The Peloponnesian War was the longest war in Greek history. The rivalry between Athens and Sparta was bound to lead to the Great War it came to be. Both sides were left a disaster. Athens was the highly favored out of the two. Athenians had an immense level of power of Greece and the region of the Mediterranean for fifty years before the war begin. According to Thucydides, Athens became the ultimate empire having power as the leader of the Delian League. (Hunt, Pg.100) Athens was superior and had power, which put terror in the surrounding city-states. Athens allies had put up a protection wall to protect Athens from the Spartan attack by land. Sparta had their hands full. The Peloponnesian war was now underway. I believe that the Athenians were to blame for starting the lengthily war. …show more content…
Alcibiades was later kicked out of his position by rival politics that did not want him commanding any longer. The new generals did not do any justice for Athens. (Hunt. Pg. 103) The Athenians went into Sicily a Spartan ally and was defeated majorly. For once the opposition was now over powering them. The Syracusans were forceful in their defense. They destroyed the fleets, and tortured the remaining survivors by giving water and food infrequently. (Hunt. Pg.103) In conclusion, the Peloponnesian War was commenced by Athens. They let the prominence and ravenousness get to their heads, which led to them wanting to control all of Greece. They used whatever they could to better themselves no matter what was at steak. But Sparta had a different plan in mind. The Spartans were the lifesavers to an extent. They unbound city-states in Greece. Although Athens seemed to be on top, by having all they needed power, money, etc. However, Sparta rose and conquered the enemy and was honored for doing
Thucydides is the author of Peloponnesian War. The Peloponnesian War was a direct and indirect conflict between Sparta and Athens that lasted from 460-404 BCE. Thucydides fought for Athens during the Peloponnesian War and was later exiled by Athens. Thucydides was writing about something that he participated in and the Peloponnesian War became the first contemporary history. Thucydides also made use of eyewitness reports from people who were participants in the war.
Being alive to witness the events that occurred in and around fifth century B. C. E. Greece meant that Thucydides could not help but write down his experiences. The Athenians of Greece and the people of the Persian Empire were constantly at odds with each other, and these differences eventually led to the Peloponnesian war. This war lasted from 431-404 B.C.E. and began an era of conflict between the two peoples (Bulliet). This power struggle not only inflated the ego of the Athenians, but created many negative viewpoints of the Persians. Thucydides, being an Athenian, was therefore extremely biased against the Persians.
Poor majority of Athenian citizens had a chance to get involved in the wars as the war ship trireme 's roars (Brand, n.d.). It opened a door for them to become voters (Brand, n.d.). Democracy in Athens progressed one step further by the wars (Brand,
Ancient Greece is a land consisting of many city-states, called poleis. Each polis had its own government, set of laws, rulers, and customs. Two of the most famous and influential city-states were Sparta and Athens. Sparta is better than Athens because their army was powerful and protective, girls received some education and women had more freedom than in other poleis. There are many reasons why Sparta is more superior to Athens.
As we had read in the assignment titled ‘Boundless World History’, “Democracy in Athens was overthrown in 411 BCE because of its poor handling of the Peloponnesian War.” Athens and Sparta had engaged in the Peloponnesian War that was between 404 and 431 BCE. In ancient Greece, Athens and Sparta were two of the most important city-states. According to most historians, the Peloponnesian War battle, which was supposed to have almost consumed the entire Greek world, was the most important battle of its time. Since Sparta won and Athens ultimately lost the Peloponnesian War, it can be stated that Athens was unable to accomplish the Peloponnesian War successfully.
Aside from this, that is about the only thing Sparta had going for them. Meanwhile, Athens was busy focusing on creating democracy and making famous literary works, like it was no big deal. Sparta, not so much, they just wanted strong jocks. After a reviewing a few elements of Athenian culture, it is clear to see Athens was clearly better than Sparta.
This caused many issues, with many allies attempting and failing to leave the league. Thucydides states that they had “deprived [their allies] of their ships, and imposed instead contributions in money.” (1.19) Greece was now divided between two major powers: the Dealian League which formed the Athenian empire and Sparta and the Peloponnesian allies. Up until this point, Sparta had maintained its hegemony and authority as the major power or empire of Greece. Naturally, the rapid expansion and power of the Athenian empire was a concerning threat and looming anxiety to their authority.
The significance of Athenian men receiving army training as well as an education allowed for not only the bettering of their military, (which due to their location by the Aegean Sea had one of the strongest Navies in Ancient Greece) it also let them have knowledge in the arts and philosophy, this makes me want to live in Athens because I would know that i would be protected and the economy of my city state would be stable. Although Sparta may have some advantages over Athens, Athens was better prepared and knowledgeable over Sparta. In light of the evidence provided, Athens truly was the most impactful
The Second War began when the Spartan King Archimedes II laid siege to the city of Plataea. The Athenians were able to hold their position until 427 B.C.E., when the city fell. During that time, a revolt by the Spartans as taking place at Mytilene, which put additional pressure on Athens. While they defended and successfully extinguished that revolt, the Athenians made additional progress into Peloponnese, by sea, as well as Italy, by land. Athens’ success eventually ended when they were defeated in an attempt to recover Amphipolis in 422 B.C.E.
In the early days of the 5th century, Greece was dominated by two main powers: The democratic Athens and the military oligarchy of Sparta. These two city-states were very different in their daily way of life. Although Sparta and Athens were both Greek cities, they focused differently in their way of life while the Spartans focused on having a perfect military and strong militaristic values, they also emphasized on expanding their power and gaining control over other kingdoms while the Athenians also grew infrastructure wise in ancient times. They understood the importance of such growth and concentrated on them besides on military strength.
Athens and Sparta, located between the Aegean and the Ionian Sea, allied with each other in the Greco-Persian war. Due to the advanced and powerful navy of Athens incorporation with the well-built army of Sparta, they gained victory over the Persian Empire. After the victory, Athens gained wealth and dominance over the other Greek societies causing tensions between Sparta. They both share similarities towards their cultural background but had different views in creating an ideal society in addition to their state’s place in the world. Moreover, they differ from the concepts of a well trained or educated society and a well built military, but share similarities in their government format.
In the Persian wars, when Athens defeats Persia all by themselves they developed a superiority complex. This belief in their superiority over the other poleis comes into play in the Peloponnesian wars. This very lengthy war was devastating for both Athens and Sparta and eventually for all of Greece and the Mediterranean. Athens continued to revel in their superiority until their eventual surrender in the Peloponnesian wars at which time, all of the poleis had been so weakened that they were rendered unable to mount an effective defense against outside invaders
Ancient Greece, a thriving country consisting of nearly 100 city states from within. A gem of the Archaic and Classical Greek Era that we have come to discover. While the country thrived, they also had much tension from within caused by its two leading cities, Athens and Sparta. Athens, a democratic and well invested political city found apprehension with their neighboring municipality Sparta, a highly dense military society. Though the two cities shared several traits such as slavery and gradation systeming, they were separated by their political and economic differences.
However, its rule was not perennial and new internecine war started. Athens, Sparta, Macedonia and a great number of other small states on the territory of Greece tried to became dominant and rule the whole area. It should be said that periods of the rise of influence and power of Greece coincides with periods when one polis managed to seize the power. The state of Alexander the Great is the best evidence to this statement. Having managed to unite Greece under his rule.
Michael crowder World civ 1 Mr ramshur November 11 Consequences of the pelopollensian war To first understand what the main consequeces of the pelopollensian war were, we need tolook at the war itself first, and what casused it. The war was fought between Athens and Sparta. The war was fought in two main parts.