Download Relations between Athens and Sparta, 478 -440

Athens and Sparta – packages of information
1. Impact of the Persian Wars:
 Prior to the Persian Wars Sparta had been the dominant power in Greece, and when the
wars finished it expected to return to that status. However, the conflict had brought
Athens to prominence as a naval power, and many states – particularly the maritime
ones – now looked to it for leadership.
 At first, Sparta had no objection to Athens forming and leading the Delian League.
However, as time went on it came to fear Athenian imperialism – particularly when
Athens sought influence in the Peloponnese.
2. The Peloponnesian League:
 This was a loose confederation of Peloponnesian states formed at the end of the 6 th
century. Each state had an alliance with Sparta, but not with each other.
 The purpose of the League was the defence of the Peloponnese. It only operated in
times of war, and demanded no tribute from its members.
 In the event of war, the Council of Allies would meet to decide on policy. In order for a
decision to become League policy, it had to be agreed to by both the Council and Sparta.
3. Spartan responses to Athenian imperialism:
 The first sign of opposition by Sparta occurred in the immediate aftermath of Plataea.
The Spartans demanded that Athens stop building fortifications around the city.
Themistocles ignored these demands.
 During the 470s relations with Sparta did not deteriorate, then improved with the
ostracism of Themistocles in 472 and the rise of Cimon.
 When the island of Thasos seceded from the Delian League in 465, it appealed to Sparta
for help. The Spartans secretly promised to invade Attica, but were prevented from
doing so by an earthquake and a slave (helot) revolt. (We don’t know why the Spartans
were so antagonistic towards Athens at this time, given that Cimon was very friendly
towards them.)
 Then when Cimon sent soldiers to help Sparta crush the slave revolt, the Spartans sent
them home, fearing they might actually side with the helots. In response, Athens ended
its policy of friendship with Sparta and allied itself with Sparta’s enemies – Argos and
Thessaly. Cimon, who had championed Sparta’s cause, was ostracised in 461.
 Pericles now embarked on a policy of confrontation with Sparta.
 He built the Long Walls, connecting Athens with Piraeus. Once built, the city could
never be cut off from its fleet, so could outlast a siege by importing supplies.
 He made war on Aegina and forced it to join the Delian League.
 He allied Athens with Megara, a city in conflict with Sparta’s ally Corinth.
 In 447 – 446, Megara and Euboea revolted against Athenian rule. Athens lost control of
Megara following its defeat by Sparta at the Battle of Coronea, and although it crushed
Euboea it was forced to abandon its plans for a land empire in central Greece.
 In 446 Athens signed a thirty years peace treaty with Sparta, under which it surrendered
all of its Peloponnesian territories and agreed not to interfere in Peloponnesian affairs.
 The peace only lasted 15 years. Thucydides believed that war between Athens and
Sparta was inevitable because of “the growth of Athenian power and the fear this
caused in Sparta.” What no one could have expected was that this war would last 27
years, devastating Athens and destroying forever its imperial ambitions.