Thus, the Spartans were now free, along with the disgruntled Persians, who had a significant ax to grind with Athens, to seize the opportunity and attack Athens (thereby ending the 50 years truce). After a few years of resistance, Athens fell completely, and was immediately subjected to the oligarchical government under Sparta, known as "the Thirty."
Although it certainly seems ironic that the very democratic system that the Athenians were so proud of would precipitate its eventual downfall, one might argue that it was not the democratic system, itself, that was to blame, but the tremendous hubris of the Athenians -- both as a result of their tremendous victory over the Persians, as well as their own belief in their natural idealistic superiority.
Under the control of the Thirty, Ancient Greek as a bastion of "freedom"...
Persian Wars (490 BCE to 479 BCE) between the Greek city-states and the Persian Empire were predicated by various circumstances, ranging from cultural ideologies to political connivances. For the Greeks, particularly the Ionians and the Athenians, Persian rule was unwanted and unacceptable. The Persian leaders Darius and his son Xerxes, however, following in the example of Cyrus the Great, saw the Greek city-states as puny colonies that were to be
History Of the Peloponnesian War Thucydides asserts that the Peloponnesian War was caused by "…the rise of Athenian power and the fear this caused in Sparta." Does this argument place the blame for the start of the war on Athens or on Sparta? That is the thesis question to be approached in this paper. Using quality references -- books and scholarly articles -- this paper will answer the thesis question and
Athens and Sparta -- Was War Inevitable? Between 500 and 350 BC the area now known as Greece was but a collection of separate and unallied city-states. Today, we often view cultures and political conflict in terms of nations, and take the view that since city-states were geographically close, culture was the same. This, however, was untrue, particularly in the case of the two most powerful and well-known city states of
Life and Politics in Ancient GreeceBy any standard, ancient Greece had powerful influences on modern Western civilization, including its politics, architecture, philosophy, art, language as well as science and mathematics. It is therefore important to determine how these influences emerged and what effects they had on the ancient Greeks that translated into a legacy for Western civilization today. To this end, the purpose of this paper is to provide a
"The world is full of foreigners you could fight, / but it's Greek men and cities you destroy!" she cries, to inspire the Spartans and Athenians to fight the barbarians at the gate, not one another. (1112) Lysistrata also reminds both Athenians and Spartans how both sides have helped one another -- the Athenians from a slave rebellion, and the Athenians saved the Spartans although democrats were oppressed by the
How do we know about this war? Thucydides may be counted among the foremost historians of the West to utilize a rigorous chronological standard. He recorded events based on their year of occurrence, and every year was divided into two seasons: a campaign-filled summer and a relatively inactive winter. The historian documented the Peloponnesian War in great detail. In spite of hailing from Athens and having taken part in the war, Thucydides
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