What Was The Impact Of The Peloponnesian War

Prior to the beginning of the Peloponnesian War, Athens was the strongest city-state in Greece. Thucydides claimed that Spartans initially engaged in war in 431 BC as a result of Sparta’s fear of Athenian’s further growth of power (Cartwright, 2013). Fought between Athens and Sparta along with their respective allies, the Peloponnesian War resulted in the weakening of Greek city-states, which created vulnerability to foreign invasions (Cartwright, 2013).

Following the war, Athens was reduced to a state of near complete subjection while Sparta assumed the leading power of Greece (The History of the Peloponnesian War, n.d.). Economic costs resulting from the Peloponnesian War could be felt across Greece as poverty became widespread in the
Peloponnese, while Athens suffered complete devastation, never again regaining its pre-war prosperity (The History of the Peloponnesian War, n.d.).

Overall, the impact of the Peloponnesian War resulted in Greeks lacking trust among each other, which lead to future unification seeming nearly impossible (The History of the Peloponnesian War, n.d.).
Battles occurred at home and abroad, resulting in damages to both sides but Sparta, with the financial assistance from Persia, finally won the conflict after destroying the Athenian fleet at Aegospotami in 405 BCE (Cartwright, 2013). Although Sparta and its allies were victorious resulting in Greece suffered overall weakness, thus marking a historical end to the Greek Golden Age (The History of the Peloponnesian War,
n.d.).

Like any great conflict, the Peloponnesian War brought about many changes and developments during warfare. For example, Sparta’s victory led to the rising of Sparta’s naval power. However, it also marked the demise of Athenian political and naval hegemony throughout the Mediterranean. Furthermore, the destruction resulting from the Peloponnesian War divided and weakened Greeks for numerous years, which eventually allowed the Macedonians the opportunity to conquer the Greeks during the 4th century BCE.
In addition, because of the poor handling of its democracy during the Peloponnesian War, democracy was briefly overthrown.
As a result, the Thirty Tyrants’ rule became its government for 13 months. During that time, five percent of the Athenian population was killed, democratic supporters were exiled, and numerous private properties were confiscated. Nonetheless, the Thirty’s regime eventually led to further brutality and violence in Athens, which led to the increased opposition that stemmed primarily from a rebel group of exiles led by Thrasybulus, who was a former trierarch in the Athenian navy. Eventually, the increased opposition culminated in a revolution that led to the Thirty’s regime being overthrown. Its aftermath resulted in Athens struggling to recover from years to follow.

Sparta also experienced changes resulting from the Peloponnesian War. At its peak, Sparta successfully overpowered many key Greek states. Such states included the elite Athenian navy. By the end of the 5th century BCE, Sparta’s successes against the Athenian Empire and its ability to invade Persian provinces in Anatolia ushered a hegemonic period, although it was short
lived.

Finally, at the end of the Peloponnesian War, Lysander successfully established pro-Spartan governments throughout the Aegean. Most of these ruling systems were ten-man oligarchies known as decarchies. Decarchies acted as heads of the government due to the fact that Lysander appointed from the ruling classes of these governments. Overall, the men were more loyal to Lysander than to Sparta, which made these Aegean outposts similar to a private empire.

Following the Peloponnesian War, Spartan Kings and Lysander agreed with Corinth and Thebes that Athens should be totally destroyed, but were opposed by a more moderate faction that was headed by the Pausanias. Eventually, Pausanias’ moderate faction gained control and Athens was spared, though Athens’ defensive walls and port fortifications at Piraeus were destroyed. In addition, Lysander managed to require that Athens recall its exiles, which caused political instability within the city-state, of which Lysander took advantage in order to establish the oligarchy that later became known as the Thirty Tyrants. Eventually, Athens restored its democracy, which quickly curbed Lysander’s political influence.

References: Cartwright, M. (2013, June 01). Peloponnesian War. Ancient History Encyclopedia. Retrieved from https://www.ancient.eu/Peloponnesian_War/ The History of the Peloponnesian War (R. Crawley, Trans.). (n.d.). Retrieved January 01, 2018, from http://classics.mit.edu/Thucydides/pelopwar.1.first.html