The Peloponnesian War

The Peloponnesian war

Present day Athens

The Peloponnesian war was fought between Athens and Sparta,

and other Greek city states that chose sides.

•Historians have traditionallydivided the war into three phases

The first stage was the Archidamian War

Then came the Peace of Nicias

last came the Thirty years treaty.

Sparta went to war with Athens "because they were afraid of the further growth of Athenian power

• Appointing great leaders

• Teaching battle to soldiers

• Building protection such as walls and guard towers

• Navy raiding enemy territory

•Have a safe way of getting food from Egypt once Attica is raided.

Spartan offensive strategies

Sparta had the idea, that they would be able to starve the Athenians into surrender by destroying the crops in Attica

Then force the inferior Athenian army to fight against the superior Spartan-Theban forces.

Athens was known for its powerful Navy.

Sparta was known for their large and well trained military

During the Archidamian War, Sparta lead many attacks on Attica. And Athens raided

the coast of the Peloponnese

The attacks on Attica by the Spartans didn’t do much harm to athens because their food supply came mainly from Egypt.

Archidamian War period ended with the Peace of Nicias.

The peace of Nicias was a treaty that was established to end conflict, the treaty was undermined by renewed fighting in peloponnesus.

Athenian Offensive

• Athens was afraid to make a big offensive move against Sparta as this could throw off the power of democracy.

• Therefore the small attacks they lead on the city states allied with Sparta had little affect to them

The plague that almost caused the war.

A plague swept Athens, brought from the vital grain brought from Egypt

Pericles the leader of Athens was one of the victims of the plague

Thucydides written record about the plague.

• “The bodies of dying men lay one upon another, and half-dead creatures reeled about in the streets. The catastrophe became so overwhelming that men cared nothing for any rule of religion or law.”

The Finale to a long war.

• Sparta eventually built a navy to defeat the weakened Athenian navy.

• They captured the entire athenian fleet without one loss, thus cutting off the food supply completely, thus ending the war.