Atene, Corcira e le isole dello Ionio (415-344 a.C.)

This paper aims to investigate the evolution of the relations between Athens and the Ionian Islands, especially Corcyra, from the second Athenian expedition in Sicily (415-413 BC) to Timoleon’s accomplishments in the West (344 a.C.). The analysis of the scant available evidence shows Athens’ constant interest for the area, which in these years becomes essential for two of the main actors of the Greek political scene: Sparta and Dionysius I of Syracuse. The renewed struggle between Athens and Sparta for the hegemony in the area, which began with Timotheos’ expedition (375 BC), shows both the difficulty of Corcyra to maintain her in-ternal stability when involved in foreign conflicts, and the beginning of a process that brings the island to develop a new relation with Corinth as well as to become, in the second half of the 4th century BC, a reference point for the Corinthian colonies overlooking the Ionian Sea.