Thucydides Daily Reader

Meanwhile, the Boeotarchs, along with representatives from Corinth, Megara, and the Thracian envoys, resolved to first exchange mutual oaths of alliance. They pledged to support one another when needed and agreed not to wage war or make peace independently, but only through collective decision. Following this agreement, the plan was for the Boeotians and Megarians, who were acting in concert, to then forge an alliance with Argos. However, before these oaths could be formally sworn, the Boeotarchs presented these proposals to the four governing councils of Boeotia, where ultimate authority resided. They urged these councils to exchange similar oaths with any cities willing to join a defensive alliance with Boeotia. Yet the Boeotian council members rejected this proposal, fearing they would antagonize Sparta by entering into an alliance with Corinth, which had defected from the Spartan alliance. The Boeotarchs had failed to inform the councils about their discussions in Sparta with Cleobulus, Xenares, and other pro-Boeotian faction members there, who had advised that allying with Corinth and Argos should serve as a stepping stone toward eventually rejoining Sparta. The Boeotarchs had assumed that even without revealing these details, the councils would not oppose their recommendations. When this obstacle emerged, the Corinthians and Thracian envoys departed without achieving any agreement. The Boeotarchs, who had initially planned to pursue the Argive alliance after securing this first arrangement, now abandoned bringing the Argive matter before the councils. They also failed to dispatch the promised ambassadors to Argos, resulting in widespread apathy and procrastination regarding the entire affair.

During this same winter, the city of Mecyberna, which housed an Athenian garrison, was besieged and captured by the Olynthians.

Throughout this period, Athens and Sparta continued negotiating over territories each still controlled. Sparta, calculating that if Athens could recover Panactum from the Boeotians, she might in turn regain Pylos, dispatched ambassadors to Boeotia. They requested that the Boeotians surrender both Panactum and their Athenian prisoners to Sparta, enabling an exchange for Pylos. The Boeotians declined unless Sparta concluded a separate bilateral alliance with them, similar to the one she had established with Athens. Sparta recognized this would violate her agreement with Athens, which stipulated that neither party could make peace or war independently. Nevertheless, driven by the desire to secure Panactum for exchange with Pylos, and influenced by the faction advocating for the treaty's dissolution who strongly favored the Boeotian connection, Sparta ultimately concluded the alliance as winter transitioned to spring. Panactum was immediately demolished. Thus concluded the eleventh year of the war.