Peloponnesian+War

The Peloponnesian War By: Gabriel Abney

Summary: The Peloponnesian War was a war that took place against Sparta and its allies (the Peloponnesian League) and Athens and its allies (the Delian League). It isn’t proven, but the war supposedly took place because Sparta feared the growing Athenian power. On the water, Athens was the dominating power. On land, Sparta was the superior. With a lack of siege weapons, many of the assaults on both sides ended without doing any damage. This made the war very long and drawn-out. But around 25 years after the war started, The Peloponnesians allied with the Persians. With the additional soldiers and money from the Persians, they were finally able to defeat the Athenians. Outline: Start of the War I. Why it started a. The Peloponnesians feared Athens’s growing power. b. A few rich people in Athens wanted an oligarchy. c. Athens’s government had a cavalier attitude (they didn’t take it seriously) towards the Thirty Years Peace treaty they had with the Peloponnesians (it stated that they would not interfere with one another’s city-states). d. Athens slipped into undeclared war with Corinth, an important Spartan ally. II. Who started the actual fighting a. The first fighting to actually take place was when the Corinthian Navy defeated part of the Athenian fleet at Sybota in 433 B.C.

Important Points of the War I. Important Points of the Athenians a. Athenian leader Pericles develops a plan of defense and attacks that is “foolproof”, and the plan works for some time b. On the second attack form Sparta, a plague breaks out in Athens c. Led by Demosthenes, Athenians won a battle at sea against a Spartan fleet, trapping 420 men on the island of Sphacteria II. Important Points of the Peloponnesians a. Spartans destroy the small but important city of Plataea b. The final turning point of the war occurred when the Peloponnesians allied themselves with the Persians c. The Spartans were finally able to defeat an Athenian fleet of warships in Sicily Important People I. Leaders a. Pericles- Athenian 1. Lead Athens at start of war 2. Died 2 years after war started when plague swept Athens 3. Passive leader who relied on static defense on land and amphibious attacks by sea b. Cleon 1. Bold military leader 2. Not an experienced tactician 3. Died at the battle of Amphipolis c. Alcibiades-Athenian 1. Next leader that emerged 2. Young, popular, and dashing with much ability, but was weak in judgment and patriotism 3. Accused of crime, fled, turned traitor, and became advisor to Sparta d. Brasidas- Peloponnesian 1. able to convince several Delian League towns to defect to the Spartan side 2. Captured Amphipolis, but died in the battle e. Lysander- Peloponnesian 1. Leader of the Spartan fleet 2. Led Spartans to victory over Athenians II. Historians a. Thucydides 1. Gave a very accurate account of the war, until he stopped recording what happened in 411 B.C. b. Xenophon 1. Continued the history of the Peloponnesian War, 411 to 404 B.C., in the first part of the Hellenica. c. Aristophanes and Plutarch also contributed to the history through plays and biographies.

End of War- Fall of Athens I. The trick of Lysander a. Lysander, the new leader of the Spartan fleet, met the Athenians in the Hellespont b. Lysander would not accept the offer to fight from the Athenians for many days c. The Athenians, thinking the Spartans were afraid, became careless and left all their ships alone in the harbor d. Lysander came into the harbor and captured the entire fleet of Athenian ships e. They could do nothing, so all 3000 of them were captured and put to death II. Athens surrenders a. Without its navy, Athens was almost defenseless b. They resisted surrender for a few weeks, then finally gave in III. The aftermath a. Sparta soon lost control over the rest of Greece when it was the capital to Thebes b. Athens recovered completely within a decade of the war’s end c. The Peloponnesian war, in my opinion, was an unnecessary and foolish war that caused too many deaths

Report: The main reason why the Peloponnesian War took pace is because the Spartans feared Athens’s growing power. A few people in Athens wanted an oligarchy, though. Athens’s government also had a cavalier attitude (they didn’t take it seriously) towards the Thirty Years Peace treaty they had with the Peloponnesians (it stated that they would not interfere with one another’s city-states). Athens also got into a war with Corinth, one of Sparta’s biggest allies. The first fighting to actually take place in the war was when the Corinthian Navy defeated some of the Athenian fleet at Sybota in 433 B.C. There were many important events that took place in the war. One of Athens’s most important events is when Pericles developed a plan of attack and defense that worked for a very long time. On Sparta’s second attack against Athens, a horrible plague broke out in the city. About one-fourth of the population died from it! Led by Demosthenes, Athenians won a battle at sea against a Spartan fleet, trapping 420 men on the island of Sphacteria. This was a great loss for the Peloponnesians. Sparta had many important points in the war, too. The first one is when they destroyed the city of Plataea. It was important though, because the Spartans and Athenians had once a peace agreement there. Near the end of the war, the Peloponnesians allied themselves with the Persians. With the extra gold they got for doing this, they were finally able to get a big advantage in the war. The Spartans then were able to defeat the Athenian warships in Sicily. There are many important people in the Peloponnesian War. One important person is Pericles. He led Athens when the war was just starting, but died when the plague came to Athens. Pericles was a passive leader who relied on static defense by land and amphibious attacks by sea. Cleon was Athens’s leader after Pericles died. He was a very bold military leader, but he wasn’t an experienced tactician. He died at the battle of Amphipolis. After Cleon died, Alcibiades took over. He was young, popular, and dashing with much ability, but was weak in judgment and patriotism. He was accused of a crime, fled from Athens, and became a traitor. He told Sparta about Athens’s plans and became their advisor. Brasidas was the Peloponnesian’s leader. He was able to convince some Delian League towns to come and join the Peloponnesians. He also captured Amphipolis, but died in the battle for it. Lysander was the leader of the Spartan fleet of ships. He eventually led the Spartans to victory with his cunning. There were a few historians that recorded what happened in the war. One of these was Thucydides. He gave a very accurate account of the war until 411 B.C., when he stopped writing. Xenophon finished up the war from 411 to 404 B.C. in the first part of Hellenica. Aristophanes and Plutarch also contributed to history with plays and biographies about the war. Lysander tricked the Athenians to win the war for Sparta. When his fleet met the Athenians’ on the Hellespont, the Athenians challenged him to fight. He didn’t accept. This went on and on for many days. The Athenians thought the Spartans were afraid, so they became very careless. They even left all their boats in the harbor and went to shore. Then Lysander came in and took out the Athenians’ whole fleet! They could do nothing, so all 3000 of them were captured and put to death! Without its navy, Athens was defenseless. They resisted surrendering to the Spartans for a few weeks, and then finally gave in. Sparta didn’t stay the capital for long. Thebes soon attacked Sparta and left them humiliated. Athens recovered completely within a decade of the war’s end. In my opinion, the Peloponnesian War was an unnecessary and foolish war. Any death from this war was a wasted death. If it could have been avoided at all, I think that the Peloponnesian War should have been avoided at all costs. The Athenians and Spartans should have worked through their differences in a peaceful manner.

Facts you need to know: 1. The war was between the Athenians and Spartans. 2. Both sides were Greek. 3. Athens had a strong navy and weak army. 4. Sparta had a strong army and weak navy. 5. The official war lasted from approximately 431 to 404 B.C. 6. Sparta won the war. 7. Alcibiades, one of the Athenians’ leaders, became a traitor. 8. Thucydides was the main historian of the war. 9. Lysander led the Spartans to victory. 10. Overall, it was a foolish war.

Book Resources: 1. __The New Lexicon Webster’s Dictionary of the English Language__, Lexicon Publications, Inc. 2. __Modern Times and the Living Past__, Henry W. Elson 3. __Encyclopedia of the Ancient Greek World__, David Sacks 4. __Atlas of the Bible Lands__, C.S. Hammond & Company 5. __The Columbia Encyclopedia__, Columbia University Press

Internet Resources: 1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peloponnesian_war 2. http://library.thinkquest.org/17709/wars/peloponn.htm 3. http://www.laconia.org/gen_info_literature/Peloponnesian_war.htm 4. http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/history/A0838100.html 5. http://www.crystalinks.com/peloponnesianwar.html 6. http://www.factmonster.com/ce6/history/A0838100.html 7. http://www.bartleby.com/65/pe/PelopWar.html 8. http://www.wsu.edu/~dee/GREECE/PELOWARS.HTM