The Peloponnesian War SpartaAthens Rivalry Peloponnesian League Peloponnesus

The Peloponnesian War

Sparta-Athens Rivalry � Peloponnesian League ◦ Peloponnesus = large peninsula in southern Greece ◦ Members: Sparta, Corinth, Elis � Delian League ◦ Association of 173 citystates led by Athens after defeating Persia

Rising Tensions � 460 BCE – Athens employed strategy of “Long Walls” (linking city to port at Piraeus) ◦ Sparta interpreted this as a sign of Athenian aggression � 448 BCE – Fighting between Sparta and Athens � 447 BCE – Thirty Years Peace treaty signed

Prelude to War: Athens and Corinth � Athens kept Corinth’s merchants away from profitable trade of Aegean area � Athens began to interfere with Corinth’s colonies ◦ Accused of breaking peace treaty with Sparta

Athens Prepares � Pericles knew Attica (greater Athens) could be invaded yearly by the more powerful land army of the Spartans ◦ Arranged for importing food and refuge in the Long Walls � Athenian fleet was strong and could raid the coast of the Peloponnese at will � Surplus in Athens’ treasury � Prospect for victory looked sure

Archidamian War: 431 -421 BCE � Sparta launched repeated invasions of Attica � Athens took advantage of its naval supremacy to raid the coast of the Peloponnese attempting to suppress signs of unrest in its empire � Period of war concluded in 421 BCE, with the signing of the Peace of Nicias ◦ 50 year truce � Treaty soon undermined by renewed fighting in the Peloponnese

Plague! � Plague struck Athens in 430 BCE (2 nd year of war) � In cramped, unsanitary conditions of the city walls, disease spread rapidly � In two years, 1/3 of Athenians died, including leader Pericles

Sicilian Expedition: 415 -413 BCE � Athens dispatched a massive expeditionary force to attack Syracuse (Spartan ally) in Sicily � Attack failed disastrously with the destruction of the entire force

Decelean or Ionian War: 405 -404 BCE � Sparta, now receiving support from Persia, supported rebellions in Athens’ subject states in the Aegean Sea and Ionia ◦ Undermined Athens’ empire and deprived city of naval supremacy � Destruction of Athens’ fleet at Aegospotami effectively ended the war and Athens surrendered

Significance: Reshaping Greece � International Relations ◦ Athens, strongest city-state in Greece prior to the war, was reduced to state of near-complete subjection ◦ Sparta became leading Greek power � Economic Costs ◦ Poverty became widespread in the Peloponnese ◦ Athens found itself completely devastated and never regained its pre-war prosperity � Social Changes ◦ Conflict between democratic Athens and oligarchic Sparta (each with friendly political factions in other states) made civil war common in the Greek world � Peloponnesian War marked the dramatic end to the 5 th Century BCE Golden Age of Greece

Peloponnesian War… in song!