Thebes stepped in and tried for nine years (371-62) to control northern Greece, but following the Battle of Mantinea, her hegemony came to an end. By 355 B.C. all Greece was exhausted and in disarray.
Now was time for Philip of Macedonia to appear; a man so strong of will that a divided Greece could not stop him. The Athenians, led by Demosthenes, tried their best to maintain Greek autonomy, but the end for Athens came at the Battle of Chaeronea in 338 B.C. As victor, Philip convened the League of Corinth, including in it all the Greek powers except Sparta who refused to participate.