The Peloponnesian War
the Decline of the Polis
431-380 BCE
Greek
Hoplites
Greek Trireme
The Silver Mines at Lavrium
increased Athenian Wealth and
Prestige Shortly After the War
The Periclean Building Programs
• Named after Pericles (c. 495-429
BCE), the Athenian general/statesman
who championed the building
program
– Parthenon started in 447 BCE with
money from the Delian league
– Numerous temples built in the Parthenon
complex as well as around Athens
The Athenian Acropolis c. 430 BCE
The Parthenon, Acropolis, Athens, 448-432 BCE
Concrete replica of the Parthenon in
Nashville, Tennessee's Centennial Park
Map of
Athens
c . 430 BCE
Acropolis from the Agora
Herodotus
& Thucydides
Aeschylus, Sophocles & Euripides
Socrates, Plato, Aristotle
Gymnasia
Spartan
Women
Spartan
Culture and
Architectural
Styles
Theater of Dionysus
Theater at Delphi
Is this play a demonstration of
Aristophanes’ feminist sympathies?
How does this play reflect Athens’
situation in the war?
Does this play reflect a right wing
agenda?
How does the play begin?
A. With Lysistrata calling a meeting of
women to discuss ending the war
B. With Lysistrata packing her bags and
leaving her husband
C. With a prophecy from the Delphic oracle
that the women of Athens will end the war
D. With Pericles commending the women for
supporting the war
How does the play depict the
Spartans?
A. As a bunch of belligerent hotheads; even the
women were mean
B. As fine physical specimens who speak in a
rural dialect
C. As the natural leaders of the Greek world;
they had a daunting & commanding presence
D. As sick and emaciated from the deprivations
of war
What were the conditions surrounding the
production of Lysistrata?
A. Athens had won the war
B. Athens and Sparta has just concluded the
Peace of Nikias
C. Athens had just concluded an alliance with
Persia
D. Athens had recently suffered a humiliating
defeat at Syracuse
Why did Athens and
Sparta go to war?
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Cultural Differences
Political Rivalry
Economic opportunity
Incendiary events
• Trade embargo enforcement
• Confiscation of goods
– Influence of Demagogues
Military Might of
Athens and Sparta
at the Beginning
of the War c. 330
Course of
the War
Mediterranean Basin
c. 350 BCE
Overview
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Our Sources for the War
Causes of War
The Course of the War
Obstacles to Athenian Empire
The Decline of the Polis
Sources for Understanding the War
• Thucydides (d. 400 BCE)
– describes the war as a profound tragedy
– blamed Athenian greed and influence of demagogues
– huge impact on later historiography
• Athenian documents
– Greek theater and especially Aristophanes
– Laws
– archeology
The Causes of War
• Athenian hubris
– expanding empire
– increased building
– need for tax revenues
• Relations with other city states: Corinth & Megara
• Rival alliances and treaties
• Spartan fears of Athenian domination
The Course of the War
• Athenian strategy:
– avoid pitched battles on land
– use navy to raid enemy lands & deplete resources
– win a war of attrition due to superior resources
• Athens suffers disasters
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plague from 430-426
Sicily campaign of 415-413
slave revolt 413
losses at sea 406-4
• Final defeat and the imposition of tyranny of The Thirty
Obstacles to the Athenian Empire
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The Peloponnesian League
Loyalty of the Delian League
The Peloponnesian War
Athenian leaders
Impoverishment of the Thetes
Reliance on Mercenaries
Confused loyalties
Spartan Victory
• Sparta not equipped to assume Athens place as
leading city-state
– lack of diplomatic skills
• laconic
• proud
– lack of governmental institutions
• With Sparta’s failure to assume leadership,
Greece experienced a period of sustained
internecine warfare and political fragmentation
Effects of War on Athens
• The economy of Athens revives somewhat after the
war but never regains its widespread opulence
• it loses its empire and the revenue of empire
• due to high mortality of men, many widows who never
before worked are forced to seek low paying work
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–
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vineyards
wet nurses
weavers
day labor
Effects of War on Athens
• Militarization of society - holdings of small farmers
destroyed; many families forced to resort to mercenary
work for survival
• decline of democracy - with a smaller portion of the
population available for the leisure time demanded by
Athenian public life, participatory democracy loses its
constituency
• the formation of a ruling elite - in the coming decades,
Plato and other influential educators advocate for
government controlled by a ruling elite (e.g.
philosopher kings)
• Search for scapegoats
The Death of Socrates c. 400 BCE
• Accused of
– disbelief in Athenian gods
– introducing new gods
– corruption of the Athenian youth
• Chose death rather than escape
• Became a martyr and symbol of unflinching belief
in ethical actions
• represented in stories and artwork, particularly
since the 18th century in the West
• Plato is our most complete source about his
teachings but it is difficult to separate Socrates
beliefs from those of Plato
Summary
• The failure of Athens during the Peloponnesian
War meant the failure of Greece to attain political
unity
• Although the fourth century was a period of
continued achievement for Athens in philosophy,
science, and performing arts, politically it was a
period of fragmentation and war until the
Macedonians unified the Greeks in the 330s