Ancient Greece: The Peloponnesian War

Influence by small independent communities, warring, allowed invaders and was difficult for people to develop a sense unity - GREECE

One of the problems was that the "Greeks lived in independent communities or societies isolated from each other." As stated in Document five, Also stated in document five "Later these communities were organized into polesis or city-states. " The natural boundaries were hills and mountains and there was many of them in Greece. " Also, when Greece was attacked by a different country or civilization like Persia most of Greece would unite together. " That's what the first negative effect it had on ancient Greek Civilization, now on to the second negative

The Greco-Persian War and the Great Peloponnesian War had many similar and different causes; Athens violated treaties and interfered with the economy while offending their adversaries’ politics.

Greek civilization had continuous development throughout history. They were considered to have had the most direct association with western civilization and most influential impact on human development and its continued practices. The Grecians also built an empire, developed numerous art forms such as literature, pottery, architecture and won numerous wars against the Persians and other invaders. For many centuries Greece had to fight to survive and defend their land but getting to the point of being victors of the Persian war they had to overcome and endure lots of challenges. Winning the Persian war was not an easy win for the Grecians, it took lots of labor and the formation of alliances working together with a common goal.

The Peloponnesian War was an ancient Greek war fought by the Athenians against the Spartans. The Peloponnesians’ city-states under control of the Spartans. These two great city-states found themselves in a controversy over who should be in control over the Eastern Mediterranean. As Thucydides a Greek historian and general wrote in his history of the war, “In my view the real reason, true but unacknowledged, which forced the war was the growth of Athenian power, Spartan fear of it” (Tucker). But, ultimate trigger of the war was when Athens’ acted aggressively towards Corinth, who is an ally of the Spartans.

The two dominating Greek city states, Sparta and Athens, have there own strengths that make them the strongest throughout Greece. Sparta is "located in the southeastern Peloponnesus, in an area known as Laconia" (Spielvogel 53). Athens is on the peninsula of Attica (Geography). Sparta is know for their immense military might (Spartan Military). Athens is known better for their "leading naval force in Greece" (Women of the Ancient World). Their government systems were very different but very effective. Each Greek state was able to conquer a lot of land using different tactics. This brings up the thought that every country or state could be effective if all the people supported the cause. Political correctness however tends to breed idiots. With this being said, unenforced laws leads people to start thinking that they can get away with whatever they want or better yet, defy the lawful order of an officer. This can than become deadly and spread, until it cripples the system and a new one takes over. What does this new system believe in? Are they idea 's that are realistic? Or are they the idea 's of tree-hugging hippies who thinks everyone is going to "play ball." Well little does the tree-hugging hippie know, is that "The Man" who was "keeping him down" actually did know what he was talking about. Maybe the thirty plus years of military experience wasn 't complete garbage. Maybe it was keeping him and his family safe from the psychopaths and terrorists that

The Peloponnesian War brought disease, destruction, famine, widespread civil wars, and a huge loss of life. The war was a complete catastrophe for Athens, who never fully regained their empire back. Sparta won the war, but they didn’t become a great city and a new empire was never built. Sparta attempted to lead the Greeks, but soon fell short and new leaders were called forth.

During the era before Classical Greece Sparta and Athena had different paths because Sparta had two kings and an oligarchic government, while Athens had instituted democracy. Sparta treated men to be warriors and women could have their own properties, while in Athena men were trained to be public speakers and women had only several rights. Despite the differences they joined to a war against Persia, and after that there was a Peloponnesian war between the two poleis, where Athena lost, at the end, Sparta, Athena and Thebes each took turn on the dominant Greek power. One interesting fact is also that the buildings that they built had a political purpose also to celebrate civil power and pride.

They shared rules and laws and even signed a peace treaty, promising peace between one another. The two states also introduced one another to their allies and brought them together to create the Delian League (Esler, 128). The league further bound their alliance and tightened their friendship. However as time grew, a civil war was brewing and piece-by-piece the concoction began to show. One of their differences was their way of doing things. The Spartans were a much fiercer group; they were the strength of the alliance (Kagan, 150). They had a large army, which served as a greater power on land. Yet, the Athenians were just as strong, however their strength was their navy. Having the disadvantage, the Athenians represented more of the brains than the brawns in the friendship. This caused the, balance the Athenians had their strength and the Spartans had theirs, however, this balance was exceptionally fragile; it was bound to be broken. Although they were destined to have problems they continued to stay strong for a few years, neither attempted to truly over power one another. However, it was the subtle effort to show their strength that put the first strain on their friendship. In 440 B.C., Corinth, one of the Spartan allies, was in a war with an Athenian ally, Corcyra. The battle was long and hard, both allies were matched with one another, and after a few years Corinth was pulling ahead (Peloponnesian War, 2). Eventually Corinth was at the brink of domination, but just

The Peloponnesian War was a battle between Athens and Sparta for about 30 years. Athens controlled a mass empire with a dominant Navy; however by the end of the war Athens lost their empire and lost control. There are many reasons how this conflict started and how it escalated. In the end both powerful empires fall after many years of fighting.

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.

The Peloponnesian War pitted the Athenians against the Spartans. The Peloponnesians’ were an alliance of city-states controlled by Sparta. These two powerful city-states became locked in a struggle for dominance of the eastern Mediterranean area. The roots of the conflict and in particular this expedition is highly complex. As Thucydides says in his history of the war, the underlying cause was Spartan fear of Athens' expansive power. But, the triggering event was Athens' aggressive behavior towards Corinth, an ally of Sparta.

Throughout the Ancient Greek world, there have been many wars and standoffs. However, there has been only one which changed the course of Greek history forever; the Peloponnesian War. Caused by the growing tension between Athens and Sparta, it came and left, leaving only destruction in its wake. The defeat of Athens in the Peloponnesian War caused the downfall of Greece, and the end of the Classical Age.

The geography of Greece affected its development because of the various islands and mountainous ranges there could not have a central government like Rome. They had polis’ or city states. A strategic political organization tool to control the many islands. The Mediterranean sea, mountains, islands, and climate isolated divided Greece into city states, virtually This led to a personal form of government which was an early form of democracy. City states came in various sizes, ranging from a few thousand inhabitants to a size of Athens. Each Polis was each fiercely independent and jealous of each others leading to fighting. But on the other hand the whole greek civilization was created on the Aegean Sea with deep pitted coastlines creating natural harbors. Making trade that much easier. Greece couldn't trade overland so the need to import and export goods oversee was needed. Greece imported metals, woods, and food from all over Cyprus, Egypt, Sicily. etc. Greece

The Classical Age of Greece was filled with cultural,political, and architectural achievements, in addition to warfare. The geography of the mainland of Greece was mountainous and it contained many islands. Greece is surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea causing the people to be able to trade with others. Trade played a major role in the Greece and the had a market place called “Agora” were many things took place. At the Agora merchants could sell their goods, craftsmen could make and sell their products, could citizens hear announcements, and discuss politics. During the classical age of Greece there were city-states. City-states have their own governments, way of doing things, army, and navies. They shared the same language, beliefs in the same God, the way they worshipped their Gods, and they all considered themselves Greek. All the city-states in Greece shared the same religion, they were polytheistic meaning they believed in many Gods. Some of their Gods are Zeus, Poseidon, Hades, and many more. Even so, they were loyal to their own city-state.