Dr. Roel Konijnendijk

And so at that point, this is all in flux again.

Obviously, the Persians try to reassert themselves in Asia Minor, and the Athenians very soon afterwards start to try and reassert themselves in Aegean.

Guys, guys, we've got to stop this now.

But it's very interesting because you phrase it as like a truce or a treaty, but it's actually not a treaty.

It's a diktat from the Persian king.

Like he literally sends an envoy who reads out loud to them the agreement that's been made.

And that is the end of the war.

It's called the king's peace, but it's called the peace of Antaukidas in some source because the Spartan who went and negotiated with the Persian king

And obviously there are terms that favor Sparta.

There are some terms that favor Athens.

But for the most part, it is the Persian king saying, no, no, no, this is how our geopolitics are organized, right?

I'm telling you this.

And if you have any trouble with this, you can take it up with me, which is almost literally what it says, right?

If anybody violates this arrangement, I will back them with chips and money, which are the two things that the Persians have in abundance.

In fact, ideologically, I think that the king's peace is arguably the most important moment in the fourth century because it brings the Greeks something new, which is the most important part of that peace, which is the autonomy clause, as it's called, which is that the Persian king says, okay, there are a couple of bits of the Aegean that belong to Athens, but otherwise every Greek state must remain autonomous.

You're not allowed to essentially, I mean, later treaties will make this more explicit.

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?