Sparta Vs. Athens: The Peloponnesian War

The Peloponnesian War shook the Greek world so forcefully that Thucydides believed “it would be a great war, and more worthy of relation than any that had preceded it”. It spanned nearly thirty years, as Sparta and Athens grappled for power over the Greek world. Its length can be traced to many factors, however, for the sake of brevity, I have narrowed it down to three main reasons. Firstly, Sparta and Athens underestimated each other and overestimated themselves. Secondly, Athens and Sparta were two distinctly different poleis whose identities shaped their respective battle strategies, which left them at a military stalemate for the Archidamian War and the Peace Nicias. And thirdly, the Peace of Nicias, peace being a loose term in this case, did little to
Coming down from the Persian Wars, Athens established itself as a formidable naval force in the Greek world. The fear of Persian return drove Athens to seek alliances, forming the Delian League. The momentum generated from its successes in the Persian Wars enabled Athens to slowly transition into an empire. According to Thucydides, “[the Lacedaemonians] feared the growth of the power of the Athenians, seeing most of Hellas already subject to them”. In particular, the Spartans were wary of Athens’ naval aptitude, public and private wealth, population numbers, and tributary allies. The Athenians, on the other hand, wanted to establish its empire as an equal, if not a superior, to Sparta. When Pericles rallied for Athenian boldness and strength, he proclaimed “[the Lacedaemonians] must treat you more as equals”. With these motivations in tow, both sides presented their strengths to their assemblies, telling why they should go to war, overselling why they would win. A Corinthhian, ally to Sparta, opens with “We have many reasons to expect success…”, proceeding to cite Sparta’s superior military strength and discipline, denouncing Athens’ navy because