The Peloponnesian War is the largest war in ancient Greek history between the unions of Greek poleis: the Delian, led by Athens and the Peloponnesian, led by Sparta in 431 - 404 BC. e. It covered Greece and the Greek cities of southern Italy and Sicily. 404 - Athens, besieged by land and sea, capitulated. Under the terms of the peace, the Delian League was dissolved. Athens gave Sparta a fleet, in addition to 12 patrol ships, the fortifications of Athens and Piraeus were liquidated, the hegemony of Sparta in the Greek world was recognized. In Athens, an oligarchic regime of “thirty tyrants” was established.
The war, which lasted 27 years, fundamentally changed the political situation in Greece. The main opponents were, of course, Sparta and Athens, but in reality most of the Greek city-states and their colonies were drawn into it. It was not only the policies that fought, the regimes fought - oligarchy and democracy. In the course of fierce battles, crops, vineyards, livestock and, of course, thousands, tens of thousands of people were destroyed; social contradictions intensified, civil society collapsed, morality was shattered. The system of independent Greek city-states came close to the crisis.
Causes of the war
The main reason for the outbreak of the war was the expansion of Athens, directed to the west. The Athenians were very interested in the rich and underdeveloped territories in Italy, and, moving towards the Apennine Peninsula, they inevitably encountered the most influential in that region, Corinth. Athens made a defensive alliance with the island of Kerkyra, which lies halfway from Greece to Italy. Then the Athenians laid siege to the city of Potidea in Halkidiki, which at the same time was part of the Athenian Union and was a colony of Corinth. In the end, Athens, seeking to reach the Gulf of Corinth in western Greece, exerted strong pressure on those who had fallen away from their union as early as 445 BC. e. Megara.
According to the "Megarian psephism" 432 BC. e. the inhabitants of this city were forbidden to trade with Athens and their allies. Corinth understood how Athenian western expansion could threaten him, so he was preparing for a serious war. The Corinthians asked for help from Sparta, and if they refused, they threatened to withdraw from the Peloponnesian Union. Thebes also joined the anti-Athenian coalition, traditional and natural opponents of Attica in Central Greece, as well as the Delphic oracle, who was dissatisfied with the help that Athens provided to the Phokidians who claimed the sacred lands.
In Athens, many also understood the inevitability of war with Corinth and Sparta. In addition, Pericles, under serious pressure from the opposition - he could face lawsuits for his alleged waste of funds - could hope to strengthen his position during the war.
National Assembly in Athens.
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War plan
In Sparta and Athens, general plans for the conduct of the war were developed. In Sparta, they were counting on a quick victory on land. Pericles, on the other hand, was able to convince his fellow citizens that they could leave Attica and take refuge in the fortified Atheno-Piraeus region behind the Long Walls, while a powerful fleet would block and attack the Spartan territories in the Peloponnese, at the same time supplying the city with everything necessary …
The first period of the war
The Peloponnesian War began in 431 BC. e. In the spring, Thebes allied with Sparta attacked Plataea, friendly to Athens. Which led to a series of recriminations, then Sparta invaded Athenian territory. As planned, the population of Attica took refuge in Athens and Piraeus. The Lacedaemonians mercilessly burned crops, cut down vineyards and olive groves. This further embittered the Athenians, who were already looking askance at Pericles.
And here, in addition to everything in the capital, a plague began from a large crowd of people and cattle. As a result, she mowed down about a quarter of the population of Attica. Pericles was removed from his post as strategist and sentenced by the Athenians to a fine. However, already in 429 BC. e. they returned Pericles to power, because in general his plan was justified. But Pericles in the same year died of the plague.
For a long time the opponents acted within the framework of their doctrines. The Athenians were able to seize a stronghold in the Peloponnese, but Sparta received the same point in Thrace, thereby threatening grain supplies to Athens.
421 BC e. - tired rivals concluded the so-called Nikiev Peace on the terms of the status quo. This was the end of the first period of the war, which was named after the Spartan tsar Archidamov.
Renewal of the war. Hike to Sicily
However, in both camps there were supporters of war to the bitter end. 420 BC e. - Pericles' nephew Alcibiades, who led the most militant group, created a coalition of Peloponnesian policies (Argos, Mantinea, Eleus), which, supported by Athens, opposed Sparta. 418 BC e., August - the troops of this coalition were defeated at Mantinea.
After some time, the Athenian radicals were able to organize an expedition to distant Sicily. This adventurous campaign took place in 415-413 BC. e. and turned into a disaster for the Athenians. The Sicilian cities were not at all happy with the arriving Athenians and opposed them with a united front. And Alcibiades, who betrayed his homeland, told the Spartans about the enemy's plans and the feat of the Lacedaemonians to organize support for the Italian policies. The Athenian fleet was defeated and burned in Syracuse harbor, the army, which retreated into the interior of Sicily, was surrounded and defeated. The Athenians in 413 BC e. sent another 26 thousand soldiers to Syracuse. But even this could not ensure their success.
Soon the Peloponnesians were able to occupy the important fortress of Dhekeleus on the territory of Attica, paralyzing the work of the Lavrian mines. Athens was forced to intensify extortions from the allied cities, in which calls for the "overthrow of Athenian tyranny" were increasingly heard. One by one, the cities began to leave the Maritime Union. The war continued at sea and spread to Asia Minor. However, for a long time, Sparta, even receiving financial support from Persia, could not break the resistance of the wounded, but powerful Athens. Alcibiades returned to his city, and thanks to his energy and talent, the oligarchs could not come to power in Attica, a new fleet was built, and a number of brilliant naval battles were fought.
The last years of the war
The Spartan commander Lysander inflicted a decisive defeat on Athens. He took care of strengthening the Spartan fleet, was able to strengthen relations with the Persians. Having made a firm bet on the oligarchs, he promoted their coming to power everywhere, organized and armed, and placed Spartan garrisons. The zone of influence of Athens was shrinking, and the financial difficulties of the Athenians grew accordingly. 405 BC e. - Lysander inflicted a crushing defeat on the Athenian fleet at Propontis at Aegospotamos.
End of the war
The routes for supplying Athens with food were cut off, the city-state no longer had the strength to build a new fleet. And the courts of Lysander slowly moved towards Attica, crushing democratic regimes and replacing them with oligarchic ones. The siege of Athens itself continued for several months by land and sea, until the starving city surrendered.
So in 404 BC. e. the Peloponnesian War ended. The Athenians were deprived of all overseas possessions and the remnants of the fleet, the fortifications of Piraeus were liquidated. The Athenian Maritime Union was dissolved; the policy itself became part of the Peloponnesian Union; the democratic system was replaced by an oligarchic one. Sparta became the hegemon of Greece. The war caused great damage to the international prestige of Greece and contributed to the next rise of the Persian state.
Reasons for the defeat of Athens
Thus ended the 27-year-old bitter war. The main reason for the defeat of Athens is that this state lived at the expense of the brutal exploitation of the population of many other Greek cities. The Allies used every military failure of Athens to restore their independence. A vivid example of this was the falling away of a number of Athenian allies after the catastrophe in Sicily, which to a certain extent decided the final defeat of the Athenians. A certain role was also played by the fact that not only the Peloponnesian Union opposed Athens, but also the cities of the Greek West. In addition, the opponents of Athens enlisted material assistance from Persia, which had enormous financial and military resources.
