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The Peloponnesian War began in 431 BC between the Athenian Empire (or The Delian League) and the Peloponnesian League, led by Sparta. The war was documented by Thucydides, an Athenian general and historian, in his work History of the Peloponnesian War. Most of the extant comedies of Aristophanes were written during this war, and poke fun at the generals and events. The war lasted 27 years, with a truce in the middle, and ended with Athens' surrender to Sparta in 404 BC.
Causes of the war
According to Thucydides, the cause of the war was the "fear of the growth of the power of Athens" throughout the middle of the 5th century BC. After a coalition of Greek states thwarted an attempted invasion of the Greek mainland by the Persian empire, several of those states formed the Delian league in 478 BC in order to create and fund a standing navy which could be used against the Persians in areas under their control. Athens, the largest member of the league and the major Greek naval power, took the leadership of the league and appointed financial officers to oversee its treasury, which was located on the island of Delos, the League headquarters. Over the following decades Athens, through its great influence in the League, was able to convert it into an Athenian empire. Though some members of the League embraced Athenian conversion, just as many were bitterly opposed to the governments imposed upon them. Gradually League funds went more directly into Athenian projects, rather than into Greece.
The immediate cause of the war comprised several specific Athenian actions that affected Sparta's allies, notably Corinth. The Athenian navy intervened in a dispute between Corinth and Corcyra, preventing Corinth from invading Corcyra at the Battle of Sybota, and placed Potidaea, a tributary ally of Athens but a Corinthian founded colony, under siege. In addition, the dispute over the city-state of Epidamnus further strained relations between the Delian League (Athens and her allies) and the Peloponnesian League (Sparta and her allies). The Athenian Empire eventually also levied economic sanctions against Megara, an ally of Sparta. These sanctions, known as the Megarian decree, were largely ignored by Thucydides.
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Peloponnesian War :: Greece
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Reading "History of the Peloponnesian War"
michaelhawkins (michaelhawkins) Sun, 20 Dec 2009 05:49:35 -0000
Reading "History of the Peloponnesian War"
Why did Sparta beat Athens in the Peloponnesian War (431-404 B.C)? Why did Sparta lose to Thebes at Leuctra (371 B.C.)?
npanayotopoulos (Nick Panayotopoulos) Sat, 19 Dec 2009 19:20:13 -0000
Why did Sparta beat Athens in the Peloponnesian War (431-404 B.C)? Why did Sparta lose to Thebes at Leuctra (371 B.C.)?
combing thru @audible_com for next batch of books - sounds like a nice recording of Thucydides' Peloponnesian War read by Charlton Griffin
orchardspartan (Joseph Yarbrough) Sat, 19 Dec 2009
Ancient History - The Peloponnesian War - Short essays with audio and images.
Meta Description: [ Table of contents for Skip Knox's essay on the Peloponnesian War. ]
Athenian League and Peloponnesian War - A detailed map of the conflict dated 435 B.C.E.
500
Civil War in Corcyra - An excerpt as written by Thucydides's The Peloponnesian War.
Fathers and Sons in Athens - Ideology and Society in the Era of the Peloponnesian War - Complete works on the tensions experienced by a society that cherished both youthful independence and paternal authority by Barry S. Strauss, 1993 by subscription.
Meta Description: [ Fathers and Sons in Athens: Ideology and Society in the Era of the Peloponnesian War Book by Barry S. Strauss; 1993 ]
Historical Commentary on the Peloponnesian War - A paper By Kurt Kuhlmann that includes a discussion on the background, phases of the war, epilogue, and footnotes.
Peleponnesian War - Concise account of the war including a map.
Peloponnesian War - A conflict that began in 431 BC between The Delian League and the Peloponnesian League.
Peloponnesian War - A conflict between the Athenian Empire (The Delian League) and the Peloponnesian League which included Sparta and Corinth.
404
Peloponnesian War - Student notes for a lecture by John G. Stockmyer.
The History of the Peloponnesian War - The complete text by Thucydides and translated by Richard Crawley, 1950 by subscription.
Meta Description: [ The History of the Peloponnesian War Book by Thucydides, Richard Crawley; 1950 ]
The Peloponnesian War - The causes and phases of the conflicts.
The Peloponnesian War - Richard Hooker's module on the history of the sequence of events and alliances in the conflict.
The Peloponnesian War - A Military Study - The complete text of an online book on a war between Athens and Sparta by J. F. Lazenby; Routledge, 2003 by subscription.
Meta Description: [ The Peloponnesian War: A Military Study Book by J. F. Lazenby; 2003 ]
The Plague in Athens during the Peloponnesian War - A historical background as written by Thucydides.
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