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Peloponnesian War 431-404 BC
This Peloponnesian War is also called the Second Peloponnesian War
or the Great Peloponnesian War, and was fought between Athens and Sparta.
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Both teams had a widespread net of alliances.
Thucydides is the
historian of your choice when it comes to the Peloponnesian War.
If people simply use the term
Peloponnesian War, they are usually referring to the Second
Peloponnesian War.
Who Won and Who Lost
the Peloponnesian War?
Athens surrendered in 404 BC and the Spartans won.
Battles and Events in the
Peloponnesian War
426 BC,
Battle of Olpae. Victory
for Athens.
425 BC,
Battle of Spaectaria (Sphacteria).
Victory for Athens.
421-415 BC,
Peace of Nicias. Negotiated
by Athens' general Nicias. A momentary breather in the Peloponnesian
War.
418 BC,
First Battle of Mantineia.
Victory for Sparta.
415 - 413 BC,
Siege of Syracuse
405 BC,
Battle of Aegospotami. Naval battle. Victory for Sparta.
Background of the
Peloponnesian War
After the First Peloponnesian War, which
was fought from 460-445 BC, a peace was concluded in 445 BC between
Athens and Sparta, the Thirty Year's Truce.
The peace agreement was not adhered to
and hostilities again erupted in 433 BC. In 431 BC, Sparta's ally
Thebes attacked Athens' ally Plataea and the Second Peloponnesian
War had begun.
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The Chapters of
the Second Peloponnesian War
The first chapter of fighting in this war lasted 10 years, from
431-415 BC.
It followed a truce of six years concluded in the Peace of Nicias,
lasting from 421 to 415 BC.
The second period of fighting lasted 11
years, from 415-404 BC. It ended when Athens surrendered.
In Detail
In the Great, or Second, Peloponnesian War, which started in
the year 431 BC, Sparta, at the head of
nearly all the Peloponnesian states, and aided by the Boeotians and
some of the other Greeks beyond the Isthmus, tried to reduce the
power of Athens, and to restore independence to the Greek maritime
states who were the subject allies of Athens.
At the commencement of the war, the
Peloponnesian armies repeatedly invaded and ravaged Attica, but Athens
herself was impregnable, and her fleets secured her the dominion of
the sea.
After the initial battles in 431 BC,
Pericles delivered his
Funeral Oration.
In 430 BC Athens was visited by a
pestilence, which swept off large numbers of her population.
425 BC: The Athenians gained great
advantages over the Spartans at Sphacteria, and by occupying
Cythera. But they suffer a severe defeat in Boeotia, and the Spartan
general, Brasidas, lead an expedition to the Thracian
coasts, and conquered many of the most valuable Athenian possessions
in those regions.
421 BC: Nominal truce for thirty years
between Athens and Sparta, but hostilities continued on the Thracian
coast and in other quarters.
415 BC: The Athenians sent an expedition
to conquer Sicily.
413 BC: Defeat of the Athenians at
Syracuse
412 BC: The word of Athens' defeat at
Syracuse spreads. Many of the subject allies of Athens revolted from
her. The seat of war is
transferred to the Hellespont and eastern side of the Aegean.
410 BC: The
Carthaginians attempted to make conquests in Sicily.
407 BC:
Cyrus
the Younger was sent by the king of Persia to take the
government of all the maritime parts of Asia Minor, and with
orders to help the Lacedaemonian fleet against the Athenian.
406 BC: Agrigentum taken by the
Carthaginians.
405 BC: The last Athenian fleet was destroyed by Lysander at
Aegospotamos, aka the Battle of Aegospotami. Athens closely besieged. Rise of the power of
Dionysius
at Syracuse.
404 BC, April: Athens surrendered. The Peloponnesian War is over. The
ascendancy of Sparta is complete throughout Greece.
Sparta emerges
as the most powerful state in Greece.
See also
About the Ancient Greeks.
And here are the maps
MAP OF GREECE
IN 431 BC
Map of the Peloponnesian War 431-404 BC
Alliances and Strategies
Athens and Piraeus 431 BC
Map of the Peloponnesian War:
Key Actions in each Phase
More History
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