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The Peloponnesian War
Identify the causes of the Peloponnesian War. Discuss the impact the war had on
both Athenian and Spartan society.
The Peloponnesian War had impacted on both the societies of Sparta and Athens.
Within the war there were many causes and they will be discussed and identified
further on. The Peloponnesian War according to historians such as Thucydides was a
civil war between Athenians and Spartans.
The Peloponnesian war was an ancient civil war which occurred within the lands of
Greece. The war occurred between 431 - 404 B.C. between Athens and Sparta. These
two major cities of Greece were competitive with each other in fighting for the title of
being the most powerful, important, wealthier and most successful city. These two
ancient cities were Athens and Sparta. Athens is known for a highly educated society
with male members of their city-state was given the same rights as some of the
wealthiest politicians. Athens the city of dreams and freedom. On the other hand the
more military based society Sparta, one of the greatest ever war capital in the world
with the continuous wars and mass army’s of men. Sparta’s military capability has
been credited for many victories that helped protect the other city-states. However,
Sparta did not focus on much else except on the military status of their society. As a
result, they were poorer, and less technically advanced than the other city-states of
Greece.
Sparta and Athens, the two most powerful cities of Hellas1, did not have much in
common. The Athenians attempted to develop their artistic and brain capabilities,
while Sparta remained isolated from the rest of Greece, without art or literature,
without beautiful buildings, without any development of their social and political
traditions. Sparta lived on as a lifeless military city, though its military capabilities
were far more advanced than Athens but they were still admired by many other
Greeks.
Pericles was the leader of Athens during the Peloponnesian War and at the time he
had encouraged the Athenians to fight the Spartans by navy because Athens had a
powerful navy. Sparta was stronger with their land units but however they had built a
power navy of their own and because they defeated the Athenians in a sea battle
Pericles was forced out of power. This had caused many controversial issues between
the rival cities and had resulted into more hatred between them. Sparta was a military
state meaning that their men’s only trade and occupation was to join the military force
as this was a tradition for male Spartans. Where as Athens was a city which had a
democracy society, with all their citizens could have the freedom to choose whether
or not to be in the army. At the time of the Peloponnesian war Sparta was ruled by
two kings where as Athens was ruled by a council. These two major cities had
belonged to the same country but yet still had their various techniques and ways in
how they control their society. Athens was a city that was rich with farms especially
with their corn crops, where as Spartans relied on slavery. So the main reason why
1
Hellas was an ancient Greek term for Greece.
they were a military state was in order to stop a helot rebellion2.Athens tended to be a
more cultural state and their town’s people were very open to others. Where as
Spartans tended to isolate themselves from everyone and just focus on their military
forces. Within the city of Sparta they did not have any walls or light because they
believed that their soldiers should be trained to fight in night and that they did not
need a wall to protect their city. Throughout all the types of weapons that were
created the Spartan army did not use the bow and arrow as a weapon because to them
it was considered as a weapon for cowards as it killed from a distance.
The war had started in March 431 B.C., when Thebes3 made a surprise attack on
Plataea4. The Peloponnesian War can be divided into three different stages; the first
part of the war is called the ‘Archidamian War’ which occurred between 431-421
B.C. The second stage of the War was the period of ineffective peace which occurred
between 421- 415 B.C. The last stage was the final period of the Peloponnesian War
which had taken place between the time periods of 415-404 B.C.
There are many causes that were involved that had triggered the Peloponnesian War.
Around 700 B.C. both Athens and Sparta where ruled by powerful kings. These kings
slowly lost power to local merchants and noblemen. The lower classes were not given
any rights or authority as in the years of the empires peak. This was a source of anger
and a possible cause of the revolt. There are many causes that were involved that had
supposibly started the Peloponnesian War. The original cause of the war was Sparta’s
fear of Athens growth. Sparta had feared that the city of Athens would eventually
grow into a state of power and wealth which will exceed the limits and capabilities
much further than what Sparta will ever reach. But as off course it was just a typical
stereotype which was told in order to gain cooperation and explanation from the
town’s people of Sparta.
War had begun when the Athenians and Peloponnesians broke the thirty years Truce
which had been made after the capture of Euboea5. As to the reason why they had
broken the truce was basically that Sparta had feared that the Athenian growth of
power would grow into a force which will destroy the city-state of Sparta. The
Peloponnesian War had lasted for a long time, but throughout its course brought with
it unfamiliar suffering for Greece. Never before had so many cities been captured and
then devastated, whether by foreign armies or by Greek Powers themselves. The
Peloponnesian War had caused so many loss of life in which Ancient Greece had
never experienced.
The most important constructions within Greece were the two parallel walls from
Athens to Piraeus that turned the harbour and the city into one huge fortress. This
could have been a possible cause that may have started the War as Sparta did desire
the Athenian harbours of Piraeus and Munichia, but they were no threat to Sparta
itself as they were mainly used for the trade.
2
A slave attack on them
A city of ancient Greece
4
An ancient city of central Greece southwest of Thebes.
5
A Greek island
3
In 462 B.C. the area surrounding Sparta was struck by a major earthquake, as a result
the Spartan society was an even bigger disaster. Sparta was too weak and was forced
to ask Athens for help. Athens had agreed to help Sparta as it’s a city-state of Greece
but placed aggressive policies and laws towards Sparta. Eventually this had all
changed when Cimon6 became an important politician in Athens.
The Athenians were hesitating to make the decision in whether to rescue and restore
the Spartan city which was their rival for so many years and they would rather let
Sparta’s pride be trampled underfoot. Cimon, on the other hand, put Sparta’s interest
before his own country’s aggrandisement and persuaded the Athenians to send a large
force of hoplites to her aid.
When a nation is in war with another rival nation you would expect that the impact
that it will have on both societies would be a negative view from both sides, but to
have a war within its own country and against your own people would have an even
more extreme impact on the country. The Peloponnesian war had a depressing impact
on the Athenianian socitie as they had gave up and let Sparta to take over, but on the
other hand had a positive impact on the community of Sparta. The War had impacted
on both societies as many lives were lost and also resources such as crops, buildings,
and also the empires of both Athens and Sparta had been brought down. The city of
Athens was brought down by the Spartans through their victory on the Peloponnesian
War as Athens’ corn crops had all been damaged and as Athens had relied on their
farming resources they had a collapse in their society and was no longer an economic
power. Sparta was brought down straight after their victory over Athens when they
had been invaded by Thebians. Thebians were located to the north of Greece. Sparta
had lost the battle with Thebians and was invaded because they were left unprepared
and weakened by their previous war with Athens (The Peloponnesian War). The
result was that Thebians became the new power followed b the Macedonians.
In conclusion I would like to sum up what I have written and answer the essay
question. The question was Identify the causes of the Peloponnesian War. Discuss the
impact the war had on both Athenian and Spartan society. Well basically the main
cause was that Sparta had engaged in war with Athens over the fear that Athens rapid
growth will exceed much further than what Sparta will ever reach. The impact the war
had on Athens was that the loss of there farms and economic power. The impact it had
on Sparta was that their force was extremely weakened and therefore gave Thebians a
chance to invade and take charge over Sparta. Throughout the research of the range of
sources I found that the internet sites weren’t very reliable as most of them were from
a site were it’s text can be edited and may have been posted by common people and
that has the uses of bias and what I had also I encountered was that some of the
information was not valid and therefore wasn’t helpful. Where as in other sources
they weren’t biased because it tells the recount from both parties of the event of
Athens and Sparta.
By: Chris Manassa
6
The son of Miltiades