Download ATHENS vs SPARTA – THE PELOPONNESIAN WAR

THE
WAR
ATHENS vs SPARTA – THE PELOPONNESIAN WAR
Thucydides
• Athenian Historian & General 460-400 BC
• Wrote the “History of the Peloponnesian War”
• “Father of Scientific History”
• Thorough evidence-gathering
• Not interested in the role of the “Gods”
•Unbiased
•He was there: Peloponnesian War 431–404 BC
• Thucydides vs Herodotus
To hear this history rehearsed, for that there be inserted in it no fables, shall
•Herodotus
wanted toBut
tell
story/
entertainMoral
be perhaps
not delightful.
heathat
desires
to look into
theLesson
truth of things
done, and which (according to the condition of humanity) may be done
•Thucydides
wanted
record
accurate
accounts
to him
informagain,
or at least their
like, to
shall
find enough
herein
to make
think it
HumanAnd
Nature
profitable.
it is compiled rather for an everlasting possession than to be
rehearsed for a prize.
ATHENS vs SPARTA – THE PELOPONNESIAN WAR
SPARTA
ATHENS
Upper class had all of the
power, Helots (slaves) did
the majority of the work
All citizens are equal, but
women & slaves were not
citizens
Education is focused on
military strategies & war
Education is focused on
physical & mental skills
Judicial system is run by
the King
Juries selected by pop.,
very large and decided
verdict by secret ballot
No real aspirations of
expansion in Greece
Sought to expand & control
other city-states of Greece
The war began as a result of Athens's want of expansion
ATHENS vs SPARTA – THE PELOPONNESIAN WAR
•Peloponnesian League (Sparta)
•Main Land City-States
•Delian League (Athens)
•Fight the Persians
•Naval Power
•Conflict between Megara &
Corinth- 449 BC
•Athens aided Megara
•15-years of war
•30 Year Peace Signed
•Athens & Sparta
ATHENS vs SPARTA – THE PELOPONNESIAN WAR
• Athens started to expand and oppress allies & enemies
• Enemies: Sparta, Peloponnesian League, Macedonia,
Persia, & Athenian Allies
• Athens’s Navy
allowed them to
expand and control
allies/ colonies
• Athens’s leader
Pericles knew the
peace treaty wouldn’t
last.
ATHENS vs SPARTA – THE PELOPONNESIAN WAR
Pericles
•Athenian Leader- “First Citizen of Athens”
•Turned Athens into an Empire- Lead the People
•Athens could not match Sparta’s Army, routinely invaded
Attica
•Pericles had a wall built between Athens &
Sea port
•Sparta was unable to cut off access to the
Sea- ineffective siege
ATHENS vs SPARTA – THE PELOPONNESIAN WAR
Pericles
•Athens could behave like an Island
•Disease spread within walls, killed 30 000 Athenians
•Pericles died of the Plague in 429 BC
ATHENS vs SPARTA – THE PELOPONNESIAN WAR
Head to Head
• Each side used their military strength to attack the other
• Sparta used its large army to ravage Athens's surrounding
country-side
• Athens’s navy
attacked the coast &
transported small land
forces quickly
•Navy forced Sparta to
keep part of army at
home
•never able to fight a
decisive battle
ATHENS vs SPARTA – THE PELOPONNESIAN WAR
3 Phases of the War
•Phase 1: Archidamian War
•Sparta invades Attica
•Athens raids coast & suffers plague
•Truce after 10 years
Athenian Long Walls
Phase 2: The Peace of Nicias
•Both sides lose leaders, forced to regroup
•Minor skirmishes
•Sparta’s inactivity lead to allies revolting (Argos)
ATHENS vs SPARTA – THE PELOPONNESIAN WAR
3 Phases of the War
Phase 3: Decelean War
•Sicily, (Athens ally) under attack from Syracuse
•Athens launches attack after attack- all unsuccessful
•Athens’s land & naval forces annihilated
•Sparta & allies don’t go for the kill
•Athens recovers, Navy rebuilt
•Many gifted Athenian Naval commanders executed
after successful battle- ran away from storm
•With support of Persia, Sparta
defeats Athens at Sea
ATHENS vs SPARTA – THE PELOPONNESIAN WAR
The End of Athens
•Without Navy, Athens cut off from allies/ supplies
•Siege now in full effect, Athens and allies surrender
•Walls, Fleet, and overseas holdings stripped
•Sparta allies want city destroyed, population enslaved
•Sparta recalls Athens’s previous efforts when Greece was
under attack- opts to include them in their system
•Sparta install 30 Tyrants, Democracy suspendedoverthrown by Athens after a year
•Athens & Sparta are weakened by conflict, rivalry remains
•Remain significant players until Philip II of
Macedon conquered all of Greece except Sparta