This war shifted power from Athens to Sparta, making Sparta the most powerful city-state in the region. Sparta was concerned that if it displayed any weakness that this could lead to its losing its pre-eminent position in the Peloponnese League. [16] This was not acceptable to Sparta, and they believed that if Megara came within the orbit of the Athenians, they would use the port to weaken their position in Greece. The origins of the Peloponnesian War lay in Greece's victory over the Persian Empire. During the Archidamian War, the Greek city-state of Sparta invaded Athens and the surrounding area. Many historical accounts make brief mention of the earlier Persian Wars, which undervalues their importance as a contributing factor to the later war. The Spartan fleet under Callicratidaslost 70 ships and the Athenians lost 25 ships. The First Peloponnesian War (460–445 BC) was fought between Sparta as the leaders of the Peloponnesian League and Sparta's other allies, most notably Thebes, and the Delian League led by Athens with support from Argos.This war consisted of a series of conflicts and minor wars, such as the Second Sacred War.There were several causes for the war including the building of the Athenian … The Spartans came to believe that they had no choice but to go to war. The embargo was not an act of war, but Corinth took the opportunity to urge all allies disaffected with Athens to pressure Sparta now to invade Athens. Trireme - A trireme was a ship propelled by three tiers of oarsmen. The war is named for the Peloponnesus, the peninsula on which Sparta is located. Fought between the allies of Sparta and the empire of Athens, the crippling Peloponnesian War paved the way for the Macedonian takeover of Greece by Philip II of Macedon and, following that, Alexander the Great's empire. In the aftermath of the Persian Wars, the Greeks were unable to maintain their unity. The Spartans and the Athenians had radically different societies. This strategy was recommended by Pericles to the Athenians and was much praised by Thucydides. This war ended with a peace treaty and a ‘Thirty Years Peace.’ This treaty, in theory, guaranteed Athens and Sparta their respective spheres of influence. Athens was forced to tear down its Long Walls and was fortunate not to be utterly destroyed. Historians are not clear on the embargo's effects, some saying that Megara was merely made uncomfortable, while others claim that it set the polis on the brink of starvation. One of the most important wars in the Ancient World was the Peloponnesian War (431-404 BCE). The first Peloponnesian War lasted for 10 years. 4:42 O Captain! Sparta favored the many oligarchies and distrusted the role of the common people in government. Sparta began to contemplate war, but they seemed unwilling to declare war formally. What Were the Origins of Ancient Macedon (aka Macedonia)? Fighting ensued and Corcyra, with Athens' aid, won the Battle of Sybota against Corinth in 433. [8] As Athens seemed to be growing more powerful, there was a growing pro-war party in Sparta. War really wouldn't have been possible at all if Sparta had not risen to challenge Athenian hegemony. The Peloponnesian War was fought between 431 and 404 bc . Sparta's well-disciplined and much-feared army was the source of its military power. Earlier, Sparta had been the military leader of the Greek world. This conflict involved Athens and Corinth, with the latter receiving some support from Sparta. Kagan says that this open quarrel in 465 BCE was the first between Sparta and Athens. Fifty years . In 431 BCE, the senior Spartan king led an army into the countryside around Athens and laid it waste. Doing so, unfortunately, set up lasting enmity with Corinth. The faction hostile to Alcibiades triumphed in Athens following a minor Spartan victory by their skillful general Lysander at the naval battle of Notium in 406 BC. Two kings from two royal families ostensibly ruled it. The main reasons proposed are: Historian Donald Kagan has been studying the causes of the Peloponnesian War for decades. During the so-called thirty Year Peace, Athens grew ever stronger and in many ways arrogant, as seen in its increasing haughty attitude to its subject city-states. The Athenians, at this time, were also in dispute with the small city-state of Megara. Third, some Athenian settlers began to move into the lands of other city-states. Remarkably, the Athenians continued to fight, and the Spartans needed Persian help to defeat them. Athens, the strongest city-state in Greece before the war started, was reduced to a state of near-complete subjection. The underlying cause of the war was the rapid rise of the Athenians. 123 quotes from History of the Peloponnesian War: ‘Self-control is the chief element in self-respect, and self-respect is the chief element in courage.’ This became known as the Megarian Decree. The profound cultural and political differences between the two great Greek powers contributed to the war. As soon as the Persians left, the Greeks immediately began to quarrel with each other. The Peloponnesian War was a conflict in ancient Greece that redefined the structure of power in the Greek-speaking world. According to Thucydides' writings, the early years of the war were a stalemate because the Athenians followed Pericles's cautious strategy.[18]. Thucydides, The Peloponnesian War 2.69–71. Athens had also been turned into a formidable stronghold when the city constructed the ‘Long Walls.’ These walls connected the city with its port, Piraeus, allowed the city to supply itself, and made any siege of the city unlikely to succeed.[3]. Thucydides, however, wrote the most important contemporary chronicle of the war. The state took boys from their families and trained them from youth to be soldiers. Later Athens, encouraged by Alcibiades, launched the Sicilian expedition to conquer Sicily during a lull in the fighting, known as the Peace of Nicias. When Megara turned to Sparta for help in its boundary dispute with Corinth, Sparta, which was allied with both city-states, declined to come to their aid. And so the full-fledged Peloponnesian War began. Peloponnesian War and Thucydides. The first phase is known as Archidamian War. His 2003 book provides a detailed breakdown of the politics, alliances, and events that led to the war. The fundamental cause that these incidental events gave fuel to, was the fear that the Spartans had developed of the Athenians and Athens’ increasing powerful hold over the … The war featured two periods of combat separated by a six-year truce. When Athens decided to invade Thasos, Sparta would have come to the aid of the north Aegean island, had Sparta not suffered a natural disaster. The causes of the war are that the Athenian Empire upset the Greek world's balance of power. Athens' aggressive policies did not help the situation- the city-state's ambitions certainly provoked the Spartans. Increasingly, the Spartans became very nervous about the growing naval and commercial power of Athens. The Athenian empire started with the Delian League, which had been formed to allow Athens to take the lead in the war against Persia, and wound up providing Athens with access to what was supposed to be a communal treasury. It convulsed Greece and changed the course of the Classical world. Peloponnesian War refers to the war fought between Athens and Sparta's Peloponnesian League. These powers both had a network of alliances all over the Greek world and beyond. Second, under the leadership of Pericles, Athens grew from a city-state to a naval empire. It was a struggle for power between the ancient Greek city-states of Athens and Sparta . In 440 BCE, Corinth urged the Spartans to wage war on Athens simultaneously as Cornith was suppressing a revolt on the island of Samos. The defeat of Athens in the Peloponnesian War caused the downfall of Greece, and the end of the Classical Age. Athens used these communal funds to build up its navy and, with it, its importance and power. [1] This notion of Greekness was not enough to overcome deep divisions within the Greek world. [2], Over time the Athenians, who were the largest maritime power in the Aegean, dominated the Delian League. While there was a definite sense of ‘Greekness’ and a common cultural heritage, it did not override the more local loyalties. Favorite Answer. Because of their different political systems and cultures, they were often ideologically opposed. Corinth and other members of the Peloponnesian League were unhappy about Sparta’s lack of leadership. The origins of such a conflict are complex. Peloponnesian War, (431–404 bce), war fought between the two leading city-states in ancient Greece, Athens and Sparta. What caused the Peloponnesian War? The Corinthians were not backing down, following the war against the Corcyraeans, Corinthians spent time and money building new ships and trained rowers from the Peloponnese to fight against Corcyra. The third cause of the Peloponnesian War was likely due to Sparta's rebellion. Her allies supported Sparta and demanded that Athens withdraw the Megarian Decree, but Athens opposed it. The losses of population, the ravages of the plague 1, and the financial difficulties 2 brought on by the war caused severe hardships for Athens. They unilaterally banned the ships of that Megara from its port and its allies. Sparta, a deeply conservative society, had opted out of Persia's war after their invasion was repelled. Show Transcript Uploaded by Scott Smith. Causes of the war. He would never again lead Athenians in battle. Who did the Spartans rely on for help, why was this ironic? Before the Peloponnesian War, the city-states (poleis) of Greece had worked together to fight off the Persians. According to Thucydides, the growth of Athens's ‘power and the alarm which this inspired in Lacedaemon (Sparta) made war inevitable. The Peloponnesian War was a war fought in ancient Greece between Athens and Sparta—the two most powerful city-states in ancient Greece at the time (431 to 405 B.C.E.). According to Thucydides, the cause of the war was the "fear of the growth of the power of Athens" throughout the middle of the 5th century BC. [16] Thucydides states that the Corinthians condemned Sparta's lack of action until then and warned them that they had remained too passive for too long. They demanded action. Potidaea was part of the Athenian empire, but also a daughter city of Corinth. There was a strong ‘imperial’ party in Athens who believed that it was entitled to a great empire because of its role in the Persians' defeat. Fear of the growing power of Athens. Copy this URL: Embed code: Change dimensions . Based on historical evidence, experts have divided this war into 3 different phases. In 446 and 445 BCE, Athens, a sea power, and Sparta, a land power, signed a peace treaty. [11] Some later historians have also argued that war was inevitable between the two greatest Greek powers. Thrace and Athens had a dispute and the Thracians, a Spartan ally, asked the Spartans for assistance. Athens controlled Greece's coastal areas and the Greek islands, while Sparta, a land power, could control the Peloponnese. Sparta society depended on a servile population. Sparta was almost the opposite of Athens in every way. Causes of the War There were three main reasons war broke out. The Peloponnesian war began after the Persian Wars ended in 449 BCE. People’s first loyalty was often to their Polis or local city. In contrast, Athens encouraged democracy and believed that it was the best form of government. The fighting engulfed virtually the entire Greek world, and it was properly regarded by Cultural and ethnic differences were driving the Greek world apart. Megara broke its alliance with Sparta and proposed a new one with Athens. Gradually, the Athenians began to turn the Delian League into an Empire. All Greece needed was a spark to start a war. The role of women was to produce good soldiers, and men were expected to be brave warriors. [15] This ideological rivalry between Sparta and Athens did much to increase tensions in the run-up to the outbreak of the Peloponnesian War and was a contributing factor. Sparta was jealous of other powers and desired more power for itself. The war ended the Golden Age of Athenian Culture and arguably weakened the… Popular Videos See all Search: Submit. The dispute over Corcyra was a result of the dispute of the Epidamnus and leads to the dispute of the Potidaea. They had grown from just another city-state into an Empire. Aegina. Who was Theseus the great Athenian king and hero? Part of the reason Thucydides’ historical account of the Peloponnesian war is so significant is that it was one of the first times a historian put effort into determining both the short-and long-term causes of war. Greece was not big enough for the Delian League and the Peloponnesian League to be in control. "[10] Thucydides believed that the Peloponnesian War was inevitable because when a rising power confronted another power, they would inevitably wage war against each other to further or protect their interests. Each stood at the head of alliances that, between them, included nearly every Greek city-state. What does Pentacontaetia mean? What was the Spartan Training called the Agoge? Thucydides on the Cause of the Peloponnesian War, Political Aspects of the Classical Age of Greece, Timeline of Battles and Treaties in Peloponnesian War, 30 Maps of Ancient Greece Show How a Country Became an Empire, The Thirty Tyrants After the Peloponnesian War, How Athenian Democracy Developed in 7 Stages, Biography of Alcibiades, Ancient Greek Soldier-Politician, M.A., Linguistics, University of Minnesota. Athens continued the war against Persia, and it formed the Delian League. Pericles, the Athenian Empire's de-facto leader, argued against such a move as it would only encourage the Spartans to make more demands. What issues did Athens have with Corinth? She has been featured by NPR and National Geographic for her ancient history expertise. In the first book of his history, participant-observer and historian Thucydides recorded the causes of the Peloponnesian War: While Thucydides seemed quite certain that he had settled the question of the cause of the Peloponnesian War for all time, historians continue to debate the origins of the war. Athens built long walls all the way from the city to its seaport Piraeus. Sparta was the head of the powerful Peloponnesian League, comprised of several large city-states, including Corinth and Thebes. The following is a list of Peloponnesian war facts, and the devastation it caused. Answer Save. The war ended the Golden Age of Athenian Culture and arguably weakened the Greek world forever. For many decades Sparta had been the greatest military power in Greece. [13] The kings shared power with a council of elders (Gerousia). Thucydides’ balanced and richly detailed account has not convinced everyone, however. Indeed, this is at the core of Diodorus’ account of the causes of the Peloponnesian War (12.38–41), the main source for which, Diodorus tells us, was the fourth-century historian Ephorus of Cyme (FGH 70 F 196). There was a conflict among city-states between competing political ideologies. It led to huge adversities and economic problems. First, some city-states feared Athens because of its grab for power and prestige. [5], The rise of Athens meant that there were two great powers in the Greek world. It had transformed itself during and after the Persian Wars and became a major trading and maritime power. At first, they resisted the calls of its allied to declare war on its arch-rival. Sparta had a set of loose alliances by means of individual treaties that extended to the Peloponnese, excepting Argos and Achaea. This was the start of the great Peloponnesian War. [1] Both powers had demonstrated a reluctance for head-on war over matters peripheral to their respective spheres of influence. During the Peloponnesian War, they turned on each other. The Aftermath of the Peloponnesian War Strife among prominent city-states contending with one another for power continued to plague Greece in the years following the Peloponnesian War. 2 decades ago. Because of the Persian Wars, Athens had to be rebuilt and it came to dominate its group of allies politically and economically. Sparta became the leading power of Greece. Despite this, Sparta grew increasingly fearful of Athens, and its main ally Corinth was actively encouraging it to attack Athens.[7]. Athens now knew that direct battle with Corinth was inevitable. [9] Additionally, there were those in Athens who believed that war should be welcomed. However, the Thirty Years Peace was under increasing strain. Athens's growing ambitions led to tensions with its neighbors and eventually led to war. Gill is a Latinist, writer, and teacher of ancient history and Latin. The primary combatants in the Peloponnesian War were the city-states of Athens and Sparta and had allies that supported them during the war. The Corcyra never joined the Athenian League or the Spartans, … Athens broke off the alliance with Sparta and allied, instead, with Sparta's enemy, Argos. The causes for the Peloponnesian war were both fundamental or long term and also incidental, or short term. What caused the Peloponnesian War (431BC-404BC)? Athens was then victorious at the naval battle of Arginusae. My Captain! The war however, was not decisive, because within a decade, the defeated city had regained its strength. The underlying cause of the war was the rapid rise of the Athenians. Athens was a democracy, and it was very individualistic. Each league was fighting for allegiance with the city-states. How did the Peloponnesian War Start? The Peloponnesian War changed Greece in every way. Modern critics rarely praise Ephorus’ historiography. The population played a significant role in politics, and indeed it was a fairly radical democracy for the time. It had emerged as a great Empire in a quick period, and this upset the traditional balance of power. Go to Video Gallery Added Dec 02, 2016 • Share this video. Athens' former ally, the polis Megara, had allied with Corinth at Sybota and elsewhere, and Athens, therefore, put a peacetime embargo on Megara. This page was last edited on 8 December 2020, at 02:01. How Did Ancient Alexandria Rise to Prominence? [6] Athens and Sparta had different spheres of influence, as outlined in the ‘Thirty Year Peace’ treaty, and theoretically, this meant that they both could have lived in peaceful co-existence. The tensions between the Athenians and Sparta grew. Lv 6. The Greeks became divided into a Spartan and an Athenian camp. Thucydides is mistaken in his famous assertion that "[w]hat made war inevitable was the growth of Athenian power and the fear which this caused in Sparta". According to Thucydides, the cause of the war was the "fear of the growth of the power of Athens" throughout the middle of the 5th century BC. The Peloponnesian War reshaped the Ancient Greek world. Athenian expansion as a cause of the Peloponnesian War - Athens attempted to impose its power on other city states. The Spartan alliances are referred to as the Peloponnesian League. This enabled them to stay inside the city and still have access to trade and supplies from their ships. [14] Sparta was a highly militarized society, and the need for a strong and well-disciplined army was the main concern of the state. Peloponnesian War: name of the conflict between Athens and Sparta that broke out in 431 and continued, with an interruption, until 404. During this time the Spartans dominated the land and the Athenians dominated the sea. Which state does Athens impose harshly on? If we look at F 196, the fragment on the causes of the Peloponnesian War, we can perhaps understand why. Before the Peloponnesian War, the city-states of Greece had worked together to fight off the Persians. Sparta was unhappy at no longer having all the military glory. Sparta realized that they needed a navy to defeat the ships that were supplied to the Athenians, so Persia helps Sparta. Thucydides noted that many believed that war was only a matter of time and that the Thirty Years Peace Treaty would soon be broken by one side or the other. Athens signed a defense-only treaty and sent a fleet to Corcyra. The League was very concerned about the Athenian fleet because it allowed Athens to dominate Greece's seas. N.S. Fought between the allies of Sparta and the empire of Athens, the crippling Peloponnesian War paved the way for the Macedonian takeover of Greece by Philip II of Macedon and, following that, Alexander the Great's empire. The Greek historian Thucydides argued that Sparta's fear of Athens was the ultimate cause of the war. What were the long-term effects of the Peloponnesian War on Greece? They had real difficulties understanding each other, and this lead to mutual suspicions. Sparta's concerns were not entirely unfounded. The war began in 431 BC and lasted until 404 BC. Relevance. They argued that the Spartans had to attack Athens before it became too powerful. In the Spartan assembly, they were growing alarmed at the growth of Athenian power. The significance of the conflict is that the divided Greeks could not prevent the Historian Kagan writes that, for possibly the first time in history, an attempt was made to keep the peace by requiring both sides to submit grievances to binding arbitration. The Greek world was now formally divided in two, with two "hegemons." About 15 years later, Megara joined back up again with Sparta. The Spartan Kings were cautious and decided to avoid conflict with Athens at that time. [19] The destruction of the Athenian fleet at Aegospotami ended the war, and Athens surrendered the following year. stargazer2006. 4 Answers. This was a long drawn out war between Athens and Sparta and their respective allies. Athen bullied its allies and neutral cities. Go HD. Athens feared a revolt, with good reason, since the Potidaeans had secretly acquired a promise of Spartan support, to invade Athens, in violation of the 30 years treaty. Some leading Spartans became concerned that their inaction would push the other major Greek powers to side with Athens. Peloponnesian War: Battle of Pylos. But, due to bad weather, the Athenians were unable to rescue their stranded cr… The immediate cause of the Peloponnesian War was Corinthian opportunism. The fear of Athens increasingly led the Spartans to prepare for war, even though there is no evidence that the Athenians had any designs on Sparta or its allies. This proved to be a disaster, which led to the loss of an Athenian army and navy. Athens decided to lay siege to the colony. Importance of the Peloponnesian War . The Delian League did not cause the Peloponnesian War, but it contributed to it and played a major part in the war. Corcyra appealed to Athens for help, offering to Athens the use of its navy. How did Athens's growing power threaten Sparta? This sample essay explores Thucydides’ work “The Histories”, which is considered to be one of the first uses of scientific historical studying practices of which there are records. But the thought is surely as old as warfare itself and was examined some 23 centuries earlier by the Athenian historian Thucydides. After a coalition of Greek states … It had transformed itself during and after the Persian Wars and became a major trading and maritime power. It is still widely held that in international relations, the growth of a nation-state or empire will inevitably lead to rivalry and war with an established power.[12]. [17], The Athenians were extremely confident, and they knew that as long as they had their navy and their ‘Long Walls’ that they could not be defeated even if they could not beat Sparta and her allies on the battlefield. This was the war which completely reshaped Greek history and the Greek ancient world. The conflict was a long drawn out war between Athens and Sparta and their respective allies. Many excellent historians have discussed the causes of the Peloponnesian War (431–404 BCE), and many more will do so in the future. Athens needed a friendly Megara on its border since it provided gulf access, so it agreed in 459 BCE. But since Corcyra's navy was powerful, Athens was concerned that it would fall into Spartan hands and disrupt whatever fragile balance of power the city-states were maintaining. Corinth urged Athens to remain neutral. [4] It had developed into the greatest maritime power in the Greek world and could dominate the trade routes in the eastern Mediterranean. There were enough hawks among the ruling bodies in Sparta to carry the war motion. The citizens (only free males) could directly vote on the affairs of the city. One of the most important wars in the Ancient World was the Peloponnesian War (431-404 BCE). Megara was a long-time Spartan ally, which was widely resented, as it was seen as an attempt to make Megara completely dependent on Athens. Thucydides traces the development of Athenian power through the growth of the Athenian empire in the years 479 BC to 432 BC in book one of the History (1.89–118). Athens used its superior navy to intimidate its allies, and they eventually became mere tributaries of the Athenians. Causes of the war. This League was an alliance of city-states and islands that vowed to continue the war against the Persians until they no longer represented a threat to their alliance. The Spartan Hoplite was considered the best soldiers in the Greek world. This disagreement led to friction and eventually outright war. The Delian League was a military alliance led by Athens. This era constituted the Golden Age of Athens and was concurrent with Plato, Socrates, and Aristotle's lives. Once Athens had issued the Megarian decree, it initiated a chain of events that led to the Spartan invasion of the Athenian territory. The profoundly different Athens and Sparta societies were also a significant factor in the war’s outbreak, which also had an ideological aspect. A complicated, partially ideological political conflict between Spartan-ally Corinth and her neutral daughter city and strong naval power Corcyra led to Athenian involvement in Sparta's realm. The Greeks had combined under Sparta and Athens' leadership to defeat the Persians, then the most powerful empire in Asia. Alcibiades was not re-elected general by the Athenians and he exiled himself from the city. Athens had an issue with Corinth's daughter city Corcyra and a granddaughter city Epidamnus. Nothing was the same after the war, and Athens was never to be as powerful. 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