why did the peloponnesian war start essay

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The Peloponnesian War: Causes of the Conflict

What Caused the Peloponnesian War?

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Importance of the Peloponnesian War

Thucydides on the cause of the peloponnesian war, athens and the delian league.

• Sparta's Allies

Sparta Insults Athens

Athens gains an ally and an enemy.

• Thirty Years' Peace

Fragile Balance of Power

• Spartan Promises to Athens' Ally

Megarian Decree

• M.A., Linguistics, University of Minnesota
• B.A., Latin, University of Minnesota

Many excellent historians have discussed the causes of the Peloponnesian War (431–404 BCE), and many more will do so in the future. Thucydides, however, wrote the most important contemporary chronicle of the war.

Fought between the allies of Sparta and the empire of Athens , the crippling Peloponnesian War paved the way for the Macedonian takeover of Greece by Philip II of Macedon and, following that, Alexander the Great 's empire. Before the Peloponnesian War, the city-states ( poleis ) of Greece had worked together to fight off the Persians. During the Peloponnesian War, they turned on each other.

In the first book of his history, participant-observer and historian Thucydides recorded the causes of the Peloponnesian War:

"The real cause I consider to be the one which was formally most kept out of sight. The growth of the power of Athens, and the alarm which this inspired in Lacedaemon, made war inevitable." I.1.23 History of the Peloponnesian War

While Thucydides seemed quite certain that he had settled the question of the cause of the Peloponnesian War for all time, historians continue to debate the origins of the war. The main reasons proposed are:

• Sparta was jealous of other powers and desired more power for itself.
• Sparta was unhappy at no longer having all the military glory.
• Athen bullied its allies and neutral cities.
• There was a conflict among city-states between competing political ideologies.

Historian Donald Kagan has been studying the causes of the Peloponnesian War for decades. His 2003 book provides a detailed breakdown of the politics, alliances, and events that led to the war.

Many historical accounts make brief mention of the earlier Persian Wars , which undervalues their importance as a contributing factor to the later war. Because of the Persian Wars, Athens had to be rebuilt and it came to dominate its group of allies politically and economically.

The Athenian empire started with the Delian League , which had been formed to allow Athens to take the lead in the war against Persia, and wound up providing Athens with access to what was supposed to be a communal treasury. Athens used these communal funds to build up its navy and, with it, its importance and power.

Sparta's Allies

Earlier, Sparta had been the military leader of the Greek world. Sparta had a set of loose alliances by means of individual treaties that extended to the Peloponnese, excepting Argos and Achaea. The Spartan alliances are referred to as the Peloponnesian League .

When Athens decided to invade Thasos, Sparta would have come to the aid of the north Aegean island, had Sparta not suffered a natural disaster. Athens, still bound by alliances of the Persian War years, tried to help the Spartans, but was rudely asked to leave. Kagan says that this open quarrel in 465 BCE was the first between Sparta and Athens. Athens broke off the alliance with Sparta and allied, instead, with Sparta's enemy, Argos.

When Megara turned to Sparta for help in its boundary dispute with Corinth, Sparta, which was allied with both city-states, declined to come to their aid. Megara broke its alliance with Sparta and proposed a new one with Athens. Athens needed a friendly Megara on its border since it provided gulf access, so it agreed in 459 BCE. Doing so, unfortunately, set up lasting enmity with Corinth. About 15 years later, Megara joined back up again with Sparta.

Thirty Years' Peace

In 446 and 445 BCE, Athens, a sea power, and Sparta, a land power, signed a peace treaty. The Greek world was now formally divided in two, with two "hegemons." By treaty, members of one side could not switch and join the other, although neutral powers could take sides. Historian Kagan writes that, for possibly the first time in history, an attempt was made to keep the peace by requiring both sides to submit grievances to binding arbitration.

A complicated, partially ideological political conflict between Spartan-ally Corinth and her neutral daughter city and strong naval power Corcyra led to Athenian involvement in Sparta's realm. Corcyra appealed to Athens for help, offering to Athens the use of its navy. Corinth urged Athens to remain neutral. But since Corcyra's navy was powerful, Athens was concerned that it would fall into Spartan hands and disrupt whatever fragile balance of power the city-states were maintaining.

Athens signed a defense-only treaty and sent a fleet to Corcyra. Fighting ensued and Corcyra, with Athens' aid, won the Battle of Sybota against Corinth in 433. Athens now knew that direct battle with Corinth was inevitable.

Spartan Promises to Athens' Ally

Potidaea was part of the Athenian empire, but also a daughter city of Corinth. Athens feared a revolt, with good reason, since the Potidaeans had secretly acquired a promise of Spartan support, to invade Athens, in violation of the 30 years treaty.

Athens' former ally, the polis Megara, had allied with Corinth at Sybota and elsewhere, and Athens, therefore, put a peacetime embargo on Megara. Historians are not clear on the embargo's effects, some saying that Megara was merely made uncomfortable, while others claim that it set the polis on the brink of starvation.

The embargo was not an act of war, but Corinth took the opportunity to urge all allies disaffected with Athens to pressure Sparta now to invade Athens. There were enough hawks among the ruling bodies in Sparta to carry the war motion. And so the full-fledged Peloponnesian War began.

• Kagan, Donald. The Peloponnesian War. Viking, 2003
• Sealey, Raphae. "The Causes of the Peloponnesian War." Classical Philology , vol. 70, no. 2, April 1975, pp. 89-109.
• Thucydides. The History of the Peloponnesian War. Translated by Richard Crawley, J.M. Dent and Sons, 1910.
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The Peloponnesian War Essay

The Peloponnesian war (431–404 BC) was an ancient Greek war fought by Athens against the Peloponnesian led by Sparta. Thucydides famously claims that the war started “because the Spartans were afraid of further growth of Athenian power, seeing as they did have the greater part of Hellas was under the control of Athens”. The two main protagonists from opposing sides Lysander and Alcibiades had the most influential impact on the end of the war. Lysander was appointed Spartan navarch for the Aegean Sea in 407 and undertook the major project of creating a strong Spartan fleet which could take on the Athenians and their allies. Lysander collected 70 triremes and took them to Ephesus; Lysander pitched camp there and ordered for merchant …show more content…

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Why Is The Peloponnesian War Inevitable

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The Athenian Assembly Of Build A Fleet Of Triremes

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Essay on The Peloponnesian War

• 6 Works Cited

Pericles, the Athenian leader, avoided land battles and concentrated on control of the sea. After Pericles' death, the Athenians signed a fifty year truce called the Peace of Nicias in 421. This provided that each side restore captured places and prisoners and remain at peace with each other. This was soon supplemented by an actual Athenian-Spartan alliance, which concluded for fifty years. The intention was chiefly to give each power a chance to put its own alliance in order while secure from an attack by the other. The war had been marked by numerous acts of brutality on both sides; prisoners had been slaughtered or enslaved, and agreements broken in a way that were shameful. (Winks)

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The Greeks closest to the Persian Empire after the war created the Delian League to protect them from the Persians. The Greeks chose the Athenians to lead them. The Spartans were originally asked to lead them, but the kind was very arrogant, so they retracted their offer. The Spartans then created the Peloponnesian League because they didn’t think the Athenians should lead the Delian League because they were getting too much credit for defeating the Persians in the war. The two leagues didn’t get along at all. This rivalry eventually turned into the Peloponnesian War. This war went on for about 30 years. After the war, the government changed in Athens.

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The large amount of fatalities in Athens caused the Athenian military to be greatly outnumbered by the forces of the Peloponnesian League. This series of defeats, both on land and at sea, eventually led to Sparta’s victory in a final battle in 405 B.C.E., which was located near Hellespont. Sparta required Athens to give up their battleships and naval forces, surrender their city and territories to Spartan rule and monitoring, and allow their walls leading to the port at Piraeus to be knocked down. The dominance of Sparta in ancient Greece was now clearly

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What were the causes of the Peloponnesian War

One of the most important wars in the Ancient World was the Peloponnesian War (431-404 BCE). The conflict was a long drawn out war between Athens and Sparta and their respective allies. It convulsed Greece and changed the course of the Classical world. The war ended the Golden Age of Athenian Culture and arguably weakened the Greek world forever. What was the cause of the Peloponnesian War? The origins of such a conflict are complex. The primary causes were that Sparta feared the growing power and influence of the Athenian Empire.

The Peloponnesian war began after the Persian Wars ended in 449 BCE. The two powers struggled to agree on their respective spheres of influence, absent Persia's influence. This disagreement led to friction and eventually outright war. Additionally, Athens and its ambitions caused increasing instability in Greece. The profoundly different Athens and Sparta societies were also a significant factor in the war’s outbreak, which also had an ideological aspect.

How did Athens's growing power threaten Sparta?

The origins of the Peloponnesian War lay in Greece's victory over the Persian Empire. The Greeks had combined under Sparta and Athens' leadership to defeat the Persians, then the most powerful empire in Asia. In the aftermath of the Persian Wars, the Greeks were unable to maintain their unity. Cultural and ethnic differences were driving the Greek world apart. People’s first loyalty was often to their Polis or local city.

While there was a definite sense of ‘Greekness’ and a common cultural heritage, it did not override the more local loyalties. [1] This notion of Greekness was not enough to overcome deep divisions within the Greek world. As soon as the Persians left, the Greeks immediately began to quarrel with each other. Sparta, a deeply conservative society, had opted out of Persia's war after their invasion was repelled. Athens continued the war against Persia, and it formed the Delian League. This League was an alliance of city-states and islands that vowed to continue the war against the Persians until they no longer represented a threat to their alliance. [2]

Over time the Athenians, who were the largest maritime power in the Aegean, dominated the Delian League. This era constituted the Golden Age of Athens and was concurrent with Plato, Socrates, and Aristotle's lives. Gradually, the Athenians began to turn the Delian League into an Empire. Athens used its superior navy to intimidate its allies, and they eventually became mere tributaries of the Athenians. Sparta soon became very suspicious of Athens's growing power. Sparta was the head of the powerful Peloponnesian League, comprised of several large city-states, including Corinth and Thebes. The League was very concerned about the Athenian fleet because it allowed Athens to dominate Greece's seas. Athens had also been turned into a formidable stronghold when the city constructed the ‘Long Walls.’ These walls connected the city with its port, Piraeus, allowed the city to supply itself, and made any siege of the city unlikely to succeed. [3]

Athens's growing ambitions led to tensions with its neighbors and eventually led to war. This conflict involved Athens and Corinth, with the latter receiving some support from Sparta. This war ended with a peace treaty and a ‘Thirty Years Peace.’ This treaty, in theory, guaranteed Athens and Sparta their respective spheres of influence. Corinth and other members of the Peloponnesian League were unhappy about Sparta’s lack of leadership. Some leading Spartans became concerned that their inaction would push the other major Greek powers to side with Athens. During the so-called thirty Year Peace, Athens grew ever stronger and in many ways arrogant, as seen in its increasing haughty attitude to its subject city-states.

How did the Peloponnesian War Start?

The underlying cause of the war was the rapid rise of the Athenians. They had grown from just another city-state into an Empire. It had transformed itself during and after the Persian Wars and became a major trading and maritime power. [4] It had developed into the greatest maritime power in the Greek world and could dominate the trade routes in the eastern Mediterranean. It had emerged as a great Empire in a quick period, and this upset the traditional balance of power. For many decades Sparta had been the greatest military power in Greece. Sparta's well-disciplined and much-feared army was the source of its military power. The Spartan Hoplite was considered the best soldiers in the Greek world. [5]

The rise of Athens meant that there were two great powers in the Greek world. These powers both had a network of alliances all over the Greek world and beyond. The Greeks became divided into a Spartan and an Athenian camp. [6] Athens and Sparta had different spheres of influence, as outlined in the ‘Thirty Year Peace’ treaty, and theoretically, this meant that they both could have lived in peaceful co-existence. Athens controlled Greece's coastal areas and the Greek islands, while Sparta, a land power, could control the Peloponnese. Despite this, Sparta grew increasingly fearful of Athens, and its main ally Corinth was actively encouraging it to attack Athens. [7]

In 440 BCE, Corinth urged the Spartans to wage war on Athens simultaneously as Cornith was suppressing a revolt on the island of Samos. The Spartan Kings were cautious and decided to avoid conflict with Athens at that time. However, the Thirty Years Peace was under increasing strain. In the Spartan assembly, they were growing alarmed at the growth of Athenian power. [8] As Athens seemed to be growing more powerful, there was a growing pro-war party in Sparta. They argued that the Spartans had to attack Athens before it became too powerful. The fear of Athens increasingly led the Spartans to prepare for war, even though there is no evidence that the Athenians had any designs on Sparta or its allies. [9] Additionally, there were those in Athens who believed that war should be welcomed. There was a strong ‘imperial’ party in Athens who believed that it was entitled to a great empire because of its role in the Persians' defeat. Sparta's concerns were not entirely unfounded.

The Greek historian Thucydides argued that Sparta's fear of Athens was the ultimate cause of the war. According to Thucydides, the growth of Athens's ‘power and the alarm which this inspired in Lacedaemon (Sparta) made war inevitable." [10] Thucydides believed that the Peloponnesian War was inevitable because when a rising power confronted another power, they would inevitably wage war against each other to further or protect their interests. [11] Some later historians have also argued that war was inevitable between the two greatest Greek powers. It is still widely held that in international relations, the growth of a nation-state or empire will inevitably lead to rivalry and war with an established power. [12]

Who fought in the Peloponnesian War?

The primary combatants in the Peloponnesian War were the city-states of Athens and Sparta and had allies that supported them during the war. The Spartans and the Athenians had radically different societies. Athens was a democracy, and it was very individualistic. The population played a significant role in politics, and indeed it was a fairly radical democracy for the time. The citizens (only free males) could directly vote on the affairs of the city. Sparta was almost the opposite of Athens in every way. It was a very stratified and conservative society. Two kings from two royal families ostensibly ruled it. [13] The kings shared power with a council of elders (Gerousia). Sparta society depended on a servile population. The helots toiled the lands of Lacodemia for their Spartan masters. [14] Sparta was a highly militarized society, and the need for a strong and well-disciplined army was the main concern of the state. The state took boys from their families and trained them from youth to be soldiers. The role of women was to produce good soldiers, and men were expected to be brave warriors.

The profound cultural and political differences between the two great Greek powers contributed to the war. They had real difficulties understanding each other, and this lead to mutual suspicions. Because of their different political systems and cultures, they were often ideologically opposed. Sparta favored the many oligarchies and distrusted the role of the common people in government. In contrast, Athens encouraged democracy and believed that it was the best form of government. [15] This ideological rivalry between Sparta and Athens did much to increase tensions in the run-up to the outbreak of the Peloponnesian War and was a contributing factor.

What event sparked the war between Athens and Sparta?

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The tensions between the Athenians and Sparta grew. Thucydides noted that many believed that war was only a matter of time and that the Thirty Years Peace Treaty would soon be broken by one side or the other. All Greece needed was a spark to start a war.

Thrace and Athens had a dispute and the Thracians, a Spartan ally, asked the Spartans for assistance. Athens decided to lay siege to the colony. The Athenians, at this time, were also in dispute with the small city-state of Megara. They unilaterally banned the ships of that Megara from its port and its allies. This became known as the Megarian Decree. Megara was a long-time Spartan ally, which was widely resented, as it was seen as an attempt to make Megara completely dependent on Athens.[16] This was not acceptable to Sparta, and they believed that if Megara came within the orbit of the Athenians, they would use the port to weaken their position in Greece.

Her allies supported Sparta and demanded that Athens withdraw the Megarian Decree, but Athens opposed it. Pericles, the Athenian Empire's de-facto leader, argued against such a move as it would only encourage the Spartans to make more demands. [16] Thucydides states that the Corinthians condemned Sparta's lack of action until then and warned them that they had remained too passive for too long. They demanded action. Sparta was concerned that if it displayed any weakness that this could lead to its losing its pre-eminent position in the Peloponnese League. [17]

The Athenians were extremely confident, and they knew that as long as they had their navy and their ‘Long Walls’ that they could not be defeated even if they could not beat Sparta and her allies on the battlefield. This strategy was recommended by Pericles to the Athenians and was much praised by Thucydides. Sparta began to contemplate war, but they seemed unwilling to declare war formally. Then the situation spun out of control when the allies of Sparta attacked the allies of Athens. The Spartans came to believe that they had no choice but to go to war. In 431 BCE, the senior Spartan king led an army into the countryside around Athens and laid it waste. This was the start of the great Peloponnesian War. According to Thucydides' writings, the early years of the war were a stalemate because the Athenians followed Pericles's cautious strategy. [18]

Later Athens, encouraged by Alcibiades, launched the Sicilian expedition to conquer Sicily during a lull in the fighting, known as the Peace of Nicias. This proved to be a disaster, which led to the loss of an Athenian army and navy. Remarkably, the Athenians continued to fight, and the Spartans needed Persian help to defeat them. [19] The destruction of the Athenian fleet at Aegospotami ended the war, and Athens surrendered the following year. Athens was forced to tear down its Long Walls and was fortunate not to be utterly destroyed.

What were the long-term effects of the Peloponnesian War on Greece?

The Peloponnesian War changed Greece in every way. Nothing was the same after the war, and Athens was never to be as powerful. The causes of the war are that the Athenian Empire upset the Greek world's balance of power. This greatly alarmed Sparta and its allies. Athens' aggressive policies did not help the situation- the city-state's ambitions certainly provoked the Spartans. Increasingly, the Spartans became very nervous about the growing naval and commercial power of Athens. At first, they resisted the calls of its allied to declare war on its arch-rival. Once Athens had issued the Megarian decree, it initiated a chain of events that led to the Spartan invasion of the Athenian territory. The big cultural differences between the two Greek powers was also a contributory factor to the increasing tensions that later exploded into an all-out war that consumed the entire Greek world.

• ↑ Kagan, Donald. The Outbreak of the Peloponnesian War (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1989), p. 56
• ↑ Kagan, p. 113
• ↑ Cawkwell, George. Thucydides and the Peloponnesian War (London: Routledge, 1997), p 67
• ↑ Hanson, Victor Davis. A War Like No Other: How the Athenians and Spartans Fought the Peloponnesian War . (New York: Random House, 2005), p. 56
• ↑ Cawkwell, p.115
• ↑ Hanson, p. 117
• ↑ Kagan, p. 134
• ↑ Kagan, p. 213
• ↑ Thucydides, The Peloponnesian War 1.67–71
• ↑ Kagan, p. 71
• ↑ Kagan, p. 115
• ↑ Thucydides, The Peloponnesian War 2.69–71
• ↑ Thucydides, The Peloponnesian War 6.6–11

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What caused the Peloponnesian War? – History and Major Facts

by World History Edu · May 10, 2024

The Peloponnesian War (431-404 BC), a protracted and complex conflict between the Athenian Empire and Sparta and its allies, fundamentally transformed the ancient Greek world. This war was not just a singular event with a straightforward cause but the culmination of mounting tensions and conflicts among various Greek city-states, centered around the rivalries between Athens and Sparta.

To understand the origins of this war, World History Edu explores a combination of political, economic, military, and ideological factors that played a role over several decades.

Prelude to War: The Rise of Athenian Power

In the aftermath of the Persian Wars (499-449 BC), Athens emerged as a formidable naval power. Under the leadership of statesmen like Themistocles and later  Pericles , Athens spearheaded the formation of the Delian League, initially a defensive alliance against Persia.

However, over time, this league transformed into an Athenian empire as Athens exerted control over its allies, often coercing contributions of money and ships and suppressing attempts at secession by force.

Athens’ burgeoning power, its control over a vast maritime empire, and its extraction of resources from the league’s members allowed it to build impressive monuments like the Parthenon, grow its navy, and maintain a high standard of living.

This display of wealth and military strength fostered resentment and fear among other Greek city-states, notably Sparta, which saw Athens as a threat to the autonomy and stability of the Peloponnesian League, an alliance it led that comprised most of the Peloponnesian states.

The Peloponnesian War was a protracted conflict from 431 to 404 BC between the Athenian Empire, leading the Delian League, and the Spartan Confederacy, or Peloponnesian League, ultimately resulting in a Spartan victory.

A brief history of Ancient Athens and how it became the birthplace of Western Civilization

Ideological and Cultural Divisions

The conflict between Athens and Sparta was not just political but also ideological. Athens was a democracy, priding itself on civic participation and freedom for its citizens—albeit with notable limitations on who was considered a citizen.

In contrast, Sparta was a conservative oligarchy that emphasized military discipline and austere living, governed by a dual kingship and a council of elders. These opposing ideologies contributed to mutual suspicion, as each city represented a starkly different vision of political and social order.

Economic and Strategic Factors

Economically, the two powers were also divergent. Athens depended heavily on trade and its naval supremacy to secure access to grain imports from the Black Sea region, making control of sea routes critically important. Sparta, largely an agrarian society, depended on the labor of a large population of serfs (helots) and feared the potential of helot revolts, which Athens could influence.

Strategically, the geographic positions of the two cities also influenced their relations. Athens could use its powerful navy to project power across the Aegean and beyond, affecting the interests of Sparta and its allies directly. Sparta, primarily a land-based power, found it challenging to counter Athenian naval dominance directly.

Trigger Events

The immediate causes of the Peloponnesian War can be traced to specific events that exacerbated the already high tensions:

• The Corcyraean Affair (433 BC): Corcyra (modern Corfu), a strategically located island, sought Athenian support against Corinth, a member of the Peloponnesian League. Athens’ decision to ally with Corcyra in the ensuing naval battle angered Corinth and alarmed Sparta with Athens’ expanding naval engagement.
• The Potidaea Crisis (432 BC): Potidaea, a Corinthian colony and a member of the Delian League, revolted against Athens with Corinthian support. Athens’ siege of Potidaea was another blow to Corinth and indirectly to Spartan interests.
• The Megarian Decree (432 BC): Athens imposed economic sanctions on Megara, another ally of Sparta, by excluding it from Athenian markets and ports. This decree significantly damaged Megara’s economy and was viewed by many as an overreach of Athenian power.

These events directly led to diplomatic crises, with Corinth pushing Sparta to take more decisive action against Athenian aggression to safeguard the autonomy of states within the Peloponnesian League.

The Ideological and Political Clash

The deeper ideological and political differences between Athens and Sparta made a peaceful resolution difficult. The Athenian embrace of democracy and imperial expansion was seen as a threat to the oligarchic and status-quo preferences of the Spartan leadership.

Furthermore, Pericles’ strategy of using Athenian naval power to exert control and collect tribute from the empire’s subjects was perceived as hegemonic and tyrannical by the Spartans.

The Outbreak of War

Diplomatic efforts to resolve these disputes failed, and in 431 BC, Sparta and its allies felt compelled to check Athenian expansion and influence by military means, leading to the formal outbreak of the Peloponnesian War.

The war unfolded in several phases, including a catastrophic plague in Athens, internal strife within allied cities, and a brief peace that ultimately collapsed, leading to more intense and destructive conflicts.

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Frequently Asked Questions about the Peloponnesian War

The Peloponnesian War, a pivotal conflict in ancient Greek history, raises numerous questions about its causes, major events, and lasting impacts.

Here are some frequently asked questions about the Peloponnesian War:

Why did the Peloponnesian War start?

The war began due to growing tensions and rivalry between Athens and Sparta. Key factors included Athens’ expanding power and influence through the Delian League, perceived threats to Spartan interests, and specific incidents like the Corcyraean affair and the Megarian Decree, which directly challenged Spartan hegemony and alliances.

What were the main phases of the Peloponnesian War?

The war is generally divided into three phases:

• The Archidamian War (431-421 BC): Named after the Spartan king Archidamus II, this phase was marked by Sparta’s invasions of Attica and Athens’ naval raids.
• The Peace of Nicias (421-413 BC): A temporary truce that failed to hold, with tensions and skirmishes continuing.
• The Ionian or Decelean War (413-404 BC): Characterized by more intense fighting, including Athenian campaigns in Sicily and Sparta’s increased naval power with Persian support.

The war was primarily caused by rising tensions between Athens and Sparta, driven by Athens’ growing power and imperial activities, which threatened Sparta and its allies. Image: Archidamus II.

Who were the notable leaders during the Peloponnesian War?

Key figures included Pericles, Cleon, and Alcibiades for Athens, and Archidamus II, Brasidas, and Lysander for Sparta.

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What was the outcome of the Peloponnesian War?

The war ended with a Spartan victory in 404 BC. Athens was forced to surrender, dismantle its empire, and undergo significant political changes, including a brief period of oligarchic rule under the Thirty Tyrants.

How did the war affect Greek society?

The Peloponnesian War had profound impacts, including massive loss of life, economic hardship, and political instability. It weakened the major Greek city-states, paving the way for increased Macedonian influence under  Philip II  and later, his son  Alexanderthe Great .

What were the famous battles Alexander the Great fought in?

What is Thucydides’ role in the history of the Peloponnesian War?

Thucydides was an Athenian historian and general who chronicled the Peloponnesian War in his work, “History of the Peloponnesian War.” His account is invaluable for its detailed analysis of the causes and events of the war and its insight into human nature and power politics.

The war had devastating economic and social impacts across Greece, leading to widespread poverty, the devastation of territories, and the weakening of Greek city-states, which set the stage for the rise of Macedonian power under Philip II. Image: Portrait of Philip II (1527 – 1958).

Were there any significant battles during the Peloponnesian War?

Several key battles shaped the course of the war, including the Battle of Syracuse, where a massive Athenian expeditionary force was destroyed, and the Battles of Arginusae and Aegospotami, which were decisive in crippling Athens’ naval capabilities.

What was the significance of the Sicilian Expedition?

The Sicilian Expedition (415-413 BC) was a massive Athenian military campaign against Syracuse, meant to expand Athenian influence in Sicily but ended in a catastrophic defeat, significantly weakening Athens.

What were the long-term effects of the Peloponnesian War on Athens and Sparta?

Athens, despite losing the war, eventually regained some of its democratic traditions and cultural prominence. However, its economic and military power was significantly diminished. Sparta emerged as the dominant Greek city-state but soon faced challenges managing its newfound power and maintaining stability, leading to its eventual decline.

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How did the war influence Greek philosophy and art?

The war influenced philosophical thought, notably in the works of Socrates, who questioned Athenian democratic values and decisions during and after the war. In terms of art, the war led to changes in themes, with increased reflections on human suffering and the darker aspects of human nature.

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Tags: Athens Delian League Greek City-States Greek Naval Battles Ionian War Military History Peace of Nicias Peloponnesian League Peloponnesian War Sparta Spartan Military Thucydides

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Peloponnesian War Essay

“Right, as the world goes, is only in question between equals in power, while the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must”, said Thucydides, the Greek historian and author of the History of the Peloponnesian War. Thucydides described the conflict between Athens and Sparta that ended the Golden Age. The war is called Peloponnesian, because it corresponded Sparta ’s alliance against Athens and the Delian League. According to historical records, there are enough reasons to say that it was more Athens’ fault. The evident includes emergence of innovation ideas that significantly affected the Athenian society, rejecting the ultimatum by Pericles, failure to negotiate peace with Sparta, rejecting a peace and attacking Spartan allies, …show more content…

These intellectual changes led to a political tension by harsh treatment of its own allies and economic sanctions against Sparta’s allies (Hunt 90). Athenians started to connect philosophical ideas to a nature of justice that influenced the perception of its foreign policy in general. The second fault from Athens’ that eventually became the reason of a beginning of the Peloponnesian War was a rejecting the ultimatum from Sparta. Sparta was alarmed by Athens’ rapid growing and started to get complaining from Corinth and Megara, crucial Spartan allies. Sparta’s leaders therefore gave Athens an ultimatum- stop mistreating our allies. However, Pericles convinced the Athenian voters to reject the ultimatum. Some Pericles’ critics claimed he was insisting on war against Sparta (Hunt 100). These disputes had shattered the peace treaty between Athens and Sparta. The next reason is the Athens’ failure to negotiate peace with Sparta when it had the chance. When Sparta made the first strike of the war, Pericles advised two strategies to win. The first one was using the navy to raid the lands of Sparta. Another one required a sacrifice of a valuable property. Athens’s people were supposed to stay behind the impermeable walls, but emergence of plague killed thousands of population as well as Pericles himself (Hunt

Thucydides And The Hellenes Summary

Interestingly, this war against Sparta, also known as the First Peloponnesian War, was due to the Athenians trying to unify all of Greece under a democracy. Pericles informs the people that they deomcratically voted to go war under his leadership and that if they keep fighting and directing rage to him and each other, that they would be their own undoing. He unifies the people to remember who their real enemy is and that they must all stay strong together and help each other stay

Government System: Athenians Vs. Spartans

Zareef Peeroo Tim Bailey October 15, 2014 Athenians vs. Spartans The differences between government, the role of women, and the education status of Athens and Sparta led to similar yet very different societies residing in the same area; therefor I will deconstruct these issues using an analytical comparative framework. In, Athens and Sparta, it shows all the differences between the Athenians and the Spartans. Although the two City States shared a common heritage, their differences grew so large in their own minds that they were ultimately willing to engage in a life-and-death struggle to support their separate realities (Spielvogel).

Pericles Strategies During The Peloponnesian War

Athens had the means to support the war due to the immense wealth and the resources remitted from Athenian colonies and allies. He figured that they would outlast the Spartans do to their limited wealth and resource base available to them. To ensure that the means of Athens were maintained, she was required “to keep a tight rein on their allies” since without their allies the support being provided and remittance of resources would dry up. During the Spartan raids into Attica in attempts to draw out the Athenian army, the ever present risk that was present to answer the raids due to the honor which called the people to defending their homes and lands. Pericles minimized the risk by not calling an assembly or meeting the people, which could reverse the strategy that he outlined.

Thucydides Grievances

The historian Thucydides described himself as a wealthy Athenian general whose exile to the Peloponnese allowed him to personally observe, from both the sides of the conflict, a comprehensive account of the Peloponnesian War. Book 1 in Thucydides’ “History of the Peloponnesian War” is dedicated to explaining over fifty years of the events and proceedings that led to the abandonment of the Thirty Year’s Peace and subsequent war. In Book 1 he identifies four main incidents, which I shall refer to as ‘grievances’, regarding the conduct of Athens towards both their Delian members and the Peloponnesian allies. Yet he also mentions what he deems to be a more ‘real’ truth than these four grievances that led to Sparta and the Peloponnese going to

Pericles Peloponnesian War Essay

In fact, Pericles dominated Athens Politics from 461 BCE to 429 BCE (Brand, n. d.). Basically, the whole Greek world including Athens and Sparta fought as a kind of "Greek World-War". Additionally, in 431 BCE, Pericles led Athens for the first series of Peloponnesian war against Sparta. While starting the war, the Athens was quite great in navy, good annual revenue of silver from the silver mines located at Attica, and the tribute payment from her empire.

Summary Of Pericles Objectives During The Peloponnesian War

The Athenian City State objectives had two different strategies during the Peloponnesian War. The first strategy set forth by Pericles’ was to the use the powerful Athenian Navy to preserve all current resources in the empire and to protect Athens. The second strategy which the established by the assembly supported by Cleon and Nicias was an offensive strategy in order to expand the growth of the empire however, it drained resources and exposed Athens to significant risk. Each strategy presented significant risks and levied different requirements on means and ways as Athenian leaders tried to protect and enhance the empire.

Surrounded By Glory: Pericles Impact On Society

Pericles’ actions shaped his society in a number of ways, socially economically and politically.

Thucydides Decisions In The Peloponnesian War

As a world-renowned Athenian historian and general, Thucydides famed history The Peloponnesian War recounts some of Athens’ and other Greeks’ most telling moments world powers. Thucydides, unlike his predecessor Herodotus, approaches his history with a generally detached and serious tone, yet his opinion does shine through his writing at times. Perhaps, the Athenians’ Sicilian Expedition (415 BCE- 413 BCE) sections in the histories features the most of Thucydides’ opinion on a particular subject sneaking into the text. The Sicilian Expedition began with Athens’ distant Sicilian allies seeking help from Athens for civil strife, and Athens eventually agreed to assist and sent numerous ships and troops under the command of Nicias, Alcibiades,

Peloponnesian War Rhetoric

Pericles explicitly describes how Athens is definitely equal to Sparta, and in fact better, because it has the supply of more troops. Pericles additionally explains Athens’s superiority in terms of its navy, citing that Sparta could never surpass it even if it gained enough supplies (1.143). In his funeral oration, Pericles also loquaciously praises Athens’s government and culture, even saying that the city is “the school for Hellas” (2.41.1). Pericles’s utilizes multiple examples to explain the greatness of Athens, suggesting the idea that this is a country any man should be willing to fight for. Additionally, Pericles infuses a persuasive rhetorical question in his oration: “Did not our fathers resist the Persians…and advance their affairs to their present height?

A Primary Text Analysis: The Funeral Oration Of Pericles

Pericles argues that Athens has become a model for others, and articulates what it is to be a good citizen. This can be seen when he says, “although the eyes of an enemy may occasionally profit by our liberality; trusting less in system and policy than to the native spirit of our citizens; while in education, where our rivals from their very cradles by a painful discipline seek after manliness, at Athens we live exactly as we please, and yet are just as ready to encounter every legitimate danger.” (Thucydides, 2.39) It proves that Ancient Athens’ valued greatness and worked in order to achieve the excellence of the state, by focusing on rebuilding themselves back up after the Persian war. Pericles played a big role in this because he showed his ambitions to rebuild Athens, which lead to the thriving of other subjects such as literature, philosophy, science, art, and religion.

Athenon Vs Sparta

The Spartans had a very conservative foreign policy, since they did not want to risk a Helot revolt while they were away at war. Spartan discipline did produce magnificent soldiers, inured to hardship and blind obedience to authority, but with little talent for original thinking or self-discipline. Thus, these huge differences between Spartans and Athenians made Peloponnesian War unavoidable. Thirdly, the effects of Peloponnesian War were devastating to the Greek society.

The Cultural Values Of Athens And Sparta

Athens and Sparta, located between the Aegean and the Ionian Sea, allied with each other in the Greco-Persian war. Due to the advanced and powerful navy of Athens incorporation with the well-built army of Sparta, they gained victory over the Persian Empire. After the victory, Athens gained wealth and dominance over the other Greek societies causing tensions between Sparta. They both share similarities towards their cultural background but had different views in creating an ideal society in addition to their state’s place in the world. Moreover, they differ from the concepts of a well trained or educated society and a well built military, but share similarities in their government format.

Night Figurative Language

Mark Haddon’s novel The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time outlines the struggles individuals with developmental disorders face that can be deemed a societal norm ( i.e. understanding social cues and using figurative language ). Unplanned routines or sudden changes in events can have an impact on the way the individual views the world around them—the novel stars 15-year-old Christopher, who has autism. Mark Haddon hints at this throughout the novel with key techniques like repetition, symbolism and metaphor. Christopher’s way of understanding the world is immediately brought to the reader in the first few chapters of the novel.

The Relevance Of Ron Chernow's Alexander Hamilton

Hamilton’s relevance is rooted in its ability to educate. Lin Manuel Miranda did not create a musical “inspired by” the life of one of America’s founding fathers, but rather created a musical that takes the facts of the life of one of the founding fathers and presents it in a new medium. By following the actual events of Alexander Hamilton’s adult life, Hamilton gives the audience the opportunity to experience a defining point in our country’s history in a way that crosses generational and educational barriers. Up until this point, educating yourself on the lives of the founding fathers would require reading historical accounts of their lives, like Ron Chernow’s Alexander Hamilton, or watching a documentary.

The Peloponnesian Civil War: An Analysis

Thucydides was an Athenian historian that wrote The History of the Peloponnesian War. His account of the conflict is considered a classic and is one of the earliest works of history. When analyzing his work, there are multiple ways to view it. It can be looked at as an objective piece of history that attempts to record the events that unfolded. But it can also be seen as a piece of literature that tries to tell a story and evoke emotion through symbolism rather than be a historical recording.

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Peloponnesian War: Summary, Causes, & Effects Research Paper

Introduction, major causes of the war, development stages of peloponnesian war, archidamian (431-421 bc), the peace of nicias, the sicilian expedition, consequences of the war, works cited.

The Peloponnesian war is still widely studied in the history of Western Civilization. It was the second war that lasted between 431BC and 404BC. Athens and her empires (Spartans) engaged each other fiercely in the war.

The main catalyst of the war was intense conflict that had dominated Athens and Sparta. The very conflict was also evident during the earlier wars in Persia (McKay et al. 205). The genesis and progress of the war was heavily documented by Thucydides. He attributed the rising Athens imperialism power as the major cause of the war. One of the devastating impacts of the war was witnessed in Athens.

The latter dismantled its empire, a move that divided the entire Greek state. The division left Greece powerless to prevent Persian Empire from reclaiming their Asian possessions (Encyclopedia Britannica (a) par. 8). Nonetheless, the works of an Athenian historian named Thucydides provides a lot of information on Peloponnesian war. Modern scholars have tried to make several interpretations to the war by critical reading of Thucydides account (Bagnall 122).

According to McKay et al. (555), any major war may be triggered by either known or unknown forces. In order to explore the rationale of this war, clhistorians have borrowed much from Thucydides’ writings. Thucydides, an Athenian General, wrote an account of the Peloponnesian War. However, some historians doubt if he ever took part in the war since some of his documented works are surprisingly vivid and coherent to qualify for a third-person narration (Encyclopædia Britannica (b) par.18).

According to Bagnall (122), the major cause of the war as accounted by Thucydides was the indiscriminate expansion of Athenian power. The increased power, presence and authority of Athenian were by far and large, linked to economic dynamism and Periclean Imperialism. Moreover, the increase in Athenian power instilled fear on Sparta.

The latter retaliated by developing a grudge that would eventually lead to war (Encyclopædia Britannica (a) par. 6). Besides, the Spartans had always enjoyed great power and since Athenians had overshadowed their presence in Peloponnesus, retaliation was the best way to go in order to resume the powerful position. According to McKay et al (566), the above explanation could be equated to Greek Culture at that time which viewed life as a perpetual struggle among human beings to gain advantage.

According to Thucydides, Sparta army had no reason to fear Athenian rise to power since their army was larger and well equipped. At the beginning of the war, the Spartan army was estimated at 2000 cavalry and 30,000 hoplites as compared to Athens who had only 1200 cavalry and 13,000 hoplites (Bagnall 182).

However, Athenian navy was stronger than Spartan although the interest of Spartans in the sea was limited. Their only passion was in Peloponnesus. As such, they had no reason to fear. According to Bagnall (192), the fear could be linked to Corinth, the Spartan leader who feared Athenian imperialism in contrast to fearing the size of the army. Imperialism had set a ground for Athens to compete on an equal basis with Sparta for Aegean and western colonies.

Investigation over the reliability of Thucydides account of the war has always interested some scholars who view him as a partisan of Athens and that his account could mislead the audience altogether. According to Encyclopædia Britannica( a, par.12), if indeed Thucydides was a partisan, his works could have hidden the fact that Athens was the aggressor.

In addition, other scholars have viewed the reason to be too simplistic to cause such an overwhelming war. Wars have always been associated with differing political and ideological beliefs between two opposing sides, but Thucydides account lack any explanation on the above factors (Encyclopedia Britannica (b) par. 6).

Bagnall (202) suggests that Thucydides may have been embroiled in a conflict that would have arisen between the supporters of democracy and oligarchy. In addition, the Dorian’s and Ionians cultural and racial differences were different and could be a basis of conflict. He refutes Thucydides as a reliable source of the event leading to the Peloponnesian war for it ignores the main ingredients that fuel any war (Encyclopedia Britannica (b) par. 12).

Thucydides used the events of the 50-year period before the war to arrive at his ideology of what would have sparked the war (Encyclopedia Britannica (b) par. 19). Bagnall (221) refutes Thucydides explanation since the historical events before the war were not enough to justify the war.

He perceives Thucydides account as an escape strategy since he could not personally understand why the war broke out. Thucydides account shows that Pericles had prepared for the war by assessing the strengths and weaknesses of Athenian army long before the Peloponnesian league (McKay et al. 596).

As a strategy to gain advantage over Athenians, Pericles had built a wall between Piraeus and Athens. In addition, he increased his reserve find with over 6,000 talents. According to (McKay et al. 616) the strategy was amount to cause conflict with other states. He adds that Thucydides could have accounted Pericles imperial ambition as another reason the colonies went to war.

McKay et al. (602) concludes that Peloponnesian war can be attributed to several factors rather than the mere fear created by Athenian imperialism. The conflicts that existed between Athenians and the Peloponnesian league are myriad. Hence, it is not possible to pin point a particular incident as the major cause of the war. He advocates that the causes of this war should be viewed as a complex string of related factors such as conflict between democracy and oligarchy.

Historians classify the war into three parts namely the Archidamian war (431-421 BC), the peace of Nicias and the Sicilian Expedition (420-413 BC) and the Ionian war (412-404 BC).

The Archidamian period war that spanned for ten years was named after a Spartan king, Archidamus. The honor was for his contribution to the cautious policy that the Spartans employed during the start of the war. It was also due to the fact that he had directly opposed going to war with Athens (Encyclopædia Britannica (b) par. 16).

The Archidamian stage saw each of the two opposing sides come up with strategies aimed at achieving victory in the war that each side hoped would be short (Bagnall 112). The Spartans adapted a traditional strategy that involved gathering a large and powerful hoplite army at Corinth’s isthmus. The hoplites would have guaranteed Spartans victory if Athens attacked while a reserve Peloponnesian army would guarantee attack Athens in Attica if they decided to hide behind the walls of Attica (Bagnall 121).

Spartans chose the above strategy as it has brought them victory in all the previous battles against their enemies. However, the Athens proved to be experienced in war a thing which made the war to prolong than each of the sides had anticipated. Athens had a big empire and held a supreme position at sea a situation that put them at an advantage, and thus could not be forced to surrender. The position also made them not to fall onto Spartans trick to fight back when their territories were invaded. The sea ensured they had a constant supply of grains and other commodities even if Attica was ravaged (Bagnall 122).

Pericles, on the other hand, exploited Athens strategic position and planned to gather his army inside Athens and deserted Attica to the enemy (Encyclopedia Britannica (a) par.17). His strategy was to lure the Peloponnesian army before the walls of Athens, and then attack their coastline at ease. Athens was at an advantage since the Peloponnesians could not carry on for long as they had to return home to harvest so they can refill their supplies (Bagnall 144).

During the first year, the strategies of the two sides seemed to be working since they proceed according to plan. Archidamus army invaded Attica but Athens remained adamant to attack (Bagnall 144). Spartan had invaded Attica in the hope that Athens hoplites would offer resistance of which they would attack fiercely and the plan was to end the war as soon as possible. Since no amount of provocation would make the Athenians hoplites to fight back, Peloponnesian had to retire and disperse after several weeks.

When they finally withdrawn, Athenians took the opportunity to equip a fleet of 100 ships and they raided Peloponnese. In addition, Pericles got his army out of Attica, and they raided Megarid as a revenge of Attica invasion (Encyclopædia Britannica (b) par.46). According to (Bagnall 145) their strategies of relying on attrition to win the war was what made it difficult to predict and measure how long the war would last, and if it would end in the first place.

The following summer saw the Spartans adapt a direct attack strategy. Led by their King Archidamus they invaded Attica and destroyed most of it (McKay et al. 662). The Athenians reacted to the attacks by attacking the Spartan navy, but their strategy was proving to be too expensive.

In addition, the Athenians got a blow when their leader Pericles died from a plague that claimed more a third of Athenian citizens (McKay et al. 615). The Spartans took the weakening advantage of Athenians, and attacked Plataea of which they managed to subside by 427 BC. The success victory to seize Plataea made the Spartans think they were winning the war, and a wrap up they invaded Attica again. However, their calculation was wrong, and Athenians suppressed the Lesbos revolt in 427 (McKay et al. 665).

They also embarked on a more aggressive attack where they invaded western Greece also managed to gain possession if Minoa island and in turn reclaimed a strategic position to the port of Megara. Under the leadership, of general Nicias Athenians succeeded to seize Isle of Melos, countryside of Tanagra and Locris, also tried to attack Westside of Greece to not avail (Bagnall 148).

As the war progressed, Athenians were receiving more courage to launch more daring attacks. The regained confidence drove them to invade the island of Sphacteria, and they captured 292 Spartan soldiers. They also adapted another strategy in an attempt to damage Spartan economy, where they built a fortress at Pylos from where they used to receive runaway slaves and helots (Encyclopedia Britannica (b) par. 28).

The war continued as each side tried to outdo the other and each attack led to disasters after another. It came a time when both sides saw the need for a peace treaty as no one was ready for surrender (Bagnall 149). The peace treaty was called the peace of Nicias. Athens had survived the Archidamian war and this did not settle well with Spartans who always viewed themselves as superpower. Another war was not far from being fought as Spartans would take any available opportunity to show their mighty.

Like any other conflict, the Peloponnesian war claimed lives, destroyed fortunes and eroded patience of both the Spartans and Athenians (McKay et al. 667). The harsh situation forced them to look for a chance to make peace agreements. The period is named after Nicias, the leader of Athenian as he was in charge of negotiating for truce (Bagnall 146).

After negotiations, a thirty years period was agreed on. The war was not to be ended but a call for a cease fire was initiated. However, this was never the case since violence erupted yet again. The period lasted for seven years only that was full of skirmishes (Encyclopedia Britannica (a) par. 28). During the peace period, Athenian was able to recruit many citizens into the navy and when they eventually found a leader another war was could not be prevented.

The new Athenian leader in the name of Alcibiades came up with another strategy to build up on his uncle’s strategy. Initially, Athens exploited the strategy of defense, but with Alcibiades on board Athenians could now figure out how to defeat Spartans (Bagnall 146).

The Athenians under the leadership of Alcibiades planned for the Sicilian expedition amidst strong opposition from Nicias because he did not trust his nephew. However, all his strategies to persuade the citizens to refuse the expedition fell on deaf years as Alcibiades who was a good speaker convinced the citizens to support the cause (Encyclopedia Britannica (b) par. 26).

As days progressed. there was nothing to stop the expedition and as a tradition Alcibiades and Nicias were elected the commanders of Athenian army, and another commander Lamachus to be the mediator incase of any differences between the two. The Athenian army that was sent to Sicily was very large almost exhausted their treasury (McKay et al. 592).

The expedition was doomed to fail from the onset since having been accused of a crime in the eve of the expedition; Alcibiades was arrested along the way. When he was being taken back to Athens for charges, he managed to escape in the sea and later joined the Spartans side where he gave them all the secrets of the expeditions (Bagnall 148).

Athenians had made a gross error to withdraw Alcibiades while he was the key architect behind the expedition. There were several setbacks that commenced when they failed to attack Syracuse (Bagnall 132).

In the process of assaulting Syracuse, Lamachus was killed leaving Nicias a lone leader. Nicias was not a good leader when it came to conducting invasion as he only excelled in defense. He was slow and missed several great opportunities, which led to many of his mean being killed. Back home the Athenian assembly had heard of the devastating news and they sent him more men for reinforcement (McKay et al. 658).

Athenian army was ill equipped, and they could not win the war. Thus, they concentrated to keep their fleet save to take them back to Athens. However, Nicias kept postponing their departure from Syracuse, and the Spartans ambushed their fleet cutting off any transport back home (Encyclopedia Britannica (b) par. 22). The Athenian army adequately short of supplies resorted to cross to Sicily, which were their sympathizers.

However, this was not to be as Spartans laid an ambush for them as they were crossing the river. They slaughtered most of them, capture the rest and enslaved them. It is reported that very few Athenians navy made it home. The Sicily expedition which is recorded in Greek history because of the large number of the army involved, ended in defeat for the Athenians (Bagnall 138).

The war turned out to be a catastrophe for Athens. She lost her empire and also never regained any political influence in the region (Encyclopedia Britannica (a) par. 36). However, she managed to preserve her wealthy status in the region. On the hand, Spartan won the war but was ill equipped to deal with the victory phase.

The expertise of her leaders and the governance structure were not appropriate to the big region (Encyclopedia Britannica (b) par. 18). It never built a new empire, and her attempt to lead Greeks failed. The defeat of Athens left Greece disunited, and vulnerable to future attacks. Scholars equate the Athenians defeat as a Greece defeat as only she was capable of creating a united Greece (McKay et al. 694).

Bagnall, Nigel. The Peloponnesian War: Athens, Sparta, and the Struggle for Greece. New York, NY: Thomas Dunne Books, 2006. Print.

Encyclopedia Britannica (a). Ancient Greek civilization , 2011. Jun. 23 2011, web. < https://www.britannica.com/place/ancient-Greece >.

Encyclopedia Britannica (b). Peloponnesian War . Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, 2011. Jun. 23. 2011, web. < https://www.britannica.com/event/Peloponnesian-War >.

McKay, P. John et al. A History of Western Society (9 th ed.). Urbana-Champaign: Bedford/St Martin’s, 2008, Print.

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