The History Of The Peloponnesian War
Peloponnesian War refers to the war fought between Athens and Sparta's Peloponnesian League. The war began in 431 BC and lasted until 404 BC. Based on historical evidence, experts have divided this war into 3 different phases. The first phase is known as Archidamian War. In this war, Sparta invaded Attica several times, while Athens used its naval might attack the Peloponnesian coast to put down any signs of unrest. This war ended in 421 BC after the two sides signed a treaty called Peace of Nicias. |
However, the treaty did not last for very long and in 415 BC, Athens sent its forces to attack Syracuse located in Sicily. However, this attack was not successful as the entire Athenian force was wiped out. This paved way for the third and last phase of the Peloponnesian War.
The last war in the Peloponnesian war is referred to as the Ionian War or Decelean War. In this war, Sparta was supported by Persia and it managed to create rebellions in states of Athens. These states were situated along the Aegean Sean and in Ionia. Because of the support that Sparta extended to the rebellions, Athens navy could not stand and as a result its navy was destroyed in Aegospotami. Once this happened, it was the end of the Peloponnesian War, and Athenians had no choice but to surrender to Sparta.
The reason this war is given so much importance is because it changed ancient Greece altogether. Athens was the strongest kingdom in those times and once the war started, it ended up being subservient. On the other hand, Sparta became a power to contend with. However, this power and might came at a cost. Entire cost was borne by the people. Poverty became common across Peloponnese and Athens could not regain the prosperity it had seen before the war. The war also brought about changes in the society, as it was against the oligarchy of Sparta and the democracy of Athens. These two factions supported like-minded factions in other states and as a result civil war ended up becoming common in ancient Greece.
Also, before the Peloponnesian War, warfare was formal and limited. However, after the war, it changed. Those waging wars and rife had not problems committing atrocities, destroying cities and lives of people and ruining the farmlands.
Thucydides, a well-known historian in Athens, wrote a book called the History of the Peloponnesian War. In this book, he mentioned that the power and might of Athens was sufficient to cause a fright to Lacedaemon and hence, the only outcome could have been war. This is nothing but the truth, as the Peloponnesian War has its roots in the years preceding the war. Nearly 50 years before the war started, Athens grew in size. It conquered entire states in Greece other than Sparta and some of its allies. In 480 BC, Athens was able to repel a Persian invasion, but continued its war against Persia along with its allies. These series of small wars were fought in Ionia and the Aegean Sea. The might of Athens made it into Athenian Empire and finally Athens was able to drive away the Persians from Aegean Sea and increase its might still further. The territories that Athens controlled had to pay tribute to Athens, and this was used to enhance the strength of the Athenian navy and many public works programs. As a result, Sparta and its allies were resentful of Athens.
The problem between Athens and Sparta and its allies started with the Persians being driven out of Greece. Sparta even tried to stop Athens from rebuilding walls around the city, but did not succeed. As per Thucydides, Sparta was upset about this, but did not react at that time. It allowed its resentment to simmer and finally it bubbled over in 465 BC after a revolt started in Sparta. So, Sparta took help of its allies to put out the revolt. It also asked Athens to help out and Athens obliged by sending a force of four thousand soldiers. However, Sparta returned these soldiers, but asked the allied forces to stay on. Sparta was afraid that the Athenian army would begin supporting the revolt and hence, asked the army to leave. However, this was seen as humiliation by Athens. So, when the rebels lost and were banished from Sparta, Athens came to their rescue and settled them in Naupactus, a city located on the coast of Corinthian Gulf.
Then in 459 BC, war broke out between two allies of Sparta, Corinth and Megara. Seeing this as an opportunity, Athens supported Megara and this led to the first Peloponnesian War against Sparta, Corinth and other Spartan allies. This war was to last for 15 years before the peace treaty was signed. Of course, the peace treaty broke down and Sparta and Athens fought the remaining two Peloponnesian Wars.
More Articles :
Wikipedia: Peloponnesian War
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peloponnesian_War
|
Peloponnesian wars were a result of the lack of understanding between Athens and Sparta. Both were cities in Greece. There was a truce period of 30 years before the Peloponnesian wars started between Athens and Sparta. During this period Athens started acquiring a lot of wealth and was supremacy at the sea. Athens had several allies, and had forged relationships with very powerful armies. Athens also had a trade rival and that was Corinth. Corinth and Sparta were allies. Corinth maintained colonies, such as Corcyra and Epidamus. 