During the war Sparta had enjoyed the support of the Persian Empire and most of the mainland Greek states. In the months and years that followed, Lysander continued to send Spartan harmosts and garrisons to the previously Athenian subject island states in the Aegean as the Spartans tried to create their own empire out of the fragments of that of the Athenians. The plunder and tribute taken from the Athenian Empire was taken by Sparta alone, despite the victory being achieved by the collaborative nature of the Spartan Alliance.
Further alienation of Sparta’s allies came when in 402 BC Sparta attacked a member of the Spartan Alliance, the city of Elis in the western Peloponnese. The Spartans and particularly Agis were anxious to punish Elis for allying itself in 420 BC with Athens, Argos and Mantinea, and taking part in the campaign against the Spartans that ended in the Battle of Mantinea in 418 BC. However, the immediate issue was how far Elis should be allowed to extend her control over cities in Triphylia to the south. Elis had regained Lepreum after losing it in the arbitration by Sparta in 421 BC. Sparta was now demanding that Elis should restore autonomy to Lepreum and several other cities under their control. In 399 BC Sparta obtained a declaration of war from the Congress of Allies, but Boeotia and Corinth refused to send contingents. Sparta with her allies ravaged the territory of Elis but did not attack the unwalled town. In the summer 398 BC the leaders of Elis accepted Sparta’s terms, namely the liberation of the cities and the conclusion of an alliance with Sparta.
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