Transcript Peloponessian War

Peloponnesian War:
Greek against Greek
431-404 BC
Why did this war start?
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The Peloponnesian War
began due to Athens
trying to take over
Greece and expand its
empire.
Sparta, having a history
of bad blood with Athens,
fought back against
Athenian imperialism and
the Delian League.
Thucydides
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One important thing to note about
the Peloponnesian War is that the
entire history of it was written by
one man-Thucydides.
He is considered by some to be the
father of history because of his
writings of the Greek Wars due to
his accurate portrayal of Greek
history.
Herodotus, however, was a Greek
historian known to glorify Greek
life through his writings…almost to
the point of exaggeration.
Sparta attacks Athens
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In order to keep down
Athens, the Spartans
began attacking, with the
help of Corinth.
At first, the Athenians
could not be stopped.
They had a lot of money
and ships, so they easily
escaped any attack by
Sparta.
Pericles’s Funeral Speech- 431 BC
 “First citizen of Athens”
Written down by Thucydides; delivered to the
Athenians after the first year of the war
 Annual public funeral for the dead in times of war
 Different from most- this speech was designed to lift
the spirits of Athens while they were in war; glorifies
all that Athens has achieved
 “Age of Pericles” 461-429 BC, led the first two years of
war
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Lycurgus- Farther of Sparta
 Written
about by Plutarch
 Instilled the strong, militant
culture of Sparta
 Lawgiver who founded most of
the institutions in Sparta
The plague
However, the summer
after the war began, a
plague entered Athens,
forcing farmers to move
inside the city walls.
 Many people died due to
the plague, even
Pericles, the Athenian
leader and general.*Note
Funeral Speech
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After the plague…
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Following the plague, the
Spartans began winning
battles.
The leader of the
Athenian army,
Alcibiades, decided to
attack Sparta in hopes to
catch them off guard.
It didn’t work and
Alcibiades joined the
Spartans.
Starving out Athens
Eventually, Sparta
figures out a way to
completely defeat the
Athenians.
 They blocked the port
where the Athenian
food was shipped into
and managed to
starve the people of
Athens.
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Many Athenians died from
starvation when Sparta blocked
their port.
End of the War
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Eventually the Athenians
surrendered
unconditionally.
The Spartans forced them
to tear down their city
walls and break up the
Delian League.
This loss by Athens had a
huge effect on Greece.
After the war, the Greek
city-states were changed
forever.
Here are the city walls of
Athens.
Aftermath of the War and the
Decline of Greece
Athenian domination was over forever
 Democratic governments suffered
 Although the war ended-fighting in Greece
did not.
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– Sparta would soon suffer defeat from Thebes
– A leader in Macedonia would soon conquer
the quarrelling city-states…
Looking Back…
Could the Peloponnesian War have been
helped?
 Was Athenian democracy pure
democracy? Did this play a role in the
outcome of Greece?
 Did Athens and/or Sparta have their
citizens’ best interest at heart? Why or
why not?
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