Wiki Page, B6: World Geography and Civilizations, term 1-1: The Peloponnesian War

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2013-10-21T10:38:15-06:00

Pericles failed to unit Greece under Athens. Discontent grew. Quarrels over trade divided Athens and Corinth. Tensions grew between Athens and Sparta until war broke out in 431 BC. This war is called the Peloponnesian War. Athens and Sparta shared responsibility for the Peloponnesian War. The city-states had been rivals for years.

The Spartans had the stronger army. They started the fighting by invading the Attic peninsula, destroying fields and villages. The Athenians withdrew behind the city walls of Athens. Because Athens had the better navy and could bring in food by ship, the Spartans could not starve the Athenians out. The siege of Athens continued for years. During this time a plague broke out in Athens, killing many people, including Pericles.

The war continued for 27 years, punctuated by periods of truce and armed peace. Sparta, with the help of Persia, finally managed to block Athens's food supply. The starving Athenians finally surrendered to Sparta in 404 BC. Athens was reduced for a time to being a second-rate power in Greece.

After the Peloponnesian War, Greece was politically unstable. First Sparta and then Thebes tried to control all of Greece. They were defeated and wars between the city-states continued. Many Greeks felt that only a foreign power could unite Greece. It would be many years before this would come to pass. However, Greek civilization still made great advances during this time.