Peloponnesian War

  • The Peloponnesian War (431-404 BCE) was fought between the Delian League of Greek City States under Athens against the Peloponnesian League led by Sparta.
  • The War was written about by Thucydides and is divided into three periods.

Archidamian War (431-421 BCE)

  • Sparta raided Attica whilst Athens raided the Peloponnese.
  • The Peace of Nicias (421 BCE) concluded the War.

The Sicilian Expedition (415-413 BCE)

  • Athens took an invasion force to Syracuse but its entire fleet was destroyed in 413 BCE.

The Decelean War (413-404 BCE)

  • Sparta was supported by the First Persian Empire, the Achaemenid Empire, and undermined Athen’s Empire by causing Rebellions, which seriously weakened the Athenian Navy.
  • At the Battle of Aegospotami in 405 BCE, Lysander and the Spartan Fleet destroyed the Athenian Fleet.
  • Athens surrendered in 404 BCE.

Aftermath

  • The result was that Athens remained devastated whilst Sparta rose to power over the Greek States.
  • Greece remained impoverished by the effects of the war.
  • The Peloponnesian War signalled the end of the Golden Age of Greece.
  • Athens did rise to power again twenty years later, as a result of the Corinthian War (394-386 BCE).

 

Sparta, the Peloponnese

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