League of Corinth (Alexandros)

The League of Corinth, also sometimes referred to as the Hellenic League during its initial formation (from Greek Ἑλληνικός Hellenikos, "pertaining to Greece and Greeks"), was a federation of Greek states created by Philip II of Macedon during the winter of 338 BCE/337 BCE after the Battle of Chaeronea, as a means to organize and facilitate Greek military forces for his future war against Persia. The creation of the League of Corinth would mark the first time in history where most of the Greek states, with the notable exception of Sparta, managed to form a single political entity. The name 'League of Corinth' is a name invented by modern historians, as Corinth was home to the federation's first council.

After the assassination of Philip II in 336 BCE, he was succeeded as King of Macedon by his son Alexander III. The league experienced a brief period of war, as the majority of its member states attempted to secede from the league, rebelling against Macedonian hegemony over much of the region of Greece. Alexander would successfully defeat the allied Greek states, reorganizing the league under his leadership. In 334 BCE Alexander's forces and soldiers from the League of Corinth launched an invasion of the Persian Empire, before being stopped at the Battle of the Granicus, where Alexander III was killed.

After Alexander's death the league again collapsed into anarchy, as the member nations organized for war against Macedon. In the ensuing Lamian War the allied Greek city states found initial success, but were unable to decisively defeat the combined Macedonian forces of Hephaestion, Alexander's proclaimed successor, and Antipater, strategos of Europe and appoint regent hegemon of the league. Although the Greeks managed to maintain the upper hand against the Macedonians, war from Sparta in the Peloponnese threatened the stability and sovereignty of many of the allied states, and in 332 BCE the northern Greek states agreed to reestablish the League of Corinth in exchange for Macedon's aid in combating the Spartans.