v24_0056 - MACEDONIA - LEGA CHALCIDICA - OLINTOS Tétradrachme

MACEDONIA - CHALCIDIAN LEAGUE - OLYNTHUS

(432-348 BC)

In 433 BC, Perdiccas II, King of Macedonia raised Olynthe and made it the capital of what was to become the Chalcidic League in order to thwart the aims of Athens in the region. Brasidas at the head of the Lacedaemonian fleet rallied the region against the hegemony of Athens, after the defection of Amphipolis. The Peace of Nicias in 421 BC guaranteed the freedom of the cities of Chalkidiki, including Olynthus, which then experienced an intense period of economic development. Olynthe fell under Spartan domination in 379 BC. The city had to face the Macedonian ambitions of Philip II. Olynthus was taken and destroyed by Philip II in 347 BC and its population enslaved.