Background

What Was the Peloponnesian War?

The Peloponnesian War (401-404 B.C.) was a major war fought during the period of Ancient Greece. The war gets its name from the peninsula that Athens held the most power over, Peloponnese. This war was fought between Sparta and Athens along with their allies. Athens and Sparta were the two most powerful city-states in Ancient Greece. Athens had the most powerful naval military while Sparta had the most powerful ground military. The main cause of this war was Athens' hegemony over the majority of Ancient Greece. Sparta didn't like that Athens had so power, so they started the war.

During the Persian War Athens united 150 city-states together to form the Delian league in order to fight off the Persians. When the war had ended Athens had claimed credit for driving out the Persians which gave Athens complete authority over many city-states in Greece. Before the creation of the Delian league Athens and Sparta were both equal in power, however after the formation of the Delian league, Sparta was not nearly as powerful as Athens. Sparta was not compliant with the idea of joining Athens and the Delian League. This led to the first battle of the Peloponnesian War, the naval battle of Pylos.

Alexander Rodriguez