Chalkidian League
Encyclopedia
The Chalkidian League was a federal state that existed on the shores of the north west Aegean from around 430 BCE until it was destroyed by Philip II of Macedon
in 348 BCE.
In 432 BCE Olynthos broke away from Athens
. Along with several other cities, some form of united state was formed with Olynthos. Exactly what form it took is a matter of academic dispute. By the terms of the Peace of Nicias
of 421 BCE, Athens and Sparta agreed that it should be broken up but it seems clear that Athens failed to enforce this. However, because the Chalkidike was no longer the arena of conflict between Athens and Sparta, nothing is heard of it from that time until 393 BCE.
In 393, Amyntas III of Macedon
temporally transferred some territory to Olynthos during a period when he was driven out of Macedon by Illyrians. It was restored when Amyntas regained power. Eight years later, Amyntas again in trouble handed over territory, this time to the league. The League were not so ready to return what they held which now included Pella
the capital of Macedonia. In 383 BCE, Amyntas appealed to Sparta and at the same time a similar appeal came from Akanthos and Apollonia
, two League members who claimed that that membership of the League was not voluntary but enforced at the point of a sword. Sparta was keen to respond to the request. Amongst Sparta's allies there was no animosity against the Chalkidian League. Nevertheless, when the question was put, fear of annoying Sparta ensured that the proposal was carried. A force of 10,000 was authorized to be sent. An advance force of 2000 was sent under Eudamidas which succeeded in separating Potidaea from the League.
The fighting was long and arduous. Teleutias
, the half brother of the Spartan king, Agesilaos (or Agesilaus II
), was killed and King Agesipolis
suffered heavy losses before dying of fever. However, in 379 BCE the cities of the former League became "autonomous" and subject allies of Sparta. Freeman regards the Spartan dissolution of the League as one of the most "calamitous events" in Hellenic history for, in his view, the League uniting the northern Greek cities with the most hellenised cities of Macedonia would have prevented the rise of Philip II of Macedon
, who later destroyed the Chalkidian League.
, struck upon the coins the League.
Philip II of Macedon
Philip II of Macedon "friend" + ἵππος "horse" — transliterated ; 382 – 336 BC), was a king of Macedon from 359 BC until his assassination in 336 BC. He was the father of Alexander the Great and Philip III.-Biography:...
in 348 BCE.
History
Delian League
The Delian League, founded in circa 477 BC, was an association of Greek city-states, members numbering between 150 to 173, under the leadership of Athens, whose purpose was to continue fighting the Persian Empire after the Greek victory in the Battle of Plataea at the end of the Greco–Persian Wars...
. Along with several other cities, some form of united state was formed with Olynthos. Exactly what form it took is a matter of academic dispute. By the terms of the Peace of Nicias
Peace of Nicias
The Peace of Nicias was a peace treaty signed between the Greek city-states of Athens and Sparta in the March of 421 BC, ending the first half of the Peloponnesian War....
of 421 BCE, Athens and Sparta agreed that it should be broken up but it seems clear that Athens failed to enforce this. However, because the Chalkidike was no longer the arena of conflict between Athens and Sparta, nothing is heard of it from that time until 393 BCE.
In 393, Amyntas III of Macedon
Amyntas III of Macedon
Amyntas III son of Arrhidaeus and father of Philip II, was king of Macedon in 393 BC, and again from 392 to 370 BC. He was also a paternal grandfather of Alexander the Great....
temporally transferred some territory to Olynthos during a period when he was driven out of Macedon by Illyrians. It was restored when Amyntas regained power. Eight years later, Amyntas again in trouble handed over territory, this time to the league. The League were not so ready to return what they held which now included Pella
Pella
Pella , an ancient Greek city located in Pella Prefecture of Macedonia in Greece, was the capital of the ancient kingdom of Macedonia.-Etymology:...
the capital of Macedonia. In 383 BCE, Amyntas appealed to Sparta and at the same time a similar appeal came from Akanthos and Apollonia
Apollonia (Chalcidice)
Apollonia was the ancient chief town of Chalcidice in Macedonia, situated north of Olynthus, and a little south of the Chalcidian mountains. That this Apollonia is a different place from Apollonia in Mygdonia, appears from Xenophon, who describes the Chalcidian Apollonia as distant 10 or 12 miles...
, two League members who claimed that that membership of the League was not voluntary but enforced at the point of a sword. Sparta was keen to respond to the request. Amongst Sparta's allies there was no animosity against the Chalkidian League. Nevertheless, when the question was put, fear of annoying Sparta ensured that the proposal was carried. A force of 10,000 was authorized to be sent. An advance force of 2000 was sent under Eudamidas which succeeded in separating Potidaea from the League.
The fighting was long and arduous. Teleutias
Teleutias
Teleutias was the brother of the Spartan king Agesilaus II, and a Spartan naval commander in the Corinthian War. He first saw action in the campaign to regain control of the Corinthian Gulf after the Spartan naval disaster at Cnidus in 394 BC, and was later active in the Spartan campaign against...
, the half brother of the Spartan king, Agesilaos (or Agesilaus II
Agesilaus II
Agesilaus II, or Agesilaos II was a king of Sparta, of the Eurypontid dynasty, ruling from approximately 400 BC to 360 BC, during most of which time he was, in Plutarch's words, "as good as thought commander and king of all Greece," and was for the whole of it greatly identified with his...
), was killed and King Agesipolis
Agesipolis I
Agesipolis I was the twenty-first of the kings of the Agiad dynasty in ancient Sparta.Agesipolis succeeded his father Pausanias, while still a minor, in 394 BC, and reigned fourteen years. Upon the death of Pausanias, Agesipolis and his brother, Cleombrotus I, were both placed under the...
suffered heavy losses before dying of fever. However, in 379 BCE the cities of the former League became "autonomous" and subject allies of Sparta. Freeman regards the Spartan dissolution of the League as one of the most "calamitous events" in Hellenic history for, in his view, the League uniting the northern Greek cities with the most hellenised cities of Macedonia would have prevented the rise of Philip II of Macedon
Philip II of Macedon
Philip II of Macedon "friend" + ἵππος "horse" — transliterated ; 382 – 336 BC), was a king of Macedon from 359 BC until his assassination in 336 BC. He was the father of Alexander the Great and Philip III.-Biography:...
, who later destroyed the Chalkidian League.
Internal Organization
The actual form of the League is uncertain. It seems it was a genuinely federal state with common laws and coinage and was probably based on the Boeotian League. Political rights are likely to have been reserved to a group of 8000 designated by a property qualification. It included most but not all the Euboean colonies of Chalcidice. The symbol of the Chalcidians was the lyreLyre
The lyre is a stringed musical instrument known for its use in Greek classical antiquity and later. The word comes from the Greek "λύρα" and the earliest reference to the word is the Mycenaean Greek ru-ra-ta-e, meaning "lyrists", written in Linear B syllabic script...
, struck upon the coins the League.