1. The Peloponnesian War

3. Sparta-Athens Rivalry
Peloponnesian League
Peloponnesus = large peninsula in southern Greece
Members: Sparta, Corinth, Elis
Delian League
Association of 173 city-states led by Athens after defeating Persia

4. Rising Tensions
460 BCE – Athens employed strategy of “Long Walls” (linking city to port at Piraeus)
Sparta interpreted this as a sign of Athenian aggression
448 BCE – Fighting between Sparta and Athens
447 BCE – Thirty Years Peace treaty signed

5. Prelude to War: Athens and Corinth
Athens kept Corinth’s merchants away from profitable trade of Aegean area
Athens began to interfere with Corinth’s colonies
Accused of breaking peace treaty with Sparta

6. Athens Prepares
Pericles knew Attica (greater Athens) could be invaded yearly by the more powerful land army of the Spartans
Arranged for importing food and refuge in the Long Walls
Athenian fleet was strong
and could raid the coast of
the Peloponnese at will
Surplus in Athens’ treasury
Prospect for victory looked
sure

7. Archidamian War: BCE
Sparta launched repeated invasions of Attica
Athens took advantage of its naval supremacy to raid the coast of the Peloponnese attempting to suppress signs of unrest in its empire
Period of war concluded in 421 BCE, with the signing of the Peace of Nicias
50 year truce
Treaty soon undermined by renewed fighting in the Peloponnese

8. Plague! Plague struck Athens in 430 BCE (2nd year of war)
In cramped, unsanitary conditions of the city
walls, disease spread rapidly
In two years,
1/3 of Athenians
died, including
leader Pericles

9. Sicilian Expedition: 415-413 BCE
Athens dispatched a massive expeditionary force to attack Syracuse (Spartan ally) in Sicily
Attack failed disastrously with the destruction of the entire force

10. Decelean or Ionian War: 405-404 BCE
Sparta, now receiving support from Persia, supported rebellions in Athens’ subject states in the Aegean Sea and Ionia
Undermined Athens’ empire and deprived city of naval supremacy
Destruction of Athens’ fleet at Aegospotami effectively ended the war and Athens surrendered

12. Significance: Reshaping Greece
International Relations
Athens, strongest city-state in Greece prior to the war, was reduced to state of near-complete subjection
Sparta became leading Greek power
Economic Costs
Poverty became widespread in the Peloponnese
Athens found itself completely devastated and never regained its pre-war prosperity
Social Changes
Conflict between democratic Athens and oligarchic Sparta (each with friendly political factions in other states) made civil war common in the Greek world
Peloponnesian War marked the dramatic end to the 5th Century BCE Golden Age of Greece

13. Peloponnesian War… in song!