A
Spartan expeditionary force under King
Agesilaus II crosses the
Gulf of Corinth to attack
Acarnania, an ally of the anti-Spartan coalition. Agesilaus is eventually able to draw them into a
pitched battle, in which the Acarnanians are routed.
The
Athenian general,
Thrasybulus, leads a force of
triremes to levy tribute from cities around the
Aegean and support
Rhodes, where a democratic government is struggling against Sparta. On this campaign, Thrasybulus captures
Byzantium, imposes a duty on ships passing through the
Hellespont, and collects tribute from many of the
Aegean Islands.
Due to threats of attack from Akarnania,
Kalydon garrisons the
Achaeans.[1]
The orator
Isaeus gives his earliest known speech, the Dicaeogenes.[2]
Wu Qi, the
prime minister of the
State of Chu, enacts his first series of political, municipal, and martial reforms. Wu Qi gains the ire and distrust of Chu officials and aristocratic elite who are against his crusades to sweep up corruption in the state and limit their power. He is eventually assassinated in
381 BC at the funeral of King Diao of Chu, although his assassins are executed shortly after by the newly enthroned King Su of Chu.
This is the latest possible date for the compilation of the historical text Zuo Zhuan, attributed to a blind historian known as
Zuo Qiuming.
King
Agesipolis I leads a
Spartan army against
Argos. Since no Argive army challenges him, he
plunders the countryside for a time, and then, after receiving several unfavorable omens, returns to Sparta.
The
Athenian general,
Thrasybulus, sails to
Lesbos, where, with the support of the
Mytileneans, he defeats the Spartan forces on the island and wins over a number of cities. While still on Lesbos, however, Thrasybulus is killed by raiders from the city of
Aspendus where his financial exactions have made him unpopular.
Peace of Antalcidas (or "the king's peace") is brokered by
Artaxerxes II. Under the Peace, all the Asiatic mainland and
Cyprus remain under Persian control, Lemnos, Imbros, and Scyros remain Athenian dependencies, and all the other Greek states are to receive autonomy. By the King's Peace, the Persians become key players in Greek politics.
Under the threat of Spartan intervention,
Thebes disbands its league, and
Argos and
Corinth end their shared government. Corinth is incorporated back into Sparta's
Peloponnesian League.
With the aid of the
Lucanians,
Dionysius I of Syracuse devastates the territories of Thurii, Crotone, and Locri in mainland
Italy. When
Rhegium falls, Dionysius becomes the chief power in Greek Southern Italy. He then turns his attention to the
Adriatic and founds the colonies of
Ancona (Ankon) and
Adria (Adrìa).
Plato is forced by Dionysius to leave
Syracuse after having exercised the right of free speech too broadly. Plato returns to
Athens, outside which he founds a school.
Roman Republic
Rome begins to rebuild after being invaded by the
Gauls under
Brennus.
Freed from
Spartan attacks by the
Peace of Antalcidas ("King's Peace") of the previous year,
Persia turns to quieting
Cyprus and
Egypt. Owing to the skill of King
Evagoras of Cyprus and of Egypt's Greek
mercenary general
Chabrias, these wars drag on for the rest of the decade.
The Greeks found the colony of Pharos at the site of today’s
Stari Grad on the island of
Hvar, defeating
Iadasinoi warriors brought in for its defense.
King
Amyntas III of Macedon, forms a temporary alliance with the Chalcidian League, a confederation of cities of the
Chalcidice peninsula, east of
Macedonia.
Sparta, whose policy is to keep Greeks disunited, sends an expedition northwards to disrupt the Chalcidian League.
The
Spartan commander
Phoebidas, who is passing through
Boeotia on campaign, takes advantage of civil strife within
Thebes to gain entrance to the city for his troops. Once inside, he seizes the
Cadmeia (the
citadel of Thebes), and forces the anti-Spartan party to flee the city. The government of Thebes is placed in the hands of the pro-Spartan party, backed by a Spartan garrison based in the Cadmeia. Many of the previous leaders of Thebes are driven into exile.
Epaminondas, although associated with the anti-Spartan faction, is allowed to remain.
Pelopidas, a Theban general and statesman, flees to
Athens and takes the lead in attempts to liberate
Thebes from
Spartan control.
In
punishment for his unauthorized action in the previous year of taking over Thebes,
Phoebidas is relieved of his command, but the Spartans continue to hold Thebes. The Spartan king
Agesilaus II argues against punishing Phoebidas, on the grounds that his actions had benefited Sparta, and this was the only standard against which he ought to be judged.
The Persian generals
Tiribazus and
Orontes invade
Cyprus, with an army far larger than any King
Evagoras of
Cyprus could raise. However, Evagoras manages to cut off this force from being resupplied, and the starving troops rebel. However, the war then turns in the Persians' favour when Evagoras' fleet is destroyed at the Battle of Citium (
Larnaca, Cyprus). Evagoras flees to
Salamis, where he manages to conclude a peace which allows him to remain nominally king of Salamis, though in reality he is a
vassal of the Persian king.
Greece
Sparta increases its hold on central
Greece by reestablishing the city of
Plataea, which Sparta formerly destroyed in
427 BC.
Roman Republic
The district of
Tusculum is pacified after a revolt against
Rome, and then conquered. After an expression of complete submission to Rome,
Tusculum becomes the first "municipium cum suffragio", and thenceforth the city continues to hold the rank of a municipium.
Persia forces the
Athenians to withdraw their general
Chabrias from
Egypt. Chabrias has been successfully supporting the Egyptian Pharaohs in maintaining their independence from the
Persian Empire.