The Peloponnesian War was a 27 yearlong war fought between Athens and Sparta. Both Athens and Sparta were leaders of their own leagues, Athens and the Delian League and Sparta with the Peloponnesian League. War broke out after Athens failed to adhere to the 30 years treaty, plus ever since its growing size and economic wealth Athens had been acting more like a bully and less like a civilized city-state but anger amongst Sparta and Athens allies only made war more inevitable. Thucydides, who served as a general in the Peloponnesian war stated in his recount of the war, “ The growth and the power of Athens, and the alarm which this inspired in Sparta, made war inevitable.” Once war had officially begun Pericles, the Athenian leader, suggested …show more content…
Although not much different from the Greek themselves, they stilled viewed and considered them semi-barbaric and backwards by Greek standards. The Macedonians were a distinct race but their only difference from the Greeks was how far behind they were in regards to civilization. Some proof to their differences or the way the Greeks viewed the Macedonians starts with their king. The king of Macedonia Phillip II, who reigned from 359-336BCE, was somewhat obsessed with the Greeks and their way of life. He thought the Greeks were the best people in the world and truly loved all things Greek. He married a Greek woman, had a son and did whatever he needed to do in order for him to compete against the Greeks in the Olympics. But although Phillip greatly admired them, he did not hesitate to conquer their land. I feel as though the Hellenistic empire fits with the overall history of the Greek people because of the great fall of Greece to Phillip and Macedonia. Phillip took advantage of Greece once they became exhausted of resources and money after the Peloponnesian War and because of this the Hellenistic empire should be more correctly called the Macedonian empire. Macedonian was able to conquer many areas under Greek rule such as Thessaly and many others. After this, Phillip
Greece was a very high-class civilization, where the government was based on city-states. Perhaps their greatest invention of all was the form of government they came up with, which we still use today-democracy. However these Greek democracies are nothing like our democracy today. The probably most well known ruler of Greece was Alexander the Great. He was the leader of Macedonia, the city-state that took control over Greece, and he eventually gained control over Greece as a whole. Alexander the Great was probably the best leader of all time in Greece. He conquered new lands, but he was the first person to adopt the new land's customs, instead of forcing his customs on the new territory. This is why many of the civilizations he conquered actually were glad he took them over. He also encouraged his soldiers to marry the women from the new territories to show cultural involvement.
In 431 B.C., even before the Peloponnesian War, Athens’ strength compared to other Greek polises was evident. Athens had islands, a powerful, a well-trained navy, and one, if not the best, general at the time: Pericles. Pericles says in his speech that, “war is inevitable,” but in fact the war was preventable (72). Even with all of the military strengths and assets that Athenians had afforded to them, they chose to be merciful to the Peloponnesians who were in no shape to go to war. They did not have the experience, money, manpower, or means to participate in a lengthy war and Pericles makes the citizens aware of this (70). Pericles is both modest and humble for choosing to point out these facts which in turn helps the Athenians see the potential
The Peloponnesian war lasted from 431 to 404 B.C. and was profoundly influenced by two Athenian men, Pericles and Alcibiades. Though Pericles and Alcibiades were related by blood they were quite different. Pericles was a diplomat, he approached matters with a level head and tried to find a solution that did not end in bloodshed. Alcibiades was less stable, he either fought, manipulated, or ran when confronted with a problem. Both men spoke eloquently enough to move almost the entire city of Athens, using their words to bend people to their will. What was different between them was what their will was, one cared about the city and its wellbeing, the other cared about his own wellbeing.
Undeniably, the ancient Greek society places a heavy emphasis on values and traditions. The two texts of the “Clouds” by Aristophanes and “History of the Peloponnesian war” by Thucydides, although contextually divergent, are actually conceptually convergent. Both texts are built around the central theme of the collapse of conventional values. While the breakdown of traditional values in the “History of the Peloponnesian war” is presented in a more metaphorical and symbolical manner, the downfall of conventional values in the “Clouds” is on a more direct basis. Although both texts essentially convey across the same solemn message that the relinquishment of
The Peloponnesian War started on April 25, 431 BC and it started because Sparta called on the other greeks to help to quell a helot uprising so Athens sent 4000 soldiers but Sparta rejected. The Athens felt offended and they stopped alliance with Sparta. So in 433 BC Athens placed a ban on trade but Athens high taxes caused a weakening of the Delian League. So Sparta declared war to stop the taxes.
The Peloponnesian War between the city-states of Athens and Sparta (and their respective allies) lasted from 431-404 BC. Conflicts between the two cites dated back further, however, with
of events which I am going to look at to see if there was a single
The Peloponnesian War was the turning point in Athenian hegemony in Ancient Greece. It was fought in 431 B.C. between the Delian League, led by Athens, and the Peloponnesian League led by Sparta. According to Thucydides, Athens’ imposing hegemonic status and its overwhelming quest for more power made the Peloponnesian War and Athens’s eventual fall from power inevitable. Despite the Athenians having a far more superior navy and being considerably wealthier, they were defeated and made subjects of Sparta. In this paper, I will discuss Thucydides’ and Socrates’ reasons for why
At the age of twenty Alexander the Great inherited the great Macedonia empire. Ian Worthington article How “Great” was
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 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 year was 359 BC. Greece, though weary from constant internal struggling still had supreme power over the Hellenistic world. Persia, though it had suffered large setback in the Persian Wars more then a century before was still a menacing force. The Barbarian State of Macedon was led by warrior kings who aspired to be Greek, yet ruled over a feudal society that was as multicultural as any of its time. Good morning Miss Boeston and class. Today's seminar will conclusively prove to you the statement that "Philip II of Macedon was responsible for the rise to greatness of the Macedonian Empire in the Fourth Century BC" by examining several issues associated with Philip's rule.
There are two main periods in Greece history, Hellenic and Hellenistic period. They have some similarities but they are significantly different. Many people believe that the Classical era is the most impressive due to the success in literature, science, philosophy and architecture, which does not mean that the Ancient Greece is less significant. While in Hellenic era they saw rising and falling of the polis in Hellenistic era it was more about war and fighting for among the prevailing dynasties. The thing that they have in common is that they were consistent in discovering new philosophies and science also decreasing the role of gods.
The Peloponnesian war was fought between the two city states in ancient Greece, being Athens and Sparta. These two cities had alliances that, between them, included close to every Greek city-state. The Peloponnesian war was inevitable because Athens was too hungry for power, and tried to take total control of Greece. Athens’s growth in military and economic power led to the beginning of a bloody war.