The First Peloponnesian War began in 460 BC and lasted circa 15 years. This war constituted a series of conflicts and minor wars, such as the Second Sacred War, featuring Athens and her allies on one side and Sparta and her allies on the other. All these battles were the prelude of the Second or Great Peloponnesian War (431 BC-404 BC). The First Peloponnesian War ended in an arrangement between Sparta and Athens, which was ratified by the Thirty Years' Peace (winter of 446 BC–445 BC). According to the provisions of this Peace Treaty both sides maintained their primary empires: for Athens the sea and for Sparta the land. The second war ended with the defeat of Athens and Sparta the dominant force in the region. Centuries: 4th century BC - 5th century BC - 6th century BC Decades: 500s BC 490s BC 480s BC 470s BC 460s BC - 450s BC - 440s BC 430s BC 420s BC 410s BC 400s BC Years: 465 BC 464 BC 463 BC 462 BC 461 BC - 460 BC - 459 BC 458 BC... Centuries: 6th century BC - 5th century BC - 4th century BC Decades: 490s BC 480s BC 470s BC 460s BC 450s BC - 440s BC - 430s BC 420s BC 410s BC 400s BC 390s BC Years: 450 BC 449 BC 448 BC 447 BC 446 BC - 445 BC - 444 BC 443 BC... The Peloponnesian League was an alliance of states in the Peloponnese in the 6th and 5th centuries BC. By the end of the 6th century, Sparta had become the most powerful state in the Peloponnese, and was the political and military hegemon over Argos, the next most powerful state. ... Troezen (TREE-zun) is a city in Argolis located southwest of Athens and a few miles south of Methana. ... Achaea (Greek: , Achaïa; see also List of traditional Greek place names) is an ancient province and a present prefecture of Greece, on the northern coast of the Peloponnese, stretching from the mountain ranges of Erymanthus and Cyllene on the south to a narrow strip of fertile land on the... Coordinates 37°45′ N 23°26′ E Country Greece Periphery Attica Prefecture Piraeus Population 13,552 source (2001) Area 87. ... Delian League (Athenian Empire), right before the Peloponnesian War in 431 BC. Corcyra was not part of the League The Delian League was an association of Greek city-states in the 5th century BC. It was led by Athens. ... A view of the Acropolis of Athens during the Ottoman period, showing the buildings which were removed at the time of independence The History of Athens is the longest of any city in Europe: Athens has been continuously inhabited for at least 3,000 years. ... Argos (Greek: Άργος, Árgos, IPA argos) is a city in Greece in the Peloponnese near Nafplio, which was its historic harbor, named for Nauplius. ... The Peloponnesian League was an alliance of states in the Peloponnese in the 6th and 5th centuries BC. By the end of the 6th century, Sparta had become the most powerful state in the Peloponnese, and was the political and military hegemon over Argos, the next most powerful state. ... This article covers the history of Sparta from its founding to the present, concentrating primarily on the Spartan state during the height of its power from the 6th to the 4th century BCE. // Tradition relates that Sparta was founded by Lacedaemon, son of Zeus and Taygete, who called the city... Two important places in antiquity were called Thebes: Thebes, Greece – Thebes of the Seven Gates; one-time capital of Boeotia. ... For the Shakespeare play, see Pericles, Prince of Tyre. ... This article or section should include material fromKimon Cimon (died 450 BC?) was a major figure of the 470s BC and 460s BC in Athens, and the son of Miltiades. ... Pleistoanax (reigned 459 BC – 409 BC) was an Agiad King of Sparta. ... Centuries: 4th century BC - 5th century BC - 6th century BC Decades: 500s BC 490s BC 480s BC 470s BC 460s BC - 450s BC - 440s BC 430s BC 420s BC 410s BC 400s BC Years: 465 BC 464 BC 463 BC 462 BC 461 BC - 460 BC - 459 BC 458 BC... Combatants Athens Phocis Sparta Delphians Commanders Pericles The Second Sacred War took place between 449 BC-448 BC and resulted in an indirect confrontation between Athens and Sparta during the so-called First Peloponnesian War. ... A view of the Acropolis of Athens during the Ottoman period, showing the buildings which were removed at the time of independence The history of Athens is the longest of any city in Europe: Athens has been continuously inhabited for at least 3,000 years. ... Sparta (Doric: , Attic: ) is a city in southern Greece. ... Combatants Delian League led by Athens Peloponnesian League led by Sparta Commanders Pericles Cleon Nicias Alcibiades Archidamus II Brasidas Lysander For the earlier war beginning in 460 BC, see First Peloponnesian War The Peloponnesian War (431 BC–404 BC) was an Ancient Greek military conflict fought between Athens and its... Centuries: 6th century BC - 5th century BC - 4th century BC Decades: 480s BC 470s BC 460s BC 450s BC 440s BC - 430s BC - 420s BC 410s BC 400s BC 390s BC 380s BC Years: 436 BC 435 BC 434 BC 433 BC 432 BC - 431 BC - 430 BC 429 BC... Centuries: 6th century BC - 5th century BC - 4th century BC Decades: 450s BC 440s BC 430s BC 420s BC 410s BC - 400s BC - 390s BC 380s BC 370s BC 360s BC 350s BC Years: 409 BC 408 BC 407 BC 406 BC 405 BC - 404 BC - 403 BC 402 BC... Centuries: 6th century BC - 5th century BC - 4th century BC Decades: 490s BC 480s BC 470s BC 460s BC 450s BC - 440s BC - 430s BC 420s BC 410s BC 400s BC 390s BC Years: 451 BC 450 BC 449 BC 448 BC 447 BC - 446 BC - 445 BC 444 BC... Centuries: 6th century BC - 5th century BC - 4th century BC Decades: 490s BC 480s BC 470s BC 460s BC 450s BC - 440s BC - 430s BC 420s BC 410s BC 400s BC 390s BC Years: 450 BC 449 BC 448 BC 447 BC 446 BC - 445 BC - 444 BC 443 BC...

Origins and Causes

A mere twenty years before the First Peloponnesian War broke out, Athens and Sparta had fought alongside each other in the Greco-Persian Wars; in that war, Sparta had held the hegemony of what modern scholars call the Hellenic League and the overall command in the crucial victories of 480 and 479 BC. Over the next several years, however, Spartan leadership bred resentment among the Greek naval powers that took the lead in carrying the war against Persian territories in Asia and the Aegean, and after 478 BC the Spartans abandoned their leadership of this campaign.^[1] Athens, meanwhile, had been asserting itself on the international scene, and was eager to take the lead in the Aegean. The Athenians had already rebuilt their walls, against the express wishes of Sparta,^[2] and in 479 and 478 BC had taken a much more active role in the Aegean campaigning. In the winter of 479/8 BC they accepted the leadership of a new league, the Delian League, in a conference of Ionian and Aegean states at Delos. At this time, one of the first hints of animosity between Athens and Sparta emerges in an anecdote reported by Diodorus Siculus, who says that the Spartans in 475/4 BC considered reclaiming the hegemony of the campaign against Persia by force;^[3] modern scholars, although uncertain of the dating and reliability of this story, have generally cited it as evidence of the existence even at this early date of a "war party" in Sparta.^[4] Combatants Greek city states, particularly Athens and Sparta Persian Empire and allied Greek states Commanders Miltiades, Themistocles, Leonidas I, Pausanias, Kimon, Pericles Mardonius, Datis, Artaphernes, Xerxes I, Megabyzus The Greco-Persian Wars or Persian Wars or Medic Wars were a series of conflicts between several Greek city-states and the... For the 5th century BC league of Greek city states, see Delian League. ... BC may stand for: Before Christ (see Anno Domini) : an abbreviation used to refer to a year before the beginning of the year count that starts with the supposed year of the birth of Jesus. ... Delian League (Athenian Empire), right before the Peloponnesian War in 431 BC. Corcyra was not part of the League The Delian League was an association of Greek city-states in the 5th century BC. It was led by Athens. ... Ionia (Greek Ιωνία; see also List of traditional Greek place names) was an ancient region of southwestern coastal Anatolia (now in Turkey) on the Aegean Sea. ... For the ship Aegean Sea, see Aegean Sea (oil spill) The Aegean Sea (Greek: Αιγαίο Πέλαγος, Aeyéo Pélagos; Turkish: Ege Denizi) is a sea arm of the Mediterranean Sea located between the southern Balkan and Anatolian peninsulas, i. ... The island of Delos, Carl Anton Joseph Rottmann, 1847 The island of Delos (Greek: Δήλος, Dhilos), isolated in the centre of the roughly circular ring of islands called the Cyclades, near Mykonos, had a position as a holy sanctuary for a millennium before Olympian Greek mythology made it the birthplace of...

For some time, however, friendly relations prevailed between Athens and Sparta. Themistocles, the Athenian of the period most associated with an anti-Spartan policy, was ostracized at some point in the early 470s BC, and was later forced to flee to Persia.^[5] In his place in Athens rose Cimon, who advocated a policy of cooperation between the two states. Cimon was Sparta's proxenos at Athens, and so fond was he of that city that he named one of his sons Lakedaemonios.^[6] Still, hints of conflict emerged; Thucydides reports that in the mid 460s BC, Sparta actually decided to invade Attica during the Thasian rebellion, and was only prevented from doing so by an earthquake, which triggered a revolt among the helots.^[7] Themistocles (ca. ... Ostracism (Greek ostrakismos) was a procedure under the Athenian democracy in which a prominent citizen could be expelled from the city-state of Athens for ten years. ... This article or section should include material fromKimon Cimon (died 450 BC?) was a major figure of the 470s BC and 460s BC in Athens, and the son of Miltiades. ... Attica (in Greek: Αττική, Attike; see also List of traditional Greek place names) is a periphery (subdivision) in Greece, containing Athens, the capital of Greece. ... The Thasian rebellion was an incident in 465 BC, in which Thasos rebelled against Athenian control, seeking to renounce its membership in the Delian League. ... Helots were Peloponnesian Greeks who were enslaved under Spartan rule. ...

It was that helot revolt which would eventually bring on the crisis that precipitated the war. Unable to quell the revolt themselves, the Spartans summoned all their allies to assist them, invoking the old Hellenic League ties. Athens responded to the call, sending out 4,000 men with Cimon at their head.^[8] Once an assault on the helots' fortifications had failed, the Spartans, suspicious of the Athenians, dismissed them, alone of all their allies. This action destroyed the political credibility of Cimon; he had already been under assault by opponents at Athens led by Ephialtes, and shortly after this embarassment he was ostracized. The demonstration of Spartan hostility was unmistakable, and as Athens responded events spiralled rapidly into war. Athens concluded several alliances in quick succession: one with Thessaly, a powerful state in the north; one with Argos, Sparta's traditional enemy for centuries; and one with Megara, a former ally of Sparta's which was faring badly in a border war with Sparta's more powerful ally Corinth. At about the same time, Athens settled the helots exiled after the defeat of their revolt at Naupactus on the Corinthian gulf. By 460 BC, Athens found itself openly at war with Corinth and several other Peloponnesian states, and a larger war was clearly imminent. For the 5th century BC league of Greek city states, see Delian League. ... See the Aloadae article for information about the giant Ephialtes of Greek mythology For Ephialtes, the prominent Athenian politician see Ephialtes of Athens Ephialtes (Greek: ) was the son of Eurydemus of Malis. ... Map showing Thessaly periphery in Greece Thessaly (Θεσσαλια; modern Greek Thessalía; see also List of traditional Greek place names) is one of the 13 peripheries of Greece, and is further sub-divided into 4 prefectures. ... Argos (Greek: Άργος, Árgos, IPA argos) is a city in Greece in the Peloponnese near Nafplio, which was its historic harbor, named for Nauplius. ... Megara (Greek: Μέγαρα; see also List of traditional Greek place names) is an ancient city in Attica, Greece. ... Corinth, or Korinth (Greek: Κόρινθος, Kórinthos; see also List of traditional Greek place names) is a Greek city-state, on the Isthmus of Corinth, the narrow stretch of land that joins the Peloponnesus to the mainland of Greece. ... Naupactus or Nafpaktos (Latin: Naupactus or Naupactos; Turkish: İnebahtı; Italian, Spanish and Portuguese Lepanto; modern Greek, Ναύπακτος, rarely Epakto), is a town in the prefecture of Aetolia-Acarnania, Greece, situated on a bay on the north side of the straits of Lepanto. ... The Gulf of Corinth is the body of water separating Peloponnese from western mainland Greece. ...

Early battles

As this war was beginning Athenians also took on a serious military commitment in another part of the Aegean when they sent a force to assist Inaros, a Libyan king who had led almost all of Egypt in revolt from the Persian king Artaxerxes.^[9] Athens and her allies sent a fleet of 200 ships to assist Inaros—a substantial investment of resources.^[10] Thus, Athens entered the war with her forces spread across several theaters of conflict. The Persepolis Ruins The Achaemenid dynasty (Old Persian:Hakamanishiya, Persian: هخامنشیان) - was a dynasty in the ancient Persian Empire. ... Artaxerxes was the name of several rulers of the Achaemenid dynasty of Persia: Artaxerxes I Artaxerxes II Artaxerxes III Arses of Persia is believed to have taken the royal title of Artaxerxes IV. Bessus, the Persian nobleman who murdered Darius III of Persia, renamed himself Artaxerxes when he claimed the...

In either 460 or 459 BC, Athens fought several major battles with the combined forces of several Peloponnesian states. On land, the Athenians were defeated by the armies of Corinth and Epidaurus at Halieis, but at sea they were victorious at Cecryphaleia.^[11] Alarmed by this Athenian aggressiveness in the Saronic gulf, Aegina entered into the war against Athens, combining its powerful fleet with that of the Peloponnesian Allies.^[12] In the resulting sea battle, the Athenians won a devastating victory, capturing seventy Aeginetan and Peloponnesian ships; they then landed on Aegina and laid siege to the city itself.^[13]} Panoramic view of the theater at Epidaurus Epidaurus (Epidauros) was a small city (polis) in ancient Greece at the Saronic Gulf. ... The Saronic Gulf or Gulf of Aegina in Greece forms part of the Aegean Sea and defines the eastern side of the isthmus of Corinth. ... Coordinates 37°45′ N 23°26′ E Country Greece Periphery Attica Prefecture Piraeus Population 13,552 source (2001) Area 87. ...

With substantial Athenian detachments tied down in Egypt and Aegina, Corinth invaded the Megarid, attempting to force the Athenians to withdraw their forces from Aegina to meet this new threat.^[14] Instead, the Athenians scraped together a force of men too old and boys too young for ordinary military service and sent this force, under the command of Myronides, to relieve Megara. The resulting battle was indecisive, but the Athenians held the field at the end of the day and were thus able to set up a trophy of victory. About twelve days later the Corinthians attempted to return to the site to set up a trophy of their own, but the Athenians issued forth from Megara and routed them; during the retreat after the battle a large section of the Corinthian army blundered into a ditch-ringed enclosure on a farm, where they were trapped and massacred.

Athenian successes

Tanagra

Main article: Battle of Tanagra

For several years at the beginning of the war, Sparta remained largely inert; Spartan troops may have been involved in some of the early battles of the war, but if so they are not specifically mentioned in any sources.^[15] In 458 BC or 457 BC,^[16] Sparta at last made a move, but not directly at Athens. A war had broken out between Athens' ally Phocis and Doris, across the Corinthian gulf from the Peloponnese.^[17] Doris was traditionally identified as the homeland of the Dorians, and the Spartans, being Dorians, had a longstanding alliance with that state. Accordingly, a Spartan army under the command of the general Nicomedes, acting as deputy for the underage king Pleistonax was dispatched across the Corinthian gulf to assist. This army forced the Phocians to accept terms, but while it was in Doris an Athenian fleet moved into position to block its return across the Corinthian gulf. There were two Battles of Tanagra of importance in ancient Greek history. ... Phocis (Greek, Modern: Φωκίδα, Ancient/Katharevousa: -s, also Phokida, Phokis) is an ancient district of central Greece. ... Doris Smells!! ... The Gulf of Corinth is the body of water separating Peloponnese from western mainland Greece. ... Fifth century BCE hoplite, or heavy-armed soldier, possibly the Spartan king Leonidas, a Dorian, who died holding the pass at the Battle of Thermopylae. ... Nicomedes was the name of: Saint Nicomedes Four kings of Bithynia in Anatolia, between the 3rd and 1st century BC: Nicomedes I Nicomedes II Nicomedes III Nicomedes IV Category: ... Pleistoanax (reigned 459 BC – 409 BC) was an Agiad King of Sparta. ...

At this point Nicomedes led his army south into Boeotia. Several factors may have influenced his decision to make this move. First, secret negotiations had been underway with a party at Athens which was willing to betray the city to the Spartans in order to overthrow the democracy. Furthermore, Donald Kagan has suggested that Nicomedes had been in contact with the government of Thebes and planned to unify Boeotia under Theban leadership; which, upon his arrival, he seems to have done.^[18] Thebes (in Demotic Greek: Θήβα — Thíva, Katharevousa: — Thēbai or Thíve) is a city in Greece, situated to the north of the Cithaeron range, which divides Boeotia from Attica, and on the southern edge of the Boeotian plain. ... Boeotia or Beotia (//, (Greek Βοιωτια; see also list of traditional Greek place names) was the central area of ancient Greece. ...

With a strong Spartan army in Boeotia and the threat of treason in the air, the Athenians marched out with as many troops, both Athenian and allied, as they could muster to challenge the Peloponnesians. The two armies met at the Battle of Tanagra. Before the battle, the exiled Athenian politician Cimon], armored for battle, approached the Athenian lines to offer his services, but was ordered to depart; before going, he ordered his friends to prove their loyalty through their bravery.^[19] This they did, but the Athenians were defeated in the battle, although both sides suffered heavy losses. The Spartans, rather than invading Attica, marched home across the isthmus, and Donald Kagan believes that at this point Cimon was recalled from exile and negotiated a four month truce between the sides.^[20] There were two Battles of Tanagra of importance in ancient Greek history. ... This article or section should include material fromKimon Cimon (died 450 BC?) was a major figure of the 470s BC and 460s BC in Athens, and the son of Miltiades. ...

Athens conquers

Athens rebounded quickly from the defeat at Tanagra. The long walls, construction of which had commenced several years before, were completed in the aftermath of that battle, giving Athens an unbreakable link to the port of Piraeus.^[21] Meanwhile, 62 days after the defeat at Tanagra the Athenians dispatched an army to attack Boeotia; at the Battle of Oenophyta the Athenians smashed a Boeotian force and quickly subjugated all the cities of Boeotia, save perhaps Thebes, as well as Phocis and Locris.^[22] Shortly after this, Aegina surrendered and became a tribute-paying member of the Delian League, completing what Donald Kagan has called an annus mirabilis for the Athenians.^[23] Athenian good fortune continued in the next year, when a fleet under Tolmides circumnavigated the Peloponnese, burned the Spartan dockyards at Gytheum, raided Laconia, and captured Chalcis in the Corinthian gulf.^[24] In about 454 BC, Pericles sailed out of Pegae, the port of Megara, raided the northern coast of the Peloponnese, routed a Sicyonian force, and attacked Acarnania.^[25] The Long Walls generally refers to the walls connecting Athens to its port at Piraeus which were constructed in the mid 5th century BC, destroyed by the Spartans in 404 BC after Athens defeat in the Peloponnesian War, and rebuilt again with Persian support during the Corinthian War. ... View of Piraeus A night ferry about to leave the port of Piraeus for the Dodecanese Piraeus, or Peiraeus (Modern Greek: Πειραιάς Peiraiás or Pireás, Ancient Greek / Katharevousa: Πειραιεύς Pireéfs) is a city in the periphery of Attica, Greece, located south of Athens. ... The Battle of Oenophyta took place between Athens and the Boeotian city-states in 457 BC. In this period between the Persian Wars and the Peloponnesian War, alliances and leagues sprang up and collapsed, although there was very little prolonged warfare. ... Phocis (Greek, Modern: Φωκίδα, Ancient/Katharevousa: -s, also Phokida, Phokis) is an ancient district of central Greece. ... Locris was a region of ancient Greece, made up of two districts. ... Delian League (Athenian Empire), right before the Peloponnesian War in 431 BC. Corcyra was not part of the League The Delian League was an association of Greek city-states in the 5th century BC. It was led by Athens. ... Gytheio (Greek, Modern: Γύθειο, Ancient/Katharevousa: -on), also Gythio, Githeio or Githio is a town of Laconia in Greece, long known as the seaport of Sparta some 30 miles inland. ... Laconia (; see also List of traditional Greek place names), also known as Lacedaemonia, was in ancient Greece the portion of the Peloponnese of which the most important city was Sparta. ... Chalcis or Chalkida, Halkida, Halkis or Chalkis (Greek, Modern: Χαλκίδα, Ancient/Katharevousa: -is), the chief town of the island of Euboea in Greece, situated on the strait of the Euripus at its narrowest point. ... Sicyon was an ancient Greek city situated in the northern Peloponnesus between Corinth and Achaea. ... Acarnania was a region of ancient central western Greece that lay along the Ionian Sea, west of Aetolia, with the Achelous River for a boundary, and north of the gulf of Calydon, which is the entrance to the Gulf of Corinth. ...

The importance of Megara

Modern scholars have emphasized the critical significance of Athenian control of Megara in enabling the early Athenian successes in the war. Megara provided a convenient port on the Corinthian gulf, to which Athenian rowers could be transported overland, and a significant number of ships were probably kept at Megara's port of Nisaea throughout the war.^[26] Moreover, while early modern scholars were skeptical of Athens' ability to prevent a Spartan army from moving through the Megarid, recent scholarship has concluded that the pass of Geraneia could have been held by a relatively small force;^[27] thus, with the isthmus of Corinth closed and Athenian fleets in both the Corinthian and Saronic gulfs, Attica was unassailable from the Peloponnese. Attica (in Greek: Αττική, Attike; see also List of traditional Greek place names) is a periphery (subdivision) in Greece, containing Athens, the capital of Greece. ...

Athenian crisis and the truce

Athens' remarkable string of successes came to a sudden halt in 454 BC, when its Egyptian expedition was finally crushingly defeated. A massive Persian army under Megabazus had been sent overland against the rebels in Egypt some time earlier, and upon its arrival had quickly routed the rebel forces. The Greek contingent had been besieged on the island of Prosopitis in the Nile. In 454, after a siege of 18 months, the Egyptians captured the island, destroying the force almost entire.{{subst:User:Robth/1.109|-110}} Though the force thus obliterated was probably not as large as the 200 ships that had originally been sent, it was at least 40 ships with their full complements, a significant number of men.^[28] Megabazus was a highly regarded Persian general under Darius. ... The Nile (Arabic: ‎, translit: , Ancient Egyptian iteru, Coptic piaro or phiaro) is a major north-flowing river in Africa, generally regarded as the longest river—though not the most voluminous—on Earth. ...

The disaster in Egypt severely shook Athens' control of the Aegean, and for some years afterwards the Athenians concentrated their attention on reorganizing the Delian League and restabilizing the region.^[29] In 451 BC, therefore, when Cimon returned to the city, his ostracism over, the Athenians were willing to have him negotiate a truce with Sparta.^[30] Cimon arranged a five year truce,^[31] and over the next several years Athens concentrated its efforts in the Aegean.

After the truce

The years after the truce were eventful ones in Greek politics. The Peace of Callias, if it existed, was concluded in 449 BC; it was probably in that same year that Pericles passed the Congress decree, calling for a pan-Hellenic congress to discuss the future of Greece.^[32] Modern scholars have debated extensively over the intent of that proposal; some regard it as a good faith effort to secure a lasting peace, while others view it as a propaganda tool.^[33] In any event, Sparta derailed the Congress by refusing to attend.^[34] The Peace of Callias was established around 449 BC between the Delian League (led by Athens) and Persia, ending the Persian Wars. ...

In the same year the Second Sacred War erupted, when Sparta detached Delphi from Phocis and rendered it independent. In 448 BC, Pericles led the Athenian army against Delphi, in order to reinstate Phocis in its former sovereign rights on the oracle of Delphi.^[35] Combatants Athens Phocis Sparta Delphians Commanders Pericles The Second Sacred War took place between 449 BC-448 BC and resulted in an indirect confrontation between Athens and Sparta during the so-called First Peloponnesian War. ... The amphitheatre, seen from above. ... Phocis (Greek, Modern: Φωκίδα, Ancient/Katharevousa: -s, also Phokida, Phokis) is an ancient district of central Greece. ... Centuries: 6th century BC - 5th century BC - 4th century BC Decades: 490s BC 480s BC 470s BC 460s BC 450s BC - 440s BC - 430s BC 420s BC 410s BC 400s BC 390s BC Years: 453 BC 452 BC 451 BC 450 BC 449 BC - 448 BC - 447 BC 446 BC... Consulting the Oracle by John William Waterhouse An oracle is a person or agency considered to be a source of wise counsel or prophetic opinion; an infallible authority, usually spiritual in nature. ...

In 446 BC a revolt broke out in Boeotia which was to spell the end of Athens's "continental empire" on the Greek mainland.^[36] Boeotia broke out in revolt against Athens. Tolmides led an army out to challenge the Boeotians, but after some early successes was defeated at the Battle of Coronea; in the wake of this defeat, Pericles imposed a more moderate stance and Athens abandoned Boeotia, Phocis, and Locris.^[37] The Battle of Coronea took place between the Athenian-led Delian League and the Boeotian League in 447 BC. In 457 BC the Athenians had taken control of Boeotia at the Battle of Oenophyta, and spent the next ten years attempting to consolidate the Leagues power. ...

The defeat at Coronea, however, triggered a more dangerous disturbance, in which Euboea and Megara revolted. Pericles crossed over to Euboea with his troops to quash the rebellion there, but was forced to return when the Spartan army invaded Attica. Through negotiation and possibly bribery,^[38] Pericles persuaded the Spartan king Pleistonax to lead his army home;^[39] back in Sparta, Pleistonax would later be for failing to press his advantage, and fined so heavily that he was forced to flee into exile, unable to pay.^[40] With the Spartan threat removed, Pericles crossed back to Euboea with 50 ships and 5,000 soldiers, cracking down any opposition. He then inflicted a stringent punishment on the landowners of Chalcis, who lost their properties. The residents of Istiaia, who had butchered the crew of an Athenian trireme, were chastised more harshly, since they were uprooted and replaced by 2,000 Athenian settlers.^[39] The arrangement between Sparta and Athens was ratified by the second "Thirty Years' Peace" (winter of 446 BC–445 BC). According to this treaty, Megara was returned to the Peloponnesian League, Troezen and Achaea became independent, Aegina was to be a tributary to Athens but autonomous, and disputes were to be settled by arbitration. Each party agreed to respect the alliances of the other.^[36] Euboea or Negropont (Modern Greek: Εύβοια Evia, Ancient Greek Εúβοια Eúboia; see also List of traditional Greek place names), is the largest island of the Greek archipelago. ... Megara (Greek: Μέγαρα; see also List of traditional Greek place names) is an ancient city in Attica, Greece. ... Attica (in Greek: Αττική, Attike; see also List of traditional Greek place names) is a periphery (subdivision) in Greece, containing Athens, the capital of Greece. ... Pleistoanax (reigned 459 BC – 409 BC) was an Agiad King of Sparta. ... Chalcis or Chalkida, Halkida, Halkis or Chalkis (Greek, Modern: Χαλκίδα, Ancient/Katharevousa: -is), the chief town of the island of Euboea in Greece, situated on the strait of the Euripus at its narrowest point. ... A Greek trireme Triremes (Greek Τριήρεις) are several different types of ancient warships. ... Centuries: 6th century BC - 5th century BC - 4th century BC Decades: 490s BC 480s BC 470s BC 460s BC 450s BC - 440s BC - 430s BC 420s BC 410s BC 400s BC 390s BC Years: 451 BC 450 BC 449 BC 448 BC 447 BC - 446 BC - 445 BC 444 BC... Centuries: 6th century BC - 5th century BC - 4th century BC Decades: 490s BC 480s BC 470s BC 460s BC 450s BC - 440s BC - 430s BC 420s BC 410s BC 400s BC 390s BC Years: 450 BC 449 BC 448 BC 447 BC 446 BC - 445 BC - 444 BC 443 BC... The Peloponnesian League was an alliance of states in the Peloponnese in the 6th and 5th centuries BC. By the end of the 6th century, Sparta had become the most powerful state in the Peloponnese, and was the political and military hegemon over Argos, the next most powerful state. ... Troezen (TREE-zun) is a city in Argolis located southwest of Athens and a few miles south of Methana. ... Achaea (Greek: , Achaïa; see also List of traditional Greek place names) is an ancient province and a present prefecture of Greece, on the northern coast of the Peloponnese, stretching from the mountain ranges of Erymanthus and Cyllene on the south to a narrow strip of fertile land on the... Coordinates 37°45′ N 23°26′ E Country Greece Periphery Attica Prefecture Piraeus Population 13,552 source (2001) Area 87. ...

Significance and aftermath

The middle years of the First Peloponnesian War marked the peak of Athenian power. Holding Boeotia and Megara on land and dominating the sea with its fleet, the city had stood utterly secure from attack.^[41] The events of 447 and 446, however, destroyed this position, and although not all Athenians gave up their dreams of unipolar control of the Greek world, the peace treaty that ended the war laid out the framework for a bipolar Greece.^[42] In return for abandoning her continental territories, Athens received recognition of her alliance by Sparta.^[43] The peace concluded in 445, however, would last for less than half of its intended 30 years; in 431 BC, Athens and Sparta would go to war once again, with decidedly more conclusive results.

References

• de Ste. Croix, G.E.M., The Origins of the Peloponnesian War, (Duckworth and Co., 1972) ISBN 0-7156-0640-9
• Diodorus Siculus, Library
• The Encyclopedia of World History (2001)
• Kagan, Donald. The Outbreak of the Peloponnesian War (Cornell, 1969). ISBN 0-8014-9556-3
• Plutarch, Cimon
• Plutarch, Pericles
• Thucydides: History of the Peloponnesian War

Geoffrey Ernest Maurice de Ste. ... Diodorus Siculus (c. ... Donald Kagan (born 1932) is a Yale historian specializing in ancient Greece, notable for his four-volume history of the Peloponnesian War. ... Image File history File links Wikisource-logo. ... Plutarch Mestrius Plutarchus (Greek: Πλούταρχος; 46- 127), better known in English as Plutarch, was an Hellenistic historian, biographer, essayist, and Middle Platonist. ... Image File history File links Wikisource-logo. ... Image File history File links Wikisource-logo. ... Bust of Thucydides residing in the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto. ...

Notes