[citation needed] Rather than undertake offensive operations immediately, the Thebans chose to precipitate a war indirectly.

The Spartans, seeing a chance to chasten the increasingly restive Thebans, chose to launch a major campaign against Thebes.

[1] The Spartan strategy for the campaign called for two armies, one under king Pausanias of the Agiad dynasty, composed of Spartan troops and Peloponnesian allies, and one under general Lysander composed of Phocians and other allies from northwest Greece, to meet at the town of Haliartus for a coordinated attack.

[citation needed] Unwilling to wait for Pausanias to arrive, Lysander marched his army up to the walls of Haliartus.

This reversal briefly disheartened the Thebans, but the following day Lysander's army disbanded, with each contingent returning to its home country.

Wishing to recover the bodies of Lysander and the others killed in the battle, he asked for a truce, which the Thebans agreed to grant only on the condition that he depart from Boeotia.