Historical Battles: Part Four

 The Peloponnesian War

In the late 400s BC, Athens grew to become very powerful. After their second war with the Persians, Athens realized that the Greek city-states needed to become united in order to fight off future invasions. So the Greeks created the Delian League: an alliance between city-states with Athens as their leader. The Delian League greatly increased their wealth and power. They used this power to battle with the Persians in order to discourage another war. This growth made other city-states nervous. The Delian League's power meant that they could potentially invade all of the Greek world. Thus the other city-states created the Peloponnesian League, led by Sparta. As the Delian and Peloponnesian Leagues became more powerful, peace became fragile. The war began when Athens tried to bring the neutral city of Potidaea under its control. Corinth, part of the Peloponnesian League, secretly sent soldiers to aid in the defense. This move angered Athens, and the war began. The Delian League had a strong navy, but the Peloponnesian League had a strong army, so the two sides were unable to fight decisive battles. Sparta and its allies began by blockading Athens. This was quite ineffective, as Athens was able to maintain access to the sea through the port city of Piraeus. However, the city was extremely packed, so it was hit very hard by a plague in 430 BC. This plague killed over 30,000 people, including citizens, sailors, soldiers, and Athens's leader, Pericles. His successor, Cleon, adopted a more aggressive strategy. The Athenian navy was able to capture 300 Spartan hoplites at the battle of Sphacteria. Sparta responded by attacking the Athenian colony at Amphipolis, which contained several silver mines. The Athenian army rushed to stop them, but the ensuing battle saw Cleon dead and Sparta victorious. After these battles, the Athenians and Spartans agreed to a truce: Athens would exchange their prisoners for the mines. About six years later, in the 17th year of the war, the Athenian navy sailed for Sicily in order to attack the Spartan ally of Syracuse. This expedition would've given Athens many resources. Unfortunately for them, Alcibiades, who was in charge of the expedition, defected to Sparta and revealed the strategy to them. Sparta rushed to Syracuse's aid, and over the course of many battles, thoroughly destroyed the Athenian army. Sparta then went on to capture and fortify Decelea. From there they were able to capture many silver mines, taking Athens's wealth. This led to Athens demanding more tribute from its allies, increasing risk of rebellion. When all seemed lost for Athens, Alcibiades defected in favor of Athens. He took control of all that was left of the Athenian fleet, destroyed the Spartan navy, and reestablished Athen's economy. At this time, Sparta received aid from Cyrus the Younger, prince of Persia. This meant that Sparta was able to launch a final attack and force Athens to surrender.