Dr. Roel Konijnendijk

You're not allowed to change the government of another state.

You're not allowed to impose a garrison or another state.

All these things that the Athenians used to do and then the Spartans also started doing.

And so this is essentially a no empires clause, right?

There should be no more Greek empires.

And that is obviously something that the Persian king wants, because if the Greeks remain divided and weak, then he can do what he wants.

But it's also something that most of the Greek states want.

And that's why it's such a stroke of diplomatic genius, is because all of these Greeks are also like, well, I don't want to pay tribute.

So it's great if I can say, if somebody imposes tribute on me, I can just go running to the Persian king and say, he's not obeying the king's peace.

He's not obeying the autonomy clause.

And so this is something that the Greeks themselves will keep referring back to for the rest of the fourth century, as long as the Persian empire is around.

And right up to the end, really, right until even when Alexander is campaigning against them, there are still Greek states that appeal to the Persian king saying, these Macedonians are violating the king's peace.

Because that is, you know, it's illegal according to the treaty.

The Persians are supposed to support you if this happens.

And so they love that clause.

They love that idea.

Except if you're Sparta or Athens and you're used to being a hegemon, you're actually...

are really in trouble now because you can't assert your power in the way that you used to.

And so the Spartans have this thing where they declare themselves prostates.

They declare themselves the champion of the peace or the guarantor of the peace, which means they go around telling everyone else, like, oh, no, you're violating the king's peace.