Editing Conon (section)

==Aftermath and later career==
{{main|Corinthian War}}
As a result of this victory, [[Sparta]] defeated the Athenians and so attempted to carve out her own empire in the Aegean. Her relationship with [[Achaemenid Empire|Persia]] deteriorated, and she began raiding the satrapies of [[Pharnabazus (5th century BC)|Pharnabazus]] and [[Tissaphernes]] in Anatolia. By 397 BC, Pharnabazus had persuaded the Persian king [[Artaxerxes II of Persia|Artaxerxes]] to prosecute the war by sea, and raised a fleet of 300 Phoenician and Cypriot ships. In sheer numbers they would be overwhelming, but they needed an experienced commander, and so they found Conon at Cyprus, who was only too happy for a chance to take revenge upon the Peloponnesians.

First Conon moved up to [[Caria]] with a small portion of the fleet, where he was for a time blocked but then rescued by Pharnabazus and Tissaphernes. He then proceeded to [[Rhodes]], where the pro-Spartan oligarchy was replaced by a democracy, and managed to capture food supplies being sent up from Egypt. In response to this, the Spartans decided to send out their navy, but made the mistake of entrusting it to [[Peisander (general)|Peisander]], who had no experience. [[Battle of Cnidus|The battle]] took place at [[Cnidus]] in 394 BC, and was an easy and overwhelming Persian success. The Aegean cities expelled the Spartan garrisons and accepted Persian rule.

After this success, Conon felt it was safe for him to return to Athens. Pharnabazus allowed him to retain part of the fleet, and supplied money for the fortification of [[Piraeus]] and the reconstruction of the [[long walls]] joining it to Athens. These actions meant that some of the main results of the Peloponnesian War were undone - Athens regained her position as a major power in Greece, and though she had still lost her empire, Sparta had been prevented from taking it over.

The next year the Spartans had opened negotiations with the Persians, and in order to secure their position in Greece offered to hand over  all the cities in Anatolia to them. The Athenians sent delegates (including Conon) to announce this as unacceptable, which [[Tiribazus]] understood to mean that they still hoped to recover their empire and, outraged by this about-face, threw them in prison, Conon among them. Ancient writers give conflicting accounts of his end: some claim that he was sent into the interior of Asia and put to death; other accounts, probably more likely, record that he retired to Cyprus and died there.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology|last=Smith|first=William|publisher=James Walton|year=1870|volume=1|location=London|pages=825}}</ref> His son [[Timotheus (general)|Timotheus]] later became another prominent general.