Athens signed a 30-year truce with Sparta in 446, and was now viewed as the protagonist of democracy. Sparta on the other hand was viewed as the defender of oligarchy. Pretty much the whole Greek world was divided between the two camps. In any given polis, those who wanted oligarchy sought aid from Sparta, while Athenian aid was sought by the democrats. The war was started by a dispute between Corinth (member of Peloponnesian League) and …showed first 75 words of 1454 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1454 total…in Boeotia and quarreled with Sparta. In 371, the Theban leader Epaminondas destroyed the Spartan army at the battle of Leuctra. Spartan domination was at end, and the Messenian helots were freed. The Spartans never again had much influence in Greek affairs. Thebes was unable to establish any kind of permanent hegemony in Greece, and over the next three decades the Macedonians would come to dominate mainland Greece and usher in an entirely new political situation.