From 431 to 404 BCE, Athens and Sparta, both powerful city-states in Greece, had gone to war against each other. During the war, Athens had been gaining power rapidly. Sparta had become suspicious of Athens trying to overpower them which stir up conflict between the two. “Athen’s Navy was one of its strongest group of soldiers and Sparta’s Army was their strongest” (Anya). Athens and Sparta were at war for around forty-seven years, and both city-states ended up defeated and powerless with Greece no longer being a powerful country.
CONFLICT:
Athens was one of the more powerful city-states and was gaining more power very quickly, Sparta was another big city-state who was surprised by the power that Athens was getting. Sparta was getting suspicious of Athens trying to overpower them and also trying to bring Corinth to
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Their strategy did not work as much as they thought it would because they had forgotten about there seaport where they could import more supplies because of Piraeus Long Walls.
It may have been a Spartan strategy to entice the Athenians out from behind their fortifications into open battle, a temptation that Athens, and particularly Pericles, always resisted. Athens could also and did retaliate by landing troops by sea into Spartan territory and inflict similar damage(Cartwright).
Since in 430 BCE Athens was hit by the cruel plague that came from Egypt via Persia, Sparta even wanted to postpone their annual invasion just to avoid getting the plague. “In the same year Pericles was ousted and Athens sued for peace only to be rejected by Sparta,”(Mark). But when under Kleon and Nikias, the successful campaign of the Corinthian Gulf in 429 BCE was enjoyed by the Athenians. Athens now expected an early Spartan victory and seemed hopelessly ambitious.
COMPROMISE &