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What Was The Peloponnesian War

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What Was The Peloponnesian War
In this paper, I will discuss the Peloponnesian war as one of the circumstances that led to the end of the Athenian Golden Age. During the height of its glory, Athens had successfully incorporated numerous city states into the Delian League which with its dominate control over the league, Athens converted the league into the Athenian Empire. “When Athens concluded an alliance with Corcyra in 433, and started to besiege Potidaea, it threatened the position of Corinth. Sparta also feared that Athens was becoming too powerful but tried to prevent war.” (Peloponnesian War - Livius. (2018)) Sparta initial intentions were to avoid war with the possibility of peace, if Athens would have revoked the measures against Megara, one of Sparta’s allies, by solving this or any conflicts by arbitration which once had been the agreed upon process that Sparta and Athens had used to solve conflicts. The Athenian leader, Pericles refused this suggestion, because he believed that by Athens yielding to Sparta’s request, they would be accepting Spartan orders. Sparta …show more content…
One side being the Athenian Empire against the Peloponnesian League. Sparta sat up a council with the Peloponnesians which they voted to start war upon the Athenians. With the official motives of this war being to liberate Greece from the Athenian Empire, and its oppression of the incorporated territories of the Delian League. By dispatching ambassadors to the king of the Persians, the Peloponnesian League urged him to ally himself with them, while they also treated by means of ambassadors with their allies in Sicily and Italy and persuaded them to come to their aid with two hundred triremes. For their own part they, together with the Peloponnesians, got ready their land forces, made all other preparations for the war, and were the first to commence the conflict. (LacusCurtius • Diodorus Siculus — Book XII Chapters 41 59 .
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