A Parian colony is sent to …

Sparta, applying the old criterion of “what is best for Sparta,” breaks up the Mantineian polis into its four constituent villages in 385 BCE in a move intended to dismantle the physical polis of Mantineia as well as its democracy.

In the particular Mantineian context, the return to the villages strengthens the political influence of the wealthy and oligarchic landowners, whose estates adjoin the villages.

The “troublesome demagogues,” as Xenophon calls them, are expelled.

Pelopidas, a young citizen-soldier of Thebes, serves in a Theban contingent sent to support the Spartans at Mantineia, where he is seriously wounded but is saved, as legend has it, by his friend Epaminondas, the son of a Theban aristocrat.

Olynthus, a Greek city on the Khalkidhikí (Chalcidice) Peninsula has become, as the leader of the Chalcidian (or Chalcidic) League, the center of Greek resistance to the power of Athens and Sparta by the fourth century BCE.

Founded by Olynthus as a league with complete equality and identical citizenship, commerce, and marriage laws among the member states, it includes almost all the cities on the Macedonian coast by 382 BCE, by which time the league's power has aroused the hostility of Sparta.

Grown populous and powerful since its synoecism in 432 at the instance of Perdiccas II of Macedon, the city has survived the military reorganization of Macedon by …

…Perdiccas' successor Archelaus (413 BCE-399 BCE).

Another Macedonian king, Amyntas III, who in about 393 BCE had succeeded to the Macedonian throne after a series of short, weak reigns, now joins two Greek cities, …

…Acanthus and …

…Apollonia, which are resisting forcible incorporation, in an appeal to Sparta against Olynthus.

Sparta responds to the invitation, surely welcome in view of its previous involvement in northern and central Greek, to interfere against the rising power of Olynthus.

The Spartans send Phoebidas north, but in a momentous development, …

…the general is invited into Thebes en route by a small pro-Spartan faction here.

Without reference (naturally) to the authorities at home, Phoebidas aids them in a sudden coup and installs a garrison on the Cadmeia, the Theban acropolis, in 382.

Thracian society is tribal in structure, with little inclination toward political cohesion.

In what is to become a persistent phenomenon in Balkan history, unity is brought about mostly by external pressure.

The Persian invasions of the sixth and fifth centuries BCE have brought the Thracian tribes together in the Odrysian kingdom, in which members of the Odrysae tribe briefly unify their fellow Thracians into an empire.

The Middle East: 381–370 BCE

Evagoras’ Final Struggle and Persian Reassertion

The conflict between Evagoras of Salamis and the Persian Empire under Artaxerxes II continues, turning decisively against Evagoras in 381 BCE. At the critical Battle of Citium, Evagoras' fleet suffers a devastating defeat, forcing him to retreat to Salamis, where he is effectively besieged by Persian forces. Despite these setbacks, Evagoras exploits internal Persian discord, notably disagreements between Persian generals, to negotiate peace terms in 376 BCE. Under this settlement, Evagoras retains nominal kingship over Salamis but is compelled to acknowledge Persian sovereignty and pay annual tribute, effectively becoming a Persian vassal.

Celebrated in contemporary Greek literature, notably Isocrates’ panegyric, Evagoras is portrayed as an exemplary ruler committed to fostering Greek culture and civilization within Cyprus. His reign sees the adoption of the Greek alphabet in place of the traditional Cypriot syllabary, marking a significant cultural shift that integrates Cyprus more firmly into the Greek cultural sphere.

Despite his achievements, Evagoras meets an untimely end when he is assassinated in 374 BCE by a eunuch motivated by personal vengeance. He is succeeded by his likely son, Nicocles, who continues the delicate balance of nominal independence under Persian oversight.