges). Decrees of the league were issued in

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates a ...

Delphi Delphi (; ), in legend previously called Pytho (Πυθώ), in ancient times was a sacred precinct that served as the seat of Pythia, the major oracle who was consulted about important decisions throughout the ancient classical world. The orac ...

, Olympia and

Pydna Pydna (in Greek: Πύδνα, older transliteration: Pýdna) was a Greek city in ancient Macedon, the most important in Pieria. Modern Pydna is a small town and a former municipality in the northeastern part of Pieria regional unit, Greece. Sin ...

. The League maintained an army levied from member states in approximate proportion to their size, while Philip established Hellenic garrisons (commanded by

phrourarch Phrourarch or Phrourarchos is a Greek military title, meaning garrison commander. Athenians controlled their overseas empire with the episcopi and phrourarchs. The term was widely used by the Macedonian and later Hellenistic armies. Regarding the S ...

s, or garrison commanders) in Corinth, Thebes,

and

Ambracia Ambracia (; grc-gre, Ἀμβρακία, occasionally , ''Ampracia'') was a city of ancient Greece on the site of modern Arta. It was captured by the Corinthians in 625 BC and was situated about from the Ambracian Gulf, on a bend of the navigabl ...

Treaty of the Common Peace

(A fragmentary inscription found in Athens)

Text

Translation

The League during the Alexandrian campaigns

The decision for the destruction of Thebes as transgressor of the above oath was taken by the council of the League of Corinth by a large majority. Beyond the violation of the oath, the council judged that the Thebans were thus finally punished for their betrayal of the Greeks during the Persian Wars. The League is mentioned by

Arrian Arrian of Nicomedia (; Greek: ''Arrianos''; la, Lucius Flavius Arrianus; ) was a Greek historian, public servant, military commander and philosopher of the Roman period. ''The Anabasis of Alexander'' by Arrian is considered the best ...

(I, 16, 7), after the

Battle of Granicus The Battle of the Granicus in May 334 BC was the first of three major battles fought between Alexander the Great of Macedon and the Persian Achaemenid Empire. The battle took place on the road from Abydus to Dascylium, at the crossing of the ...

(334 BC). Alexander sent 300 panoplies to the temple of

Pallas Athena Athena or Athene, often given the epithet Pallas, is an ancient Greek goddess associated with wisdom, warfare, and handicraft who was later syncretized with the Roman goddess Minerva. Athena was regarded as the patron and protectress of v ...

in Athens, with the following inscription. Also, Diodorus Siculus (Βίβλος ΙΖ’ 48. mentions the Council's decision in 333 BC, after the

Battle of Issus The Battle of Issus (also Issos) occurred in southern Anatolia, on November 5, 333 BC between the Hellenic League led by Alexander the Great and the Achaemenid Empire, led by Darius III. It was the second great battle of Alexander's conquest of ...

, to send ambassadors to Alexander that will bring the ''Excellence of Greece'' (Golden Wreath). During 331 BC after the

Battle of Megalopolis The Battle of Megalopolis was fought in 331 BC between Spartan-led forces and Macedonia. Alexander's regent Antipater led the Macedonians to victory over King Agis III. Alexander, warring in Asia at the time, called it a "battle of mice", accordin ...

, Sparta appealed to Alexander for terms, to which he agreed on condition that the Lacedaemonians now joined the League of Corinth. During the Asiatic campaign,

Antipater Antipater (; grc, , translit=Antipatros, lit=like the father; c. 400 BC319 BC) was a Macedonian general and statesman under the subsequent kingships of Philip II of Macedon and his son, Alexander the Great. In the wake of the collaps ...

was appointed deputy hegemon of the League while Alexander personally recommended that the Athenians turn their attention to things; in case something happened to him, Athens would take over the power in Greece.

Aftermath

The League was dissolved after the

Lamian War The Lamian War, or the Hellenic War (323–322 BC) was fought by a coalition of cities including Athens and the Aetolian League against Macedon and its ally Boeotia. The war broke out after the death of the King of Macedon, Alexander the Great, ...

(322 BC). During 302 BC

Antigonus I Monophthalmus Antigonus I Monophthalmus ( grc-gre, Ἀντίγονος Μονόφθαλμος , 'the One-Eyed'; 382 – 301 BC), son of Philip from Elimeia, was a Macedonian Greek nobleman, general, satrap, and king. During the first half of his life he serv ...

and his son

Demetrius Poliorcetes Demetrius I (; grc, Δημήτριος; 337–283 BC), also called Poliorcetes (; el, Πολιορκητής, "The Besieger"), was a Macedonian nobleman, military leader, and king of Macedon (294–288 BC). He belonged to the Antigonid dynasty ...

tried to revive the federation against

Cassander Cassander ( el, Κάσσανδρος ; c. 355 BC – 297 BC) was king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia from 305 BC until 297 BC, and ''de facto'' ruler of southern Greece from 317 BC until his death. A son of Antipater and a conte ...

Antigonus III Doson Antigonus III Doson ( el, Ἀντίγονος Γ΄ Δώσων, 263–221 BC) was king of Macedon from 229 BC to 221 BC. He was a member of the Antigonid dynasty. Family background Antigonus III Doson was a half-cousin of his predecessor, Demetr ...

(king of Macedon from 229 BC to 221 BC) also revived the League against

during 224 BC.Trever, Albert Augustus. ''History of Ancient Civilization, Volume 1'', p. 479

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Corinthian League 330s BC establishments Ancient Greek hegemonic leagues Military history of ancient Greece Former international organizations Macedonia (ancient kingdom) 4th-century BC military alliances Greek city-state federations