Researches On The Relationship Between Sparta And Persia From 5^th Century B.C. To The Early 4^th Century B.C.

The relationship between Sparta and Persia from 5^thcentury B.C.to the early 4^thcentury B.C.was an important part of the Greco-Persian relations of this period,which had an impact on the historical development of the Greek world and the Persian Empire.The dissertation is divided into three chapters in chronological order.Chapter One mainly focuses on the relations between Sparta and Persia during the Persian war and pentekontaetia.During the Persian war,Sparta was elected as the leader of the Greek alliance against Persia,and the two sides formed a confrontational relationship.In 478 B.C.,Sparta relinquished his position as the leader of the Greek alliance,and Athens continued to lead the Greek to fight against Persia.Afterwards,Sparta was busy with domestic affairs,and the conflict with Persia decreased.Therefore,the relationship between the two sides tended to de-escalate.The Persian Empire was defeated but remained still strong,and it began to adjust its policy toward Greece.During this period,their relations moved from“confrontation”to“détente”.Chapter Two mainly explores the changes in the relationship between Sparta and Persian during the Peloponnesian war.The gradual rise of Athens after the Persian War caused Sparta to be afraid of it,and the friction between the two sides continued,which eventually led to the Peloponnesian War.Although Persia did not directly participate in the Peloponnesian War,it intervened in the process and end of the entire war.At the beginning of the war,Sparta was quite equal to Athens in strength,and the battle was in a stalemate.In order to break the deadlock,Sparta took the initiative to seek the support of Persia.Persia ignored Sparta’s goodwill until it got Asia Minor.After the Battle of Sicily,Athens was greatly weakened.Persia thought there was a prospect of recovering the Asia Minor at that time,so it changed its foreign policy and formed an alliance with Sparta to fight against Athens.During this period,Sparta continued to play up to Persian,and eventually made an alliance with Persia.Chapter Three mainly analyzes the changes in the relationship between Sparta and Persia during the city-state crisis.After the Peloponnesian War,Sparta established the Greek’s world hegemony,which is known as the“Spartan Empire”,and the contradiction with Persia became increasingly prominent.At the invitation of the Asia Minor,Sparta launched an Asian expedition to Persia.In order to counteract Sparta,Persia used money-based foreign policy to incite Greek city-states to form an anti-Spartan alliance.Under the pressure of the war on two fronts,Sparta began to seek reconciliation with Persia.Eventually,the Greek states signed the“king’s peace”with the intervention of Persia,and the“Corinthian war”ended.Then the city-state of Thebes rose up and defeated Sparta at the Battle of Leuctra.Sparta has since withdrawn from the arena of Aegean hegemony,and the Greek world has fallen into a state of general decline.During this period,the attitude of Sparta changed from initiating war against Persia to“suing for peace”.The history of relations between Sparta and Persia shows that,first of all,the decision of the Persian satrap affected the changes in the relationship between the two sides.Secondly,the issue of the Asia Minor largely determines the“war”or“peace”between Sparta and Persia.The evolution of the relationship between Sparta and Persia over the past two centuries had a profound impact on the entire Mediterranean world.