Sparta and its allies, with the exception of Corinth, were almost exclusively land-based powers, whereas the Athens empire, though based on a peninsula, had developed impressive naval power. The Archidamian Warĭuring the first phase, known as the Archidamian War, Sparta launched repeated invasions of Attica while Athens took advantage of its naval supremacy to raid the Peloponnese coast. Historians have traditionally divided the war into several different phases. The Peloponnesian War provided a dramatic end to the 5 th century BCE, shattering religious and cultural taboos, devastating vast swathes of countryside, and destroying whole cities. During this conflict, Greek warfare evolved from an originally limited and formalized form of conflict, to all-out struggles between city-states, complete with large-scale atrocities. The Peloponnesian War (431-404 BCE) was fought between Athens and its empire, known as the Delian League, and the Peloponnesian League, led by Sparta. hoplites: Hoplites were citizen-soldiers of Ancient Greek city-states who were primarily armed with spears and shields.helot: Helots were a subjugated population group that formed the main population of Laconia and Messenia, the territories controlled by Sparta.Athens surrendered a year later in 404 BCE. The destruction of Athens’ fleet at Aegospotami during the Decelean War effectively ended the Peloponnesian War.The treaty was undermined, however, by continued fighting and calls for revolt throughout the Peloponnese. The Peace of Nicias was signed in 421 BCE, and concluded the first phase of the war.In the aftermath of a devastating plague, Athenians turned against Pericles’s defensive strategy in favor of a more aggressive one that would bring war directly to Sparta and its allies.Initially Athens’ strategy, as guided by Pericles, was to avoid open battle with the more numerous and better trained Spartan hoplites, and to instead rely on Athens’ superior naval fleet.During the first phase, known as the Archidamian War, Sparta launched repeated invasions of Attica while Athens took advantage of its naval supremacy to raid the Peloponnese coast.During this conflict, Greek warfare evolved from an originally limited and formalized form of conflict, to all-out struggles between city-states, with large-scale atrocities.The Peloponnesian War (431-404 BCE) was fought between Athens and its empire, known as the Delian League, and the Peloponnesian League, led by Sparta.

The first peloponnesian war timeline