Ancient Greece and the Spartan War

850 Words2 Pages

During The Peloponnesian War, Sparta was able to dominate Athens and win the war. At the war’s conclusion, Athens was left in complete chaos, and Sparta was also weakened. Athens was politically, economically, and militarily affected, while Sparta was only slightly affected politically and militarily. However, with Sparta’s ignorance towards foreign people, the results of the war were worse than the war itself.

In 431 BCE a tragic war began, the Peloponnesian War. This war took place in Greece and was fought between Sparta and Athens. Athens had a powerful navy while Sparta had a strong army. Sparta saw Athens as a threat because Athens was stealing money from the Delian League, which was an alliance formed by about 200 Greek city-states, including Sparta. Athens was the head of the Delian League because they started it and when Sparta saw that they were stealing money to glorify their city, the Spartans didn’t like it. Both city-states believed they would have the upper hand if they fought, so they both pushed for war. Eventually, Sparta declared war on Athens. Since Sparta had a strong army they wanted to fight a land war. However, Pericles, Athens’ leader, wanted to wait for the precise moment to attack by water. In the end Sparta was able to fight the war the way they wanted to, but the aftermath of the war was worse than the war itself.

After the war Athens was left in complete turmoil due to the destruction of their crops, the loss of men, the obliteration of their city walls, and other effects. Athenian agriculture was affected because during the war Sparta burned Athenian crops, causing food shortages. Athens’ economy also suffered because of the loss of men. After the war very few men returned, and those who did not r...

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...ut when Greece finally decided to try and conquer Persia Phillip II of Macedonia decided to invade them.

Both Athens and Sparta were affected by the Peloponnesian War, but Athens was left in worse shape than Sparta. Athens was affected economically, politically, and militarily. Sparta on the other hand was also affected politically, and militarily but to a lesser effect. Athens was left in mayhem while Sparta was only feeling a little sore from the war but for the most part was rejoicing their win. The aftermath of the war not only affected Athens and Sparta, but Greece as a whole. Greece was severely weakened by the war and with its ignorant leader, Sparta; Phillip II of Macedonia was able to conquer Greece. As a result of the Peloponnesian War Greece was conquered by Phillip II of Macedonia which shows how the aftermath of the war was worse than the war itself.

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