Peloponnesian War
Basics Fought between Athens and Sparta Occurred 27 years after the Persian Wars
Pre-War Athens Major power after the defeat of the Persians Ruler = Pericles Rebuilt Athens Helped usher in a golden age
Delian League Athens formed an alliance with other city-states Purpose = protect Greece from future invasions Athens’ role = provide naval & land forces in the case of an invasion Initial successes: Expelled the remaining Persians from Greece Helped expand trade Result = Athens gained a lot of power & dominated smaller city-states They also spent a lot of the league’s money on themselves
Pre-War Sparta Belonged to the already formed Peloponnesian League After the Persian Wars, Sparta focused on preparing to attack a new enemy New enemy = Athens Why? Athens was growing very powerful & wealthy, which the Spartans saw as a major threat
War Breaks Out Sparta declares war on Athens in hopes of weakening them and increasing their own influence throughout Greece Athens hopes to weaken Sparta and continue to dominate Greece Athens began to lose supporters from the Delian League & eventually had to fight alone
War Strategy Sparta = launch a direct attack on Athens Athens = barricade everyone inside the city walls and attack Spartans as they approach
Attack Sparta launched a full siege & destroyed the surrounding farms to prevent food from entering Athens Sparta allied with their old enemy Persia (King Cyrus II) Duration = 2 years Athenians began dying from a quickly spreading plague Sick and without food, Athenians began asking for peace with Sparta
Results Athens surrenders due to the horrible living conditions & death inside the city Sparta wins the war & returns home
Post-War Athens Falls under the rule of bad leaders People began losing faith in democracy Golden age ends
Post-War Sparta Left weak from the countless years of fighting (including the Persian Wars) Lacked cultural, economic & political advancements it needed to dominate over Greece
Post-War Greece Almost all mainland city-states were left destroyed Jobless men became mercenaries Mercenaries = hired soldiers in foreign armies Greeks lost all power to govern themselves Taken over by the Macedonians, invaders from the north Macedonians will create a new, extremely large empire
What can be learned from the Peloponnesian War?
What might have been different if Athens had won the war?