1. Peloponnesian War

2. Basics Fought between Athens and Sparta
Occurred 27 years after the Persian Wars

3. Pre-War Athens Major power after the defeat of the Persians
Ruler = Pericles
Rebuilt Athens
Helped usher in a golden age

4. Delian League Athens formed an alliance with other city-states
Purpose = protect Greece from future invasions
Athens’ role = provide naval & land forces in the case of an invasion
Initial successes:
Expelled the remaining Persians from Greece
Helped expand trade
Result = Athens gained a lot of power & dominated smaller city-states
They also spent a lot of the league’s money on themselves

5. Pre-War Sparta Belonged to the already formed Peloponnesian League
After the Persian Wars, Sparta focused on preparing to attack a new enemy
New enemy = Athens
Why? Athens was growing very powerful & wealthy, which the Spartans saw as a major threat

6. War Breaks Out
Sparta declares war on Athens in hopes of weakening them and increasing their own influence throughout Greece
Athens hopes to weaken Sparta and continue to dominate Greece
Athens began to lose supporters from the Delian League & eventually had to fight alone

7. War Strategy Sparta = launch a direct attack on Athens
Athens = barricade everyone inside the city walls and attack Spartans as they approach

8. Attack
Sparta launched a full siege & destroyed the surrounding farms to prevent food from entering Athens
Sparta allied with their old enemy Persia (King Cyrus II)
Duration = 2 years
Athenians began dying from a quickly spreading plague
Sick and without food, Athenians began asking for peace with Sparta

9. Results
Athens surrenders due to the horrible living conditions & death inside the city
Sparta wins the war & returns home

10. Post-War Athens Falls under the rule of bad leaders
People began losing faith in democracy
Golden age ends

11. Post-War Sparta
Left weak from the countless years of fighting (including the Persian Wars)
Lacked cultural, economic & political advancements it needed to dominate over Greece

12. Post-War Greece Almost all mainland city-states were left destroyed
Jobless men became mercenaries
Mercenaries = hired soldiers in foreign armies
Greeks lost all power to govern themselves
Taken over by the Macedonians, invaders from the north
Macedonians will create a new, extremely large empire

13. What can be learned from the Peloponnesian War?

14. What might have been different if Athens had won the war?