Transcript The Peloponnesian War 431 to 404 BC

The Peloponnesian War - 431 to 404 BC
465 BC: Athenians aid
rebellious Spartan helots
465 BC: helot revolt broke out in Sparta. Athens
(then an ally) sent 4,000 hoplites). The Spartans
rejected Athenian help (due to suspicion about
Athenian motives). The Athenians settled
rebellious helots them at Naupactus on the
Corinthian Gulf.
459 BC: Athens allies with Megara (against Corinth) and
therefore gains control of a highly strategic position on
the Isthmus of Corinth. This sets off 15 years of
intermittent conflict with Sparta and her allies.
445 BC: Peace treaty known as the
Thirty Years' Peace – Megara-Athens
alliance broken. Agreement to observe
respective spheres of influence.
440 BC: Athenian ally Samos rebelled with support of
Persians. Spartan alliance decided not to support
Samos/ the Persians. Athenians crush revolt.
435: Corinth (Spartan ally) defeated by its colony,
Corcyra. Builds naval force to seek revenge.
Corcyra allies with Athens.
432: Potidaea
• Potidaea > originally a Corinthian
colony but now a tributary ally of
Athens
• Corinth encourages Potidaea to
rebel against Athenian control.
• Athens quells revolt. Insists
Potidaea tears down its defensive
walls and expels Corinthian
magistrates.
432 BC: The Megarian Decree.
Megara has, since the Thirty Years Peace, been
back in the Spartan sphere of influence.
Athenians imposed trade sanctions on Megara.
Citizens. Megarians excluded from Athenian
ports and markets.
Phases of the War
1) The Archidamian War, Sparta invaded Attica, Athens raided coast of the
Peloponnese
> 421 Peace of Nicias
2) Renewed fighting in the Peloponnese.
> 415 BC, Athens dispatched a massive expeditionary force to attack
Syracuse in Sicily; the attack failed disastrously, with the destruction of the
entire force, in 413 BC.
3) The Decelean War, or the Ionian War. Sparta, receives support from Persia,
supported rebellions in Athens' subject states in the Aegean Sea and Ionia,
undermining Athens' empire, and, eventually, depriving the city of naval
supremacy. The destruction of Athens' fleet at Aegospotami effectively ended
the war, and Athens surrendered in the following year.
Results of the War
> Sparta becomes dominant Greek city-state,
Athens now subject to it
> Athenian prosperity destroyed (as well as that of
much of the Peloponnese due to the destruction of
war)
> Total war replaces a more limited and civilized
warfare