Athens: The First Peloponnesian 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.

Athens and Sparta were both dominant powers in ancient Greece. However, a legendary rivalry existed between the two. When Athens ended its alliance with Corcyra in 433 B.C. and began to surround Potidaea, it threatened Corinth’s position. Sparta feared that Athens was becoming too powerful and tried to avert war. The Spartans believed that peace was possible if the Athenians would revoke measures against Sparta's ally, Megara. The Athenian leader, Pericles, refused to concur with this because Sparta and Athens had earlier agreed that conflicts would be solved by negotiation. If the Athenians would yield to Sparta's request, they would in fact be accepting Sparta’s orders. This was unacceptable, and as a result, war broke out. Athens and its Delian League were attacked by Sparta and its Peloponnesian League. Diodorus mentions that the Spartans did not just declare war, but sought additional support from Persia.

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.

Thucydides is known as one of the first historians to portray events that took place in his own words and thoughts during the ancient Greek period. His writing focuses on Greek history that captures events that happened in this age. Thucydides main focus in his writing was on the military, this includes famous battles such as the Peloponnesian war, as well as the political events that had occurred during his era of journalism. The war between Sparta and Athens was also another war that Thucydides tells us about at his point of view. But the main war that he shows us where the most political and physical battles took place was the Peloponnesian war (Morris). The events that

Additionally, the Peloponnesian War, from 431– 404 B.C., was a definitive battle in ancient Greece amongst Athens and Sparta. It demolished Athens, in any event for a period. The competition between Athens' sea space and Sparta's property domain was of long standing. Athens under Pericles (from 445 B.C.) had turned into a bastion of Greek vote based system, with an outside approach of frequently mediating to help neighborhood democrats. The Spartans, who favored theocracies like their own, loathed and dreaded the government and social domination of Athens (“Peloponnesian War”). Sparta feared Athens so exponentially that Spartan leaders believed war was the only solution to preventing the further dominance and expansion of Athenian democracy. Post-war, Sparta did achieve the temporary land-dominance and territory it hoped for, until it was overthrown by Thebes among the Corinthian War. Conclusively, the production of war due to threatening nearby civilizations lead to temporary reward, yet it directly caused another fierce, destructive war years later.

The Peloponnesian War began in 431 BC between the Spartans and Athenians. The war was instigated by how Athens was gaining power, wealth, and prestige. The surrounding polishes became hostile and malicious towards Athens, Sparta included. Instead of pursuing an end to the hostility and conflict through diplomatic means, the leaders of Athens and Sparta both were for the beginning of a war. Each polis believed they had the upper hand and superior strategy and military. In time, war was declared between the two polises. The

While the war may have been over, relations between Athens and Sparta continued to go sour. Athens continued to grow in power, and was beginning to pose a threat to Sparta and the Peloponnesian League. A series of conflicts occurred during the “Thirty Year’s Peace” that pushed Sparta and Athens to war again. For example, Athens intervened in a dispute between a colony and a city-state during the Corinth-Corcyra War. Corcyra (the city-state) was backed by Athens, while Epidamnos (the colony) was backed by Corinth. This persisted for a few years until the Corinthians abandoned their campaign, but this would not be the last time that Athens would clash with Corinth. Not long after, a Corinthian colony called Potidaea revolted from its

What a society considers fighting, and dying, for says a lot about that society. Homer’s The Iliad, and Thucydides’ The History of the Peloponnesian War are both centered on some of the largest wars that their authors knew about. In the case of The Iliad, this war started when Paris offended the honor of the Spartan king, Menelaus, by taking Helen, the king’s wife. This is just an example of the culture of the times because, right from the start, the Greeks of Homer fight for their honor. Thucydides lived during the Peloponnesian War, hundreds of years after Homer. During those hundreds of years, war itself had fundamentally changed. In The History of the Peloponnesian War, honor was still important, but the war’s main purpose was much more tangible. The main cause of the Peloponnesian War was Athens’ desire for more land, more tribute states, and, most importantly, more power. Both of the works deal largely with why the people in them think the wars are worth fighting. In the case of The Iliad, the battles, both for the states and the people fighting, are fought for honor, while in The History of the Peloponnesian War, Athens fights for the power of her empire.

Connor McHugh Latin I April 27, 2015 Mr. Minio Spartan Society and Social Organization as the Decisive Factor in the 1st Peloponnesian War The Peloponnesian War was fought in the 5th century B.C. by the Delian League, led by Athens, and the Peloponnesian League, led by Sparta. After nearly three decades of violent and highly strategic battle, surely the more dominant force came out victorious. This war was a reality check, as well as a test of brute strength and military ability. After a partnership as allies in a previous war, several differences and the willingness to be the best resulted in the two parting ways suddenly and the situation escalating quickly. Several factors resulted in the naming of the

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.

Thucydides was born around 460 BC and will live until 404 BC. Unfortunately, when dealing with ancient civilization it can be hard to find meaningful records and artifacts. Not a lot is known about Thucydides and his life because of this. He lived in Athens and his father was Olorus. In 424, he will be elected strategos and will later be sent to Amphipolis to try to stop an attack by the private Spartan army lead by Brasidas. However, he will be too late and the city will have already fallen and will be recalled and exiled from Athens for 20 years. He was old enough to understand the importance of the Peloponnesian War and to be able to record it. His work “The History of the Peloponnesian War” will record the political and moral aspects and

Between the First and Second Peloponnesian Wars Pericles and Athens was involved in many conflicts. A major one of the interwar period was the Second Sacred War. The root of this short conflict was Athens desire to return control of Delphi to its ally the City-State of Phocis. control the Oracle of Delphi Pericles was involved in was the Second Sacred War. During this war Pericles led the Athenian army against Delphi and reinstated Phocis in its sovereign rights on the oracle. Another one occurred in 447 BCE Pericles engaged in his most admired excursion, the expulsion of barbarians from the Thracian peninsula of Gallipoli, in order to establish Athenian colonists in the region. At this time, however, Athens was going through internal problems.

The Peloponnesian war began in 431BC and lasted until 404BC, it was fought by Athens and the Peloponnesian League was led by Sparta. Thucydides is clear about the cause of the war, he states the growth of Athenian power scared Sparta having them begin the war. Athens did not have a choice and yes with better hindsight this war could've been avoided. The Athenians had no choice but to fight back, Pericles favored the war and was really the only voice of Athens. Athens was in ruins and the people of Athens had to build their city from the ground up. Sparta was worse off; they had lost a majority of their men during the war to Athens. The main cause of the Peloponnesian war was the fear Sparta had towards Athens growth in power, that is the

In his historical account of the Peloponnesian War, Thucydides highlights the historical significance behind the participants of the Melian Dialogue and how their actions contributed to the overall canon of inter-state relations. During this time period, in an attempt to acquire resources for their ongoing fight in the Delian War, the nation-state of Athens turned their attention to the island of Melos as a source of potential resources. After their arrival, the Athenians declared that unless the Melian give tribute to the war effort, their invading army would not hesitate to decimate the area. However, despite Melian attempts to appeal to the Athenians, compromise was futile, and the population of the island was ultimately slaughtered.

What factors does Thucydides text History of the Peloponnesian War define as the causality for the Peloponnesian wars?