Western Civilization

: PELOPONNESIAN WAR (INSTITUTIONS NAME (NAME (COURSE NAME

15th AUGUST 2008

The Ancient Greek military conflict known as the Peloponnesian war was fought between 431- 404 B .C . It was fought by the Peloponnesian League which was led by Sparta against Athens and its empire . The war is historically divided into three phases . In the first phase , Sparta invaded Attica while Athens raided the coast of Peloponnese which triggered the Archidamian war between the two sides

This phase ended in 421 BC with the signing of the Peace of Nicias Treaty . However

renewed fighting in 413 BC undermined the peace treaty above with the attack of the Syracuse by the Athens in Sicily war . The Decelaean war or the Ionian war marked the final phase of the Peloponnesian War where Sparta with the support of the Persians undermined the Athens Empire through supporting rebellious states in Iona and Aegean Sea

This resulted into the loss of the Athens naval supremacy and destruction of the Athens ' fleet which brought the war to an end with the Spartans emerging victorious while the Athens coiled in defeat . The defeat of the Athens in the Peloponnesian War has significance in the Greek history . First , the war reshaped Ancient Greek world because the defeat of Athens brought down its fame as the strongest city state in Greece before the war which made civil wars a common occurrence in the Greek history . Second , because Athens had been reduced into a state of near complete subjection its leadership also fell into the hands of moderate statesmen who introduced democratic means of governance

On the other hand , the victory of the Spartans had also significance in the Greek history . Firstly , the militant Spartans managed to instil a discipline of democracy into other friendly states in the Greek world which shifted power slowly from the traditional families towards others who did not belong to the inner circle . Secondly , the Spartans victory had also a great significance in ending the era of liberation where many states in the Greek world such as Syracuse and Iona tried to liberate themselves from the power Athens

References

Kallet , L (2001 . Money and the Corrosion of Power in Thucydides : The Sicilian Expedition and its Aftermath . Berkeley : University of California Press , pp 78-90

Jackson J (2003 . Western Civilization Brief Discovery , New York McMillan Press , pp 45-89...