Historical Overview of Peloponnenian War

Historical Overview Of The Peloponnesian War (431 - 404 BC)

Introduction

The Peloponnesian War is widely known as the second war between the Athenian and Spartan coalitions. In Thucydides'narratives on the war, he described that the war took place during a period when the Greek world was divided into two great alignments each led by either Athens or Sparta, with both sides at the height of their powers.

Two Diametric Powerful Greek City-States

At the start of the war, Athens wielded great political and economic power in the Greek world. Athens was perceived to be the "unifying force" in the Greek territories against the Persian invasions. After the Greco-Persian wars ended, Athens led the Delian League (See Figure 2) and protected its members with its powerful naval fleet - the largest fleet then.

Athens was a thriving metropolis and commercial society with a ethnically homogenous population. By the 5th century BC, it already democratized her institutions - establishing a sovereign Assembly whose majority formed the government that directly made all the vital decisions.

In contrast, Sparta was largely an agrarian society and more isolated. Sparta's political system was oligarchic and militant. Sparta's hereditary monarchy of two kings held the right to military leadership. Five ephors elected by the Assembly served as the executing agent with wide powers. The Assembly acted only by acclamation, unlike the Athenian Assembly that depended on debate.

Sparta possessed great land power. Its hoplites were the most feared and effective fighters in the Greek world. Because of Sparta's respected land power, other Greek city-states also chose to form alliances with Sparta (the Peloponnesian League) to balance Athens' influence.

Athens was a bastion of Greek democracy, with a foreign policy of regularly intervening to help fellow democratic allies. Spartans, who favored oligarchies like their own, resented and feared the imperialistic and cultural ascendancies of Athens. There were thus constant disdain and rivalry simmering between the two cities.

The First Peloponnesian War

The first Peloponnesian war, which began in 460BC, resulted as Sparta's allies (Megara and Corinth) dragged her into a long campaign against the dominating threat of Athens. In 446BC, Athens and Sparta signed a "Thirty-Years Peace" in which both agreed to negotiate disputes and not to interfere in the affairs of each other's allies. But incessant disputes between Spartan's allies and Athens inevitably led to a Second Peloponnesian War. In 431 BC, Sparta acceded to her allies' (mainly Corinth and Megara) demands and voted for war on Athens, precipitating the start of the Peloponnesian War.

The (Second) Peloponnesian War

The war could be divided into 3 phases: The Archidamian War (431-421 BC); the Peace of Nicias and the Sicilian Expedition (420-413 BC); and the Ionian War (412-404 BC). See Figure 3.

During the Archidamian War, Athens and Sparta were constantly fighting each other but either side achieved no significant victories. Each employed different combat strategies. Sparta tried to optimize her superior land power - she would assemble her powerful army at the Corinth Isthsmus to attack Attica during the summer every year to cut off the land supply routes to Athens and force the Athenians into submission. However, Athens was not cowed into submission. Athens, exploiting her unique maritime position, simply gathered her population inside Athens and used her overwhelming naval power to, first, maintain the sea trade routes and then, counter-attack the coastal cities of the Peloponnesus at will.

Realizing that both sides had suffered greatly and the war was at a stalemate, Nicias (Athenian leader) successfully brokered a peace agreement in 421 BC with Sparta that was supposed to last for fifty years. But the Peace treaty did not last. In 420BC, they abandoned the treaty and once more declared war upon each other.

Athens first violated the treaty by forming new alliance with Argos, Mantinea, and Elis. The Athenians were also angered by the Spartan failure to return Amphipolis as part of the peace agreement. In 416 BC, Athens besieged the island city of Melos. Athenians absurdly argued that "might makes right" and, therefore, the Melians must surrender to Athens' superior power - again raising the ire of Sparta.

In 415 BC, Athens launched its fateful expedition to conquer Sicily. The aim was to expand Athenians' empire westwards. The Athenians