Ajātasattu's hostility towards the Vajjika League was also the result of the differing forms of political organisation between Magadha and the Vajjika League, with the former being monarchical and the latter being republican, not unlike the opposition of the ancient Greek kingdom of Sparta to the democratic form of government in Athens, and the hostilities between the ancient Macedonian king Philip II to the Athenian and Theban republics.
Ajātasattu's animosity towards the Vajjika League was driven by their contrasting political systems: Magadha being a monarchy, while the Vajjika League was republican, mirroring historical tensions between Sparta and Athens in ancient Greece, as well as conflicts between Philip II of Macedon and Athenian and Theban republics.