- 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