What Is The Peloponnesian War?

Good morning/afternoon students. Today I am going to be talking about the Peloponnesian war and why it was inevitable.

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.

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

FACTS Athens maintained some success. The Spartan King Archimedes II lay siege to the city revolt of Plataea, and the Athenians were able to hold out there until 427, when the city fell. It was during this time that , incited by the Spartans, took place at Mytilene. The second stage of the Second Peloponnesian War lasted from 421 to 413, and saw battles in Syracuse and Sicily.

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.

of events which I am going to look at to see if there was a single

The Delian League was created by the Athenians, and was an alliance between the poleis in an attempt to protect themselves against the Persians. The Athenians became oppressive and began sending garrisons to the other poleis. They destroyed any allies that wanted to remove themselves from the alliance. The Athenian goal of taking control over the entire Mediterranean region made other poleis anxious, and Sparta, the only other superpower of the Greek world, now removed itself from the league in 431 BCE. This ignited the Peloponnesian War that lasted for 27 years. It was known that Sparta had the stronger army and Athens had a more advanced navy, so Pericles developed a plan for the Athenians. The Athenian population would be placed within

The Peloponnesian War actuated a series of political and social changes that substantially altered the hegemonic balance in Greece that would have far reaching consequences for Western Civilization. Moreover, the Peloponnesian War represented not only the nadir of Greek morality, but, the apogee of the Spartan mirage of invincibility and domination. For the Spartans, winning the Peloponnesian War was a catastrophe that culminated in the atrophy of the Spartan system as well as the perpetual irrelevancy of the Spartan polis in the Greek world. According, to Ober “the real, original Sparta broke with a sharp snap because it could not bend.”

The spark that ignited the Great Peloponnesian War was a civil war at Epidamnus, between Corcyra and Corinth. The Corcyraeans had a fleet that was second in size to that of Athens, and the Athenians feared that its capture by Corinth would threaten the Athenian Empire. As a result, the Athenians made an alliance with Corcyra that angered the Corinthians. In the summer of 432 B.C.E., the Spartans met to consider their allies grievances. The Spartans were persuaded that the Athenians had an insatiably aggressive power seeking to enslave all Greeks, which resulted in their declaration of war. The Athenians refused to yield to threats or commands, but the Spartans refused to arbitrate and could not reach any settlement with the Athenians.

The plague of Athens was an event in history that countless authors went on to write about. Recounting the death and destruction of not only the people, but their civilization as well. Starting at the beginning of 431 BCE, historian Thucydides wrote his take on it. In his work “The History of the Peloponnesian War” Thucydides talks about the social and political consequences of the plague, a personal account on the experiences he lived through. Anywhere during 99-55 BCE poet Lucretius had his work “On the Nature of the Universe” end with an account of the Athenian plague. Lucretius’s account was nearly an exact translation of Thucydides’ description of the plague. But whereas Thucydides wrote historically and real on his experiences on

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

Athens introduces itself in The History of the Peloponnesian as a noble empire. The Athenians state that “We consider that we are worthy of our power” (HPW, 76) to argue that although Athens took power they have done nothing wrong since they still consider justice in affairs with their subjects instead of using force (HPW, 80). This impromptu speech of the Athenians in Sparta shows the values of the polis. This was not a planned speech or even an embassy of the state yet they still spoke of justice, consideration for the weak, and thoughtful decision making. These are the standards that Athens held itself to before the war. Thucydides includes this speech to give a reference point for the following events.

Thucydides was born in 460 B.C.E in a noble family, which was linked to Athens and its leaders. He was one of the greatest ancient Greek historians and author of the History of the Peloponnesian War, in which he describes the struggle between Athens and Sparta.

This essay examines the evolution of the Athens strategy from the beginning to the end of The Peloponnesian War (431 to 404 BCE). The Strategy will be evaluated in the context of the relationship of ends, means, and ways by testing the suitability, acceptability, feasibility, and risk.