Third Sacred War
The Third Sacred War (356–346 BC) was fought between the forces of the Delphic Amphictyonic League, principally represented by Thebes, and latterly by Philip II of Macedon, and the Phocians. The war was caused by a large fine imposed in 357 BC on the Phocians by the Amphictyonic League (dominated at that moment by Thebes), for the offense of cultivating sacred land; refusing to pay, the Phocians instead seized the Temple of Apollo in Delphi, and used the accumulated treasures to fund large mercenary armies. Thus, although the Phocians suffered several major defeats, they were able to continue the war for many years, until eventually all parties were nearing exhaustion. Philip II used the distraction of the other states to increase his power in northern Greece, in the process becoming ruler of Thessaly. In the end, Philip's growing power, and the exhaustion of the other states, allowed him to impose a peaceful settlement of the war, marking a major step in the rise of Macedon to pre-eminence in Ancient Greece.
Middle-earth wars and battles
The War of the Dwarves and Dragons was fought from the year 2570 to 2589 of the Third Age between the Dwarves of the Grey Mountains and the great fire-drakes that came down from the Northern Waste. After the Fall of Khazad-Dûm in T.A. 1981, the majority of those Dwarves who fled their downfallen kingdom escaped through the East Gate of Moria and into the vast lands of Rhovanion. These Dwarven refugees were under the leadership of Thráin I, grandson of Durin VI who had been killed the year earlier. The Dwarves of Khazad-Dûm had already had many well established mining colonies scattered throughout the lands east of the Misty Mountains, which included the colony of Erebor, the Lonely Mountain, as well as the rich mines and delvings in the "Ered Mithrin" to the far north. Thus it was that in the centuries that followed the greater part of the Dwarves relocated to their many halls in the Grey Mountains, which were rich in many ores, and they prospered and grew powerful in relative peace.