The Peloponnesian War, that took place from (431-404 B.C.), was fought between the Athenians and the Spartans. The Persian Wars, which took place from (499-448 B.C.), were caused from the Persians attempts to conquer the Greek city-states. These wars affected the Greek position in the ancient world and caused the downfall of Athens. The Peloponnesian War was very intense and lasted from (431-404 B.C.). The main reason for the start of the Peloponnesian War was Sparta’s fear of Athens growth in power. The Peloponnesian War was fought between Athens and Sparta. Both of which were very powerful Greek city-states and fought together in the Persian Wars. The peace between the two powerful city-states deteriorated. Athens grew more powerful after the Persian Wars, thus creating tension, which escalated into roughly three decades of war between Sparta and Athens. After the Peloponnesian War ended, Sparta came out on top as victorious. After the war, Athens was left in devastation. The constant fighting between the two powerful city-states caused Athens to go bankrupt and exhausted from battle. Thus causing the downfall of the once powerful city-state, Athens. The one thing that both city-states have in common is that neither city-state ever regained their military strength nor the power that they once had, before the Peloponnesian War broke out. The Peloponnesian War did in fact remodel the entire Greek city-states. The Athenian empire, which was the strongest city-state prior to the war, was remarkably reduced to just a mere image of what it used to be. After the war, Sparta became the ruling and most powerful city-state of all of Greece. The Peloponnesian War brought a great deal of poverty and suffering to the city-state of Athens after the economy collapsed due to the war. Athens could never sustain enough strength to recover from the devastating war.
The Persian Wars