Hegemony often describes the relationship of a great power to nearby less powerful countries. The term is Greek, and was first used about the influence of a great city over the cities which were allied to it. Examples are the Peloponnesian League of Sparta (6th to 4th centuries BC); the short-lived Delian League of Classical Athens. The later League of Corinth was headed not by a state, but by Philip II of Macedon. Such a hegemon is a king or ruler with personal power.